Books you simply Could Not Read

[Grack21]

As other have mentioned before : Lord Foul's Bane.

I was already having trouble with all the Random Capitals added to every Word and every Name but then I got to the rape scene and just gave her entirely.

Also I've been trying to read An Echo in the Bone for about 4 months while I finished most of the others in a week. I just don't like the new POV she added and have to stop reading for a week at least before I can get the courage to try again every time I reach one of those new POV chapters.

You couldn't read Lord Foul's Bane because of rape but you read Outlander? O.o

[Teng Ai Hui]

Should we spoil it for him?

Ha. That's why I thought it was a joke.

Oh, I understand now. Long ago, someone told me that Gandalf reappears as The White Wizard. Since then, I have watched (and enjoyed) the movies, but I still have no desire to revisit the books. I'm happy for the millions and millions of readers that enjoy Tolkien's writings; they're just not for me.

[Mark Ryswell]

Lord of the Isles by Drake

Jackal of Nar by Marco(?)

After these books failed to get me back into reading fantasy after a 12 year hiatus, I gave it one last shot with A Game of Thrones. Good call there.

Also, Myrhenns Gift(?) by Fiona McKintosh.

In all three of these examples it was because of unrealistic characters that did them in.

[Evamitchelle]

You couldn't read Lord Foul's Bane because of rape but you read Outlander? O.o

My problem with Lord Foul's Bane wasn't that there was a rape scene but the reactions all the characters have to it. Like how they keep saying the girl was being a hero by not giving up her rapist's name, and then her mother goes along and helps him because he's supposed to be "the Chosen One" even though she knows he just raped her 16-year-old daughter. I'm not interested in Chosen One stories to begin with, especially when it just gives the main character the excuse to be an ass without consequences. And I also found the writing style horrendous (I have a deep rooted hate for random capitalization, like in The Alchemist).

Also the rapist is the narrator in Lord Foul's Bane but not in Outlander. I'd rather have the victim's perspective than the perpetrator's.

[Just a peasant]

Schooling by Heather McGowan

It took me a couple of hours to read the first chapter, trying to decipher the words that I gave up.

[Shryke]

My problem with Lord Foul's Bane wasn't that there was a rape scene but the reactions all the characters have to it. Like how they keep saying the girl was being a hero by not giving up her rapist's name, and then her mother goes along and helps him because he's supposed to be "the Chosen One" even though she knows he just raped her 16-year-old daughter. I'm not interested in Chosen One stories to begin with, especially when it just gives the main character the excuse to be an ass without consequences. And I also found the writing style horrendous (I have a deep rooted hate for random capitalization, like in The Alchemist).

Also the rapist is the narrator in Lord Foul's Bane but not in Outlander. I'd rather have the victim's perspective than the perpetrator's.

To be fair, there are huge consequences to that action, including the ones you mention above. Because Covenant is "The Chosen One", people still help him (like the girls mother) and this is a constant source of self-loathing to Covenant (he can't stand that instead of punishing him for doing something horrible, people are helping him) and rather destructive on the people helping him as well.

I wasn't a huge fan of the Covenant series...es(?) either, but just wanted to point out the dynamic you are noticing is not supposed to absolve Convenant but actually make it worse.

[Axiomatic]

I'm a huge Malazan Book of the Fallen fan, and I could not finish Night of Knives. And I've attempted it twice now. It's just not...even remotely interesting.

Also, lol at the idea that the rape is without consequence in Lord Foul's Bane. It has bigger and bigger consequences for three books.

[secretninjaboy]

Crown of Stars by Kate Elliott (already mentioned above). My cousin gave them to me, hoping someone might like them. God. Abysmal. Just really, really bad.

One I had to finish in high school that gives me shudders to this day is the Great Gatsby. Just everything about it is just skin crawling.

I also had a friend try to get me to read Twilight before it was a phenomenon, and it took every ounce of effort to not attack the book with a red pen. Did she not get it edited?

[awesome possum]

I read the first two Malazans but couldn't make myself slog through the third.

Also the Bakker series that everyone here is always going on about. What a boring turd of a first book. Hey, let's create crazy names for things to make up for the fact that I suck as a writer!

[Axiomatic]

Huh. That's strange, naturally - usually it's the first book that makes people give up on the series.

It's perfectly understandable, too. On your first readthrough, Gardens of the Moon is an obtuse mess.

[Evamitchelle]

To be fair, there are huge consequences to that action, including the ones you mention above. Because Covenant is "The Chosen One", people still help him (like the girls mother) and this is a constant source of self-loathing to Covenant (he can't stand that instead of punishing him for doing something horrible, people are helping him) and rather destructive on the people helping him as well.

I wasn't a huge fan of the Covenant series...es(?) either, but just wanted to point out the dynamic you are noticing is not supposed to absolve Convenant but actually make it worse.

I wouldn't call Covenant hating himself an appropriate punishment for rape.

I'm a huge Malazan Book of the Fallen fan, and I could not finish Night of Knives. And I've attempted it twice now. It's just not...even remotely interesting.

Also, lol at the idea that the rape is without consequence in Lord Foul's Bane. It has bigger and bigger consequences for three books.

Well as I said, I stopped reading about 30 pages after the rape scene so I've missed the long-term consequences to his act. But the major reason I stopped reading was the writing style. I pretty much stopped liking the book as soon as he went to The Land.

[Verboten]

The Prince of Thorns tried way too hard. And it was rather disgusting, but not even in a good way.

EDIT: Also this gem I don't like to get angry. It makes me angry. It made me laugh at least.

[Sci-2]

I have to admit for all my problems with it, Prince of Thorns was incredibly readable. If it is to be found at your local library, it is worth a look if you want a quick book you can finish in a day.

[Shryke]

I wouldn't call Covenant hating himself an appropriate punishment for rape.

It's not supposed to be. The point is, he hates himself for what he did to and the fact that people keep helping him anyway isn't meant to say he's absolved of his actions, but is merely another reason for him to hate himself for what he did.

[Grack21]

Gosh, however did Prince of Thorns come up.

Which is a fantastic book, by the way.Very much in the Glen Cook mold.

And certainly no disgusting then the books this board is named after.

[Grack21]

I fail to see how you can find someone's reactions to the rape in Covenant so off putting, but it's OK in Outlander when the main character gets raped until she likes it?

[Angalin]

Keep the rape discussions to the appropriate threads, thanks.

[Ken Stone]

There have been a few books I had to put away because they were boring. The most notable is LOTR. I couldn't force myself to push through 200 pages of a hobbit walking down a road.

The first was Stephan Kings Tommyknockers. I was into it at first, because I was wondering what would happen when he got the ship dug up. 300 pages later he sort of found the door, maybe. I skipped ahead 900 pages and the stupid ship was still being dug up. Put it down and never went back.

I'm with Mack in regards to C&P. I had to push myself to finish but the last 10% made the torturous first 90% worth the squeeze.

[SkynJay]

Oh, forgot about Kings. He had a book under a different name called The Regulators. Ya, never finished that bad boy either. And Gardens of the Moon stalled on me, but enough going that I plan on retrying it after some time.

[Procrastimancer]

I'm a huge Malazan Book of the Fallen fan, and I could not finish Night of Knives. And I've attempted it twice now. It's just not...even remotely interesting.

Night of Knives was uneven and ultimately disappointing. Certainly hasn't made me want to read any more of the author's books. The strongest aspects of the book, the mood and atmosphere, would have worked wonderfully had the novel been a horror story, but didn't do much of anything for an action novel.