Controversial Opinions

[goody153]

On 12/8/2018 at 2:49 PM, Fanghur Rahl said:

Sword of Truth was not at all a terrible series (not the first 11 books anyway), and it genuinely baffles me why so much hatred is directed at it.

I haven't read it but i think it has to do with the weird sexual stuff that people describe that the series contains. Tho i can't tell how different that is to the sexual stuff(sometimes sexual violence) you would find in popular stuff like Malazan or ASOIAF

[Orlion Blight he/him]

1 hour ago, goody153 said:

I haven't read it but i think it has to do with the weird sexual stuff that people describe that the series contains. Tho i can't tell how different that is to the sexual stuff(sometimes sexual violence) you would find in popular stuff like Malazan or ASOIAF

For people on this site? That's a possible reason. For me? It's just terrible plotting. Or rather, there is promise until the rug is pulled from under you and you end up with something very cliche and trite. The writing itself flows pretty well, so if you don't mind that stuff, you would probably enjoy it just fine as entertaining fluff. I would get all the books second hand, though, it isn't worth full price of admission. 

Also, Terry Goodkind is kinda a tool. After getting famous for writing a blatant fantasy series, he claims he "doesn't write fantasy." He's an example of Donner Kruger  effect where he thinks he's a great, insightful literary writer though he is just a mere competent writer with mildly entertaining storylines. This characteristic becomes problematic later on when the series essentially becomes a vehicle for preaching "libertarian principles. "

[old man moomba he/him]

Batte Royale better than Hunger Games. There I said it, I've been meaning to say it for a while.

Edited December 13, 2018 by Dr. Dapper

[goody153]

10 hours ago, TheOoklaThatComesBefore said:

For people on this site? That's a possible reason. For me? It's just terrible plotting. Or rather, there is promise until the rug is pulled from under you and you end up with something very cliche and trite. The writing itself flows pretty well, so if you don't mind that stuff, you would probably enjoy it just fine as entertaining fluff. I would get all the books second hand, though, it isn't worth full price of admission. 

Also, Terry Goodkind is kinda a tool. After getting famous for writing a blatant fantasy series, he claims he "doesn't write fantasy." He's an example of Donner Kruger  effect where he thinks he's a great, insightful literary writer though he is just a mere competent writer with mildly entertaining storylines. This characteristic becomes problematic later on when the series essentially becomes a vehicle for preaching "libertarian principles. "

I'll probably read his stuff just to see what is going on. Besides i don't mind the terrible stuff if it was ever terrible.

2 hours ago, Dr. Dapper said:

Batte Royale better than Hunger Games. There I said it, I've been meaning to say it for a while.

Well it was the original idea but i would say that after reading Hunger Games i actually found it a acceptable post-apocalyptic novel. It actually shouldn't have the teenage love triangle none-sense cause apparently the author herself didn't really have it in the original draft. The editor wanted it there so with that it should've been purely a post-apocalypic civilization stuff with the battle royale content.

[old man moomba he/him]

Well, you know how it be. You can't have a post-apocalyptic YA book without romance. 

[Toaster Retribution he/him]

I think Mortal Engines is the second-best movie this year after Infinity War. I also thought Robin Hood and Grindelwald were pretty good movies. 

 

Edited December 16, 2018 by Toaster Retribution

[Silva]

Mortal Engines was one of the worst books I've ever read. Actually. It was that bad. Maybe the movie is better.....?

[Toaster Retribution he/him]

21 hours ago, Silva said:

Mortal Engines was one of the worst books I've ever read. Actually. It was that bad. Maybe the movie is better.....?

Haven’t read the book so I cant say anything about it. But I loved the movie.

[Fanghur Rahl he/him]

For the life of me I’ll never understand why Sword of Truth gets so much hate. I mean sure, it has problems, but so do all series. And most of the most common criticisms against it, like it being nothing but libertarian propaganda, are absolute bollocks...

[Illian Tear he/him]

I felt like the SoT books were just blatant copies or replicas of better fantasy.

[Fanghur Rahl he/him]

17 hours ago, Illian Tear said:

I felt like the SoT books were just blatant copies or replicas of better fantasy.

No more than a lot of other series, pretty much every fantasy series ever made emulates earlier ones to some extent, including the Cosmere (Unmade vs Nazghul, etc). I agree that SoT closely emulates Wheel of Time (which blatantly rips off Hindu and Christian mythology) at first, but honestly, at least so far I think the former is better. But that’s just my opinion.

[Ripheus23]

The reasons I despise the SoT series are the "let's kill enemy children" passages. Like in book 2 when discussing intertribal extermination, or in book 6 when Richard's wife explicitly says something about hunting down "enemy" children to torture and kill them (and everyone around them) to find Richard, or however that went. I hate the idea of killing people who are weaker than me, and children are weaker than me, so killing them... It makes me incredibly morally sick to think about.

EDIT: Which is why, on the flip side, one of the reasons I love the Covenant novels so much. Covenant even refuses to kill Cavewight children to get to Foul while the Worm is about to destroy existence in the event that they don't get to Foul...

Edited December 25, 2018 by Ripheus23

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles she/her]

The Force Awakens is a rehash of A New Hope and I don't care. It's a fun movie and it entertained me, so I don't care if it's derivative. In that same vein, The Last Jedi was better than some online fans make it out to be. Yes, I think the writers passed up a golden opportunity to give Rey more personality, but she never annoyed me as a character. Furthermore, the humor in that film (particularly a Jedi master trolling his students) was exactly what that franchise, which has always taken itself so seriously in the past, needed. 

Though I'm going to agree with others who say that the scenes on the casino planet didn't make a lot of sense and felt out of place. They were pretty to look at, but the film could have done without them. 

Oh, and I liked Rose. I liked her a lot. 

Furthermore, Frosty the Snowman is not the best of the classic holiday specials, not by a long shot. It's charming, like all the Rankin-Bass films are charming, but Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer has better music and Santa Claus is Coming to Town tells a better story. And the scene where we see Jessica crushing on Kris (the first time they meet in person, not her weird 70s song that was wisely cut from most TV showings) is not only cute, but believable. 

[Dunkum he/him]

31 minutes ago, TwiLyghtSansSparkles said:

The Force Awakens is a rehash of A New Hope and I don't care. It's a fun movie and it entertained me, so I don't care if it's derivative. In that same vein, The Last Jedi was better than some online fans make it out to be. Yes, I think the writers passed up a golden opportunity to give Rey more personality, but she never annoyed me as a character. Furthermore, the humor in that film (particularly a Jedi master trolling his students) was exactly what that franchise, which has always taken itself so seriously in the past, needed. 

Though I'm going to agree with others who say that the scenes on the casino planet didn't make a lot of sense and felt out of place. They were pretty to look at, but the film could have done without them. 

Oh, and I liked Rose. I liked her a lot. 

Furthermore, Frosty the Snowman is not the best of the classic holiday specials, not by a long shot. It's charming, like all the Rankin-Bass films are charming, but Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer has better music and Santa Claus is Coming to Town tells a better story. And the scene where we see Jessica crushing on Kris (the first time they meet in person, not her weird 70s song that was wisely cut from most TV showings) is not only cute, but believable. 

i wish force awakens had been a bit more original, but i dont hate it for being deriviative...i'd just have enjoyed it a bit more if it wasn't.  agree on last jedi though.  also agree on teh Rankin Bass specials.  i've watched rudolph dozens of times, and Frosty maybe twice.

[Toaster Retribution he/him]

43 minutes ago, TwiLyghtSansSparkles said:

Oh, and I liked Rose. I liked her a lot. 

I dont get the hate for her. I know some people see her as a character made for conveying political agenda, but I dont feel that the writers are that in-your-face about it, if that even is the sole purpose of her character. 

I do think she was boring though, but not bad. She was in the movie, and had the least interesting subplot. Thats it.

[Orlion Blight he/him]

1 hour ago, Toaster Retribution said:

I dont get the hate for her. I know some people see her as a character made for conveying political agenda, but I dont feel that the writers are that in-your-face about it, if that even is the sole purpose of her character. 

I do think she was boring though, but not bad. She was in the movie, and had the least interesting subplot. Thats it.

Pretty much, Rose is a wasted character. A good portion of her actions are part of the much maligned "casino planet" side garbage and she crashed into Finn's ship because of reasons (yes, I know "why", don't at me).

Because the director/ writer didn't respect her enough to give her more then a hackneyed part, that allowed the bigots with their "political correctness is ruining Star Wars, just look at Rose!" garbage to take center stage. Rose's part just isn't compelling enough. 

Also,  General Holdo was right to not tell Poe jack about the plan. And frankly, Poe should have been ejected through an airlock for pretty much single-handedly destroying the Resistance. 

[Toaster Retribution he/him]

16 minutes ago, TheOoklaThatComesBefore said:

And frankly, Poe should have been ejected through an airlock for pretty much single-handedly destroying the Resistance. 

Poe has way to much charm. No one ever, not even Kylo Ren, would throw him out an airlock. 

[Fanghur Rahl he/him]

7 hours ago, Ripheus23 said:

The reasons I despise the SoT series are the "let's kill enemy children" passages. Like in book 2 when discussing intertribal extermination, or in book 6 when Richard's wife explicitly says something about hunting down "enemy" children to torture and kill them (and everyone around them) to find Richard, or however that went. I hate the idea of killing people who are weaker than me, and children are weaker than me, so killing them... It makes me incredibly morally sick to think about.

EDIT: Which is why, on the flip side, one of the reasons I love the Covenant novels so much. Covenant even refuses to kill Cavewight children to get to Foul while the Worm is about to destroy existence in the event that they don't get to Foul...

I’m pretty sure you’re misremembering. To my memory, Kahlan never once threatens to go and slaughter innocent children, least of all in Book 6 in which there was literally zero instances when such a thing would have even been feasible much less useful. What she DID do was loose the D’Hara’s equivalent of the League of Assassins on the Emperial Order’s leaders. That may be what you’re thinking of.

[Ripheus23]

4 hours ago, Fanghur Rahl said:

I’m pretty sure you’re misremembering. To my memory, Kahlan never once threatens to go and slaughter innocent children, least of all in Book 6 in which there was literally zero instances when such a thing would have even been feasible much less useful.

She doesn't do it (IIRC), but she talks about doing it. The scene is seared into my memory. It's why I stopped reading the series at all. (I'd skipped from 2 to 6 and then... yeah.)

[+Hoiditthroughthegrapevine he/him]

The Harry Potter audiobooks are better than the books. Jim Dale (the narrator) makes an otherwise middling to above average series absolutely fantastic with the quality of his voice acting.

John Bellairs books (especially the Johnny Dixon ones) are WAY better than Harry potter. The Brad Strickland ones that were written after Bellairs death are even better than Harry potter.

Cheeseballs are not appetizers, they are meals that happen to be spheroids.

Assigned reading assignments are good. Enjoyment is not always the point of reading, sometimes you read to learn unpleasant truths. Everyone should read 1984 so that the dystopian future it depicts can be averted. Everyone should read Lord of Flies to understand why Junior Highs are run like minimum security prisons.

Internet neoligisms demean the human spirit. Facebook: cave man talk for vanity unbound. Twitter and tweets: celebration of the use of technology to lower the collective intelligence of humanity to the level of a bird's brain (in this scenario intelligence is not addituve, it's the intelligence of the stupid bird in front). Blog and Vlog: Barf and Varf. Etc. Etc.

Really controversial opinion, I think long opinionated rants are fun to read.

One more controversial opinion, I think egg nog should only be drunk out cartoony bear mugs (where the mug is actually shaped like a bear's head). I don't know what the SI unit for deliciousness is, but I'm sure a bear mug  properly employed increases the deliciousness of egg nog by a factor of ten.

[Ammanas]

@hoiditthroughthegrapevine I am curious. What age did you first read the Harry Potter books. I wonder if that factors into your view on the series?

Oh a btw is your profile name a reference to the CCR song or just the expression?

Edited December 26, 2018 by Ammanas

[+Hoiditthroughthegrapevine he/him]

@Ammanas, I didn't read them first, I listened to the audiobooks and reluctantly. I was in my early twenties, back in the days when I'd listen to audiobooks and work on illustrations late into the night and sometimes fall sleep on my keyboard.

I get your implied point that they are YA books and I was definitely not a YA when I first experienced them, and I was old enough to witness the mass hysteria, err I mean youthful enthusiasm from outside the phenomena. I do think they are good books, but I still think the John Bellairs books are better. 

The Harry Potter books have fun characters, interesting settings, good dialogue, and the simultaneous alternate world of wizards is a good plot device, but like @TheOoklaThatComesBefore said there are far better books than the HP series out there. That said, I think that the Jim Dale narrated HP audiobooks are some of the finest audiobooks ever recorded. Just to plug Malazan for you Shadowthrone/Kelenved/Ammanas, I think the first 3 Malazan Book of the Fallen audiobooks narrated by Ralph Lister are 3 of the best audiobooks ever recorded as well, and the full 10 book series is one of the best series of books ever written. So if anyone is looking for incredibly good epic fantasy to fill in Sanderson release holes, Malazan is probably the best thing you could read. It is very adult in content, so you should probably be able to vote before you read it, but it is a high water mark in fantasy, the prose is great, the dialog is superb and the world building is the best in any fantasy series I've read.

As far as my username goes, it's a pun on the expression which I thought of because of the song, and though I like CCR more than Marvin Gaye, I prefer Marvin's version of that song because the CCR version is about 7 minutes too long (by about 3 minutes in it's been pretty well established that he's heard it through the grapevine, that she's no longer going to be his, and yes he'll most likely lose his mind probably because there's 7 minutes of song left).

Controversial opinion: The best version of the song Heard it Through the Grapevine is the one sung by the California Raisins.

 

[_Tempus_]

I dislike Avengers: Infinity War (and pretty much most marvel films. They're very overrated [sorry if I offended anyone]).

I'm now so dead.

Edited December 26, 2018 by _Tempus_

[old man moomba he/him]

1 hour ago, _Tempus_ said:

I dislike Avengers: Infinity War (and pretty much most marvel films. They're very overrated [sorry if I offended anyone]).

I'm now so dead.

AIRSICK LOWLANDER, I AM VERY OFFEND. I just like action movies. I thought they were overrated too, when I was younger, but my perspective changed after watching The Matrix. Now I really like MCU movies, and wish I didn't spend all my money on books.

 

[Jaywalk he/him]

Thor: Ragnarok is a terrible movie.

There, said it.