How quickly do decide you don't like an author?

[Eosin the Red]

It depends on the writer and the book. Some I know when I read the first 4 pages (written to 5th graders) and others take me a hundred pages.

The longest was Tad Williams --- the ending of Memory, Sorrow, & Thorne was telegraphed from the outset and I read until that was confirmed (100 or so pages short of ending the series) and then stopped. He just held no mystery or suspence for me

 

[barsoomcore]

Mrs. Barsoom and I recently spent an afternoon picking up random books in the fantasy section and seeing how many we could consider WORTH reading after one page.

I think we found three. And we did not pick anyone we already knew was good.

If a writer is bad enough, it doesn't take much time at all. And most writers are bad enough (Sturgeon's Law).

 

[Squire James]

I decide after I read one book in a series. If it's truly dreadful (ie: Gor), I'll stop there. If I mildly disliked it but it got much critical acclaim (ie: Song of Fire and Ice), I'll read 2-3 future installments as they come out in the public library (which has saved me mucho dinero on Jordan books alone). If I like it, I immediately hunt down the rest of the series and (usually) buy them.

I have a long attention span and a huge tolerance for boredom, and I've never left a book unread once I've started it. Lately, my budget has forced me to be a bit picky about what I read, but just about any author deserves a chance. Some deserve 2 chances, and a few deserve 3 chances. I won't give anyone 4 strikes, though.

 

[Numion]

For me it's usually half a book. Thats usually when the mysteries or unknowns hinted at the beginning half of the book start to be resolved. Thats when most of the books I read let me down. Probably 50% of all books I read, I quit at 50% read. And thus usually an author doesn't improve that much between books, the half of the book is enough for me to evaluate them.

 

[Davek]

I generally read the whole book through.

I do find that the less I try to analyze the book/author, the more enjoyable it becomes to me. Entertainment value is the only true criteria when judging a fiction novel.

To be fair, the way I read may have something to do with it. I tend to read whol sentences and short paragraphs at a time, so I often miss subtle grammatical issues. My brain seems to distill the intent somehow without worrying about the technical details.

If I do spot some technical errors, or even inconsistancies, as lon as I am entertained, I don't really care.

 

[Nellisir]

If I get to page 10 or so (which I almost always do), I'll finish the book. I read very fast, so it's usually not a big commitment. If it doesn't grab me, I'm much more careful about getting a second.

The quickest I've ever abandoned a book was a quasi-historical novel set in 10th century Britain, and the first paragraph described the great fields of corn atop the White Cliffs of Dover.

Cheers
Nell.

 

[S'mon]

Based on some of recent threads and my own recent personal reading, I was curious as to how many books or portions of a book do you usually read before you decide you don't care for a particular author.

For me it usually only requires reading one of his or her books. In rare cases, I'll give up if I haven't been grabbed after the first 75 pages.

Hm, usually in the 50-75 page range. I gave up on "A Game of Thrones" after about 75 pages I think. That's where I think I've given the book a fair shot. Sometimes I read a few pages and give up (eg "Lord Valentine's Castle"), but I tend to set those aside meaning to try again later, though I rarely do. And in RA Salvatore's case I read a dozen of those damn Driz'zt books before I decided I didn't like them.

 

[S'mon]

The quickest I've ever abandoned a book was a quasi-historical novel set in 10th century Britain, and the first paragraph described the great fields of corn atop the White Cliffs of Dover.

In British English "corn" is "wheat".
You're still correct though, I'm pretty darn sure there were no 'great fields' of wheat atop the White Cliffs of Dover (chalk downs, of course!) in 10c Britain.