[Priestvyrce]

I am wondering, if anyone has felt a little letdown by the hype of a book? You know, people kept praising this book or other and you finally decide to get the book and not being as impressed with it as those who praised it.

The book for me is Heroes Die . I felt that the story was very one sided. Only Hari/Caine was right and everyone else was wrong. Also, I didn't feel that Caine was in any danger, sure he got hurt and such, but I knew that he would survive, get Pallas/Shanna in the end. Which in of itself is not terrible, but I thought that the book was something revolutionary and I just came away with a good adventure yarn.

I liked the book, but I didn't LOVE it. I thought that the ideas were worth exploring, but we only got Hari/Caine's POV with only snippets from other characters.

So how about you? What was the book or books that you felt were hyped, yet didn't live up to their hype?

[magze]

Everyone keeps telling me I should read the Worm Ouroboros I keep starting it but I just cant seem to get intrested in it I dont no why, I will eventually finish it but it just doesnt seem to be the classic people say it is

[Priestvyrce]

Everyone keeps telling me I should read the Worm Ouroboros I keep starting it but I just cant seem to get intrested in it I dont no why, I will eventually finish it but it just doesnt seem to be the classic people say it is

I can see where it wouldn't work for everyone. It is a bit archaic and the story seems to go nowhere, but I read it with the images playing in my head as if it were an old cartoon, like Fleisher's Superman cartoons wayback.

[Mithfânion]

The Mieville books don't do much for me in any way. Not fond of the characterization and the books seem to be too long for the story they're carrying, but above all it's just not the sort of story that appeals to me.

A series where I honestly can't understand the fandom of would be the Wheel of Time.

[Miriamele]

Perdido Street Station. I've heard so many people on this forum and on other Internet sites say that it's brilliant and amazing, one of the best books ever, etc...so I picked up a copy and hated it right from the first page. The author's writing itself was top quality but the setting, plot and characters all rubbed me the wrong way. I think I forced myself to read about 150 pages and then gave up. I honestly don't understand what the big deal about Mieville is. He seems to have a lot of fans but I'm certainly not one of them. :)

[BeardofPants]

Yep, WoT certainly deserves my vote, although, I can honestly say that I never gave it a fair chance after throwing the first book into the trash can.

Can I add Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code? ... it's kinda fantasy... as in, all in his head. ;)

[JohnH]

Mieville definitely is on a long list. Mediocre is about the nicest adjective I can use in his work. Gimmicky also fits the bill.

Steph Swainston had the Mieville crowds' literary loins all aquiver. I found it insipid and a bit shallow. Nowhere near as original as the glowing reviews claimed. And rather poorly written at that. It seems that particular niche is determined that by louding declaring itself different, it somehow escapes the need to tell a story and tell it well in order to be a quality work.

Susanna Clarke is yet another in the gush to success. I found her new book to be okay. But nothing that had me choming at the bit for more.

Steven Erikson. I include him because I have never seen the level of quality that so many people ascribe to his work. It has gotten better. Much better. But he is not one of the best by any means. No top twenty on any given day I might wallow in list-making. And at the rate of the new good authors coming to print, he might barely scratch top fifty.


Christopher Paolini. One of the worst blights on the genre. Yet another gimmick that the overall public swallowed. The instructions that come with a toy in a Happy Meal are more intriguing and enthralling than this wretched fanfic turned into a novel. Rand finds a dragon instead of being the Dragon Reborn; hooks up with a Gandalf that has some serious anger management issues and eventually ends up in a Moria before the Balrog shows up and trashes the place. And that is being incredibly diplomatic.


George R. R. Martin. Another okay. Granted, I really enjoyed the first book when I read it years ago. And was hopeful that I had a new series at a time when pickings were slimmer than they are today. But the second book was messy and ridiculously bloated. The third turned into a careening, midden-heap. I have slim hopes for the fourth if it ever arrives. And the idea of a fifth, sixth and seventh (and according to Georgie at Odyssey and WorCon-Boston, a chance of even more), makes me shudder. Grandted, I don't think Martin's possible book nine will be the horrific dreck that Goodkind managed by his second book. But then again, Martin started out with a much better foundation. But the real reason I include Martin is that if I were to pick up Martin for the first time after having heard the paeans of abject groveling worship I see now and again, I would have been scratching my head. Because even the first book, which I liked, was no manna from heaven.

Stover. Really pedestrian piece of work. Way overhyped imo. About as entertaining as watching an Arnold Schwarzenegger movie retrospective.

Even the deity-like worship tLoTR enjoys is a bit hyped beyond reason. Chronologically it does deserve praise. But fantasy has evolved profoundly since then and to the better imo. While I do believe that ole JRR played a significant role in influencing the genre, I don't suscribe to the theory that current fantasy solely relies on its existence due to his efforts.

Whittmore. Read his books a bit back in first editions that I have packed away somewhere. I was recommened them by the guy standing in line behind me at a Dorothy Dunnett signing for the second (?) House of Nicolo book. I think. Eh. Again no stunning joy. No heartstopping awe. No profound ecstasy of words. It was okay. But I have actually heard people say his work changed their lives. After reading his work, I have to wonder just what they considered a life to be that such could change it.

In fact the more someone belabors how a work is "meaningful" or "profound" the more I usually find it contrived, way too self-aware and almost completely devoid of the true purpose of fiction. Such works should come equiped with a ladder so as to get over itself. And the author needs to do so repeatedly.

[magze]

I can see where it wouldn't work for everyone. It is a bit archaic and the story seems to go nowhere, but I read it with the images playing in my head as if it were an old cartoon, like Fleisher's Superman cartoons wayback.
I think it's more the langauge he uses I found myself substuting words

[FicusFan]

I agree that sometimes the book just doesn't live up to the hype.


Books that just aren't all that good/great as far as I'm concerned:

LOTR I may have read this as a kid but have no memory of it, in any event I couldn't read it as an adult. I find it full of telling and very little showing and lots and lots of overblown words for very little real story.

The Scar

It was just so slow, and so overwritten with again very little in the way of story. I also didn't want to spend anytime with most of the characters.

Heroes Die

The writing just didn't flow and it was a rather average adventure story. It did have some interesting bits, but to me, nothing like the hype I often hear.

The Farseer Trilogy

I thought the first book was interesting and had promise, but the main character became passive and whiny, and each book went further downhill - just never understood the hype


Little, Big

Bloated, pointless and lacking in focus. I was really surpirsed at how bad it was after what I had heard about it and the writer.

The Year of Our War

Extremely badly written in terms of most elements of a story: plot, storytelling, dialog, supporting characters. She did a magnificent job with the main character who is very gritty and unconventional, but the rest of the book is a mess. It reads more like a character sketch that she added other stuff to and then decided to publish as a 'novel'. Had her editors any gumption they would have had her fix the other stuff before the book saw the light of day.

[Priestvyrce]

Little, Big

Bloated, pointless and lacking in focus. I was really surpirsed at how bad it was after what I had heard about it and the writer.



It started off interestingly enough, but Crowley seemed to fall in love with his story and it just meeandered around. I actually fell asleep reading this book and I like Crowley. His Beasts and Engine Summer were sublime and to the point.