Series you were disappointed with...

[gjustice99 she/her]

It wasn't Nico being gay that I took issue with. I mean, I won't go into the whole homosexuality debate, but I don't have a problem with homosexual characters in fiction. Aside from the lack of foreshadowing, what bothered me about that was that Jason only decided to be nicer to Nico once he revealed, under duress, that he had a crush on another boy. Why couldn't Jason have had compassion on him when he realized, I don't know, that Nico had been spurned by all the other gods and most of Camp Half-Blood because his dad had the audacity to mind his own business in the Underworld? Or that he hadn't had a real friend since Bianca died? Or that he felt he had too much to live down and had devoted his entire life to being the hero absolutely no one thought he could be? Or that he spent a week in Tartarus and nobody really seemed to care until they learned the giants were involved? Nico had a ton of traumatic experiences in his past that could have been grounds for sympathy on their own, so why did it have to be his crush on Percy that finally drove Jason to pity him? And Jason didn't even mention any of that stuff—as far as the Son of Jupiter was concerned, the only thing that mattered was that Nico diAngelo was gay. Had Riordan left that particular revelation out of the series, would Jason have even bothered?

 

I mostly finished the series out of obligation to my siblings—they both loved BOO, and I figured, if they liked it, Riordan must have done something right. How wrong I was. 

 

The battle with the giants was so lame. Piper sings to the snake people, they find the giants, they're losing, THE GODS SHOW UP YIPPEE, and the battle is over in three pages. It was hyped up as this humungous battle for four books, and then it's just…over? What the heck? 

 

Leo's death, while telegraphed from almost the first chapter, was decently done. Missing a little something, but not bad. Still, I would've liked it better if Riordan had played it as though Hazel would be the one to die, then have Leo be the one instead. Or something like that. I saw the twist from the beginning, so it lost a lot of its emotional impact for me.

Leo's death was not a twist. It was so heavily advertised you could see it coming from the first time a potion that could birng back the dead was mentioned. And I did not think that you had a problem with gay characters, I accept it as Rick made me happy by (basically) putting Nico with someone as that was my only wish for BOO other than to wrap up the lives of the characters that I had spent my childhood reading about.

[Orlion Blight he/him]

I really do not understand this viewpoint. Every person I've met, either in real life or on forums, who recommends Malazan always says this. If I were to read the series, then, should I even bother with book 1? Most answer with "yes." Why? If someone didn't like the first, no matter how good the rest might be why recommend they continue? If someone read Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's/Philosopher's Stone and told me they did not like it, I would never tell them to continue reading, even though the books only get better. It just does not make sense to me. I would actually greatly appreciate someone explaining this to me, as I really only ever see it happen with Malazan.

For Malazan, it's for the following reason: you're going to get thrown in the middle of events no matter where you start. So yes, Deadhouse Gates is great, Memories of Ice are better, but it's better to get nearly drowned in Gardens of the Moon and get a sense of the style and characters before you get into later books. 

 

I would add that if neither Deadhouse Gates nor Memories of Ice impress you, just stop. It will not get better for you.

[Blaze1616 he/him]

Thanks everyone for the responses. Malazan is on my list (who knows when I'll get to it) and I was just curious as to why people beg others to read past book one. Thanks again!

[Shaggai]

First, thanks to all previous posters for warning me off some of these series (with good explanations why) - you've saved me some time!

 

Here are my contributions:

 

Stephen Lawhead's Celtic Crusades series was a severe disappointment, especially after his initial Arthur trilogy and the Song of Albion Cycle were so great. Not sure what happened to him. I gave his newest series, Bright Empires, a chance, and I enjoyed the first 4 volumes; but the final book was again a real disappointment - it's like he didn't know what to do with characters/situations, so he just ended them abruptly or glossed over things. He was my favorite author in the 90s, but I think this is the end of the line for me.

 

Like others above, I thought Divergent didn't live up to the hype - like a poor cousin of the Hunger Games IMO.

 

And I am one of those people who did not care for most of WoT. The only reason I read any of the books was to be able to read Brandon's final 3. #6 was such grinding agony that, for #7-11, I opted for Leigh Butler's re-read at Tor.com + the WoT Encyclopaedia. To me, all the pages and pages of excessively florid description and all the naked people hitting each other with sticks for no discernable reason just got to be too much - take all that out, and each book would have been maybe 100-150 pages, or at least that's how it felt to me. I did enjoy #12-14, and was pretty satisfied with how things ended in AMoL.

 

Someone else mentioned Michael Grant's Gone series; that was another one I didn't like. The first book was OK, but by the middle of #2 it seemed like it had changed from a paranormal/modern fantasy story to pure horror - as if the author was thinking, "What can I put the characters through that will be even more horrifying than what they've faced so far?" I cheated and looked up the series synopsis on wikipedia, and quickly determined not to expend any more effort in that direction. Wish I could delete the 1st volume from my iBookshelf because I will never want to read it again.

 

I very much enjoyed A Fire Upon the Deep by Vernor Vinge, but was badly disappointed by the sequel and could not finish it.

 

The first book in the Patricia Hutchins series by Jack McDevitt, The Engines of God, was the best in that series; IMO they got weaker as it went along. His Alex Benedict series is much stronger, and #1 A Talent for War is one of the best SF books I've ever read.

 

I tried Discworld, because it's supposed to be a classic (and because I got it at the library's thrift store for 25 cents). It was OK, but what I noticed most was how slow-moving it was. I think the reason is that novels and movies are just more action-filled now: my expectations have changed. I bet if I'd read it right after it was published, I'd have liked it better.

 

The same goes for Anne McCaffrey's Dragonriders series. It just seemed too slow-moving and too predictable. But (as someone posted above for another series) I suspect that this is because I read it years after I'd read newer works that were patterned after it but written in a more contemporary style.

 

Finally, I have to add the classic Lensmen series, by E.E. "Doc" Smith. These were written 1948-54 and are considered very influential early SF works. While it's interesting to read these short novels for historical perspective ... well, if you look at the original Star Trek series from the 60s and the way it portrayed people, Lensmen is even more guilty of stereotyping and the bad kind of old-fashioned attitudes than ST-TOS was.The science is old too: In the first book, the author apparently didn't know how destructive atomic bombs were (!). I would not recommend this series except as a study in historical ways that American men viewed women and other people in general. Mostly, I think it would just make modern people angry, and why go out of your way for that?

 

Sorry this entry was so long - wish I'd found this thread sooner. :-)

Which Discworld book did you read? They vary a lot in style, and the first few aren't as good as the later ones.

[Iarwainiel I she/her]

Which Discworld book did you read? They vary a lot in style, and the first few aren't as good as the later ones.

 

It was the first one - "Discworld."

 

Thanks for encouraging me to try the others! - but there are so many series out there that I do like, I really don't see myself continuing with anything if my gut tells me the time would be better spent reading something else, or even re-reading one of Brandon's books.

[Shaggai]

It was the first one - "Discworld."

 

Thanks for encouraging me to try the others! - but there are so many series out there that I do like, I really don't see myself continuing with anything if my gut tells me the time would be better spent reading something else, or even re-reading one of Brandon's books.

The first one is called "The Color of Magic", and it's definitely not as good as the later ones. I think "Reaper Man" is a good start, or "Small Gods" if you find discussions of religion to be interesting.

[Haradion Drogon]

Small Gods is FANTASTIC. It does contain a lot of reflection on the merits of religion, and what can happen when it is abused. But from someone as critical of  Religion as Pratchett, its very balanced and thought provoking, and the story is great.

Reaper Man is excellent - as is Mort.

If you are a first timer, you can't go wrong with the "Watch" sequence of Discworld. "Guards Guards" is a little wobbly, but everything after that is excellent. Night Watch and Thud are my all time favorites.

I have heard good things about "Sourcery"  though I've not read that one yet, and Hogfather is brilliant.

[Iarwainiel I she/her]

... aaaaaand this is the part where I have to go back and change my post from a few weeks ago, because it was not "Discworld" that I read, but "Ringworld," by Larry Niven (1970, which explains my impression of an older writing style).

 

I kept wondering - wizards? witches? Those didn't seem to fit in the book that I read, and sure enough, they actually do not.

 

If it had not been for you, my fellow 17th Sharders, I would still be confused. Hearty thanks!

 

An additional New Years' Reolution for me: Read an actual, for-real "Discworld" book.

[Pestis the Spider she/her]

I've been really disappointed with Lord of The Rings series, and generally all other Tolkien's books. I do not say that these are not good books. Because they are good. But the problem is that many people say it's an ultimate fantasy series that they are absolutely amazing, flawless, and I actually know some people that treat LotR almost like a Bible. 

 

 

I do agree that the world creation and plot in LotR is great, but characters are simply boring. The descriptions are also boring, and way too long, which makes them simply tiring, and which makes them kill all the action. I still remember the overly long description of trees, and I also remember the scene when Aragorn was arguing with the guard at the King's Palace in Rohan (I don't remember how the city was called). The dialogue between them is 5 pages or so long and the only thing the guard says "You can't take weapons inside", and the only thing Aragorn says is "But I am the king of Gondor, and this is Anduril, which is super cool sword, and I'm not going to leave it". 5 pages of almost the same statements. That killed me. I was so bored with this scene that I think I won't be able to ever forget it

 

 

Maybe the problem is that I had really high expectations (because everyone says that LotR is so great) but at the end I was really disappointed with this series. The books are still good, but not as good as everyone told me they are.

Edited January 2, 2015 by Pestis the Spider

[the Gleeman he/him]

For me the star wars E.U. don't get me wrong there were a lot of awesome stories and I felt genuinely bad when Disney simply caned the whole thing. but there were just so many different Authors who each had their own ideas about how the universe should work and who didn't even bother to talk to one another that by the end it was a jumbled mess. 

 

Also both The wheel of time and A song of ice and fire both series started out great (seriously books 1-5 of the WOT rank as the 3rd-7th best fantasy books I have ever read (they will most likely fall further as Stormlight Archive progresses) but as they dragged on they began to fall apart. both series had the exact same problem for me, to many characters each getting their own story and ultimately bringing down the books. I don't care that Cersei Lannister is a b* this has been established for a long time we don't need a quarter of a book to reinforce this fact.

What was wrong with the Star Wars E.U.? The diversity of writers and ideas is part of what makes it great. I do admit that some series were utterly despicable (I'm looking at you Fate of the Jedi and the second half of Republic Commando!) but overall, it reached many topics and styles. 

 

 

 

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. 

I agree so much with this! The Circle and surrounding novels were amazing and the Caleb series is personally one of my favorite series of all time, but recent books have fallen flat. The characters and plots have just seemed boring to me. Dekker seems to have lost what he first did and doesn't look like he's going to regain it.

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles she/her]

I agree so much with this! The Circle and surrounding novels were amazing and the Caleb series is personally one of my favorite series of all time, but recent books have fallen flat. The characters and plots have just seemed boring to me. Dekker seems to have lost what he first did and doesn't look like he's going to regain it.

Lately it seems like he's just writing the same book over and over. It's like he struck gold with the Circle books, so now he's writing the same Christ-figure-in-an-alternate-universe story he wrote in that series. And in the Circle books, it worked. Those were GOOD books. Every retelling of the Circle books after that? Not so much.

[Dunkum he/him]

2 series come to mind for me:

 

the first is Redwall.  I had occasionally heard good things about the Redwall series, so when I found a bunch of them at a used book sale for 50 cents each, I picked them up and started reading them...and I think they are pretty terrible.  Partly this is probably because I'm really about 15-20 years too old for them, but I just think everything about them is so simplistic.

 

number 2 is The Fionavar Tapestry by Guy Gavriel Kay.  I had picked up Tigana by him at the library a couple years back and it was amazing.  So when I found a series of his at a used book sale (the same one as the redwall books, though maybe a different day.  I like used book sales) I gladly bought them.  They were good too, just nowhere near as good as I felt that Tigana was.  plus they had a couple of things going on in them that I had mixed feelings about (narnia-esque people from our world brought ot another world to be its saviors; wierd interactions with our own mythology, etc.) which detracted from the overall experience.

 

Edited to add: I also get some of the hate for Wheel of Time.  Eye of the World is terrible, and the series as a whole has its share of problems.  If circumstances hadnt caused me to start at book 3 (the best in the series IMO) I might not have gotten into it

On Song of Ice and Fire, it always amazes me the hate I see for Feast for Crows.  That is the most interesting book in the series, and I just don't get why people don't like it

Edited January 5, 2015 by Dunkum

[Shaggai]

2 series come to mind for me:

 

the first is Redwall.  I had occasionally heard good things about the Redwall series, so when I found a bunch of them at a used book sale for 50 cents each, I picked them up and started reading them...and I think they are pretty terrible.  Partly this is probably because I'm really about 15-20 years too old for them, but I just think everything about them is so simplistic.

 

number 2 is The Fionavar Tapestry by Guy Gavriel Kay.  I had picked up Tigana by him at the library a couple years back and it was amazing.  So when I found a series of his at a used book sale (the same one as the redwall books, though maybe a different day.  I like used book sales) I gladly bought them.  They were good too, just nowhere near as good as I felt that Tigana was.  plus they had a couple of things going on in them that I had mixed feelings about (narnia-esque people from our world brought ot another world to be its saviors; wierd interactions with our own mythology, etc.) which detracted from the overall experience.

 

Edited to add: I also get some of the hate for Wheel of Time.  Eye of the World is terrible, and the series as a whole has its share of problems.  If circumstances hadnt caused me to start at book 3 (the best in the series IMO) I might not have gotten into it

On Song of Ice and Fire, it always amazes me the hate I see for Feast for Crows.  That is the most interesting book in the series, and I just don't get why people don't like it

Redwall's appeal pretty much evaporates above a certain age. It's good if you read it as a kid, but not as an adult.

[Dunkum he/him]

Redwall's appeal pretty much evaporates above a certain age. It's good if you read it as a kid, but not as an adult.

That's basically the impression I got from reading the first 2 or 3 books (publishing order, not chronological order).

[RawToast225 he/him]

You know what I was disappointed in? I was extremely disappointed with Adventures Wanted. Wow, that first book had a lot of potential. You know what he did with that potential? He killed it. I was so sad about that.

[Unhinged he/him]

What was wrong with the Star Wars E.U.? The diversity of writers and ideas is part of what makes it great. I do admit that some series were utterly despicable (I'm looking at you Fate of the Jedi and the second half of Republic Commando!) but overall, it reached many topics and styles. 

 

Sorry I sounded more negative in that post than I meant to I loved most of the the E.U. (hell I'm part of one of the groups that's fighting to keep it alive) the only thing that I was not sad to see go was the Vong invasion the whole idea that the emperor was really a good guy just seemed stupid to me. I also loathed TOR Revan but that's only because it destroyed my favorite star wars character just to make the villain for The Old Republic game seem bigger.

[Redbird he/him]

Probably one of the worst losses, because it would have made freaking awesome movies, and were great stories on their own, would be the Thrawn trilogy.

[mail-mi he/him]

You know what I was disappointed in? I was extremely disappointed with Adventures Wanted. Wow, that first book had a lot of potential. You know what he did with that potential? He killed it. I was so sad about that.

 

Oh, yes. Yes yes yes. I have read up to the third book and I don't even know if the fourth book is out yet but I'm not reading it. My main problem with the series is that there isn't enough failure! The main character doesn't ever do anything wrong! There are no twists, it's just ugh! 

[RawToast225 he/him]

Oh, yes. Yes yes yes. I have read up to the third book and I don't even know if the fourth book is out yet but I'm not reading it. My main problem with the series is that there isn't enough failure! The main character doesn't ever do anything wrong! There are no twists, it's just ugh!

I am so glad someone understands me! Oh my goodness. You get an up vote

[Guest]

Any series by Brent Weeks.

[Orlion Blight he/him]

Any series by Brent Weeks.

Le gasp! 

 

Now, full disclosure, I have not read any of his stuff... but I just kinda assume he's popular round these parts!

[Guest]

Le gasp! 

 

Now, full disclosure, I have not read any of his stuff... but I just kinda assume he's popular round these parts!

I'm sorry, I was just not impressed by him.

[Pestis the Spider she/her]

Any series by Brent Weeks.

I've read his "Night Angel" trilogy and I found it utterly terrible. Especially book 2. The main character was way too OP and generally resembled Gary Stu, and well... I did not like these books. Although I heard that his other books are better.

[Guest]

Exactly. The Night Angel was the one I had in mind. I read the first book of Lightbringer some time ago, and I don't remember anything about it except that I didn't hunt for the second one at all.

[Quiver he/him]

Didn't read his Night Angels stuff, but I have to agree; I read the first two books of his other series (the Prism one) and didn't get into them.

 

There was some cool stuff in them, to be sure; I loved Gavin and his brother, for instance. But there were other things which just stopped me from getting into them; I thought Kip's characterization didn't match up from one scene to the next, and it felt as if some things were being made up as he went along, like the introduction/significance of the card game

 

Still, there were thigns I liked in it, so maybe when the series is done I'll go back and read it all at once... but I wans't impressed enough to pick up the third book when it came out.