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Old 07-13-2012, 06:40 PM   #61
Jozawun
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Anything written by Ursula K. Le Guin is going to be a struggle to read and not enjoyable.
I first became entranced by SF in the late 1960s and early 70s, and read everything I could find by Asimov, Bradbury, Clarke and Heinlein, basically the only SF writers widely available here at that time.
At the same time, I was also reading huge quantities of other books in every genre and of every quality, and couldn't help noticing the generally poor quality of the actual writing of the SF blokes - particularly Heinlein (God, the bloody awful dialogue) and Asimov (almost schoolboyish).
So the discovery of Ursula K Le Guin's Hainish series of books was a revelation - at last, a genuine literary-quality writer writing interesting and enjoyable books in the SF genre!
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Old 07-13-2012, 08:55 PM   #62
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Worst Book
It has got to be "Hogg" by Samuel R. Delaney.....absolutely the most vile, self-indulgent pornographic writing with no use or meaning anywhere...you couldn't even pretend that there was any hidden artistry or social comment....it was just so bad....
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Old 07-13-2012, 09:09 PM   #63
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I like Battlefield Earth (in fact, not so long ago I bought the Kindle edition ). It's a fun romp of a space opera. Hubbard may perhaps have had a screw loose when it comes to religion, but he was a decent enough SF writer in his time.

The film version, on the other hand was dire. In fact it's so bad that it's worth watching for its very awfulness, if you see what I mean .
So we both agree that the movie was worse?
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Old 07-13-2012, 09:58 PM   #64
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The worst book I've ever read is Glory Road by Robert A. Heinlein! I hated everything about it. And like someone else said, I hated Robert A. Heinlein at the end also.
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Old 07-13-2012, 10:34 PM   #65
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Worst book I ever read was Fortune's Rocks by Anita Shreve. I was at the library with my children when they were much younger and it was the ONLY one I had a chance to grab of my own choosing (because my husband and I were overseeing our children's choices for the most part).

Ick Ick ick.
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Old 07-13-2012, 10:48 PM   #66
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I like Battlefield Earth (in fact, not so long ago I bought the Kindle edition ). It's a fun romp of a space opera. Hubbard may perhaps have had a screw loose when it comes to religion, but he was a decent enough SF writer in his time.

The film version, on the other hand was dire. In fact it's so bad that it's worth watching for its very awfulness, if you see what I mean .
Decent? Now way in hell was Hubbard a decent SF writer. His 10 book monsterpiece was also incredibly awful. Battlefield Earth is so bad, a sharp stick to the eye is preferable.
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Old 07-13-2012, 10:51 PM   #67
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So we both agree that the movie was worse?
Actually, the movie is so much better then the book. I'll now tell you why the movie is that much better then the book.

Battlefield Earth is a very large book. It will take you a lot longer to read then it will to watch the movie. Thus, you lose more of your life to that nasty book then you do to that nasty movie. So given losing more of your life vs losing less of your life, losing less of your life is better so reading the book is worse then watching the movie.
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Old 07-13-2012, 11:03 PM   #68
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Decent? Now way in hell was Hubbard a decent SF writer. His 10 book monsterpiece was also incredibly awful. Battlefield Earth is so bad, a sharp stick to the eye is preferable.
This. I never did finish any of his books that I started. I think Battlefield Earth is the worst Science Fiction Book I have ever read.
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Old 07-14-2012, 07:46 AM   #69
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This. I never did finish any of his books that I started. I think Battlefield Earth is the worst Science Fiction Book I have ever read.
It is one of the few books I did not finish. Another one that I did not finish since it was such a bad fiction book is Atlas Shrugged.
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Old 07-14-2012, 09:16 AM   #70
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Decent? Now way in hell was Hubbard a decent SF writer. His 10 book monsterpiece was also incredibly awful. Battlefield Earth is so bad, a sharp stick to the eye is preferable.
The 10-volume "Invasion Earth" was dire. But I don't think Hubbard wrote it (or at least, very little of it).
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Old 07-14-2012, 10:24 AM   #71
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I like Battlefield Earth (in fact, not so long ago I bought the Kindle edition ). It's a fun romp of a space opera. Hubbard may perhaps have had a screw loose when it comes to religion, but he was a decent enough SF writer in his time.

The film version, on the other hand was dire. In fact it's so bad that it's worth watching for its very awfulness, if you see what I mean .
Except it isn't worth watching the movie for any reason at all.
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Old 07-14-2012, 10:35 AM   #72
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The 10-volume "Invasion Earth" was dire. But I don't think Hubbard wrote it (or at least, very little of it).
Well I think it depends on how old you were when you read it. I read the 10-volume "Invasion Earth" series when I was 11 or 12 years old and thought it was great. I still remmeber it as being great but I haven't read it since.

I've noted that whether a book is good or bad, assuming that it isn't riddled with spelling and grammar errors which are another issue, often depends on your age and mental state/development when you read the book.

I agree that some books transcend the ages in terms of greatness -- To Kill a Mockingbird, Elmer Gantry, and The Thin Man, to name three examples -- but I don't find that to be true of "bad books". Bad books come and go as I grow older, more experienced, and more selective.
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Old 07-14-2012, 01:59 PM   #73
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There used to be a book review forum called The Wall (can't seem to locate it anymore) in which folks posted books that deserved to be thrown against the wall. I know that I added a few to the listings there.

One book that will forever stick in my brain as one of the worst books is Laurell K. Hamilton's "Incubus Dreams". That's the book in which she self-destroyed her Anita Blake series, IMO.

Another is Talia Gryphon's (should have known right from the author's name) "Key to Conflict". That was just so poorly written and edited, it didn't deserve to be published. For a hint, see http://satireknight.wikispaces.com/Talia+Gryphon
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Old 07-15-2012, 02:09 AM   #74
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One of the worst books in recent memory is Naked in Death by J.D. Robb. I was hopeful that it would be a new series I could get into, but it turned out to be one I'll stay away from.

My main gripe was a character named Roarke. I won't go into describing him, but he was so over the top ridiculous and unlikeable that I had to imagine absurd stand-ins for him to be able to stomach the book long enough to finish it.

If you're familiar with the series, you may find it amusing that Mitt Romney as Roarke is kinda fun and so is the bloated Alec Baldwin.
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Old 07-15-2012, 03:24 AM   #75
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One of the worst books in recent memory is Naked in Death by J.D. Robb. I was hopeful that it would be a new series I could get into, but it turned out to be one I'll stay away from
The "In Death" series is very popular and successful. Perhaps it's simply that it didn't appeal to you rather it being "bad"?
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