Worst fantasy book you have read?

[Hex]

Originally Posted by j. d. worthington

What is even more disturbing is that there are people who have built their lives around the "philosophy" encapsulated in these books....

You know, I find that disturbing but not hugely surprising.

Originally Posted by j. d. worthington

As for his being a professor of philosophy... well, that takes in a very broad range of topics; it would be interesting to know which branch of philosophy he specialized in....

He (I think) recently published 'The Philosophy of Historiography' but the single amazon review is... not positive.

[biodroid]

Brent Weeks - Beyond the Shadows. I loved the first 2 books but this one, I just could not care for the characters, they were whiny and always feeling sorry for themselves and then hating themselves. The main character is always in some state of self hatred. The plot was going nowhere and the romance became silly.

[nightdreamer]

Funny I should see this thread, because I was just thinking about the most forgettable fantasy I'd ever read. Of course if it was truly, 100% forgettable, you wouldn't be able to answer the question. But what came the closest for me was Barbara Hambly's Darwath trilogy. I remember almost nothing about it and had to do some research online to find out what it was. Curious, because reviews on Amazon give it a pretty high rating. As they say, different strokes....

[nightdreamer]

Ahah! Just thought of it. Urshurak. Written as a vehicle to showcase the exceptional artistic talents of Tim and Greg Hildebrandt. The artwork is gorgeous, and worth purchasing the book for that, but don't bother reading it. They tried to cram every conceivable fantasy meme into the story. Bad enough to be memorable.

[Heather Myst]

I have read plenty of really bad ones but the ones that stick out the most to me are the ones that friends or fantasy sites recommended but I just didn't enjoy for one reason or another. Probably because I go in to them expecting so much I just feel let down. There is nothing better than picking up a new book and loving it so much that you just want to spread the word.

Gardens of the Moon by Erikson, Deed of Paksenarrion by Moon, and The Soldier Son series by Robin Hobb come to mind. Shaman's Crossing, the first Soldier Son book, was boring but not terrible but the last two books in the series were so bad I wondered if Hobb really wrote them.

The MST series by Williams is not on my worst list but I would have to say that it is on my over rated list with Wheel of Time.

These days I purchase most of my books from Amazon and they have a feature that allows you to read a sample chapter of the book before you buy it that really has cut down on buyers regret.

[RJM Corbet]

Originally Posted by nightdreamer

Funny I should see this thread, because I was just thinking about the most forgettable fantasy I'd ever read. Of course if it was truly, 100% forgettable, you wouldn't be able to answer the question. But what came the closest for me was Barbara Hambly's Darwath trilogy. I remember almost nothing about it and had to do some research online to find out what it was. Curious, because reviews on Amazon give it a pretty high rating. As they say, different strokes....

You read a whole TRILOLOGY you didn't like?

I've given books a chance. Mostly off=days by authors I usually enjoy. But about a third of the way thru is the furthest I'll go ...

[nightdreamer]

Originally Posted by RJM Corbet

You read a whole TRILOLOGY you didn't like?

I've given books a chance. Mostly off=days by authors I usually enjoy. But about a third of the way thru is the furthest I'll go ...

It must have been interesting enough at the time to keep going, but after the fact, it's like nothing stuck. There have been countless dozens or hundreds of other times when a scene would flash into my mind. "What was that when this girl and her associates were climbing down this immense black cliff? Oh, yeah! That was Wren in Terry Brooks' Elf Queen of Shannara." Or, "Remember that guy who can could make everyone love him? Yeah... the Mule in Asimov's Foundation series." Or, "There was this alien that occupied a boy and sent him him messages through his eyes. Hal Clement's Needle." But Darwath, almost nothing. It's as if I hadn't read it. I could only track it down because I remembered the author's name and that "Dark" somehow appeared in the title of the first book. Weird. But it's not actually a trilogy anymore; she wrote more books after then.

[sabolich]

Originally Posted by Hex

He (I think) recently published 'The Philosophy of Historiography' but the single amazon review is... not positive.

"Philosophy of Historiography"????? Oh. My. God. Historiography was the single most stultifying class I ever took in college. Boredom squared. That someone took the time to write such a book leaves my mind permanently boggled.

[nightdreamer]

@riddlen: You're not alone. I couldn't stand them either; they just never qualified as the WORST for me. I found the whole "wild magic" thing unconvincing, and the novels rather dull and most definitely depressing. Rather unfortunate, because Donaldson is an associate of an associate, and if there is only one well-known writer I have a personal point of contact with, it just has to be one whose trademark works I really don't care for.

[Stephen Palmer]

The thing about the Thomas Covenant books is how they were so ripped off Tolkien. Having said that, they had many original points, especially the later ones.

[MaxTastic]

I thought Trudi Canavan's "The Ambassador's Mission" was quite dull. Also I couldn't get into Scar Night by Alan Campbell.

[hitmouse]

I read some terrible tripe in the 1980s:

[Ian Whates]

Ah yes, Raven, Swordsmistress of Chaos. I wasn't all that wowed when I read it either, but I can't bring myself to dislike the book; not once I learnt that the author, 'Richard Kirk' was actually a collaborative pseudonym for Angus Wells and the late, great Robert Holdstock.

[hitmouse]

@Ian Whates

That is interesting. I read Mythago Wood when it first came out, and enjoyed it. I think I first came across Holdstock when reading RPG magazines. Pretty sure he had a regular column in White Dwarf or Imagine in the late 70s/early 80s, but those memories are a bit hazy.

[Toby Frost]

Really? Mythago Wood is one of the best fantasy novels of the last 50 years, if you ask me. Of course, I'm completely biased, and base my view largely on the fact that it's got nothing to do with Tolkien, but I still hold by it. And if he did a column in White Dwarf, then super.

Incidentally, I read a chapter-by-chapter analysis of Brak on Westeros.org, and it sounded like idiotic fun. I still think that to be a really dreadful fantasy novel you've got to be badly written, unimaginative (except for airing your sexual hangups) and offensive.