Anti-recommendations: Read any terrible books lately?

[ASparrow]

I'm not a fair judge of terrible books because I am merciless with the early chapters. I put them down when I encounter clumsy characterization, logical inconsistencies, clunky wordsmithing, etc. Some of the more popular books I have been unable to stomach include:

The DaVinci Code
Interview with a Vampire

I thought I could come up with a longer list, but my mind must be protecting me from the trauma!

Stephen King seems immune to my habits because he usually manages to hook me in. It's often later in his books that I get disappointed, but then it's too late, although there are a few book where the ending falls apart and I just stop reading, no longer caring.
(I actually did that with a book I was writing, once, which I suppose is not uncommon for early efforts).

[BlackVoid]

Iain M. Banks - The Wasp Factory
Its terrible in every sense of the word.

R. Scott Bakker's Prince of Nothing trilogy is horrific as well. Starts out pretty good and gets worse and worse.

Vorkosigan saga by Bujold - its GREAT! If you are 13 years old. Otherwise it is childish and cheesy. If you are 13, Jules Verne is a much better choice and its free.

Assassin trilogy by Robin Hobb - dull and uninteresting fantasy at its best.

SF by C. J. Cherryh - long books without plot. It is just plain boring, I tried several books of her, but could only finish one - Downbelow Station, which was absolutely pointless with characters as flat as tabletop. At least its not too long.

Phule's Company by Asprin - wow, it is even more cheesy and childish than the Vorkosigan series. At the same time, it tries to be funny. It fails miserably.

These authors are now on my 'do not touch list'. (other books by Banks are readable, but I was not impressed. Bakker may get a second chance, his world was really interesting, too bad he botched the story)

Another book:
The Prefect by Alastair Reynolds. I really like his other books, but this one is very bad. Full of logical inconsistencies and contrived plot elements.

[Sparrow]

Originally Posted by BlackVoid

Iain M. Banks - The Wasp Factory
Its terrible in every sense of the word.

Wow! I think that's one of the best first-novels I've ever read.

[Ea]

"The Little Book" by Selden Edwards.

It could have been good, but.... The protagonist, a hero-of-all-trades, is good, perfect and brilliant at everything he do - and we get told over and over and over again. Itwas sickening, and I didn't manage past the middle of the book.

[faolan]

Time for some thread necromancy for the heck of it:

It's been a while since I've read this one, but I think the worst book I ever read was one I was forced to read in high school for American Literature: "The Great Gatsby" by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Annoying, uninteresting characters plus a terrible plot. Out of all the books we could have read from the 1920s, I think they could have picked a much better title. I don't think I've ever come across something so overrated with maybe the exception of the "Twilight" series which is obvious religious propaganda once you understand the writers background and the really bad illusions she makes to the "Book of Mormon" (which, by the way, is a hilarious read).

[caleb72]

Ooops - really old thread.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by caleb72

Ooops - really old thread.

Well, yeah, but still a goodie.

[GeoffC]

Originally Posted by caleb72

Ooops - really old thread.

Maybe, but some things never change ....

[SeaBookGuy]

I have a book in my reading history I'm going to throw in here: Her Last Death -- a memoir that I abandoned when I decided it had no redeeming value at all. Others loved it, but I came to feel its main "appeal" was the depths of the mother's depravity (gleefully presenting her daughter with a packet of cocaine for her 16th birthday, for instance); for the record, I liked "Running with Scissors"!

[hgwlackey]

Recently...

Jon Clinch's Finn, which is about Huck Finn's father. It's an intriguing idea, and it got rave reviews, but I'll tell ya, Huck Finn's father is boooooooring. He's drunk, cruel, stupid, sometimes belligerent, and mostly drunk. And boring. And cruel, but somehow boringly so. Lots and lots of boring as this book went on.

The Strain by Guillermo Del Toro and Chuck Hogan. Maybe I'm jaded. This started out reasonably okay, but it wasn't long before I started feeling like I'd read all the different parts of the story before, just, you know, in other books. And/or movies. It felt so much like a rehash that I could stay on top of the story just reading the first line of each paragraph. There was one saving grace in the whole thing: Abraham Setrakian. Give me a book about him, and leave all the other cardboard cut-out characters out of it. It's safe to say I'll be forgoing books two and three of the trilogy.

[caleb72]

Originally Posted by hgwlackey

Recently...

Jon Clinch's Finn, which is about Huck Finn's father. It's an intriguing idea, and it got rave reviews, but I'll tell ya, Huck Finn's father is boooooooring. He's drunk, cruel, stupid, sometimes belligerent, and mostly drunk. And boring. And cruel, but somehow boringly so. Lots and lots of boring as this book went on.

I swear, you just channeled my sister and she's still with us - praise Jesus. She often cracks me up with her descriptions of things. I'm going to send this to her to give her a laugh.

Regards
Caleb

[Nyssa]

I'll probably get fussed at for this, but I think The Witching Hour by Anne Rice is just painful!!

My GoodReads review was as follows:

After months of trying to slog through this book, I finally just gave up. It wasn't going to happen. Various components of the story were interesting, but as a whole it was just too much to wade through, without there seeming to be much of a point.
I really wanted to like the Witching Hour.... it has been on my bookshelf for years, but I guess it just wasn't meant to be.
I'm actually very disappointed.

[pking36330]

Originally Posted by Nyssa

I'll probably get fussed at for this, but I think The Witching Hour by Anne Rice is just painful!!

I can appreciate how you might not like the style and pace of that story, it was a challenging read. But that is exactly why I rate that same book as one of the best books I've read. The second book in the series was good also, but I was dissatisfied with the conclusion of the trilogy in the last book. But the Witching Hour cost me a few late nights because I wanted to read 'just one more chapter'.

I guess that's why they make Fords and Chevys.

[jessicalynn]

Primary Inversion by Catherine Asaro. It was free from Baen, thank goodness I didn't waste any money on it. The plot was just so unbearably trite. I think I actually read it based off of a recommendation from this forum!

I second the Witching Hour as well. I remember slogging through that book back in high school. It just dragged on....and on....and on... And usually I like Anne Rice.

[Nyssa]

Originally Posted by pking36330

I can appreciate how you might not like the style and pace of that story, it was a challenging read. But that is exactly why I rate that same book as one of the best books I've read. The second book in the series was good also, but I was dissatisfied with the conclusion of the trilogy in the last book. But the Witching Hour cost me a few late nights because I wanted to read 'just one more chapter'.

I guess that's why they make Fords and Chevys.

One would think that an author who can create such imagery could infuse that wonder and excitement into her actual story.

The scenery was gorgeous - I felt like I was there even though I've never been to Louisiana; the concept was very interesting (hence my buying the entire trilogy at one time), but the execution.......