06-14-2013, 03:10 PM | #1 | |
Omnivorous
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Bad Fantasy
Well, since I started a thread on Essential Fantasies, how about a thread on Bad Fantasies?
Reddit has a fantasy sub that I've been frequenting lately and a thread that popped up this morning was this: Quote:
I must be easy to please, as I really couldn't come up any fantasy I'd rate as a one or two, but some of the answers in the thread are interesting. Any anti-suggestions to add? |
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06-14-2013, 03:52 PM | #2 |
Grand Sorcerer
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I'm pretty good at knowing what I'm going to like before I read it. I don't take a lot of "chances" and when I do, I'm not afraid to just stop reading something long before I feel compelled to start publicly dumping on it.
Now having said that, Robin Hobb's Soldier Son trilogy should consider it a present if I give it a 2.5 I've enjoyed other works by her, but the main protagonist in that series was one of the most frustrating, annoying turds I've ever had the displeasure of reading about (this coming from a guy who actually likes Thomas Covenant). It was quite maddening really. I only kept reading because I sure redemption was nigh. Turns out it wasn't nigh at all. |
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06-14-2013, 04:15 PM | #3 |
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I have a set of nine books that one should stay well away from. These are all by Jacqueline Carey and they are so dull because nothing actually happens.
Kushiel's Legacy 1. Kushiel's Dart (2001) 2. Kushiel's Chosen (2002) 3. Kushiel's Avatar (2001) 4. Kushiel's Scion (2006) 5. Kushiel's Justice (2007) 6. Kushiel's Mercy (2008) 7. Naamah's Kiss (2009) 8. Naamah's Curse (2010) 9. Naamah's Blessing (2011) Then there are the books by Diana Gabaldon. Really bad and big too. So you get to waste a long time reading something that never should have been published. Outlander 1. Outlander (1991) 2. Dragonfly in Amber (1992) 3. Voyager (1993) 4. The Drums of Autumn (1996) 5. The Fiery Cross (2000) 6. A Breath of Snow and Ashes (2005) 7. An Echo in the Bone (2009) Lord John 1. Lord John and the Hellfire Club 2. Lord John and the Private Matter 3. Lord John and the Succubus 4. Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade 5. Lord John and the Haunted Soldier 6. Lord John and the Custom of the Army 7. The Scottish Prisoner 8. Lord John and the Plague of Zombies Ursala K. Le Guin is not good. Anything she writes can be ignored. I'm not going to bother to dig out her fantasy drek in amongst her science fiction drek. Last edited by JSWolf; 06-14-2013 at 04:18 PM. |
06-14-2013, 04:29 PM | #4 |
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Ha! That is one series where I quit barely into the first book and have no intention of returning to. Of course, I also don't particularly care for GRRM either, although I may go back to it someday. I do really like what I have read by Joe Abercrombie though, so it isn't just a dark/realistic/gritty (whatever) fantasy thing.
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06-14-2013, 04:58 PM | #5 | ||
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Quote:
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06-14-2013, 05:20 PM | #6 |
Wizard
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Hmmm, I think there is a big difference between bad fantasy and fantasy that you didn't like. Almost everything listed at the link in the OP is frequently seen on the "Top <insert rag/blog/critic> Fantasy Lists" so I would argue that it probably isn't bad, per se, it just didn't tickle a particular person's fancy.
I loved (am loving?) ASOIF and everything Outlander. I'm going to nominate Laurell K. Hamilton's Anita Blake series, after the ninth or so one. It went bad, there is no other word for it. |
06-14-2013, 05:23 PM | #7 | |
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Quote:
I read the first one a couple of months ago, and actually really liked it, although I can see that it would put some people off. I also hear that the series may go off the rails later, but I've bought the other two books in the first trilogy anyway. But Kushiel's Dart is 900 pages long. I think if I didn't like it I'd probably not bother with another 8 massive volumes. As for me, there are plenty of books, some by big names, that have just not hit the spot for me. I give up after book 1. I wouldn't necessarily say they're all bad, but they were just lacking something I was looking for. They include: Terry Brooks - Sword of Shannara Terry Goodkind - Wizard's First Rule Tad Williams - Dragonbone Chair Steven Erikson - Gardens of the Moon JV Jones - Cavern of Black Ice, and The Baker's Boy Freda Warrington - Amber Citadel Karen Miller - The Innocent Mage Fiona McIntosh - Myrren's Gift John Marco - Jackal of Nar James Barclay - Dawnthief ...and probably others that currently escape me. The quality varies. Some of them I quite liked, but not enough to get hold of volume 2. The most disappointing was maybe the Freda Warrington, since (a) I already owned all 3 volumes, and (b) I remember really enjoying the Blackbird series in my youth. I'm now not sure whether that was actually good, or whether I was simply less discerning. That first Jewelfire book was just poor, though. |
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06-14-2013, 05:46 PM | #8 | |||
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06-14-2013, 05:49 PM | #9 |
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06-14-2013, 05:51 PM | #10 | |
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Quote:
I did fully read Outlander and it was just silly in a it never should have been written way of being silly. |
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06-14-2013, 05:52 PM | #11 |
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I read the first two Thomas Covenant series. I remember that summer. I basically devoured them. One of those "I read that much already?" type reads. I found the books to be quite good.
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06-14-2013, 05:59 PM | #12 |
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Did you just read Outlander the novel or the entire series? And I would not classify any of the Lord John novels as fantasy, they are historical fiction. The series is a spin-off of a time travel series but doesn't actually contain time travel.
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06-14-2013, 06:04 PM | #13 | |
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Quote:
Lord John counts as it's characters from the series. |
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06-14-2013, 06:30 PM | #14 |
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Welcome! To the "Someone Is Wrong On the Internet" phase of the thread!
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06-14-2013, 06:45 PM | #15 | |
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Quote:
There is also the flip side - bad fantasy that you actually enjoy. For me that would be Sword of Shannara. I realize it is bad (especially re-reading it as an adult), but I REALLY enjoyed it as a kid and have a fond spot in my heart for it still. The same goes for a lot of the Forgotten Realms books. There are a couple indie books that I have started to read that would fall in the bad category too, at least the portions I forced myself to read. Fortunately for me those were free when I got them. |
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