Books you couldn't bear to finish.

[hodor]

i'm not sure i'll be able to finish Chainfire by terry goodkind. i really wanted to get closure on the series, much as i hate the author, so i thought i could tough it out. but it's so BORING. i've skimmed probably a third of the 160 pages i've read so far. so just for fun i've started keeping tallies of things, like how many times Richard thinks about how he was just a woodsguide and now he's the leader of D'Hara, or how many times he wishes he was back in the Hartland woods, or how many times someone gets sexually assaulted. it almost makes it fun...

Oh jeez... to imagine you have to do something like that to get through a book. Argh.

 

[Tsujigiri]

It could be Goodkind's latest and greatest....but no

Robert Necombe's The Fifth Sorceress wins (http://www.ebookmall.com/alpha-titles/Fifth-Sorceress-Newcomb-Ballantine-cr.htm)

It's not that it's bad, it just failed completely and utterly to grab my attention, I actually read the first chapter hopefully and the next 4 guiltily because it's obvious that he's put effort into it and the ideas are sound.
The characters however seemed to simply be cut out cardboard

I gave up after that, and I still don't know what happens...and I really can't bring myself to care.

 

[Ashen Shugar]

Oh great - I've got Newcombe sitting on my shelf...hope I like it better.

 

[Tsujigiri]

If you read it to the end, do post something mentioning how it finishes

 

[Ashen Shugar]

Done deal. You know my book shop guy recommended this to me. He also got me onto Steven Erikson who I am reading now & loving, so I'll let him off if Newcombe is as interesting as you say...

 

[hodor]

You are reading Steven Erikson? Man I ordered his first four about three weeks ago and am greatly anticipating their arrival. Hope he is up to par with GRRM.

 

[Ashen Shugar]

Martin's a high standard...They're different styles, not similiar. All I can say is I will put him just below GRRM but I'm just finishing book 1. Opinion may change as I go. Hope you get them soon, & tell me where you rate him.

 

[Sibeling]

I usually finish reading books I've started to read, but there was the one about the vampire Lestat and it was really boring.

Talking about Stephen King, after you have read some five of his books, the others seem to be easily predictable, therefore not very interesting. "Dreamcatcher" had some interesting parts as well, not only the boring ones.

I don't think LOTR is so boring and difficult to read - it is my favourite book.

 

[Tsujigiri]

You are reading Steven Erikson? Man I ordered his first four about three weeks ago and am greatly anticipating their arrival. Hope he is up to par with GRRM.

Erikson is fantastic, you pick the book up and start reading, then you put it down and wonder where the day went. His characters are well developed, the plotline is intricate and absorbing, the politics, society and magic structure are all well thought out.

My only criticism would be that when you start reading Gardens of the Moon, you feel like you've skipped a few chapters. I'd be willing to bet he has a prequel or a fairly large body of text that he edited from the print version sat at home on his hard drive.

Now I just with I could get hold of Midnight Tides

 

[NSMike]

I've tried four times, but for the life of me, I just can't finish the Silmarillion.

 

[Tsujigiri]

I've tried four times, but for the life of me, I just can't finish the Silmarillion.

I read it when I was younger and remember enjoying it because it coloured in quite a few of the grey areas in LOTR & The Hobbit, then I read the Books of lost Tales....then I got really bored with it and haven't picked up a book by Tolkien for about 10 years

 

[Jayaprakash Satyamurthy]

My only criticism would be that when you start reading Gardens of the Moon, you feel like you've skipped a few chapters. I'd be willing to bet he has a prequel or a fairly large body of text that he edited from the print version sat at home on his hard drive.

What's that, a fantasy author editing his work and removing passages from it? No!!! This uncanny trend must be stopped before it seriously jeapordises Tor's yeoman service in transforming the arbosphere into endless decalog epics.

 

[ravenus]

Talking about Stephen King, after you have read some five of his books, the others seem to be easily predictable, therefore not very interesting. "Dreamcatcher" had some interesting parts as well, not only the boring ones.

I don't think LOTR is so boring and difficult to read - it is my favourite book.

Ah jaded mind ye, I hope you've read the following which I regard as King's best books:

Different Seasons (novella collection)
Skeleton Crew (shorts collection)
Night Shift (shorts collection)
The Gunslinger (first book in Dark Tower and a brilliant mystical piece on its own. Caution: Please avoid the revised edition...it totally bolloxes the feel of the original)
Hearts in Atlantis (heart-breakingly tragic and beautiful magic realism epic set against the background of the Vietnam conflict)

 

[hodor]

Ah jaded mind ye, I hope you've read the following which I regard as King's best books:

Different Seasons (novella collection)
Skeleton Crew (shorts collection)
Night Shift (shorts collection)
The Gunslinger (first book in Dark Tower and a brilliant mystical piece on its own. Caution: Please avoid the revised edition...it totally bolloxes the feel of the original)
Hearts in Atlantis (heart-breakingly tragic and beautiful magic realism epic set against the background of the Vietnam conflict)

I would recommend all of the Bachman books as well... a bit shorter than his later stuff but excellent reads.

The Talisman is also one of my favorite King books.

 

[Tsujigiri]

I lost myself in 'IT' once summer, and I had the hardback so for a couple of weeks I carried a brick to work and back with me. It was marvellous.

 

[Leto]

The Talisman is also one of my favorite King books.

IMO it's more a Straub book than a King book, but yes it's a great read.

 

[Estelthea]

I always used to read the whole book, no matter how dreadful it was until I became serious about studying literature and now have shelves full of unread books that I was supposed to study but sometimes never even opened (Charles Dickens usually)! Although I did read some really good stuff at university that I might never have discovered otherwise.

The only fantasy I can think of that I did not finish in the recent past was Stephen Donaldson, I managed the first but I'm still stuck half way through The Illearth War and I doubt I will ever go back and finish it! I have a copy of A Wizard of Earthsea somewhere that I tried to read a few times when I was younger but I want to dig that out and give it another go.

 

[L'Aile]

Sounds like this entire thread could be a case study for "variance in taste and esthetics in modern literature" .

I, alas, am one of the incompetent and self-abusing individuals that feels compelled to finish any book I start. It gives me an advantage, though--I know what types of books/authors I enjoy, and what turns me off!

I've read myself around the world, and for the life of me...sorry to all you fans...I can't understand the appeal of the "stream-of-consciousness" James Joyce generation. Am I alone?

 

[dwndrgn]

I've read myself around the world, and for the life of me...sorry to all you fans...I can't understand the appeal of the "stream-of-consciousness" James Joyce generation. Am I alone?

You are not alone - I'm right there with you.

 

[a|one]

Elminster in Hell / dont quite remember who wrote this but it just couldnt hold my attention.

Sword of Shanara / This guy should never be allowed to write again, I swear he must have just decided to use every possible cliche he could and pack it all into one book. I remember being very dissapointed because the person who lent it to me thought it was simply amazing.