Series you were disappointed with...

[Awesomeness Summoned he/him]

I am seriously tempted to start a topic devoted to a re-read riffing on the Sword of Truth. I don't think anyone has stepped up to defend it yet.

There's really no need for a thread. All the necessary riffing (sporking) can be found on the Eregon-Sporkings website. There is even a drinking game to go along with the chapter by chapter bashing. It's a really entertaining read as are some of the other books they spork on the site.

[Wolven he/him]

^ this ^

I read the first one, and i everyone keeps telling me i need to read more before it gets good, but I just can't read 'em. Reading the first one felt like a chore. I had high expectations for it, too, because a lot of people talk good about these books are.

I'm in total agreement.

[Wolven he/him]

I was really disappointed in the Shannara series. I read the first one, and started reading the second one several times before I gave up. The furthest that I made it was maybe a hundred pages in. I even tried again years later by rereading the first one. Made it about halfway in. My gods those books were freaking boring.

Sword of Truth, well, I made it all the way through, so they were interesting enough. Dang though those books were preachy. I got annoyed a lot as well by the face that Richard was supposed to be an uber powerful war wizard and he never freaking uses it!

One part of it I did like a lot though was when Richard started to play that brutal game invented by the Jagang, can't remember the name of it. That was fun.

The ending though and that ridiculous speech he gives. "This is our world, you can never come back to it. Your never returning to it because this world belongs to us. Our world is great without you, because you'll never see it again". That's an exaggeration of course, but that's how that speech felt to me. I havn't read the newest book in the series and I do not intend to.

Another book series that I was super disappointed in was the Anita Blake books. They started out so great. The best book in the series by far was Obsidian Butterfly, but the very next book Narcissus in Chains was just complete and utter crap. That book felt like pure smut to me, there was not even a serious plot in it until you get about three quarters through. That and the author ruins my favorite character, the werewolf dude, Richard I think his name was, because that character was based on her ex husband and they divorced. I never read any books after that but I have heard things. Such as Anita threatening some dude because he wouldn't have sex with her? Man that series still bugs me to this day. As far as urban fantasy goes 'The Hollows' stomps a mud hole in it.

Can't think of anything else that I was super disappointed in.

Edited April 11, 2014 by Wolven

[Wolven he/him]

If you're reading a book and you're expecting every character to be cardboard cut-outs I've got news for you: books aren't your thing. Because identifying with characters is exactly why we read books, each and every one of us.

Very well said good sir.

[Briar King]

Let's see. By far the Shannra saga. I made it for about 3 books and gave up. Eragon. I liked the 1st but I barely finished 2, then I didn't finish 3 lol.

[Wolven he/him]

Why is everyone talking about caring? Even though there are lots of characters in Joe Abercrombie's world I cared for its not what made me like those books. It is one of most entertaining series I've read so far...

If there are not any characters that you can care about in a book then there really isn't any point in reading it. Characters are what drives a book, they drive the story in their books. If I can't care about a character in a book then I am not going to feel any tension when they find themselves in danger, I am not going to agonize about what happens to them next, I am not going to share in their joy when something wonderful happens to them, and I am not going to shed a tear when they die.

Books are meant to wring emotion out of us as readers, and if we can't care about those characters, then we're not going to feel any emotion.

[Wolven he/him]

I for one don't blame you. I highly enjoyed The Hobbit, but LOTR was just... okay. Tolkien has been praised to the ends of the earth by Sanderson and and Robert Jordan, but I just don't see it. He pioneered the genre, for which I'm grateful, but the books were lacking in quite a few ways.

You know what the amazing thing about me and 'The Lord of Rings' is? The first time I read those books was when I was in the fifth grade. And I absolutely freaking loved the crap out of them. They are what started my love of reading in particular and fantasy in general. Fast forward many years later, and I try to read them again, and I have a harder time doing it. Still love the books, though I can sort of see where you are coming from.

[Quiver he/him]

Let's see. By far the Shannra saga. I made it for about 3 books and gave up. Eragon. I liked the 1st but I barely finished 2, then I didn't finish 3 lol.

I have such mixed feelings about the Shannara books... because Voyage of the Jerle Shannara was one of the first fantasy books I ever read, and at the time I thought it was incredible.

I picked up the first trilogy a few years ago and...huh. Sword of Shannara was pretty awful; it felt like Brooks was trying to condense all three Lord of the Rings into a single novel a fraction of the size- what a surprise that it was rather predictable and (in my opinion) didn't work.

The Elfstones and Wishsong were significant improvements, particularly since Brooks started doing his own 'thing', but the foundation for the world was too weak for me to get invested in it.

There was a second quadrilogy, I think, and I know I read at least the first two books of that; but aside from thinking "Wow, Walker is so much more interesting than Allanon", I can't remember a thing about them. Which may be damning in itself.

[Haradion Drogon]

Is The Black Prism any good? I have seen it recommended a few places...

[Briar King]

Is The Black Prism any good? I have seen it recommended a few places...

I loved the 2 bks out so far. Also liked his Night Angel 3.

[Quiver he/him]

Is The Black Prism any good? I have seen it recommended a few places...

I am the voice of discontent!

Honestly, it might be because I had it highly recommended, but I didn't think it was that great. There was really cool parts across the two books- particularly the Guiles- and I appreciated the more Renaissance flavour the series had. I found it a little difficult to track the differences between the magic systems, but that's a personal failing.

And Kip. damnation I hate Kip. Look, as an overweight guy, it's actually pretty cool to get some representation in the genre beyond comic relief or over-indulgent-villain. But damnation; I cringed throughout Kips sections. Of the POVs for the Black Prism, I thought his was the weakest. I found Gavin and Dazen the most interesting characters by far, though the generals daughter was also very awesome. It's been a while since I read it, but I remember thinking that the villain was a bit...shallow, but he had a creepy aesthetic and I was really curious to see what happened.

And most of those positives carried onto Blinding Knife. So why don't I love this book?

At times, I felt like the prose was immature, and most of that came from Kip. It seemed every other thought he had was either something to do with sex or bodily actions, and it bothered me. I also thought there was a certain amount of...convenience involved with the ending.

That said, I'm going to read the third one when it's released. I'd say check it put, but I can't say to put it to the top of your reading list because, personally speaking, it just wasn't my cup of tea.

(Probably didn't help that it was what I read between Warbreaker and Way of Kings.)

Edited April 11, 2014 by Quiver

[Awesomeness Summoned he/him]

Is The Black Prism any good? I have seen it recommended a few places...

I've really enjoyed them. The third book is at the top of my must read this year.

I'll agree with quiver that the magic is a little confusing at first but it actually makes rereads more interesting as certain aspects of it click into place. I also didn't like Kip in the first book but he has grown on me in the second. Gavin, Ironfist, Karris, General Donavan, The White, and Teia are all enjoyable to read though and I really loved the mechanics of the card game he introduced into the second book and how it related to the events of the world.

Edited April 11, 2014 by Awesomeness Summoned

[Left he/him]

Shannara series. I made it through elf stones- which had some good parts- but I was just so bored at that point that I only made it about 20 pages into wish song.

Rift war trilogy.

I absolutely loved magician, one of favorites in fantasy. And then after that Pug and Tomas had almost zero screen time. I mean really! They were what made it so good! I don't actually care very much about the princes or the thief kid. Silver thorn and Sethanon were what killed it for me.

Wise mans fear.

I loved name do the wind and the first half oh WMF but once you get to Felurian, things went downhill for me. Once he returns the two girls to the village it starts to get better, but I haven't gotten to far past that yet to tell if it's going to stay that way.

[Bloodfalcon he/him]

Dresden Files were a snoozefest in my opinion. Bought three of them and just couldn't finish the third. Not in my normal "I don't have time right now *forgets*" way, but I really made a decision not to keep reading. It is a little too.... unexplained for me. 

The Wheel of TIme would have been on this list for me 5 years ago; I picked it up over and over but couldn't get through the first book. Then I really sat down and gave it time and it's my favorite series. Love WoT so much. 

 

If you can, I suggest you try to give Dresden Files a second chance. In the beginning the author was still deciding what to do with the story, the first 2 are almost standalone books, the third things start getting real but it's from the fourth(starting with the consequences of the ending of the third) that you really see the overall plot. I would really recommend trying to get to end of book 4 and then decide.

 

As for me, I was really disappointed with the Maze Runners series. I discoverd the author on Sanderson's blog and i treid the first book and was really hooked. Then the second was kinda meh, and when I was less then halfway through the third I wanted to strangle all the protagonists and the ending was really crem dung imho...

I was wrong. I took this advice and started reading Dresden Files again. I think the problems the first go around was me wanting something too particular out of it, having just come off of reading other fast paced action books, and having been absolutely sick of werewolves and the classic monster story characters. 

I'm half way through the third book now and I rather like how it is going. It still lacks a lot of explanation, but I've decided on a new approach: don't think, just read. As long as I don't try to guess or examine any of the events, it's a very fun, fast-paced thriller of a series. I'm looking forward to getting to the meat and bones of the overall story too. 

So this post is to basically deny my last post. 

If I had to pick a new one series to be disappointed with, I'd say Discworld. I've talked about why before, but basically it is one step too goofy for me to take any of it seriously. That was reading the first book, so I didn't give it a long effort, but the goofiness and the even more unexplained magical events left me unimpressed.  I will say though - I'll always remember the explanation of the planet's makeup, which was something along the lines of "in an infinite universe, some setup like this was bound to happen by chance eventually. That's just where we are. It happened here." Love, love, love that idea. 

[Argent he/him]

You are not supposed to take the Discworld seriously...

[Left he/him]

I loved Mort, but whenever I try and read any of the other discworld stuff I haven't like it. I've tried:

The Truth

Unseen Acidemicals

Equal Rites

 

Are there any others like Mort? I really liked that one.

[Argent he/him]

I haven't read Discworld in... over 10 years now... but I think the other books from Mort's arc were pretty solid. Guards, Guards! is the one Brandon keeps recommending to people, and I remember it fondly.

[Left he/him]

There's sequals to Mort?????????!!!!!!!!!!! I will be looking these up

[Haradion Drogon]

Yes. Reaper Man, Soul Music, Hogfather, Thief of Time, all feature Mort's Legacy.

[Shivertongue he/him]

I loved Mort, but whenever I try and read any of the other discworld stuff I haven't like it. I've tried:

The Truth

Unseen Acidemicals

Equal Rites

 

Are there any others like Mort? I really liked that one.

 

Not sequels to Mort, but I highly recommend Gong Postal and Making Money, two of my personal favorites. The latter is one that Brandon also highly recommends. 

 

The great thing about Discworld is, with some exceptions, you don't HAVE to read them in any order. You can start anywhere, and it's generally better to start at the middle and later books. They're all standalones, with some having callbacks to events in previous books, but you're not really required to read anything earlier to enjoy them.

[Tempus]

Going Postal and Making Money are fantastic. Raising Steam not nearly as good.

[Haradion Drogon]

Thud, and Nightwatch are two of my all time favourites. 

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles she/her]

A Series of Unfortunate Events. They started deteriorating in quality around the 10th book, and the 12th was the last one that was still decent. But ​The End….I'll just pretend that one never happened. Snicket should've called it The Baudelaires and the Island of Endless Discussions about the Human Condition: Serious Fans Turn Back Before Your Pleasant Memories are Sullied. 

 

Divergent was another. The first book was fun—no earth-shattering literature by any stretch, but fun—and the second book completely killed me with its lack of logic. (C'mon, Roth, do you REALLY mean to tell me the Erudite have the technology for mind-control but no place to print out a wanted poster? And "death serum"? Were you TRYING to make it sound stupid?) 

 

And pretty much everything Ted Dekker has written in recent years has been extremely disappointing, but it was Mortal, the second in his Books of Mortals series, that made me decide to never read anything he writes again. 

[Haradion Drogon]

UGH! A Series of Unfortunate Events!

 

I had forgotten...

 

The End was the most disappointing thing I have ever read.

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles she/her]

It was a cop out. A very well written and occasionally amusing copout, but a copout. Snicker had no idea how to resolve the mysteries he'd written, so he just...didn't.