The 10 Worst Science Fiction Series

[Taltos]

Originally Posted by iansales

Just jumping in to say that I also produced a best sf series list here.

But it's nice to see some friendly discussion on the subject :-)

Ok, couldn't resist - just wanted to know where would you put "Star Wars" and "Star Trek" books as series ?

[AE35Unit]

Originally Posted by Taltos

Ok, couldn't resist - just wanted to know where would you put "Star Wars" and "Star Trek" books as series ?

Hmmm I doubt Ian would even consider them worth a look to be honest! Especially when a lot of the SW books were penned by Kevin J Anderson, who he hates!

[The DeadMan]

All I have to say about lists of "The BEST" or "The Worst", is that wouldn't the world be a very boring place if everyone liked the same thing. I dislike many of the books on the list and really enjoyed others and I'm sure most other readers feel the same.

[AE35Unit]

Originally Posted by The DeadMan

All I have to say about lists of "The BEST" or "The Worst", is that wouldn't the world be a very boring place if everyone liked the same thing. I dislike many of the books on the list and really enjoyed others and I'm sure most other readers feel the same.

You're dead right there!

[iansales]

Originally Posted by Taltos

Ok, couldn't resist - just wanted to know where would you put "Star Wars" and "Star Trek" books as series ?

I'm only interested in written sf, not media sf, and I count media tie-in novels as media sf.

[Taltos]

Originally Posted by iansales

I'm only interested in written sf, not media sf, and I count media tie-in novels as media sf.

Figures - somehow I forget, that such lists should be taken with a notion - that this is best/worst what list maker has experienced (in his/hers opinion) - and not best/worst overall.

[iansales]

Originally Posted by Taltos

Figures - somehow I forget, that such lists should be taken with a notion - that this is best/worst what list maker has experienced (in his/hers opinion) - and not best/worst overall.

Yes, some people asked why I didn't include Orson Scott Card's Ender series. I've never read them.

[Fried Egg]

Originally Posted by iansales

Yes, some people asked why I didn't include Orson Scott Card's Ender series. I've never read them.

Is that as a matter of principle or simply because you never got around to it? Jut curious...

[AE35Unit]

Well of course one can't comment on something that one hasn't read yet!

[iansales]

Originally Posted by Fried Egg

Is that as a matter of principle or simply because you never got around to it? Jut curious...

Initially, never got round to it - although I'm fairly sure I've read the original novella. But now I've no desire to see if I missed anything on principle.

[Connavar]

You didnt miss anything special and must read. Ender's Game is interesting for the young protagonist,the child soldier thing but not much more.

[CBellenis]

Originally Posted by j. d. worthington

I'm not quite sure whether you are agreeing with my assessment of Asimov's Foundation series or not....

At any rate, as I noted, for all its faults, it still holds my interest and is, I think a wonderful imaginative adventure. And yes, the Mule... I love that character, and the way Asimov handled him. All the terror that the Mule holds for the rest of the Galaxy, and then the very human side we see... only to have the darkest hints confirmed by a very light touch at the end as we truly look, as it were, into the eyes of the Mule for the first time... yet with the memory of having come to care for the character in the meantime, which makes the shock all the more complex.

Looking at the original "trilogy", one can see Asimov's skills as a writer developing tremendously just through the brief span of time this set was written. The advancement wasn't entirely consistent, but it is most definitely there... and Asimov is a much better, and more subtle, writer than he is often given credit for -- in part because he tended toward very lucid yet simple prose. It does, however, have its own sort of complexity to it, and repays careful reading for the subtleties and often sly (as opposed to his overt) humor contained in it.

Incidentally... for me, I tend to include the entire set of writings which became subsumed into the Foundation series: the robot tales, the Galactic Empire novels, the stories of Lije Baley and R. Daneel Olivaw, and the Foundation proper (including those later/earlier books about Hari Seldon); a massive series, all told, yet he did manage to weave it all together fairly well before he died... and there are some damn' fine things there.

As I said, it depends on the recipient's taste in reading matter whether these will appeal or not; but I would by no means suggest it in all cases, nor would I avoid suggesting it in all cases either....

Agreeing with jd and Connavar about the Foundation series. I find now that re-reading some fiction needs to be done with an eye to the era and it's mores. the stories and the 'what if' elements are excellent; many of Asimov's (and Clarke's for that matter) were ciphers and the books themselves were a fraction of the size of most novels now.
Asimov's early work was a major foundation (sorry!) underpinning what came later and I wonder what else might not have been written without his influence.
So 'worst'? Even if it's in someone's least favourite series I'm not sure who it can be worst.

[CBellenis]

And Pern? A whole world, with concepts that have been emulated elsewhere. Great stories, wonderful ideas - not everyone's cup of tea, certainly many things I find a little grating but, as with the Foundation series, it seems a long jump from 'personal least favourite' to 'worst'.
I wonder.....perhaps the story goes:

I-don't-like-it + it's-very-popular = worst ?

Or am I being a bit mean?

[CBellenis]

2 Foundation, Isaac Asimov
This trilogy, while not as actually bad as some of those lower down this list, deserves its high place because it appears as number one in so many “greatest sf book series” lists.
(From The Worst Science Fiction Series « It Doesn't Have To Be Right…)

I wasn't being mean after all!!

[iansales]

You are a bit. You're assuming I take "best" to mean "popular". It doesn't. Dan Brown sells a huge number of books. It doesn't make him a good writer. Foundation is often described as "best", but I don't think it is. It's certainly popular - the reaction to my list proves that - but that doesn't make Asimov a good writer.