Whats the worst you've ever read? Scifi/Fanstasy

[The Grumpy Celt]

Who Framed Roger Rabbit.

I was and am a big fan of the movie. When the movie first came out I bought the nove it is based on, operating under the theory the book is better than the flick. I was wrong. It was awful. The only book I have ever burned.

 

[Mad Hatter]

Modesitt does explain why few people had the training. Generally the world is illiterate. You do have the educated, but most people can't read. And the fact that if you train a student and that student decides to turn on you...well the consequences would be painful. And besides, to be any kind of good, you have to compose, sing, and direct players. This is hard, especially if most sorcerors horde their knowledge like a dragon hordes his treasure

Of course, I've only read the first one, and speed-read the second. If you think these problems are removed later on in the series, I'll get one of them from the library and give it another chance.

Nope. If the first one annoyed you and the the second one essentially annoyed you, then the third won't be entertaining to you either.

 

[Capellan]

I don't know if I would say it is the "worst" I've ever read, but Lawhead's Song of Albion series was pretty darn dire.

 

[drnuncheon]

No, if you only looked at a tiny portion of the work (say, 95% of it was covered with a cloth when you viewed it), and based your opinion of the whole on that tiny portion, then your opinion would be uninformed, and essentially worthless.

So remember, in order to avoid long, pointless pedantry in the future, always say "I didn't like the part of the book that I read". That way your opinion is perfectly informed.

J

 

[tec-9-7]

Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series - I haven't actually completed even a chapter of one of his novels, for the simplest of reasons: I don't read writers who can't write in good, atmospheric English, and I've rarely encountered a more widely-read and less-capable writer of prose than Jordan.

Even Tolkien, whose raw skills as a writer of English I frequently disparage, is more palatable than Jordan.

You know, I've read a few of Jordan's WoT novels, and I was struck by his... peculiar treatment of female characters. Then I read the leaf and learned he was a Citidel graduate and all became clear...

 

[tec-9-7]

Maybe Herbert's second Dune book (Dune Messiah?). I still don't believe it was written by the same person who wrote Dune.

Ok, it's comforting to know that someone else shares this opinion of mine. It's like Herbert wrote the definitive sci-fi masterpiece, then completely missed the point of what he wrote for the next three books... Dune Messiah? *sticks finger down throat* Children of Dune? *sticks finger down throat* God-Emporer of Dune? Let me sum up the plot: Duncan Idaho ghola #32475967 decides that the God-Emporer's time is done and decides to try to kill him - God-Emporer looks at him and says "Oh Duncan, I just knew you'd try something like this..." *squashes Idaho ghola flat* *picks up phone and orders Duncan Idaho ghola #32475968...* *sticks finger down throat*

 

[tec-9-7]

I swear, I will never write a trilogy.

At this point where heptilogies, octilogies, and dodecahilogies are the rule rather than the exceptions, I'd almost welcome a trilogy. Almost.

 

[Onos T'oolan]

Bah!! Trilogies are too short! I think the best strategy is to write one book, and then stretch it out indefinitely into a "series".

 

[Dungeonmaster P]

Anything including "Shanarra" in the title.

 

[Liolel]

I've found that in most cases if I look at what an author has wrote, and all he/she has wrote is one long series (say 4+ books) then it isn't a very good author. Of course there are exceptions, but there are always exceptions.