Overrated Books

[Addy]

Overrated: Rendezvous with Rama - Arthur C. Clarke, Demolished Man - Alfred Bester.

 

[TK-421]

Don't ferrets have stink glands?

 

[dwndrgn]

IMO Prince of Nothing by Bakker is exasperatingly overrated.

 

[Jack]

‘Don't ferrets have stink glands?’

Are you trying to say I – Sniff sniff, no, I always shower afterwards.

They have musk glands, related to skunks and all that, very pepe le pew – You can have the glands removed the same time as spaying by the vet, no more smell than a cat then. The one’s I keep as pets in the house are de-scented, the hunting ferrets in the garden are not – Not too bad really, they do provide me with rabbits for the stew pot and money for clearing out barns of rats, fair deal really.

 

[TK-421]

You remind me of Jahdo and his ferrets in Katherine Kerr's Deverry series.

 

[Jack]

‘You remind me of Jahdo and his ferrets in Katherine Kerr's Deverry series.’

Rat catcher! You calling me a rat catcher! Yeah well? Um, you remind me, er of – someone really nasty - Jahdo indeed! Hah!

 

[Connavar]

I found Snow Crash to be overrated. It started good but got way too slow in the middle. One of few SF i have read the last year i couldnt finish.

 

[JagLover]

Also Black Company by Glen Cook, people hail it and recommend to anyone who havent read it and i found it to be almost a waste of paper.
.

It seems to be proclaimed as great by people amazed that a Fantasy book could have shades of grey and have the 'heroes' be an amoral mercenary company.

It reads like the plan for a book rather than the finished article. Great events are merely sketched in as are the characters.

 

[Connavar]

Exactly how it felt for me ! The events was like it happened to others not the characters you were reading about.

My fav fantasy writer is famous for his grey characters that i almost chuckle when i see people recommending Fantasy books like BC like those kind of character was something shockingly new. Its not all about character type, the story gotta be interesting too.

 

[Anne Lyle]

The lies of Locke Lamora

I missed all the hype surrounding Lynch's debut, though I was aware it was reckoned to be good. I mostly did enjoy it, but felt that it was overly descriptive and slow-paced for what's basically a "caper" story, so to that extent it was over-rated. I've heard the sequel is more tightly written, so we'll have to see...

Apart from that, I'd have to agree with the usual suspects (Jordan, Eddings, etc), most of whom I haven't read - or in that case of Eddings or Brooks, haven't read since their first few books came out. I guess the thing is, each generation of new fantasy readers picks up the latest Big Thing, whether that's Tolkien (60s/70s), Eddings (80s) or Jordan (90s) and naturally they are wowed by it if they are at all susceptible to the charms of the genre. Meanwhile the genuinely original and challenging novels are read in much smaller numbers by readers who have outgrown the simple epic tales of their youth, and who naturally consider the current bestsellers to be over-rated. Yes, it's a generalization, but true nonetheless...

 

[GOLLUM]

IMO Prince of Nothing by Bakker is exasperatingly overrated.

Whereas I believe the opposite...

I also think Black Company is very good, not in the league of Martin or Erikson for military style fanasy but still worth checking out. Also don't forget that Cook was something of a pioneer when it came to mixing ambigious charaters and hard military fantasy so there!... He certainly influenced Erikson to a large degree.

 

[urchin]

The Wheel of Time is the only series to best me, I simply lost the will to live after about two or three books...

 

[urchin]

IMO Prince of Nothing by Bakker is exasperatingly overrated.

The Prince of Nothing is a masterpiece. Believe the hype.

 

[woodsman]

David Eddings Full Stop

 

[Lensfire]

Eragon and Eldest - my 10-year old demonstrated he is learning some critical skill when he decided he was bored of Eldest and wanted to abandon it. He had struggled through Eragon and was deeply unimpressed. (He read through all 7 Harry Potter, and LOTR, so he does not normally lack stamina!).

 

[Connavar]

Impressive 10 year old to read that much fantasy, those are some thick books.

 

[Cuchulainn]

The Sword of truth series.
Richard is the worst type of hero, I can't help feeling Terry Goodkind was trying to make his protagonist a god of heroes, the trials he faces are pointless because he always overcomes them easily, I found myself wishing he was killed.

I think one of the main characteristics of a good hero is that fact that they suffer, they are defeated (but eventually triumph), they aren't invincible, in other words that they are human, the Sword of Truth series are more like cheesy fantasy/action than proper fantasy novels.

 

[JagLover]

Impressive 10 year old to read that much fantasy, those are some thick books.

I read LOTR at 10. It's probably the right age to start introducing children to some of the more 'grown up' fantasy books.

 

[Spade]

The most overrated novel I've probably ever read is Foundation by Isaac Asimov. It wasn't bad, but it definitely didn't leave me wanting more.

 

[Addy]

The most overrated novel I've probably ever read is Foundation by Isaac Asimov. It wasn't bad, but it definitely didn't leave me wanting more.

Definitely not the most overrated for me, but certainly not as good as I was made to believe it was.