Worst books you've ever read.

[[deleted user]]

The plot really actually starts about... oh... two hundred pages in and even then it lasts maybe two chapters, then the rest is mush. I lost interest in the sobby girl and her disco ball crush people even think to call 'vampire'. Rather a sickening series, hard not to gag...

[Oscar]

Agreed. And, in the film, the vampires weren't sinister enough.

[[deleted user]]

Didn't watch it, Sick of the books so I doubted the movie was much better,

[Bradley]

I hate the Crucible. =)

http://www.cardshark.com/content/view...

[[deleted user]]

The worst book for me is PORNO by Irvine Welsh, (not sci-fi/fantasy i know),i picked it up cos i enjoyed the film TRAINSPOTTING but the Scottish acent does not translate on paper in my eyes. Couldn't follow what Spud was saying at all and therefore only got about half way through before packing it in.
Worst fantasy novel is a tough one, i've had a good run of things in the past,
i think i'll pick MAD SHIP by Robin Hobb, i'm not saying i hate her work, just that i didn't like that book (or series really).

[Heather]

I would say that the worst fantasy novel I read wasSilver's Lure. The other two were great books; this one was all sex and little substance.
The worst non-fantasy was probably a tie between Bless Me, Ultima orThe Westing Game. Neither of them had any redeeming qualities.

[Jared]

Ok. I am Late to the party and lots to catch up on. First, since it is the most recent post. I can understand your point about The Inheritance cycle Shade, but I think we can cut a 15 year old some slack. At 15 the sophistication is quite unbelievable. I actually enjoyed them, but I also have not read any earlier books like Dragonrealm that explore this "dragon rider" idea. If you hate the whole backwoods farmboy discovers he is the "chosen one" of the "ancient prophesy" who becomes the greatest sorcerer/swordsman of all time, then you're in the wrong genre lol. Of course there ARE plenty of excelent fantasy books that avoid this archetype (Martin for example), but its hard to escape it. I don't usually mind it. For me just about every kind of situation and plot has been done over and over throughout history. For me its not WHAT the book is, its HOW the book handles it.

Second. I am actually SHOCKED that A Song of Ice and Fire was mentioned in the worst book you have ever read forum of a FANTASY group. I mean everyone is entitled to their opinion, and I can understand the frustration and difficulties with books that shift POV. I myself used to dislike books that did that. The thing is...a LOT of epic and high fantasy is constructed that way. The thing about reading fantasy is it is like a learned activity. At first it is really hard to get started. Once you do, you start to get the hang of it and it is extremely rewarding. Olin, if you have never read Ice and Fire you should, especially if you like shifting POV and juggling multiple plots. Martin has mastered both of those elements like none before him, not even Jordan. It remains to be seen if he can tie them together as well as Jordan (and if he can manage not to write 5 extra books in the middle where nothing happens). Sorry I had to say it, but I still love WOT. But Ice and fire Olin, I can not recomend it enough.

Third. Twilight. I agree with others that hype is thanks to the fervent psychotic obsession of teenage girls. Remember when The same sort of teenage girls went to see Titanic 12 times to drool over Leo and bumped Star Wars out of the top blockbuster of all time? Yea same thing. I have read all 4 books and the general thesis is....fair. These are not THAT bad. It could be written better, but consider Meyer never wrote anything in her life before that. Considering she was a COMPLETE amateur I would say nice job newbie. I am a guy who LIKES a heavy dose of romance, but Twilight was even a bit much for me. If she had shaved of 20 -30% of page time dedicated to romance, and put that 20-30% into the overall story arch, we might be singing a different tune about Twilight. The anti climactic ending of the series actually works, but ONLY if there is more to come, which there is not. I gave all the books 2 stars. Disappointing, frustrating, but not TOO too bad.

As for my personal worst book I ever read? Well...since this is a fantasy forum I will stick with that. Usually if a book is "bad" for me I never get all the way through, but it is not fair to dump on something you never finished. I will say the worst for me was Innocent Mage by Karen Miller. Soooooo boring. It doesn't do ANYTHING enticing until the last 5th or 6th of the book, and its about 600 pages. The main character is about as interesting as a piece of toast. And his personality is that of a 60 year old man rather then a young 20 something. Not to mention this sort of character is the type you find in supporting roles because thats where characters of this nature WORK. Imagine Duke Isgrimnur from memory sorrow and thorn for those of you who read it (solid trilogy by the way). Now imagine someone made Him the main character in a series and tried to tell you he he is 20 years old. Yea that's Asher from innocent Mage. Suffice it to say I did not continue the series. Sorry for the long post, but like I said. I am playing catch up.

[Olin]

i second the song of ice and fire!!!!!!!!! my boss and the janitor forced WOT on me and i loved them for it (kinda, you know) and my bro (who i hate) forced the Song on me (and now i dont hate him so much). but i would have to say the Song is better then WOT, just like he said. the thing that burns me is "what happens to Tyrion?????????"

[[deleted user]]

oooo... I have to agree with you there Jared. The innocent mage was not exactly the best reads ever.

[Olin]

hi Kat

[[deleted user]]

hello Olin, haven't seen you in a while.

[Jared]

We will find out about Tyrion in A Dance with Dragons Olin, if Martin ever FINISHES it. Feast for Crows got too long, so he had to split it into two books. Unfortunately he put all the less interesting character POVs into one book, and all the more interesting POVs (Tyrion, John Snow, Arya, and Daenerys) into Dance. I think that is why Feast for Crows is the weakest book, and why I think a Dance with Dragons will be the best installment to date. Get ready for plenty of Tyrion in A Dance with Dragons.

[[deleted user]]

I really need to get to reading the fourth one.

[Jared]

Kat, if you havent read it already, you may want to just wait until Dragons in announced and gets near. Crows is not as satisfying as the previous three books since it is only half his original intention. If you read it directly before dragons you will get the complete picture and maximize your enjoyment of Crows. It's still really good on its own though, just not AS good.

[[deleted user]]

understandable I suppose. When will Dragons be announced exactly?

[Jared]

Who knows. Last I heard it was due to come out this fall IF Martin finished it by June or July, which we found out he did not. So we are looking at the winter of 2010 at the earliest.

[Olin]

i have to disagree strongly with you Jared, i really liked the Feast.

[Olin]

hi Kat

[Jared]

Oh I didn't mean to give the impression that I didn't love Feast. I love all the books so far. I just thought feast was slightly less satisfying, but only slightly. When I found out it was actually the first half of a book that Martin had to split, it made sense why it would not be quite as satisfying for me.

[Olin]

ok

[Olin]

thanks

[Heather]

I'm probably going to get skinned alive for this, but I tried reading The Faded Sun series and hated it. To me, it was like the author took all the worst aspects of the Dune series, wove it into flat characters, and spat out a plot. It was so convoluted and half baked as to make me wonder how it was published.

[Hylian Princess]

I've never even heard of that series. Is it popular?