Bottom Three Tuesday: Most disappointing Books/Series

[Scott , Karsa Orlong]

I don't know if this will be a regular thing but just to mix it up a bit.

What are your most disappointing books/series that everybody seems to love and came out so flat for you?

[Scott , Karsa Orlong]

1. KingKiller The Name of the Wind - I'm not sure anything else even comes close. Kvothe would easily, well Fitz from Farseer would give him competition, win the worst protagonist for me as well.

2. Uprooted - Everybody keeps telling me her dragon series is so much better but I've been scared off by this uncompelling story. Also don't do the audio it makes it even worse.

3. The Black Prism - Brent Weeks in general as I didn't like The Way of Shadows either. I just don't get all the love.

[Jenna, I'd be free if not for Temper & Edgewalker]

1. Wheel of Time The Eye of the World - I couldn't even make it halfway. I don't think it helps that I read it shortly after reading LOTR. I knew it was inspired by Tolkien going in, but I just felt like it was too much of a copycat. I do understand that it changes as the series goes on, but on top of that, I found all the characters whiny and annoying.

2. The Broken Earth The Fifth Season - I'm really sad that I couldn't get into this since so many people love it, but I hate second person narrative.

3. First Law The Blade Itself - I really have no idea why I didn't like this one. I like so many books that say "for fans of Joe Abercrombie."

[Olivia]

The Name of the Wind I just didn't like. To the point where I'm not interested in the rest unless the reviews for book 3 whenever it comes out are absolutely amazing.

The Blade Itself I didn't connect. I've heard it gets better...

The Final Empire I was underwhelmed. Maybe I should try the rest?

[Em Lost In Books]

1) Name of the Wind - never got in to the story. it used to put me to sleep whenever I tried to read it.

2) Garden of the Moon - sudden change of PoV, too many characters, and writing gave me headache.

3) Prince of Thorns - never got over the first rape scene and how can a 15 year old be leader of a group of fierce bandits (?).

[Yanique, Thread Master]

I can only think of more recent ones since I toss (more like give away) any books I don't like, and my brain tends to erase them with time. I also don't usually DNF, so I try to give each of these books or series all the chances.

1) Shades of Magic trilogy: Great premise and amazing potential for world building. However, the execution.... I felt like this story was told in the most bland way possible, that combined with unlikeable (Lila) or unremarkable (Kell) protagonists, and a magic system that seems to basically be abra-ca-dabra.... I was so sad.

2) Station Eleven: I'm sorry but why is this even getting all this praise? I thought the premise sounded silly, but I read it because of all the accolades it was receiving. What I got was very weak characters and an even weaker plot set in a world that doesn't make much sense at all.

3) Illuminae: The format was cute, but not groundbreaking. I also attempted to read Gemina and that was one of my rare DNF cases since I didn't care about any of those characters;who seemed to be copies of the ones from the first book anyway. I just found the whole thing juvenile, predictable, and too much like a combination of a bunch of sci-fi books and shows that I've already seen. I mean I got past the Battle Star Galactica/Firefly/almost every story with AI "inspiration" in Illuminae, but when they mentioned the Stargate on Gemina....

[Beste]

1)Tower Lord and Queen of Fire.
I don't have a word to explain my disappointment. After such a good start.
2)Icewind dale trilogy of Forgotten Realms.
After that good start with The Dark Elf trilogy.. I don't know if I will continue with Legacy of the Drow.
3)American Gods.
Well this could easily be my number one but no, since the first book of Ravens shadow and first trilogy of Drizzt series made me really happy my disappointment was deeper reading the following books.

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Beste makes a good point...

My books are similar:

1) the 2nd and 3rd Raven's Shadow books...

2) the 2nd and 3rd Sevenwaters books (I abandoned at this point)... too samey in the 2nd, then too many Dark Deeds swept under the rug in the 3rd...

3) the 5th Honor Harrington book (after which I abandoned)... I'd heard warnings about this series, but this book barely read like the same character, anymore...

[Barry]

1. Three Body Problem : loved the concept, hated the execution, just didn’t emotionally connect with the characters

2. One Second After : interesting idea, but bogged down with too overt political messages

3. Honor Harrington series : only read the first book and was totally annoyed with how perfect the mc is ...

[Diana Stormblessed]

Just thinking about recently read books...

Illuminae - Cool concept, but executed so poorly. I didn't read book 3. Maybe one day but I'm in no hurry.

Homeland - I read the first 2 books. I don't even know how I managed it through book 1, and book 2 was even worse.

Midnight Crossroad - A book written for money. A weak plot, poorly developed characters. No thought went into writing this book.

[Silvana]

1. The Way of Kings
2. Uprooted
3. Kings of the Wyld

[Diana Stormblessed]

Silvana wrote: "1. The Way of Kings
2. Uprooted
3. Kings of the Wyld"

I.... what..?? I don't comprehend.

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

I mean... this group IS Sanderson Buddy Reads :)

[Sedat]

Whoa there, seriously didn't expect TWoK as an answer neither did The Name of the Wind :)

I couldn't find anything I was disapponted at. Maybe Assassin's Aprentice.

[Diana Stormblessed]

Iain wrote: "I mean... this group IS Sanderson Buddy Reads :)"

Isn't it though? ;-)

[Samir]

1. The Stormlight Archive - My expectations were too high and, sadly, weren't met.

2. The Books of Babel - I don't get what is so special about this series.

3. Greatcoats - Started great but went downhill after the second book.

[Miche]

1. Wheel of Time - I liked the world building but I couldn't stand how Jordan wrote female pov.

2. Name of the Wind - I started twice and dnf both times. The prose was beautiful but the story didn't grab my attention. The fact that the series has been stuck at the second book for some time didn't help either.

3. Greatcoats - I finished the first book and it was ok, but I failed to see why it got so much hype.

[Silvana]

Yeah Greatcoats was not for me either.

If I could have four I would have mentioned The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by NK Jemisin as well.

Anything wrong with not satisfied with The Way of Kings? It was not bad; I did gave it two stars but was completely not interested in continuing.

[Olivia]

I couldn't finish The Way of Kings, since Mistborn is on my list, I'm not in a hurry to try again.

Also Yanique! Thank you! Those were my thoughts when it came to Shades of Magic. Such a brilliant world, such a brilliant premise, such a brilliant idea, such a mediocre story....

[Diana Stormblessed]

Miche wrote: "1. Wheel of Time - I liked the world building but I couldn't stand how Jordan wrote female pov.

I totally agree with the Wheel of Time. I really hate the way all of the women were portrayed. Arrogant and stuck up with no ability to communicate.

Silvana wrote: "Anything wrong with not satisfied with The Way of Kings? It..."

Nothing wrong. To each their own. It's just one of my favorite series of all time, so like I said, I just don't understand. But it's like the looks I get from Malazan fans when I tell them I hated it (though I think my opinion on that one is totally justified.)


Speaking of, can I please add Malazan to my list above. (Runs for cover from the rotten fruit being hurled at me).

*Edited for format

[Tammie]

1. Throne of Glass - Though there were issues, I enjoyed the first three books, then the characters all became unrecognizable. Character consistency seems to be a problem with everything Sarah J. Maas writes.

2. Inda - Just did not enjoy this all that much. I ended up not finishing the first book.

3. The first Mistborn trilogy - I loved the first book. The second book was pretty good but Vin annoyed me and Elend became rather boring. The third book was rather disappointing to me. I was bored through a lot of it. It felt like it went on and on forever, and though Vin was better in this book, Elend was a drag.

[C.P.]

These are the ones I could think of off the top of my head.

1. The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher - I can't believe I forced myself through three of these. The first was ok, but the other two I couldn't stand.

2. The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss - I really didn't enjoy this, though I think I rated it fairly highly originally. I think I was just caught in the hype, which I really try not to be now.

3. The Black Prism by Brent Weeks - the first one was ok, actually, but the second one really disappointed me and I have no interest in continuing.

[Scott , Karsa Orlong]

C.P. wrote: "These are the ones I could think of off the top of my head.

1. The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher - I can't believe I forced myself through three of these. The first was ok, but the other two I cou..."

I need to add Dresden as well. I quit after the second and that was a chore.

[Chris]

Here's a few that come to mind.

1. Furies of Calderon - it was decent enough, but disappointed me as I expected something as awesome as the Dresden series ;) @ CP. I found it rather tropish and dull, and never got around to the rest of them. I would still like to give it another chance, though.

2. Black Sun Rising - I had high hopes, as I kept seeing it on all the "Most Awesome Dark Fantasy Ever" lists, but it bored the shit out of me. Again, tropish as hell, with Snidely Whiplash villains and boring ass prose. I finished it, but have avoided this author ever since, no matter how often I hear about how wonderful she is. And I'm sure she's a nice person, but...

3. The Shadow of the Torturer - Shadows. Torturers. A black cloaked assassin type on the cover. What wouldn't I like? It turns out, everything. I finished it, but only because I allowed my brain to go into powersave while my eyes rolled over the words until I got to the end. That one was donated to Paperbackswap soon after.

[Chris]

Oh, and don't even get me started on Perdido Street Station. One of my most scathing reviews ever, if I remember right.

And bug sex.

ETA: I guess since i was supposed to pick 3, this one is a dishonorable mention.

[Yanique, Thread Master]

Scott wrote: "1. KingKiller The Name of the Wind - I'm not sure anything else even comes close. Kvothe would easily, well Fitz from Farseer would give him competition, win the worst protagonist for..."

@Scott! You don't like my boy Kvothe?.... I feel kinda sad, lol.

[Jakyro]

First Law trilogy: a lot of hype on the web about it, so I had pretty high expectations, but the books couldn’t live up to them. The serie wasn’t all that interesting story-wise and I wasn’t really into any of the characters. It does get better with each book but in the end I only gave it 7/10. Just not good enough to be considered as one of the best fantasy series out there

American Gods: it was ok but again my expectations were too high. Again a lot of issues with the story for me. I only gave this one 6/10

[Beste]

Chris wrote: "Oh, and don't even get me started on Perdido Street Station. One of my most scathing reviews ever, if I remember right.

And bug sex.

ETA: I guess since i was supposed to pick 3, this..."
Ohhh.. This is in my BR list this month. Is it not worth the time?

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Guess we'll find out together, soon... my hopes aren't the highest to begin with, after reading Kraken in February... such a weird book that I didn't have strong feelings about, either way...

[Beste]

Iain wrote: "Guess we'll find out together, soon... my hopes aren't the highest to begin with, after reading Kraken in February... such a weird book that I didn't have strong feelings about, either way..."

I was in that Kraken BR ...
Hope it doesn't turn out like American Gods+Neverwhere (American Gods was weird and Neverwhere BR was the second chance I've given to like Gaiman books but no, it was weird as the first one..)

[Silvana]

I liked Perdido Street Station. Very atmospheric writing and the weirdness was a strong point. Quite a shock at the start but if you can get through it then you'll be fine.

[Yanique, Thread Master]

Silvana wrote: "I liked Perdido Street Station. Very atmospheric writing and the weirdness was a strong point. Quite a shock at the start but if you can get through it then you'll be fine."

I'm looking forward to it, it sounds like something I will enjoy.

[Niki Hawkes, I made it past GOTM... barely]

I love this idea. :)

Mine are:
1. wheel of time. While I appreciate what it did for the fantasy community, inspiring readers and writers for years, I just don't think it holds up to other works... even for the timeframe.
2. the others (Anne bishop). I love urban fantasy. I wanted to like these so much. Despite having a solid idea for a series, I just don't think it was written/executed well at all. I seem to be on an island with this opinion.
3. Exactly what Tammie said about things by Sarah J. Maas. I can't stand illogical decision making and inconsistencies of character. Their thoughts and actions bounce around sporadically to advance plot and a lot of it had no solid reasoning. Very annoying.

[Margret, Caladan Brood Face]

Greatcoats- I’m still trying (aka avoiding) to read book #2

The Black Company- So. Fucking. Bad.

Uprooted- what a TERRIBLE book. Terrible writing, the romance was basically some idiot teenager pining over some grumpy old fuck who was such an asshole to her, but the plot was even worse than the romance!

[Tammie]

Margret wrote: "Greatcoats- I’m still trying (aka avoiding) to read book #2

The Black Company- So. Fucking. Bad.

Uprooted- what a TERRIBLE book. Terrible writing, the romance was basically some idiot teenager pi..."

Haha, your description of uprooted is hilarious.

[Angela, I'm Silverfox lost]

1. The Name of the Wind - easily my number one most disappointed. I tried to read this book 3 x and still DNF'd

2. The Way of Kings - I did complete this one, but it didn't engage me enough to want to carry on.

3. A Discovery of Witches is another DNF that I tried and tried to enjoy but it was terrible.

[Sha]

Two categories;

I. No god no I am DONE
a. Sookie Stackhouse; first couple of books were reasonably novel. Then it got irritating.
b. The Faithful and the Fallen: Yeah no. I slogged through Malice getting increasingly frustrated at bland characters and predictable plot elements.
c. Sevenwaters; I loved the first book but then it got REALLY repetitive.

II. I was underwhelmed the first time around but I'm willing to give it another chance because hey it worked with Name of the Wind and Locke Lamora.
a. Malazan. I am told that everything comes into place but I got somewhere more than a third the first time around and what struck me most was how self satisfied that prose was. -_- Still. I'm determined to finish it do I can make an informed judgement.
b. The Fifth Season. Ah... The prose really is not my thing. It makes it hard to get through.
c. Prince of Thorns. I rolled my eyes and NOPEd the first time I started it but I may be more interested now that I know what the world reveal is.

[Saul the Heir of Isauldur]

So I tend to give nearly every book a second chance, because half the time I DNF simply because I'm jumpy and want to move on to something else. However, regarding these 3 series below, I'm not sure if I ever will come back to them.

1. The Faithful and the Fallen - nothing about it worked for me, so I just dropped Wrath. I was so excited I'd even bought the first 2 books, but it was not meant to be.

2. Malazan - I tried to read Gardens of the Moon but quit because I felt it jumbled and too meandering. I liked the feel of it, though, and I may come back to it.

3. Grendel (John Gardner) - Not a bad book, but it was nothing at all what I expected. I wanted the Grendel version of Wicked or something, but I got a philosophy course on nihilism in the form of a literary experiment. Just not my cup of tea. Great illustrations, though!

[Meagan]

Ready Player One (too bogged down with exposition and the writing was boring and dry)

The Name of the Wind (the MC seemed like Gary Stu. He was to too perfect and good at every thing. It was boring. Although I didn't get far).

The Demon Cycle (Had so much potential-i even gave the first book 5 stars- but it fell so flat)

Red Rising (again a Gary Stu. And the writing had a preachy feel)

Outlander (too much history lol I'm just not a historical fiction reader. I really thought the romance would pull me through and it didn't!)

Mercy Thompson (boring boring boring)

American Gods (soooooo boring and weird. I didn't connect with any of the characters and Shadow was sooo stupid!)

Abbadons Gate (I don't like when books constantly change the main cast of characters. Plus the story was just lackluster. it lost the magic and allure of the first book)

The thief (thought there would be more badassery)

Assassin's Apprentice (dragged)

[Tammie]

Angela wrote: "1. The Name of the Wind - easily my number one most disappointed. I tried to read this book 3 x and still DNF'd

2. The Way of Kings - I did complete this one, but it d..."

I completely agree about A Discovery of Witches. Just awful!

[jess]

1. Red Sister (Book of the Ancestor)
Guess it was too much hype. I loved Mark Lawrence’s Broken empire trilogy. So I had high hopes.

2. Sword of Shannara by Terry brooks. Straight—up stealing of Tolkein.
DNF first book.

3. Cinder (Lunar Chronicles). Not original at all. I understand it was a re-telling, but it SUCKED. Felt like a middle school
book.

[Scott , Karsa Orlong]

Yanique wrote: "@Scott! You don't like my boy Kvothe?.... I feel kinda sad, lol."

More aggravating than Lift and Shallan cubed.

[Scott , Karsa Orlong]

Margret wrote: "Greatcoats- I’m still trying (aka avoiding) to read book #2

The Black Company- So. Fucking. Bad.

Uprooted- what a TERRIBLE book. Terrible writing, the romance was basically some idiot teenager pi..."

Uprooted really was awful.

[Caelena]

The most disappointing:
1. Red Queen - All my friends love it and I love the cover. But, The story and the characters feels Dry somehow... So, I never finish the book. Is it gets better as the series go on?

[Diana Stormblessed]

Caelena wrote: "The most disappointing:
1. Red Queen - All my friends love it and I love the cover. But, The story and the characters feels Dry somehow... So, I never finish the book. Is it gets better as the seri..."

I agree. I read the first book and a few chapters into the second and I gave up. It just wasn't for me.

[Rob]

Let's see. I seem to be in the middle of many people's underwhelming series so I'll have to reserve judgment on the Schwab, Faithful and Fallen, and The Broken Earth series. (I really liked Malice though many of the male leads seemed like the same freaking character). Uprooted was certainly "meh", but I didn't loathe it. I also have enjoyed the Rothfuss books more (except The Slow Regard of Silent Things) especially with a second read/audiobook, though there is one portion of the second book I could certainly skip over and lose nothing from the plot. The short story was definitely not for me. I too never made it through the first Shannara book. Yick. I rather enjoyed Station Eleven though.

1) Totally agree on books 2 and 3 especially of the Raven's Shadow trilogy. I should have stopped after book 1!

2) I have to agree on Wheel of Time. I started reading the thing right around when it came out and for awhile he was my favorite author, but others over time eclipsed him and then some. In retrospect the first book is rather derivative, the middle books though are pretty great, and then from book seven on it felt like he was just stringing us along to great extent. Then, of course, his unfortunate death. Sanderson found Jordan's voice well, but by then the thing was just too unwieldy. That said, I'm sure I'll reread it someday regardless :) Should've been about 5 books shorter at least.

3) Sword of Truth - Started out with great promise, good characters, and should've been wrapped up in 3 books. Went completely off the rails and I sold all my books years ago and couldn't be happier.

Bonus 4) Ancillary Series by Leckie - Don't know how many others have read it. Interesting premise, but it got old. Managed to get through all three books of it, but I have come away so completely underwhelmed by it and don't know why I bothered after book one.

[Bea]

1. Wheel of Time: Probably the biggest disappointment ever. I was looking forward to diving into a long, complex, fascinating series but ended up hating it. The plot was just so boring and drawn out and I hated the characters (I was close to throwing the book against the wall every time Nynaeve was "tugging her braid"). I`ve slogged myself through the first three books because I think you shouldn`t give up so easily on longer series but it did not get better.

2. The Black Prism: I had heard a lot of good things about the series but I didn`t like it. A lot of scenes and characters felt so immature to me. I wasn`t a fan of the magic system either. The idea itself was good but I kept picturing the characters bombarding each other with jelly so the action scenes felt a bit like cake fights to me. (I just couldn`t help myself, sorry...)

3. Warbreaker. I`m not the biggest Sanderson-fan in general (I`m a bit scared to admit it since he´s so incredibly popular and most of the time I feel like I`m the only person in the reader community who doesn`t love his books) but Warbreaker was probably the biggest disappointment. My feelings towards it are pretty similar to the Black Prism (without the jelly, though).