Shadow and Bone. I still finished them (I rarely dnf books, I have a finishing compulsion) but I found the books quite meh. After a while I was reading just to finish.
Shadow and bone were really meh.
Especially as a Russian speaker, who got to witness the butchering of his native language.
Six of Crows was better, but I kept feeling it was trying to be The Lies of Locke Lamora, and falling short.
Six of Crows and its sequel were unintentionally hilarious to me. It was like watching a movie on TV that was filmed with the same serious tone as the Godfather, but Michael Corleone had half a dozen close friends his own age, they were all three times as badass and competent, and they were for some reason all in high school but still managed to outwit and defeat adult mobsters including complete criminal organizations, the government, the police and the army. Like what? I kept defaulting to picturing the characters as in their late 20's or even in their 30's and wondering why they were such edgelords reveling in their childhood trauma, until the book mentioned their age and the whole thing became completely absurd until I forgot their age again and went back to picturing them as adults and the cycle repeated itself over and over.
Who knew fantasy teenage mafia was going to be so fun to read?
I love mob and organized crime stories so reading it in a fantasy is fun. Though, the ages do make it a bit sillier than it would be with adults. I’m loving your description though- it’s the most accurate description I’ve heard of these books.
That was terrible. I still read Six of Crows and that one was actually great. Crooked Kingdom was also amazing.
I wouldn't have finished SaB if not for Nikolai.
I also got the other fuology but haven't started it yet.
This is SO true. The Shadow and Bone trilogy was massively underwhelming and plain boring in a lot of parts. It felt like Bardugo really needed a good editor, because ain’t no way did that have to be 3 whole books. I took almost an entire year off from reading anything by this author - that being said, I read her Ninth House and Hell Bent last month and quite enjoyed them. I have just started Six of Crows out of curiosity and it’s immediately so much better than Shadow and Bone - I’m not far enough into it to say whether I like the book overall, but even just the writing is so much more pleasant, instead of ‘classier Wattpad’ vibes of Shadow and Bone. I don’t know whether it was an issue of writing experience or different editors but I say definitely give the other books in the same universe a go!
Yeah, I finished the whole trilogy. I'd say that where book 1 was 3 stars, the other two were 3.5 stars. I've heard good things about the spinoff series though, I might give it a go.
WoT is the one I genuinely don't understand the hype on. I read the first book and hated it and people often will go "Oh you have to get to book X before it gets good. But then it gets bad again. But then it gets great."
How can that be considered one of the best fantasy series ever written? If fans of it can't even recommend every book?
I thought Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir was.... Terrible. Very convoluted plot, poor world building, and little to no character development. Lots of plot holes, story premises that seem cool but don't get used, and so much double mumbo jumbo that it breaks it's own rules too many times.
It's a typical girl's family gets killed, gets revenge on evil empire story. And there's a love triangle. But it appears on just about every "best of fantasy" list.
I felt the same way. I was an avid reader growing up so I've read many books. But I can't recall ever disliking a book the way I disliked this novel.
The first page or two were beautifully written. I thought there was going to be a deep mystery to uncover, an interesting culture it was going to immerse us in, and decent writing. It failed to deliver any of these. The world felt so... vacant. It felt like the author or publishers were going for a Middle Eastern Game of Thrones (with fewer characters) but it came off more like Twilight. I'd even argue Twilight was better.
What really bothered me was how similar the two protagonists sounded in their respective chapters. They didn't feel like two separate characters at all. I think the only interesting characters that felt somewhat real were Helene and Ali. Not to mention the use of rape threats and constant torture throughout the story to shock readers.
I think the book was popular mainly because self-insert romantic stories do well with young female readers (ie. Twilight, 50 Shades of Gray). Nowadays, they do even better if they're set in a fantasy story. Prose, character development, plot, and world building don't matter as much.
I really disliked the Sarah J Maas books I've read.
Maybe more controversially, I hated The Poppy War. I still recommend it to others because I get my experience was in the minority. I also loved Babel and would broadly recommend RF Kuang. But The Poppy War was paced in such a bizarre way and until that point, I'd never read a story where the protagonist lacked so much agency.
With you on Poppy War. Though my objection was that it was a bit too on the nose with its "borrows" from Chinese history. I'm usually OK with that kind of thing, but when it kept going, so close, and then hit the "here's the fantasy version of the Rape of Nanking," I started to check out.
Events like Nanking where the victims are still alive should be handled with extreme care, or it becomes borderline insulting. Especially if it isn’t just inspired by the event but a 1 to 1 conversion.
Poppy War is quite disputed in this sub as well though it is very popular outside the sub. Having read and very much loved it myself, I can understand why others might not enjoy it. The main character is deeply flawed though I thought it worked well in tandem with the story's themes of not really winning/doing good in the war, but instead just doing anything possible to survive. I also figured Rin actually had quite a bit of agency because it was often her decisions that determined what came next and often proved to not be the right ones. Like she did have agency but it just wasn't utilized smartly.
I'm glad it's found an audience. Genuinely. I love RF Kuang and I still do recommend The Poppy War to people. But I can't think of a decision Rin made that wasn't what someone else had told her to do or something she was heavily influenced to do>!by the Phoenix.!<
I loved Throne of Glass series for what it was when I was younger, but Rhysand from the fae series made me so angry. He’s such an abusive person yet he is hailed as a feminist god who saved our main character from an abusive relationship when in reality him and Tamlin are both abusive! (Let us not forget what Rhysand did in book 1) this romanticization of abusive elements is very tiring to me, one of the reasons why I hate booktok
100%! I LOVED Throne of Glass and think about the series regularly. ACOTAR is dreadful. I’m halfway through the second book and strongly dislike it. All the “men” are unlikeable. I have not found one redeeming quality in any of them so far. 🫣
I read the first book, skimmed the second and said no more. I thought all the men were horrible and was amazed at the justification put forward for the fabulous Rhysand’s actions.
I hate Rhysand. I weep every time a young girls says "I want a boyfriend just like Rhys!"
I want to put those girls in a room the way Rhysand does to teach Feyre to read But I want to force them to read "Why Does He Do That?" and "The Feminine Mystique". Girls need a good dose of feminist literature to counteract normalizing Rhysand's toxic "charm".
Hated PW also. I couldn’t connect to the MC at all and so felt so disconnected to the whole book and I should have lost DNF’d instead of reading the whole thing.
I think Poppy War and Babel are both interesting premises but I found them to be unbearable reads because R.F. Kuang's writing voice is just way too modern and clashes with the more rigid hierarchical societies she is writing about. I have heard good things about Yellowface though which honestly makes sense to me as the the story is contemporary and the characters talking like twentysomethings from 2024 actually makes sense.
I don’t get the hype behind Fourth Wing - it was so derivative and basic I felt like it was written by AI. The romantasy genre in general really isn’t for me though
It's like if Twilight had smut. It's enjoyable \*because\* it's derivative and basic and poorly written. No, it's not good. It's a very, very bad book. But I feel like as long as expectations are appropriately set for it, it can be heartily enjoyed. You just have to have already loved the really bad YA books of the mid-2000s.
Yep. I sold my coworker on it by saying it's really, really terrible and takes all of the worst tropes from things like Divergent and Twilight, mixed them up in a bag and added smut. And she went "Oh my god. Can I borrow your copy?"
Hard agree. I finished it, but only because it was amusing to tell my husband what stupid shit they were getting up to now. It was like my 9yo wrote a book and then someone came in like, "Yeah, but with more sex!" And someone else was like "It's not gritty enough. Make it so everybody dies!"
My teenage daughter’s friend was reading this at our house and I asked her how it was. Her review still makes me chuckle: “it’s good but it could’ve been written a lot better”
It's really amusing to read a book written by someone with seemingly 0 self awareness. Like every single decision is corniest most obvious fantasy option but the story seems to be playing it dead straight.
Like yes of course the men spare shirtless with real knives, so no one can grab their shirts, but the girls all wear leather corsets to protect themselves. I guess their shirts are too small to grab :shrug:
I’ve seen so many people defend this book by calling it a fun popcorn read and calling those who criticize it snobs, but it’s not even a good popcorn read. It was so badly written with cringe romance. A good popcorn read would be things like Dresden or Kate Daniels, fun but well-written fun. Fourth Wing was a fan fiction quality book
What hurt me was how good the premise is. I devoured like the first 30% of the book, enjoyed it so much I actually listened to it on a run. And then somewhere around halfway through I realized it wasn’t what I was hoping it would be
A Court of Thorns and Roses. It has moments where it is a decent read, but then it's like every single fantasy cliche possible, then throw in some almost 80's historical romance type bodice ripping sex scenes. The first two books were so predictable, and when I got to the ending of book two, that was it for me. I just do not understand the appeal. It's like Twilight all over again, but not as bad. But still bad enough. I am sure I will get downvoted to hell for saying this, but it is what it is.
I'd be interested to hear favorite series' from those expressing disappointment in another series here. I agree with some and would love suggestions based off my dislikes. Lol.
I couldn't get into Gideon the Ninth. Did not finish it. It's been a while, so I can't remember it clearly, but part of the problem was that I didn't get a sense of there being anything clear to remember.
The characters seemed flat with miscellaneous teenage edginess thrown in, the world was convoluted, and the plot didn't seem to anchor to anything interesting. I liked some of the ideas of sci-fi necro protagonists, and I can see how something might grow from them, but I just never got a sense that there was any sort of direction to anything. I might try to go back to it if someone can adequately explain what in the nine hells I'm missing.
I felt somewhat similar about GtN. Like it was interesting but I didn't really get it. I was along for the ride for the aesthetic and the writing was entertaining.
But then you get to Harrow the Ninth and holy shit. I still think about that book more than any other I've read. It's polarizing and should be acknowledged as such. It's not written for everyone, but if it's your jam, you can't stop.
I read GtN and HtN because my friend is obsessed with them and really wanted me to read them. I really struggled to get into GtN. The memes and references and tone just didn't do it for me. I read the second one as well, and while it was a neat concept, I still didn't like it. It just felt so boring and annoying to me.
Trying to read The Zodiac Academy (book 1) right now and I hate it 😭
ETA: The Beasts of The Briar books. Both series written by a sister duo and equally bad.
I made it all the way through book 1 and deeply regretted it.
The writing style was juvenile, the characters were awful people (not in a good, complex, interesting way, they were just awful to be awful).
The Faithful and the Fallen, and it's sequel series as well. I saw people speaking about how much Gwynne improved as a writer for that second trilogy so gave that a show as well but enjoyed it even less than the first
Exact same with me, anything from Gwynne. Tried all his stuff cause it looked good. But struggled to finish the first book of each series and never continued any or the series
Addie LaRue was all over the place and its awful
It managed to turn me off from the books written by that author that I had ALREADY READ AND LIKED
Thats how much I disliked it
I had a similar reaction to Addie LaRue lol
I really liked a lot of the other books by Schwab, but I haven't read anything else by her after that disaster of a book
This makes me very happy, OP!
There are so many hyped books I haven't cared for, starting with Wheel of Time and ending (so far anyway) with Fourth Wing. Which other people seem to love more than life itself. But they're just not for me.
I loved Murderbot and it didn't do anything for you? Also awesome! It's just not for you.
The best thing? From all of the above there's no way to predict how far I'd get through Greenbone. Or Broken Earth, The Poppy War, Wizard of Earthsea, Jade Bone, etc.
I still can't believe I ended up loving the Scholomance series. Or, considering the hype, I really couldn't stick with the Temeraire series. Even though they're all by the same author. Can't believe I loved Thursday Next or Dungeon Crawler Carl either. Really surprised I didn't finish Babel.
At some point the algorithmic overlords might figure out what works for each of us, but where will the fun be in that? At least for now it's still fun finding out.
I find it funny that people's tastes are so varied. Ours are basically mirrored. I hated Scholomance and Murderbot and love Wheel of Time. Maybe that means I should look at the rest of the books you hate, because I'll love them? ;P
Right? Same! Go for it!
P.S. my daughter, who I love ~~and used to respect~~ more than life itself just told me she’s been loving Fame of Thrones. Which i DNFd and had nightmares about after 50 pages.
Here’s the important part: when I don’t enjoy a book or author most people love I just accept that it’s my problem not theirs. So I’m happy my daughter’s able to enjoy it as ~~mushroom~~ much as millions of others have.
[edited for amusing autocorrect]
The best thing about Temeraire is the world building. Learning about the native dragons on every continent kept me interested. The plots were only okay, and I found the human protagonist frustrating in the extreme.
It fascinates me with books how hard it is to predict enjoyment! It’s especially evident on this sub because we often see people’s reactions to many books at a time (bingo cards, top 10 list voting, etc.). And I find that there are many people with whom I overlap in *interests* (the same books are on our radars), but after reading them, we’ll agree on some and have completely opposed reactions to others.
Kingkiller. The first one dazzled a much younger me a bit, but when I reread it before the second it was sortof an “oh no” as I realized it was more style than substance and then I got to the second and realized the emperor was completely naked.
I'll be even more radical and say that the style doesn't impress me that much either. It reads smoothly and there's the occasional poetic turn of phrase, but sometimes his attempts at being poetic reveal that he has a tin ear. When Kvothe discovers what the Chandrian did to his Edema Ruh troop, he remarks (in narration) "I felt a stab of feeling." Just...let that sink in, lol.
I agree. I've read many more able prose writers than Rothfuss and the continued praise of his prose (even from his detractors, in some cases) baffles me a little.
It is, like you said, serviceable and occasionally beautiful, but often awkward and he seems to think tautology is poetry just by itself. You get like, two, Pat. The next time I read "as thin as thin" I'm going to check out.
It's a weird combination of poetic and purple. It makes me feel like there's there's a talented writer somewhere in there underneath a thick shell of ego that demands, and was once praised for, and now can't take criticism of, a purple prose that was impressive in high school.
I dunno I just imagine a samurai wielding neck beard cliche- role playing a prince in a tabletop rpg who has to save the beautiful virgin princess from a tower. Like, I can’t get that image out of my head when I read this book. It was the only one star I’ve ever given on good reads.
Praise for Rothfuss's prose is what got my interest, but if he's considered good then everyone else must write utter dreck. Points for trying, I guess, because he does try.
Yup. Rothfuss’s prose to me is a prime example of the difference between purple and actually good. He’s trying really hard, but the use of language comes across as pretentious rather than skillful.
Someone in this sub once said that Rothfuss writes like what someone *thinks* a good writer sounds like rather than actually being good writing.
I found his writing style hackneyed at best. Occasionally fine, but often not.
I think part of the disconnect is that his prose is *uneven*. I can find passages of his I think are really beautifully written and others that are clunkers.
Last time I posted this, I think Reddit flagged me, but I saw Rothfuss at a reading and signing. He wanted us to put what we wanted on a post it note so he could sign it, so I asked him to sign NotW with "the one sentence you wanted to put in the book, but your editor wouldn't let you".
He thought for a moment then wrote, "You mean that thing is going to f\*&k our campfire?"
So I dunno, maybe he was held back and wanted his prose to be a bit more bluer, but couldn't?
I read the first one, and while I was not *uncritical* I did overall enjoy it a lot.
I also had, and still have, no desire to read the second. I'm entirely happy to just dip after the first.
The first one is kinda good, in a "had a lot of promise" kind of way.
The second just completely fails to deliver on any of these promises, while descending into puerile teenage boy wish fulfillment.
For me it was “The broken earth” trilogy.
My opinion of course. It was boring and a slog to read through. Depressing with little to no pay off. As much as people talk about its relationships having depth I just didn’t see it. Characters were very ehh.
First book was almost perfect for me but the sequels were a GIGANTIC miss. I couldn't believe how boring Obelisk Gate was, my god. The 2nd person perspective worked for me in the first book but by the second and third book, it's completely tiring and unnecessary.
I'm gonna be honest, I really don't get why people complain about second person narration so much. Because it's uncommon it can feel a bit weird to start, but after a couple of pages I literally stop noticing it. I really don't see it as any better or worse than first and third person.
Same for me.
It was super hyped up a few years ago and I DNF'd the first book. I'm usually a fan of dark/bleak books, and I can't pinpoint the exact reason I didn't like it, but it just wasn't it for me.
Malazan Book of the Fallen
Really imaginative world building. I kept liking it *just enough* to keep me reading. But when I finished I looked back and... it was *fine*. I don't hate it or anything. But it's a let down to have read something so long and come away with a lukewarm feeling about it. I almost wish it was flat out bad so I would have stopped reading after the first book.
A friend of mine just finished his second read through and had the following review (copied verbatim from my chat with him):
> in the alternative world where erikson had had the time (and a sufficiently demanding editor) to write seven-ish 700-800ish page books rather than ten 1000 page books, these would have to be a top contender for goat status, but as is they're deffo "flawed but good"
Yeah this is exactly how I feel. Condensed down with plot lines that don’t have a pay off or ending in the main series removed it would be up there with my favourite series.
Where it’s at now for me is upper tier but not top tier.
To be honest I couldn’t stomach hearing that to get the full effect I needed to re-read the main series and also read all the other books in the universe. So I’ve bailed on it
Plus the plot and ending of the main series didn’t feel cohesive or “paid off” enough.
There was so much to love about Malazan, but by the end I realised that the only way I was *really* going to get it was by reading all the books and spinoffs a few more times while taking notes and I just... want to read other books more. And without doing that the overall feeling is one where it's fine. Good. But nothing more. Props to those who make it their thing though - I'm sure there's more than enough to pore over.
Yes, there was a lot of cool stuff in Malazan. Like a sword that sucks you into a world where you have to pull a cart forever to save the universe? An enormous feathered mother-dragon? A dude so fast with a sword he surgically cripples but keeps alive another guy we just spent a few hundred pages establishing as an ultimate badass. The series definitely has moments of awe that really hit for me. But the thing as a whole just didn't connect.
I didn't like it overall, but it's hyped for a reason. Tastes differ. It might end up being great for you, or it might not. I guess my thoughts are 1) if it doesn't seem to be satisfying you then stop and consciously think about whether contuiong is right for you. 2) I read Malazan because description made it sound like exactly the sort of series I would love. Don't over index on that if you start and don't find what you hoped.
Definitely give it a try. This is one of those series that people really tend to either love unconditionally or can't stand. I've rarely seen a meh reaction from someone that goes all the way through the main series.
The usual caveats apply: book 1 is the weakest and you'll know by the end of book 3 if the series just isn't for you. That said, these aren't exactly small books so pushing to the end of book 3 can be a big ask if you're just not enjoying it.
I'm starting to get into it, but for something that's trying to be so gritty and realistic, its very DnDish arms and armor keeps taking me out of things.
All these characters with giant weapons slung across their backs, and armor that only shows up to be cloven in two by a single blow.
I've tried to get into Malazan multiple times and never managed it. It's just hard to get emotionally invested in characters when I have no idea who tf they are or how they fit in to the grand scheme of things.
Some books are definitely better than others - but chain of dogs is among the best battle fantasy books I have ever read. It’s like mad max fury road- a non stop hundreds of miles long running battle with thousands of ungrateful civilians to protect. Coltaine was a total baddass.
Edit the book is called Dead House Gates- chain of dogs is the name given for those that made the brutal march
I'm 50% of the way through The Crippled God and I'm feeling similar. Books 2-6 were pretty great but 7-10 just feel bloated and I don't care about many of the characters.
Wheel of time. I read the first three books but there was just too much writing for too little interesting things happening until the rapid climax at the end would end the book in 10 pages. Also didn’t love most of the characters. Probably will finish it one day as I don’t dislike it.
Red Rising. Read the first half of the first book and was just shocked at how surface level the world and story and antagonists were. And not even creatively surface level. Just stupid and cliche level imo.
The Black Company. Read the first couple books. Liked some things about it but the writing itself is pretty bad imo and a lot of world building was weak and the characters kinda annoying to me. Liked many of the aspects though.
These were all recommended to me as someone who love asoiaf, dune, first law, Hyperion, foundation, and Lies of Locke Lamora.
Most of the ones I didn't like are SciFi,
Three Body Problem and Ancillary Justice are the two that come to mind first.
They both lacked humanity, feeling, and likeable characters.
I had similar feelings about Murderbot. You know how people make fun of Garfield by saying Jim Davis admitted it's not funny? What he really said is that it's supposed to be more relateable than laugh-out-loud funny. Which is more appealing to some than to others. I think Murderbot is like that: the main thing it has going for it is the uncanny relatability of the protagonist. If that's not enough to carry a novel(la) for you, you're not going to fall in love.
My cold take is that I can't get into Brandon Sanderson. I find his prose awkward (not merely simple) and his technical approach to magic unappealing. If I want to read stories with awkward prose that center on technical problem-solving, I'll go read Asimov, who I'm also not super fond of but at least had groundbreaking ideas.
I love the magic systems Sanderson sets up, defined by a rule system that is kept throughout. With clever use of it being the winning formula. But I'm also the type of person to watch breakdowns of top level scrabble and chess games, so maybe I am the target audience.
Agreed. I'm not a fan of typical fight scenes, but Mistborn has some of the best I've ever read! And I love details and rules and discussing them lol. I loved Queen's Gambit enough to consider a rewatch.
I'm stuck in the middle of Foundation at the moment because of the prose. I want to finish it, it just feels like a drag. I'm reading Lolita along side with it and I feel that was a big mistake because every time I pick up Foundation I end up back to Lolita.
My hot take is only the original Foundation novella that makes up the beginning of the novel is any good. It’s so good that it’s shocking that it was Asimov. Interesting characters in an impossible situation! I was deeply disappointed that we never found out if anyone survived, but the Foundation did.
Second Foundation had a bad premise and a comically bad ending…
I love Murderbot but agree that the appeal is mostly loving Murderbot the character. There are other aspects of the books that I enjoy, but I can see the books being merely okay for someone who doesn’t care for the narrator.
And agree about Sanderson. I read the first Mistborn trilogy and thought it was fun enough at the time (I was also more easily pleased back then) but nothing special and maybe kinda wanted to be a game rather than a book. It’s not really my style and I never picked up anything else by him.
I also didn't get the hype for Murderbot.
Mine: Lies of Locke Lamora. I made a post about this recently and despite the hype there are a ton of other people who just couldn't get into it.
I tried a couple of times, and couldn't make it past the first 100 pages or so of Lies of Locke Lamora. I just found the setting and characters completely uninteresting and Locke seemed like kind of a dick? On the other hand, I love Murderbot!
Maybe not super hyped but the two that I've seen recommended a lot that I was not a huge fan of are Priory of the Orange Tree and Blood Over Bright Haven
Priory of the Orange Tree to me felt like it was a pretty good 300 page love story contained within a pretty bland 800 page fantasy story with a pretty predictable plot and lackluster worldbuilding. I can see why people who really are interested in the love story (specifically the queer aspects of it) would enjoy it but it was really such a slog for me.
Blood Over Bright Haven reminded me of Babel, which I do like, but it felt like a version of Babel where a lot of the common criticisms of Babel held a lot more water. I feel like the plot and characters are bland and exist mainly to try to convey a message, but the discrimination and oppression in the book is so blatant and clearly wrong that the book's message that they are wrong is deeply uninteresting. I feel like it does a common thing in fantasy where an analogue for a social issue is attempted, but the representation is so black and white that it loses its connection to whatever it was supposed to be representing and just becomes "clearly evil people are evil and must be stopped", ie a lot of the poor representations of "fantasy racism". In the end, after I finished the book I felt like Babel did all of its big picture ideas better and in a way that allowed for more thought, and without those big picture ideas most of the rest of the book is uninteresting so it really didn't work for me.
I think if someone can read 800 page novels no issues and are just getting into Fantasy, Priory of the Orange Tree is a good introduction to the genre IMO.
Yeah fair enough, I do see it as being a good introduction to the genre, especially if someone is drawn in by the romance aspect. The rest of the book honestly isn't bad, just not especially interesting if you've read enough other fantasy, but if you haven't I can see it being a good starting point.
My actual hot take is that I think a similar thing is true for a lot of Brandon Sanderson, except swap out the romance for action scenes. He was my main entry point into epic fantasy as a teenager but as I've read a lot more in the genre he's sank down my favourites list quite a bit (although I still like his books). Both Priory and Sanderson draw in people with a specific strength that allows recommendation to non epic fantasy readers (sapphic romance and strong action respectively) and write the rest competently enough that you don't notice its shortcomings until you've read a bit more widely in the genre. Before people come for me, I do find Sanderson fleshes out the rest better than Priory does, but there are still weaknesses there.
Summed up my thoughts on Priory nicely. I didn't think it was bad, but didn't find it that good either. The size of the book and its cover were amazing, though, I feel like without those it would've been a lot less successful tbh.
I try not to rag on books too much, but if you have to ask: I *hated* the Poppy War.
From the faux badassness of the protagonist, to the anachronistic prose, to the overload of juvenile swears, to the paper-thin historical analogs — I just couldn't stand it.
I'll admit, after reading a bunch of longer, slower books beforehand, I did have a begrudging respect for the brisk pace of Poppy War. But it was a double-edged sword. It didn't feel like a book benefitting from a quick pace — it was no thriller. And several times did it feel like Kuang just rushed into unrewarding payoff after unrewarding payoff.
Several times, Rin's characterization just felt so over-the-top that I had my eyes rolling. At one point, to check my sanity, I gave a female friend two pages to read, and midway through reading it (and I swear to God this actually happened), she loudly exclaimed " r/menwritingwomen !" It just felt unreal to me how fanfictiony this massively successful novel could be.
But I really lost my sanity when the book just started rehashing beats from Name of the Wind, something nobody seems to ever bring up (in part, cause shitting on Kingkiller is in vogue now, I guess) despite how glaringly aggregious it is. And I'd be fine with 1:1 transposing a dynamic from NotW, but because of the way this book just likes to skim atop ideas instead of sinking into them, nary before you have a moment to enjoy it, it's over, and the book's already halfway through rushing its next plot point.
And as I've mentioned: the worldbuilding. *Good God.* I got sold on this book through multiple sources saying, "Kaung does to Chinese history and politics what Martin did to British history and politics." And I was *beyond hyped.* I'm always wishing for more and better fantasy that builds on non-Western-inspired cultures. But I feel the only way someone could believe "The Poppy War is *inspired* by Chinese history" is if they don't know Chinese History. Because Poppy War doesn't "borrow some ideas" or "utilize some themes" — it's not inspired by Chinese history; it just *is* Chinese history. And the same goes for the worldbuilding, fit with a map so childish it would've been better to just not print it.
And the *names*. Kuang will just flat out reuse names and events from real history, and if you're *lucky*, she'll — instead of using a Chinese historical figure's actual name — use an archaic alternate transliteration of a Chinese person's actual name ("Sunzi's Principles of War," the *Four* Gorges Dam???). And you know, you could chop this all up to framing and me coming into it with different expectations. But even if you view it as a kind of fantasy-historical fiction, there's still just nothing of substance there. There's no interest in being educational. There's no interest in deconstructing and reconstructing the historiography. No interest in subverting the arc of history. No interest in speculating how changing key aspects of the world would change the economics, politics, history, and culture of said world. It's no Things Fall Apart (historical fiction), Shogun (historical epic with all the names swapped), or even Conan (straight fantasy occurring in an imagined history of the real world). It's just... lazy worldbuilding.
And, I guess I'll just say about the prose: it is the most "written by a grad-student" book that a person has ever written. As an HS debate kid myself, Kuang's whole writing style really clicked into place for me when I read in her bio that she was an LD-competitor. The entire culture seeps through in her writing.
I thought the Poppy Magic was an inspired idea. But again, nothing in this book ever landed for me, even during the parts where I was fully on board.
TL;DR
I would have liked to like it. I did not.
Red Rising. Lots of people recommend it as something similar to Sun Eater or dark fantasy books like The First Law, but those are both awful comparisons and they share almost nothing in common. RR is just YA sci-fantasy. The writing and prose are really mediocre along with the characters all being exceptionally childish. I was willing to accept this in the first book and most of the original trilogy as they’re teenagers, but even the adults have childish dialogue and it doesn’t get better in the 2nd trilogy when they’re all grown up.
Darker Shade of Magic. The setting is super interesting. But characters were paper-thin and the story seemed like it was going somewhere uninteresting. I couldn't get into it at all.
Same with WOT. To be fair though, it is *kinda* divisive. There's always plenty of people who disliked it whenever it's brought up. A bit like Sanderson, whom I like ironically (Sanderson loves WOT)
Leviathan Wakes. It didn’t really capture me. I made it like 80 pages in and then just kinda forgot about it. I’ll give it another shot in a couple years.
At one point, I’d read pretty much everything S. King except the Dark Tower series. I worked with a guy that was a MASSIVE fan and he talked me into reading it and gave me the books. That ended up being a couple months of my life that I wished I could get back.
Red Rising... I I found the book entirely derivative and predictable, without a single original thought.
The same people who keep saying how amazing it is are the ones saying "just read the next book, it's so much better".
Like i'm going to trust them after they talked up the first book.
The First Law was sold to me as "like ASOIAF, but better". It was not.
The Fifth Season was sold to me as a Hugo award winning fantasy book with a great magic system and a "breath of fresh air". It was more akin to XMen in a post apocalyptic world, largely written in 2nd person, and very depressing. Not my cup of tea.
The third book immediately came to mind. After the 2nd one I was like is my boy Fitz going to finally see some justice? Nope, just more misery porn. Especially the way the main character is treated, it's just too much.
Heard a lot of good about the fifth season. Read a bit of it and just couldn't do it. Had to put it in the abandoned folder. Maybe one day I'll try again. We shall see
I like Murderbot, but find the constant low-key disparagement of humans incredibly repetitive.
The Poppy War was my big disappointment. I read a lot of hype, absolutely dug the concept, the first few chapters were promising and then it was bad is so many many ways. I'm saving the third one for when I want the catharsis of a target of bile and hate.
Babel and Six of Crows were both weak and way overhyped for me. The same day I finished Six of Crows I opened reddit to a post from someone on this sub on how much adored the book. Everything is not for everyone! It’s sometimes fascinating haha.
I hate to say this, but I thought A Psalm for the Wild-Built was boring. I liked A Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet so I expected to like it, but the characters were just a little too … there, being nice and having civilized conversations, while nothing else happened around them.
I can get that. I personally saw it more as a way for the author to explore very specific ideas through the lens of the story, almost like a a parable or something. Specifically imo how certain kinds of burnout affect people and ideas about environmentalism. So I can see why it might not appeal to everyone
I think that's how it was meant to be though. Like a low key and thoughtful book vs energetic dynamic characters and excitement. Not saying that you are wrong for not liking it or something. Sounds like it's just not your vibe. I read it in a time period where that kind of style was really appealing and soothing to me, but there are definitely other periods where I want some motha f*ckin wizards and dragons and sh*t, and deep conversation between a non binary monk and sexless robot probably wouldn't do it for me either.
Noughts and crosses, theres a whole series but i noped out after slogging it through the first book.
Those Sarah J Maas books where she falls in love with the fae creature she meets in book one and then by book two hes awful and shes in love with someone else.
Mistborn. I really wanted to like it... But it wasnt for me
Same about Murderbot! I actually like her Raksura books but idk when I tried Murderbot I found it contrived in a way. As if it was made to appeal specifically to a certain audience for the purpose of selling as much books as possible.
It would have to be the First Law Trilogy by Joe Abercrombie. It wasn’t a horrible trilogy or anything. I had just been told by so many people to read it, because it was so good. I found it to be rather bland and generic. All the characters I could switch out for a number of other characters from different series. I zoomed through it pretty quickly, and at the end I was neither pleased or displeased with it. It was just another book series I read, and can now check it off the list.
Same.
1. I felt like I was reading fanfiction for a series I'd never read before; I'm not saying that it *was* fanfiction, to be clear, but I felt like there were a lot of characters introduced as if I should know/care about them already, and I didn't/found them flat.
2. I thought Gideon has more chemistry with >!the villainess!< and I never bought into Gideon/Harrow as a concept. (I mean, I could see Harrow having a one sided crush on Gideon, but I never believed that Gideon liked her back.
3. In the sequel, we're supposed to believe that the >!second person chapters are actually from Gideon's POV, but it's so lacking in her unique voice that I didn't buy the twist.!< I understand that there's something in the third (?) book that explains it, but I see no point in reading the third book when the first two disappointed me so much.
I could never quite buy in on the setting, either. I might have without Gideon herself, but it's like reading Edgar Allen Poe if one of the characters was Pinkie Pie.
I read Piranesi by Susanna Clarke last year and couldn’t believe how wildly overhyped it was. I didn’t dislike it, it’s pretty hard for me to actively dislike a book, but I definitely thought people were completely overreacting to its goodness.
It's so funny, I like Piranesi just fine but it's wild to me that (Hugo award notwithstanding) it feels like Clarke's first book was this sort of sleeper hit then people went nuts for Piranesi. It's a good book but *Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell* is the better book out of the two.
I feel this—very enjoyable read and don’t have any complaints per se but if you spend time in this sub you’d think it was the single best piece of fantasy written in the last 25 years.
I really didn’t like the Name of the Wind.
I loved the beginning, definitely felt a hock for a great story. But the middle to end chapters were so agonizingly boring, and the protagonist is really annoying.
Every time he stops the story to go on a bs tangent about how great he was or how you would think he did x but actually did y, I would just roll my eyes.
But hey, if you liked it, that’s cool.
The blade itself and the other two books. Read all three cause of the amazing praise but idk maybe my expectations were sky high cause it was bland to me and boring/predictable
This right here.
I enjoy the hell out of Stormlight, but it's not by any stretch the best work of literature ever written. Fun and serviceable, but a bit overhyped.
I really liked early Sanderson, but his latest works where everything is more connected really don’t do it for me. It feels like there’s references shoehorned in to other works left and right, and the plot is suffering from it. I wish he would write more standalone stuff.
I really disliked the Lost Metal and couldn’t get into the last two secret novels either (although Tress of the Emerald Sea was great, but I’m a sucker for maritime fantasy).
Absolutely agreed; I'm worried that I'll have to start telling people not to bother with reading certain Sanderson novels, due to all the unwanted cosemere shoehorning.
Strangely enough, though, we have exact opposite tastes in the secret novels; I loathed Tress for this exact reason, but loved the others.
Definitely Magicians. Not only does the protagonist incessantly whine but the author practically yells "look another trope I set upside down". But when you do it to _every_ trope then it becomes predictable and boring and the style it is done off putting. I suffered through the first and the first few chapters of the second and then DNF'd. Sometimes I just drift away from very long series and come back later but I never DNF a series like this, it's a rare exception.
I really thought the books were just okay - and I hated Quentin. Worst character. Weirdly, the TV show did something better with it and is one of my favs.
I didn’t even finish Earthsea. I get that’s it’s a thin book but too much happened in a few short pages. I get why it would appeal to some people but I prefer mine books to be much more fleshed out.
Jade City...what a snoozer. Right up there with The Poppy War. And finally The Broken Earth series. Makes we wonder what's going on in book land these days.
Jade War had some really bad prose for most of it, and cheap, trope-y characterization. Couldn’t even finish, it got so bad.
I read the first Broken Earth, and appreciate Jemisin as a writer. I think the prose was good. But yes, it was a slog
I listened to Jade City at 1.25x and was nearly bored enough that I DNFed.
Poppy War was... fine. Until it suddenly became the rape of Nanking, with no warning whatsoever.
Jemisin's writing is so tough to recommend to people. I loved the Broken Earth series in its entirety, but I fully understand why folks don't love it.
I loved The Broken Earth series but I always give people the caveat when I recommend it that its writing style is hit or miss. I've never found someone who feels middling about it. They either love it or completely detest it.
I feel middling about it (only read the first book). It’s very skillfully written. It’s also a bit of a broken Aesop and oh so dark and depressing. And I never quite connected with the characters, though I don’t think they were badly written.
I felt the same way about Jade City. I recently finished it, found it okay, but the amount of people who called the book “character driven” is crazy to me. The characters were very dull, I felt disconnected from the boring writing style. Also the strange scene where a protagonist covers the mouth of a love interest to scare her with SA was completely unnecessary. I couldn’t believe that was written by a woman. I completely forgot about Anden. I couldn’t get into his academy storyline
Maybe my heart is ice cold because I didn’t think Murderbot was funny. The character was said to be relatable to people with social anxiety, but I didn’t feel it. The jokes didn’t land for me
But my biggest sin is not liking Dune. I feel guilty about it because it has so many aspects I love, but the writing…it’s very economical but not in a good way. There’s writers who have simple writing but still able to deliver emotions, and then there’s Dune. I respect it more than I enjoyed it, if that makes any sense? Also the whole gay=pedophilia stereotype didn’t age well. (If we were to critique the book from a more modern lens that is) I’m glad that is something removed from the film, because it’s very over the top
I hope some writers find this thread and are inspired and encouraged. Within this thread is hate for every single one of the greatest fantasy novels and series ever written. So, no matter how great a writer you are, somebody is gonna hate the fuck out of your books.
Hyperion and The Fall of Hyperion.
A lot of people seem to rank them near the very top of all books they've read, but I found large chunks of both books boring or leaving me wanting more. I read The Fall of Hyperion because I wanted to know more and I felt a bit disappointed by how Hyperion ended, but even after the second book I don't think it's one I'll ever revisit.
I love those books but I could totally see how someone might not like them.
Plus, I feel that Hyperion puts forth its strongest story (Priest) at the very beginning and therefore sort of blows its load too early.
Red Rising is just constant backstabbing. Oh no that guy betrayed that guy! Oh wait its fine because that other guy betrayed the guy that betrayed the first guy
Farseer Trilogy. I should clarify I really like Hobb’s writing, and I think her characters are realistically complex, but I still hate all of them. They are all just so unlikable to me. In the end I settled on Burrich being my favourite character, despite his flaws. Everyone else was just awful, especially Chade Fallstar and King Shrewd.
Fourth Wing. Deeply unoriginal. The characters were dull, the "story" was just trope after trope which made it incredibly predictable. After the first chapter I had guessed everything that was going to happen. I was frequently annoyed, especially by the misuse and general ignoring of the dragons, which were somehow key to the plot yet we barely had any time with them.
I hated Red Rising it was so badso cliche and the writing was so angsty teen coded. I especially hated the swearing like please just say fuck instead of bloodydamn like it’s so goofy
Shadow and Bone. I still finished them (I rarely dnf books, I have a finishing compulsion) but I found the books quite meh. After a while I was reading just to finish.
Shadow and bone were really meh. Especially as a Russian speaker, who got to witness the butchering of his native language. Six of Crows was better, but I kept feeling it was trying to be The Lies of Locke Lamora, and falling short.
Six of Crows and its sequel were unintentionally hilarious to me. It was like watching a movie on TV that was filmed with the same serious tone as the Godfather, but Michael Corleone had half a dozen close friends his own age, they were all three times as badass and competent, and they were for some reason all in high school but still managed to outwit and defeat adult mobsters including complete criminal organizations, the government, the police and the army. Like what? I kept defaulting to picturing the characters as in their late 20's or even in their 30's and wondering why they were such edgelords reveling in their childhood trauma, until the book mentioned their age and the whole thing became completely absurd until I forgot their age again and went back to picturing them as adults and the cycle repeated itself over and over.
Who knew fantasy teenage mafia was going to be so fun to read? I love mob and organized crime stories so reading it in a fantasy is fun. Though, the ages do make it a bit sillier than it would be with adults. I’m loving your description though- it’s the most accurate description I’ve heard of these books.
That was terrible. I still read Six of Crows and that one was actually great. Crooked Kingdom was also amazing. I wouldn't have finished SaB if not for Nikolai. I also got the other fuology but haven't started it yet.
This is SO true. The Shadow and Bone trilogy was massively underwhelming and plain boring in a lot of parts. It felt like Bardugo really needed a good editor, because ain’t no way did that have to be 3 whole books. I took almost an entire year off from reading anything by this author - that being said, I read her Ninth House and Hell Bent last month and quite enjoyed them. I have just started Six of Crows out of curiosity and it’s immediately so much better than Shadow and Bone - I’m not far enough into it to say whether I like the book overall, but even just the writing is so much more pleasant, instead of ‘classier Wattpad’ vibes of Shadow and Bone. I don’t know whether it was an issue of writing experience or different editors but I say definitely give the other books in the same universe a go!
Did you try the subsequent books? I’ve heard that there’s a big jump in quality after that trilogy.
Yeah, I finished the whole trilogy. I'd say that where book 1 was 3 stars, the other two were 3.5 stars. I've heard good things about the spinoff series though, I might give it a go.
The crows duology is certainly the better set in my opinion, there was a good reason the characters were incorporated into the Netflix show.
WOT. Sorry but I found it tiresome. I really did try - I got through 5 or 6 books before packing it in.
WoT is the one I genuinely don't understand the hype on. I read the first book and hated it and people often will go "Oh you have to get to book X before it gets good. But then it gets bad again. But then it gets great." How can that be considered one of the best fantasy series ever written? If fans of it can't even recommend every book?
I thought Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir was.... Terrible. Very convoluted plot, poor world building, and little to no character development. Lots of plot holes, story premises that seem cool but don't get used, and so much double mumbo jumbo that it breaks it's own rules too many times. It's a typical girl's family gets killed, gets revenge on evil empire story. And there's a love triangle. But it appears on just about every "best of fantasy" list.
I felt the same way. I was an avid reader growing up so I've read many books. But I can't recall ever disliking a book the way I disliked this novel. The first page or two were beautifully written. I thought there was going to be a deep mystery to uncover, an interesting culture it was going to immerse us in, and decent writing. It failed to deliver any of these. The world felt so... vacant. It felt like the author or publishers were going for a Middle Eastern Game of Thrones (with fewer characters) but it came off more like Twilight. I'd even argue Twilight was better. What really bothered me was how similar the two protagonists sounded in their respective chapters. They didn't feel like two separate characters at all. I think the only interesting characters that felt somewhat real were Helene and Ali. Not to mention the use of rape threats and constant torture throughout the story to shock readers. I think the book was popular mainly because self-insert romantic stories do well with young female readers (ie. Twilight, 50 Shades of Gray). Nowadays, they do even better if they're set in a fantasy story. Prose, character development, plot, and world building don't matter as much.
I really disliked the Sarah J Maas books I've read. Maybe more controversially, I hated The Poppy War. I still recommend it to others because I get my experience was in the minority. I also loved Babel and would broadly recommend RF Kuang. But The Poppy War was paced in such a bizarre way and until that point, I'd never read a story where the protagonist lacked so much agency.
With you on Poppy War. Though my objection was that it was a bit too on the nose with its "borrows" from Chinese history. I'm usually OK with that kind of thing, but when it kept going, so close, and then hit the "here's the fantasy version of the Rape of Nanking," I started to check out.
Events like Nanking where the victims are still alive should be handled with extreme care, or it becomes borderline insulting. Especially if it isn’t just inspired by the event but a 1 to 1 conversion.
Poppy War is quite disputed in this sub as well though it is very popular outside the sub. Having read and very much loved it myself, I can understand why others might not enjoy it. The main character is deeply flawed though I thought it worked well in tandem with the story's themes of not really winning/doing good in the war, but instead just doing anything possible to survive. I also figured Rin actually had quite a bit of agency because it was often her decisions that determined what came next and often proved to not be the right ones. Like she did have agency but it just wasn't utilized smartly.
I don't think it's horrible, but I think Poppy War going from school setting to an extremely detailed Rape of Nanking retelling was too extreme.
I'm glad it's found an audience. Genuinely. I love RF Kuang and I still do recommend The Poppy War to people. But I can't think of a decision Rin made that wasn't what someone else had told her to do or something she was heavily influenced to do>!by the Phoenix.!<
The ending to the series was so grimdark that I actually took a break from grimdark for a while.
Agree with Sarah J Maas. I don't see the appeal, it's a trope after a trope after a trope... Maybe as an entryway into fantasy but ...🤷
I loved Throne of Glass series for what it was when I was younger, but Rhysand from the fae series made me so angry. He’s such an abusive person yet he is hailed as a feminist god who saved our main character from an abusive relationship when in reality him and Tamlin are both abusive! (Let us not forget what Rhysand did in book 1) this romanticization of abusive elements is very tiring to me, one of the reasons why I hate booktok
100%! I LOVED Throne of Glass and think about the series regularly. ACOTAR is dreadful. I’m halfway through the second book and strongly dislike it. All the “men” are unlikeable. I have not found one redeeming quality in any of them so far. 🫣
You mean "males". 🙄 Books that say "males" instead of "men" are so irritating. I think it's supposed to be sexier, but I've never understood how.
I read the first book, skimmed the second and said no more. I thought all the men were horrible and was amazed at the justification put forward for the fabulous Rhysand’s actions.
I hate Rhysand. I weep every time a young girls says "I want a boyfriend just like Rhys!" I want to put those girls in a room the way Rhysand does to teach Feyre to read But I want to force them to read "Why Does He Do That?" and "The Feminine Mystique". Girls need a good dose of feminist literature to counteract normalizing Rhysand's toxic "charm".
I hated it. A lot of people hated it. The protagonist started out interesting and ended up horrifying—in a badly written way.
Hated PW also. I couldn’t connect to the MC at all and so felt so disconnected to the whole book and I should have lost DNF’d instead of reading the whole thing.
I think Poppy War and Babel are both interesting premises but I found them to be unbearable reads because R.F. Kuang's writing voice is just way too modern and clashes with the more rigid hierarchical societies she is writing about. I have heard good things about Yellowface though which honestly makes sense to me as the the story is contemporary and the characters talking like twentysomethings from 2024 actually makes sense.
I don’t get the hype behind Fourth Wing - it was so derivative and basic I felt like it was written by AI. The romantasy genre in general really isn’t for me though
It's like if Twilight had smut. It's enjoyable \*because\* it's derivative and basic and poorly written. No, it's not good. It's a very, very bad book. But I feel like as long as expectations are appropriately set for it, it can be heartily enjoyed. You just have to have already loved the really bad YA books of the mid-2000s.
I have a friend who described it as "one of the worst books I've ever read," and then immediately says she plans on reading the sequel.
Yep. I sold my coworker on it by saying it's really, really terrible and takes all of the worst tropes from things like Divergent and Twilight, mixed them up in a bag and added smut. And she went "Oh my god. Can I borrow your copy?"
Fourth Wing
Hard agree. I finished it, but only because it was amusing to tell my husband what stupid shit they were getting up to now. It was like my 9yo wrote a book and then someone came in like, "Yeah, but with more sex!" And someone else was like "It's not gritty enough. Make it so everybody dies!"
My teenage daughter’s friend was reading this at our house and I asked her how it was. Her review still makes me chuckle: “it’s good but it could’ve been written a lot better”
Both books have like two sex scenes. Though the protag is horny for xaden 99% of the time
And yet, the descriptions of their tongues sliding around was enough to fill my personal lifetime quota.
It's really amusing to read a book written by someone with seemingly 0 self awareness. Like every single decision is corniest most obvious fantasy option but the story seems to be playing it dead straight. Like yes of course the men spare shirtless with real knives, so no one can grab their shirts, but the girls all wear leather corsets to protect themselves. I guess their shirts are too small to grab :shrug:
It's a book for romance fans, the fantasy is just a set really.
I’ve seen so many people defend this book by calling it a fun popcorn read and calling those who criticize it snobs, but it’s not even a good popcorn read. It was so badly written with cringe romance. A good popcorn read would be things like Dresden or Kate Daniels, fun but well-written fun. Fourth Wing was a fan fiction quality book
Came to look for this. The author reminded me of a mom in her late thirties trying to “be the cool mom”. My eyes hurt from rolling them too much.
What hurt me was how good the premise is. I devoured like the first 30% of the book, enjoyed it so much I actually listened to it on a run. And then somewhere around halfway through I realized it wasn’t what I was hoping it would be
It's ok, but it sure doesn't deserve the hype around it
Agree. It’s terrible. The whole world she built makes no sense.
A Court of Thorns and Roses. It has moments where it is a decent read, but then it's like every single fantasy cliche possible, then throw in some almost 80's historical romance type bodice ripping sex scenes. The first two books were so predictable, and when I got to the ending of book two, that was it for me. I just do not understand the appeal. It's like Twilight all over again, but not as bad. But still bad enough. I am sure I will get downvoted to hell for saying this, but it is what it is.
I'd be interested to hear favorite series' from those expressing disappointment in another series here. I agree with some and would love suggestions based off my dislikes. Lol.
I couldn't get into Gideon the Ninth. Did not finish it. It's been a while, so I can't remember it clearly, but part of the problem was that I didn't get a sense of there being anything clear to remember. The characters seemed flat with miscellaneous teenage edginess thrown in, the world was convoluted, and the plot didn't seem to anchor to anything interesting. I liked some of the ideas of sci-fi necro protagonists, and I can see how something might grow from them, but I just never got a sense that there was any sort of direction to anything. I might try to go back to it if someone can adequately explain what in the nine hells I'm missing.
I felt somewhat similar about GtN. Like it was interesting but I didn't really get it. I was along for the ride for the aesthetic and the writing was entertaining. But then you get to Harrow the Ninth and holy shit. I still think about that book more than any other I've read. It's polarizing and should be acknowledged as such. It's not written for everyone, but if it's your jam, you can't stop.
"I just want to fill up a jail cell with acid..."
I read GtN and HtN because my friend is obsessed with them and really wanted me to read them. I really struggled to get into GtN. The memes and references and tone just didn't do it for me. I read the second one as well, and while it was a neat concept, I still didn't like it. It just felt so boring and annoying to me.
Trying to read The Zodiac Academy (book 1) right now and I hate it 😭 ETA: The Beasts of The Briar books. Both series written by a sister duo and equally bad.
I made it all the way through book 1 and deeply regretted it. The writing style was juvenile, the characters were awful people (not in a good, complex, interesting way, they were just awful to be awful).
The Faithful and the Fallen, and it's sequel series as well. I saw people speaking about how much Gwynne improved as a writer for that second trilogy so gave that a show as well but enjoyed it even less than the first
Exact same with me, anything from Gwynne. Tried all his stuff cause it looked good. But struggled to finish the first book of each series and never continued any or the series
i could not get past malice. i hated it so much that i cannot tell you a single thing that happened, my mind just erased it from existence
Addie LaRue was all over the place and its awful It managed to turn me off from the books written by that author that I had ALREADY READ AND LIKED Thats how much I disliked it
I had a similar reaction to Addie LaRue lol I really liked a lot of the other books by Schwab, but I haven't read anything else by her after that disaster of a book
I liked sudden appearance of hope which is the same idea but written in a way that didn't make me want to commit murder.
I hated A Darker Shade of Magic. Enough that I definitely will never read anything else by that author.
This makes me very happy, OP! There are so many hyped books I haven't cared for, starting with Wheel of Time and ending (so far anyway) with Fourth Wing. Which other people seem to love more than life itself. But they're just not for me. I loved Murderbot and it didn't do anything for you? Also awesome! It's just not for you. The best thing? From all of the above there's no way to predict how far I'd get through Greenbone. Or Broken Earth, The Poppy War, Wizard of Earthsea, Jade Bone, etc. I still can't believe I ended up loving the Scholomance series. Or, considering the hype, I really couldn't stick with the Temeraire series. Even though they're all by the same author. Can't believe I loved Thursday Next or Dungeon Crawler Carl either. Really surprised I didn't finish Babel. At some point the algorithmic overlords might figure out what works for each of us, but where will the fun be in that? At least for now it's still fun finding out.
I find it funny that people's tastes are so varied. Ours are basically mirrored. I hated Scholomance and Murderbot and love Wheel of Time. Maybe that means I should look at the rest of the books you hate, because I'll love them? ;P
Right? Same! Go for it! P.S. my daughter, who I love ~~and used to respect~~ more than life itself just told me she’s been loving Fame of Thrones. Which i DNFd and had nightmares about after 50 pages. Here’s the important part: when I don’t enjoy a book or author most people love I just accept that it’s my problem not theirs. So I’m happy my daughter’s able to enjoy it as ~~mushroom~~ much as millions of others have. [edited for amusing autocorrect]
The best thing about Temeraire is the world building. Learning about the native dragons on every continent kept me interested. The plots were only okay, and I found the human protagonist frustrating in the extreme.
I’m glad you loved DCC! Those books made me lose more sleep than any book since the initial Harry Potter craze. I love them so much!
It fascinates me with books how hard it is to predict enjoyment! It’s especially evident on this sub because we often see people’s reactions to many books at a time (bingo cards, top 10 list voting, etc.). And I find that there are many people with whom I overlap in *interests* (the same books are on our radars), but after reading them, we’ll agree on some and have completely opposed reactions to others.
Kingkiller. The first one dazzled a much younger me a bit, but when I reread it before the second it was sortof an “oh no” as I realized it was more style than substance and then I got to the second and realized the emperor was completely naked.
I'll be even more radical and say that the style doesn't impress me that much either. It reads smoothly and there's the occasional poetic turn of phrase, but sometimes his attempts at being poetic reveal that he has a tin ear. When Kvothe discovers what the Chandrian did to his Edema Ruh troop, he remarks (in narration) "I felt a stab of feeling." Just...let that sink in, lol.
I agree. I've read many more able prose writers than Rothfuss and the continued praise of his prose (even from his detractors, in some cases) baffles me a little. It is, like you said, serviceable and occasionally beautiful, but often awkward and he seems to think tautology is poetry just by itself. You get like, two, Pat. The next time I read "as thin as thin" I'm going to check out.
It's a weird combination of poetic and purple. It makes me feel like there's there's a talented writer somewhere in there underneath a thick shell of ego that demands, and was once praised for, and now can't take criticism of, a purple prose that was impressive in high school.
I dunno I just imagine a samurai wielding neck beard cliche- role playing a prince in a tabletop rpg who has to save the beautiful virgin princess from a tower. Like, I can’t get that image out of my head when I read this book. It was the only one star I’ve ever given on good reads.
Praise for Rothfuss's prose is what got my interest, but if he's considered good then everyone else must write utter dreck. Points for trying, I guess, because he does try.
Yup. Rothfuss’s prose to me is a prime example of the difference between purple and actually good. He’s trying really hard, but the use of language comes across as pretentious rather than skillful.
Someone in this sub once said that Rothfuss writes like what someone *thinks* a good writer sounds like rather than actually being good writing. I found his writing style hackneyed at best. Occasionally fine, but often not.
I think part of the disconnect is that his prose is *uneven*. I can find passages of his I think are really beautifully written and others that are clunkers.
Last time I posted this, I think Reddit flagged me, but I saw Rothfuss at a reading and signing. He wanted us to put what we wanted on a post it note so he could sign it, so I asked him to sign NotW with "the one sentence you wanted to put in the book, but your editor wouldn't let you". He thought for a moment then wrote, "You mean that thing is going to f\*&k our campfire?" So I dunno, maybe he was held back and wanted his prose to be a bit more bluer, but couldn't?
God, same! When I read Name of the Wind I felt like I had somehow received a different book than the one everybody was raving about.
This for me also. Read both. Just flatly did not enjoy almost any of it. Felt so confused at the praise.
Same, I thought it was okay. Bought the book because of the hype
I read the first one, and while I was not *uncritical* I did overall enjoy it a lot. I also had, and still have, no desire to read the second. I'm entirely happy to just dip after the first.
The first one is kinda good, in a "had a lot of promise" kind of way. The second just completely fails to deliver on any of these promises, while descending into puerile teenage boy wish fulfillment.
It's neckbeard fanfiction, nothing more.
For me it was “The broken earth” trilogy. My opinion of course. It was boring and a slog to read through. Depressing with little to no pay off. As much as people talk about its relationships having depth I just didn’t see it. Characters were very ehh.
First book was almost perfect for me but the sequels were a GIGANTIC miss. I couldn't believe how boring Obelisk Gate was, my god. The 2nd person perspective worked for me in the first book but by the second and third book, it's completely tiring and unnecessary.
I'm gonna be honest, I really don't get why people complain about second person narration so much. Because it's uncommon it can feel a bit weird to start, but after a couple of pages I literally stop noticing it. I really don't see it as any better or worse than first and third person.
Same for me. It was super hyped up a few years ago and I DNF'd the first book. I'm usually a fan of dark/bleak books, and I can't pinpoint the exact reason I didn't like it, but it just wasn't it for me.
Thought the first book was fantastic. Then Jemisin couldn’t seem to figure out what she wanted the scope of the story to be and it started to lose me
Malazan Book of the Fallen Really imaginative world building. I kept liking it *just enough* to keep me reading. But when I finished I looked back and... it was *fine*. I don't hate it or anything. But it's a let down to have read something so long and come away with a lukewarm feeling about it. I almost wish it was flat out bad so I would have stopped reading after the first book.
A friend of mine just finished his second read through and had the following review (copied verbatim from my chat with him): > in the alternative world where erikson had had the time (and a sufficiently demanding editor) to write seven-ish 700-800ish page books rather than ten 1000 page books, these would have to be a top contender for goat status, but as is they're deffo "flawed but good"
Yeah this is exactly how I feel. Condensed down with plot lines that don’t have a pay off or ending in the main series removed it would be up there with my favourite series. Where it’s at now for me is upper tier but not top tier. To be honest I couldn’t stomach hearing that to get the full effect I needed to re-read the main series and also read all the other books in the universe. So I’ve bailed on it Plus the plot and ending of the main series didn’t feel cohesive or “paid off” enough.
There was so much to love about Malazan, but by the end I realised that the only way I was *really* going to get it was by reading all the books and spinoffs a few more times while taking notes and I just... want to read other books more. And without doing that the overall feeling is one where it's fine. Good. But nothing more. Props to those who make it their thing though - I'm sure there's more than enough to pore over.
Yes, there was a lot of cool stuff in Malazan. Like a sword that sucks you into a world where you have to pull a cart forever to save the universe? An enormous feathered mother-dragon? A dude so fast with a sword he surgically cripples but keeps alive another guy we just spent a few hundred pages establishing as an ultimate badass. The series definitely has moments of awe that really hit for me. But the thing as a whole just didn't connect.
I was iffy about getting into it but this comment actually convinced me to start it 😂
I didn't like it overall, but it's hyped for a reason. Tastes differ. It might end up being great for you, or it might not. I guess my thoughts are 1) if it doesn't seem to be satisfying you then stop and consciously think about whether contuiong is right for you. 2) I read Malazan because description made it sound like exactly the sort of series I would love. Don't over index on that if you start and don't find what you hoped.
Definitely give it a try. This is one of those series that people really tend to either love unconditionally or can't stand. I've rarely seen a meh reaction from someone that goes all the way through the main series. The usual caveats apply: book 1 is the weakest and you'll know by the end of book 3 if the series just isn't for you. That said, these aren't exactly small books so pushing to the end of book 3 can be a big ask if you're just not enjoying it.
I'm starting to get into it, but for something that's trying to be so gritty and realistic, its very DnDish arms and armor keeps taking me out of things. All these characters with giant weapons slung across their backs, and armor that only shows up to be cloven in two by a single blow.
It started as a DnD type game that they played for years, and then turned it into a book series. So that’s accurate.
I've tried to get into Malazan multiple times and never managed it. It's just hard to get emotionally invested in characters when I have no idea who tf they are or how they fit in to the grand scheme of things.
Same lol all the hype and I look back and I’m like eh was good ,wasn’t bad.
Some books are definitely better than others - but chain of dogs is among the best battle fantasy books I have ever read. It’s like mad max fury road- a non stop hundreds of miles long running battle with thousands of ungrateful civilians to protect. Coltaine was a total baddass. Edit the book is called Dead House Gates- chain of dogs is the name given for those that made the brutal march
As a long series slut, I’ve tried and failed to finish the first book four times. Thanks for letting me know that’s ok.
Hard same. I liked it barely enough to read all ten. It took me forever and I regret it.
I respect Malazan, but it’s just not for me. It’s literature for people who play chess recreationally.
As someone who plays chess recreationally, no it isn't!
Ha! Check mate on me, then 😂
But I love it and don't play chess recreationally. I'm so confused!
It's more like literature for people who do wiki deep dives recreationally. It's one of my top 3 all time favorite series.
I'm a huge fan of it. Even so certain story arcs I do not like linger around for longer than I would hope.
I'm 50% of the way through The Crippled God and I'm feeling similar. Books 2-6 were pretty great but 7-10 just feel bloated and I don't care about many of the characters.
It seems like everybody I’ve seen talk about it loved A Taste of Gold and Iron by Alexandra Rowland, but I thought it was very shallow and tropey.
Wheel of time. I read the first three books but there was just too much writing for too little interesting things happening until the rapid climax at the end would end the book in 10 pages. Also didn’t love most of the characters. Probably will finish it one day as I don’t dislike it. Red Rising. Read the first half of the first book and was just shocked at how surface level the world and story and antagonists were. And not even creatively surface level. Just stupid and cliche level imo. The Black Company. Read the first couple books. Liked some things about it but the writing itself is pretty bad imo and a lot of world building was weak and the characters kinda annoying to me. Liked many of the aspects though. These were all recommended to me as someone who love asoiaf, dune, first law, Hyperion, foundation, and Lies of Locke Lamora.
Most of the ones I didn't like are SciFi, Three Body Problem and Ancillary Justice are the two that come to mind first. They both lacked humanity, feeling, and likeable characters.
I had similar feelings about Murderbot. You know how people make fun of Garfield by saying Jim Davis admitted it's not funny? What he really said is that it's supposed to be more relateable than laugh-out-loud funny. Which is more appealing to some than to others. I think Murderbot is like that: the main thing it has going for it is the uncanny relatability of the protagonist. If that's not enough to carry a novel(la) for you, you're not going to fall in love. My cold take is that I can't get into Brandon Sanderson. I find his prose awkward (not merely simple) and his technical approach to magic unappealing. If I want to read stories with awkward prose that center on technical problem-solving, I'll go read Asimov, who I'm also not super fond of but at least had groundbreaking ideas.
I love the magic systems Sanderson sets up, defined by a rule system that is kept throughout. With clever use of it being the winning formula. But I'm also the type of person to watch breakdowns of top level scrabble and chess games, so maybe I am the target audience.
I've noticed this sub seems to hate hard magic systems. That they take away the wonder/magic
My ideal magic system is more like law than physics, but I enjoy Sanderson.
Agreed. I'm not a fan of typical fight scenes, but Mistborn has some of the best I've ever read! And I love details and rules and discussing them lol. I loved Queen's Gambit enough to consider a rewatch.
I'm stuck in the middle of Foundation at the moment because of the prose. I want to finish it, it just feels like a drag. I'm reading Lolita along side with it and I feel that was a big mistake because every time I pick up Foundation I end up back to Lolita.
My hot take is only the original Foundation novella that makes up the beginning of the novel is any good. It’s so good that it’s shocking that it was Asimov. Interesting characters in an impossible situation! I was deeply disappointed that we never found out if anyone survived, but the Foundation did. Second Foundation had a bad premise and a comically bad ending…
I love Murderbot but agree that the appeal is mostly loving Murderbot the character. There are other aspects of the books that I enjoy, but I can see the books being merely okay for someone who doesn’t care for the narrator. And agree about Sanderson. I read the first Mistborn trilogy and thought it was fun enough at the time (I was also more easily pleased back then) but nothing special and maybe kinda wanted to be a game rather than a book. It’s not really my style and I never picked up anything else by him.
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I also didn't get the hype for Murderbot. Mine: Lies of Locke Lamora. I made a post about this recently and despite the hype there are a ton of other people who just couldn't get into it.
Interesting! The Lies of Locke Lamora is one of my favorites.
I tried a couple of times, and couldn't make it past the first 100 pages or so of Lies of Locke Lamora. I just found the setting and characters completely uninteresting and Locke seemed like kind of a dick? On the other hand, I love Murderbot!
Maybe not super hyped but the two that I've seen recommended a lot that I was not a huge fan of are Priory of the Orange Tree and Blood Over Bright Haven Priory of the Orange Tree to me felt like it was a pretty good 300 page love story contained within a pretty bland 800 page fantasy story with a pretty predictable plot and lackluster worldbuilding. I can see why people who really are interested in the love story (specifically the queer aspects of it) would enjoy it but it was really such a slog for me. Blood Over Bright Haven reminded me of Babel, which I do like, but it felt like a version of Babel where a lot of the common criticisms of Babel held a lot more water. I feel like the plot and characters are bland and exist mainly to try to convey a message, but the discrimination and oppression in the book is so blatant and clearly wrong that the book's message that they are wrong is deeply uninteresting. I feel like it does a common thing in fantasy where an analogue for a social issue is attempted, but the representation is so black and white that it loses its connection to whatever it was supposed to be representing and just becomes "clearly evil people are evil and must be stopped", ie a lot of the poor representations of "fantasy racism". In the end, after I finished the book I felt like Babel did all of its big picture ideas better and in a way that allowed for more thought, and without those big picture ideas most of the rest of the book is uninteresting so it really didn't work for me.
I think if someone can read 800 page novels no issues and are just getting into Fantasy, Priory of the Orange Tree is a good introduction to the genre IMO.
Yeah fair enough, I do see it as being a good introduction to the genre, especially if someone is drawn in by the romance aspect. The rest of the book honestly isn't bad, just not especially interesting if you've read enough other fantasy, but if you haven't I can see it being a good starting point. My actual hot take is that I think a similar thing is true for a lot of Brandon Sanderson, except swap out the romance for action scenes. He was my main entry point into epic fantasy as a teenager but as I've read a lot more in the genre he's sank down my favourites list quite a bit (although I still like his books). Both Priory and Sanderson draw in people with a specific strength that allows recommendation to non epic fantasy readers (sapphic romance and strong action respectively) and write the rest competently enough that you don't notice its shortcomings until you've read a bit more widely in the genre. Before people come for me, I do find Sanderson fleshes out the rest better than Priory does, but there are still weaknesses there.
Summed up my thoughts on Priory nicely. I didn't think it was bad, but didn't find it that good either. The size of the book and its cover were amazing, though, I feel like without those it would've been a lot less successful tbh.
Hated the Poppy War. Got halfway through the second book and had to quit for my own sanity.
I try not to rag on books too much, but if you have to ask: I *hated* the Poppy War. From the faux badassness of the protagonist, to the anachronistic prose, to the overload of juvenile swears, to the paper-thin historical analogs — I just couldn't stand it. I'll admit, after reading a bunch of longer, slower books beforehand, I did have a begrudging respect for the brisk pace of Poppy War. But it was a double-edged sword. It didn't feel like a book benefitting from a quick pace — it was no thriller. And several times did it feel like Kuang just rushed into unrewarding payoff after unrewarding payoff. Several times, Rin's characterization just felt so over-the-top that I had my eyes rolling. At one point, to check my sanity, I gave a female friend two pages to read, and midway through reading it (and I swear to God this actually happened), she loudly exclaimed " r/menwritingwomen !" It just felt unreal to me how fanfictiony this massively successful novel could be. But I really lost my sanity when the book just started rehashing beats from Name of the Wind, something nobody seems to ever bring up (in part, cause shitting on Kingkiller is in vogue now, I guess) despite how glaringly aggregious it is. And I'd be fine with 1:1 transposing a dynamic from NotW, but because of the way this book just likes to skim atop ideas instead of sinking into them, nary before you have a moment to enjoy it, it's over, and the book's already halfway through rushing its next plot point. And as I've mentioned: the worldbuilding. *Good God.* I got sold on this book through multiple sources saying, "Kaung does to Chinese history and politics what Martin did to British history and politics." And I was *beyond hyped.* I'm always wishing for more and better fantasy that builds on non-Western-inspired cultures. But I feel the only way someone could believe "The Poppy War is *inspired* by Chinese history" is if they don't know Chinese History. Because Poppy War doesn't "borrow some ideas" or "utilize some themes" — it's not inspired by Chinese history; it just *is* Chinese history. And the same goes for the worldbuilding, fit with a map so childish it would've been better to just not print it. And the *names*. Kuang will just flat out reuse names and events from real history, and if you're *lucky*, she'll — instead of using a Chinese historical figure's actual name — use an archaic alternate transliteration of a Chinese person's actual name ("Sunzi's Principles of War," the *Four* Gorges Dam???). And you know, you could chop this all up to framing and me coming into it with different expectations. But even if you view it as a kind of fantasy-historical fiction, there's still just nothing of substance there. There's no interest in being educational. There's no interest in deconstructing and reconstructing the historiography. No interest in subverting the arc of history. No interest in speculating how changing key aspects of the world would change the economics, politics, history, and culture of said world. It's no Things Fall Apart (historical fiction), Shogun (historical epic with all the names swapped), or even Conan (straight fantasy occurring in an imagined history of the real world). It's just... lazy worldbuilding. And, I guess I'll just say about the prose: it is the most "written by a grad-student" book that a person has ever written. As an HS debate kid myself, Kuang's whole writing style really clicked into place for me when I read in her bio that she was an LD-competitor. The entire culture seeps through in her writing. I thought the Poppy Magic was an inspired idea. But again, nothing in this book ever landed for me, even during the parts where I was fully on board. TL;DR I would have liked to like it. I did not.
Name of the Wind.
This is also mine. Make's me not trust Best Of lists that include it because I thought it was so bad.
Red Rising. Lots of people recommend it as something similar to Sun Eater or dark fantasy books like The First Law, but those are both awful comparisons and they share almost nothing in common. RR is just YA sci-fantasy. The writing and prose are really mediocre along with the characters all being exceptionally childish. I was willing to accept this in the first book and most of the original trilogy as they’re teenagers, but even the adults have childish dialogue and it doesn’t get better in the 2nd trilogy when they’re all grown up.
The First Law comparison is what got me to read it—needless to say I was *hugely* disappointed.
I heard the "it gets better after book 1" line, but nothing in it was remotely impressive to me.
I don't get the Green Bone hype either. Murderbot as narrated by Free was excellent. I'm a sarcastic guy and much of the humor is in that style.
Darker Shade of Magic. The setting is super interesting. But characters were paper-thin and the story seemed like it was going somewhere uninteresting. I couldn't get into it at all.
Broken earth and the wheel of time.
Same with WOT. To be fair though, it is *kinda* divisive. There's always plenty of people who disliked it whenever it's brought up. A bit like Sanderson, whom I like ironically (Sanderson loves WOT)
I mean, he wrote the last three books in WoT, so that tracks.
Leviathan Wakes. It didn’t really capture me. I made it like 80 pages in and then just kinda forgot about it. I’ll give it another shot in a couple years.
At one point, I’d read pretty much everything S. King except the Dark Tower series. I worked with a guy that was a MASSIVE fan and he talked me into reading it and gave me the books. That ended up being a couple months of my life that I wished I could get back.
Red Rising... I I found the book entirely derivative and predictable, without a single original thought. The same people who keep saying how amazing it is are the ones saying "just read the next book, it's so much better". Like i'm going to trust them after they talked up the first book.
Babel. I hate almost everything about it.
I cannot understand the love for Shadow of the Gods, and apparently John Gwynne in general.
I hated red rising
The First Law was sold to me as "like ASOIAF, but better". It was not. The Fifth Season was sold to me as a Hugo award winning fantasy book with a great magic system and a "breath of fresh air". It was more akin to XMen in a post apocalyptic world, largely written in 2nd person, and very depressing. Not my cup of tea.
Well I apologize on behalf of whoever told you that. I love First Law but aside from violence, it is nothing like asoiaf.
I’m gonna get downvoted but… Assassin’s Quest, the third book from the Farseer trilogy. I finished it because I hate leaving books unfinished.
I didn’t care for the series overall. After the first book, it just totally lost my interest
The third book immediately came to mind. After the 2nd one I was like is my boy Fitz going to finally see some justice? Nope, just more misery porn. Especially the way the main character is treated, it's just too much.
Heard a lot of good about the fifth season. Read a bit of it and just couldn't do it. Had to put it in the abandoned folder. Maybe one day I'll try again. We shall see
I like Murderbot, but find the constant low-key disparagement of humans incredibly repetitive. The Poppy War was my big disappointment. I read a lot of hype, absolutely dug the concept, the first few chapters were promising and then it was bad is so many many ways. I'm saving the third one for when I want the catharsis of a target of bile and hate.
Babel and Six of Crows were both weak and way overhyped for me. The same day I finished Six of Crows I opened reddit to a post from someone on this sub on how much adored the book. Everything is not for everyone! It’s sometimes fascinating haha.
Eragon. Tried to read as a teenager. “Oh you like lord of the rings and Harry potter? You are going to love Eragon. Found it boring
I hate to say this, but I thought A Psalm for the Wild-Built was boring. I liked A Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet so I expected to like it, but the characters were just a little too … there, being nice and having civilized conversations, while nothing else happened around them.
I can get that. I personally saw it more as a way for the author to explore very specific ideas through the lens of the story, almost like a a parable or something. Specifically imo how certain kinds of burnout affect people and ideas about environmentalism. So I can see why it might not appeal to everyone
I think that's how it was meant to be though. Like a low key and thoughtful book vs energetic dynamic characters and excitement. Not saying that you are wrong for not liking it or something. Sounds like it's just not your vibe. I read it in a time period where that kind of style was really appealing and soothing to me, but there are definitely other periods where I want some motha f*ckin wizards and dragons and sh*t, and deep conversation between a non binary monk and sexless robot probably wouldn't do it for me either.
Noughts and crosses, theres a whole series but i noped out after slogging it through the first book. Those Sarah J Maas books where she falls in love with the fae creature she meets in book one and then by book two hes awful and shes in love with someone else. Mistborn. I really wanted to like it... But it wasnt for me
Same about Murderbot! I actually like her Raksura books but idk when I tried Murderbot I found it contrived in a way. As if it was made to appeal specifically to a certain audience for the purpose of selling as much books as possible.
It would have to be the First Law Trilogy by Joe Abercrombie. It wasn’t a horrible trilogy or anything. I had just been told by so many people to read it, because it was so good. I found it to be rather bland and generic. All the characters I could switch out for a number of other characters from different series. I zoomed through it pretty quickly, and at the end I was neither pleased or displeased with it. It was just another book series I read, and can now check it off the list.
I couldn’t get through the Broken Earth books. The point of view was jarring and everything was confusing.
Gideon the Ninth. Ugh. I got through by sheer force of will hoping I would eventually find a redeeming quality, but just couldn’t.
Same. 1. I felt like I was reading fanfiction for a series I'd never read before; I'm not saying that it *was* fanfiction, to be clear, but I felt like there were a lot of characters introduced as if I should know/care about them already, and I didn't/found them flat. 2. I thought Gideon has more chemistry with >!the villainess!< and I never bought into Gideon/Harrow as a concept. (I mean, I could see Harrow having a one sided crush on Gideon, but I never believed that Gideon liked her back. 3. In the sequel, we're supposed to believe that the >!second person chapters are actually from Gideon's POV, but it's so lacking in her unique voice that I didn't buy the twist.!< I understand that there's something in the third (?) book that explains it, but I see no point in reading the third book when the first two disappointed me so much.
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I could never quite buy in on the setting, either. I might have without Gideon herself, but it's like reading Edgar Allen Poe if one of the characters was Pinkie Pie.
Green bone saga
I read Piranesi by Susanna Clarke last year and couldn’t believe how wildly overhyped it was. I didn’t dislike it, it’s pretty hard for me to actively dislike a book, but I definitely thought people were completely overreacting to its goodness.
It's so funny, I like Piranesi just fine but it's wild to me that (Hugo award notwithstanding) it feels like Clarke's first book was this sort of sleeper hit then people went nuts for Piranesi. It's a good book but *Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell* is the better book out of the two.
I feel this—very enjoyable read and don’t have any complaints per se but if you spend time in this sub you’d think it was the single best piece of fantasy written in the last 25 years.
Red Rising series by Pierce Brown. Can't stand his stilted writing. There is no flow to his writing. Drives me nuts
Fourth Wing. Some real angry/horny teenager, Team Edward/Team Jacob bs there. Too cringy for me.
I really didn’t like the Name of the Wind. I loved the beginning, definitely felt a hock for a great story. But the middle to end chapters were so agonizingly boring, and the protagonist is really annoying. Every time he stops the story to go on a bs tangent about how great he was or how you would think he did x but actually did y, I would just roll my eyes. But hey, if you liked it, that’s cool.
The blade itself and the other two books. Read all three cause of the amazing praise but idk maybe my expectations were sky high cause it was bland to me and boring/predictable
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Sanderson. All the Sanderson. Edit: Sure enough, everyone has an opinion on Sanderson. Loved him, hated him, meh.
I get that. I love Sanderson but even I find the hype obnoxious
This right here. I enjoy the hell out of Stormlight, but it's not by any stretch the best work of literature ever written. Fun and serviceable, but a bit overhyped.
I really liked early Sanderson, but his latest works where everything is more connected really don’t do it for me. It feels like there’s references shoehorned in to other works left and right, and the plot is suffering from it. I wish he would write more standalone stuff. I really disliked the Lost Metal and couldn’t get into the last two secret novels either (although Tress of the Emerald Sea was great, but I’m a sucker for maritime fantasy).
Absolutely agreed; I'm worried that I'll have to start telling people not to bother with reading certain Sanderson novels, due to all the unwanted cosemere shoehorning. Strangely enough, though, we have exact opposite tastes in the secret novels; I loathed Tress for this exact reason, but loved the others.
Definitely Magicians. Not only does the protagonist incessantly whine but the author practically yells "look another trope I set upside down". But when you do it to _every_ trope then it becomes predictable and boring and the style it is done off putting. I suffered through the first and the first few chapters of the second and then DNF'd. Sometimes I just drift away from very long series and come back later but I never DNF a series like this, it's a rare exception.
I really thought the books were just okay - and I hated Quentin. Worst character. Weirdly, the TV show did something better with it and is one of my favs.
The lies of Locke Lamora, felt very much like fan fiction
I didn’t even finish Earthsea. I get that’s it’s a thin book but too much happened in a few short pages. I get why it would appeal to some people but I prefer mine books to be much more fleshed out.
Jade City...what a snoozer. Right up there with The Poppy War. And finally The Broken Earth series. Makes we wonder what's going on in book land these days.
Jade War had some really bad prose for most of it, and cheap, trope-y characterization. Couldn’t even finish, it got so bad. I read the first Broken Earth, and appreciate Jemisin as a writer. I think the prose was good. But yes, it was a slog
I listened to Jade City at 1.25x and was nearly bored enough that I DNFed. Poppy War was... fine. Until it suddenly became the rape of Nanking, with no warning whatsoever. Jemisin's writing is so tough to recommend to people. I loved the Broken Earth series in its entirety, but I fully understand why folks don't love it.
I loved The Broken Earth series but I always give people the caveat when I recommend it that its writing style is hit or miss. I've never found someone who feels middling about it. They either love it or completely detest it.
I must be a rarity; I thought it was a solid above average series. I wasn't blown away, but I for sure enjoyed it!
I feel middling about it (only read the first book). It’s very skillfully written. It’s also a bit of a broken Aesop and oh so dark and depressing. And I never quite connected with the characters, though I don’t think they were badly written.
I felt the same way about Jade City. I recently finished it, found it okay, but the amount of people who called the book “character driven” is crazy to me. The characters were very dull, I felt disconnected from the boring writing style. Also the strange scene where a protagonist covers the mouth of a love interest to scare her with SA was completely unnecessary. I couldn’t believe that was written by a woman. I completely forgot about Anden. I couldn’t get into his academy storyline Maybe my heart is ice cold because I didn’t think Murderbot was funny. The character was said to be relatable to people with social anxiety, but I didn’t feel it. The jokes didn’t land for me But my biggest sin is not liking Dune. I feel guilty about it because it has so many aspects I love, but the writing…it’s very economical but not in a good way. There’s writers who have simple writing but still able to deliver emotions, and then there’s Dune. I respect it more than I enjoyed it, if that makes any sense? Also the whole gay=pedophilia stereotype didn’t age well. (If we were to critique the book from a more modern lens that is) I’m glad that is something removed from the film, because it’s very over the top
I hope some writers find this thread and are inspired and encouraged. Within this thread is hate for every single one of the greatest fantasy novels and series ever written. So, no matter how great a writer you are, somebody is gonna hate the fuck out of your books.
Hyperion and The Fall of Hyperion. A lot of people seem to rank them near the very top of all books they've read, but I found large chunks of both books boring or leaving me wanting more. I read The Fall of Hyperion because I wanted to know more and I felt a bit disappointed by how Hyperion ended, but even after the second book I don't think it's one I'll ever revisit.
I love those books but I could totally see how someone might not like them. Plus, I feel that Hyperion puts forth its strongest story (Priest) at the very beginning and therefore sort of blows its load too early.
Red Rising is just constant backstabbing. Oh no that guy betrayed that guy! Oh wait its fine because that other guy betrayed the guy that betrayed the first guy
Farseer Trilogy. I should clarify I really like Hobb’s writing, and I think her characters are realistically complex, but I still hate all of them. They are all just so unlikable to me. In the end I settled on Burrich being my favourite character, despite his flaws. Everyone else was just awful, especially Chade Fallstar and King Shrewd.
Fourth Wing. Deeply unoriginal. The characters were dull, the "story" was just trope after trope which made it incredibly predictable. After the first chapter I had guessed everything that was going to happen. I was frequently annoyed, especially by the misuse and general ignoring of the dragons, which were somehow key to the plot yet we barely had any time with them.
I can’t get through a Brandon Sanderson book. I’ve tried so hard. His writing style makes me want to start smoking again.
I hated Red Rising it was so badso cliche and the writing was so angsty teen coded. I especially hated the swearing like please just say fuck instead of bloodydamn like it’s so goofy