[Ryvyan]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

Unicorns.

I wanted to say you have no heart, but unicorns really do rarely have a place in most novels.

Originally Posted by CWatkinsNash

I should point out that the things I contributed to this thread don't often make me stop reading a book. It may kill much of the enjoyment that I hope to get from the book, but I usually finish it anyway. I might find myself skimming a bit more than usual, but I do try to get to the end.

Me too, and I'd bitch under my breath all the way till the end.

Originally Posted by DMB

I hate leaden prose by people whose relationship to language is that of a tone-deaf person to music. One such writer IMO is Dan Brown.

OMG YES. I have friends who love his stuff, and the only reason I read most of them was because I picked them up in the first place (see above).

Originally Posted by ebusinesstutor

I disliked Robin Hobb's Soldier Son series for this reason, but I like some of her other works.

The character is such a peculiar one and so vastly different from Fitz (Farseer trilogy was awesome), it was really difficult to like him. I'm so glad the end of the series seems a permanent end to the story.

Originally Posted by anamardoll

2. Unrealistic female characters. (I would say "unrealistic characters" full-stop, but the female issue seems to have cropped up a LOT more in my reading lately.) Also, "strong" female characters who have no goals in life and just follow the hero around doing his bidding.

This, and the fact that authors would write that other people feel that said character is strong, and then qualify that with strange examples of her "strong" traits.

Originally Posted by twowheels

Maybe it's already been said, but I hate when books have a lot of characters with very similar names -- I'm constantly struggling to remember who is who, possibly because I have a tenancy to skim over long and uncommon names and read them as Mr. Sag-----, so if another Mr. Sag--*--- shows up I'm in trouble.

I like Lisa Lutz's "The Spellman Files" but I had a bit of this problem while reading it. It was a physical book I read, or I'd be incredibly cranky at having to flip back for a check.