Pretty, Fizzy Paradise

I'm back! And reading! And maybe even blogging! No promises!

Friday, August 08, 2014

Anti-Recommendations!

I'm just curious.  I've solicited recommendations on this blog before.  But now, I'd like to know:

What are some books that you absolutely, without a doubt, HATE?


posted by kalinara @ 1:36 AM  

13 Comments:

  • At August 08, 2014 8:14 AM, Blogger SallyP said…

    Anything with Deathstroke in it.

     

  • At August 08, 2014 8:41 AM, Blogger Matthew E said…

    Books or comics?

    Comics, I can't think of any; my comic-buying habits these days are fine-tuned enough that I like everything I buy.

    Books, though. I hated [i]A Confederacy of Dunces[/i]. Everybody said it was this great funny book. I didn't laugh once and I found the whole thing very unpleasant.

    There's other stuff I had to read for school that I hated, but there's not much else I've read that I actually hated. Uh... Barbara Hambly is one of my favourite fantasy authors, if not my very favourite, and Dragonsbane is one of her best books. But the trilogy sequel to Dragonsbane was pretty unpleasant and I don't recommend it. Similarly, her Dark Hand of Magic, third in the Unschooled Mage series; no fun.

    Tanya Huff's Victory Nelson series was very good right up until the end of... was it the fourth book? when something happened that just ruined everything and tainted the whole rest of the series.

    Those aren't really hate, though. Oh, I suppose I've grown to hate David Eddings' later stuff; very annoying.

     

  • At August 08, 2014 9:21 AM, Blogger kalinara said…

    SallyP: Hah, agreed!

    MatthewE: I don't think I've read Confederacy. But I am totally with you on the sequels to Dragonsbane. They were very uncomfortable.

    I don't think I read Dark Hand of Magic. I do have a fondness for the Ysidro-Asher series and the Windrose chronicles though. Even if Antryg is totally Tom Baker in wizard robes. :-P

    What set you off with Victory Nelson? (Have you read the Smoke and... trilogy which features Tony and Henry and about 100 inside jokes about Canadian television? It was a nice shift in tone.)

    I don't think I've read the later Eddings stuff, though I still have a fondness for the Belgariad/Mallorean and Elenium/Tamuli.

     

  • At August 08, 2014 10:34 AM, Blogger Anna said…

    Austenland. Hate that book!

     

  • At August 09, 2014 1:14 PM, Blogger kalinara said…

    Austinland?

     

  • At August 09, 2014 2:32 PM, Blogger Anna said…

    Austenland: http://www.amazon.com/Austenland-Novel-Shannon-Hale/dp/1596912863

     

  • At August 09, 2014 3:04 PM, Blogger kalinara said…

    Oh! I misread. That title makes a bit more sense.

    Gotta admit, it doesn't seem like it'd suit my taste.

     

  • At August 09, 2014 9:03 PM, Blogger Matthew E said…

    What set you off with Victory Nelson?

    They made her a vampire. I can't be having with that.

     

  • At August 09, 2014 9:13 PM, Blogger kalinara said…

    Ah. At first I didn't like it. But it became interesting to see how she and Henry navigated the vampire territorialism.

    Also it led to Henry being in the Smoke trilogy. Which was surprisingly fun. :-)

     

  • At August 12, 2014 2:24 PM, Blogger kiragecko said…

    I really didn't like the Sword of Shannara books. And the 'Second Coming' event in the X-Men books made me FURIOUS. They killed all the teleporters. I was not impressed.

     

  • At August 12, 2014 2:25 PM, Blogger kiragecko said…

    Also, I am delighted that you're blogging again. I miss you when you're gone.

     

  • At August 12, 2014 2:41 PM, Blogger kalinara said…

    Aw. Thank you. :-)

    I've actually never read Shannara, though I've been curious. What didn't you like about it, if you don't mind my asking.

     

  • At August 13, 2014 4:47 PM, Blogger kiragecko said…

    It's just SO CLICHED. I mean, I've only read a few fantasy books and I could still tell that there was no originality. It copied ideas wholesale with no thought as to why they worked in the original material. The parts of the world didn't seem connected, the characters had no heart - everything about it had been done better somewhere else. There a lot of likeable ideas all compiled together, so I can see why people enjoyed it, but none of them felt like the authour cared about them.

     

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