Looking for BAD fantasy

GreyMantle

GreyMantle

Teenage Nietzscheist
Joined
May 8, 2006
Messages
137
This is just something that I am interested in. It seems to me that at least a few people like (or love) authors that many others consider "bad." I have seen how a large portion of this forum reviles Terry Goodkind, and yet he has his own little sub-forum, and I have encountered a more than a few Goodkind fans.

I am also interested in why you consider some work of fantasy bad. Again drawing on my experiences, most criticism seems to be directed at the writing style, but yet again we can never seem to agree whose writing styles are clumsy, or wordy, or overly pretentious.

I guess what I'm trying to get at is that books overall are very hard to give a definitive opinion. What would satisfy me most is if someone does mention a book, or author, or series that they personally dislike, and this book is not defended at all. I would be fascinated by a fantasy book that is universally reviled.
 
Anything by Robert Newcombe - and you can take that to the bank. :D
 
There are of course the usual suspects; Terry Goodkind and Robert Newcomb (who genuinely can not write). I suspect you won't find too many defenders of the latter on this board, though he obviously has quite a few fans.

However, the only books I have ever been unable to finish are Curse of the Mistwraith by Janny Wurts (florid and ludicrously overwrought) and The Redemption of Athalus by the Eddings' (unfunny and irritating). Both of these are, IMO, good examples of bad fantasy but I imagine there will be defenders, particularly of Wurts.
 
Robert Newcombe and Eragon are definitely at the top of the list for me. From a personal standpoint, I couldn't really get into KJ Parker or C.S. Friedman, and I thought Steph Swainston's debut was pretty bad, but I know people who love those, so I think it all depends on your own tastes...
 
SteveF said:
However, the only books I have ever been unable to finish are Curse of the Mistwraith by Janny Wurts (florid and ludicrously overwrought)...
...I imagine there will be defenders, particularly of Wurts.
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Good call on there being defenders. This book and its sequels comprise one of my 3 favorite fantasy series (along with Martin's SoIaF and Erikson's MBotF). In fact, what you consider to be the downfall of this book is what I consider one of its strengths (and would obviously describe differently). I am not surprised, however, to see this book mentioned here. I've been a part of similar discussion about this book/series previously, and it seems there is rarely any middle ground with it. People either really love it or despise it entirely.
 
I agree with SteveF, Wurt's writing is unnecessarily complicated and over-long, to the point of extreme boredom.
Although KJ Parker is an author I quite like.

Eddings' recent efforts are quite terrible, as are Feist's newer stuff.
 
Feist's Talon of the Silver Hawk and King of Foxes, as well as Into a Dark Realm. . .:eek:
 
Oh dear god where to begin?

Anything by mister effing Goodkind. I wouldn't line my cat litter box with his books.

The FIRST few books of the Black Company by Glen Cook. His writing skill in the first few was poor, at best. After the first few though, he got the hang of it.

The Swans War books by Sean Russell. OH dear sweet merciful crap this was bad. He was trying to copy Jordan...(see below...)

Robert Jordan's WOT.....is so bad, I couldn't get through the first volume. I tried twice, and both times I hated it bigtime.
 
I couldn't disagree more...with the exception of Terry Goodkind.
Glen Cook is one of my favourite authors, not only the Black Company novels, but also Dread Empire, although I haven't read his newer Instrumentalities of the Night.
Sean Russell is also an author I quite like; while his fantasy is rather cliched, it is well-written and engaging.
Robert Jordan too, I felt wrote a few good books at the beginning. It just got too big for him IMO.
 
Nightsorrow said:
I couldn't disagree more...with the exception of Terry Goodkind.
Glen Cook is one of my favourite authors, not only the Black Company novels, but also Dread Empire, although I haven't read his newer Instrumentalities of the Night.
Sean Russell is also an author I quite like; while his fantasy is rather cliched, it is well-written and engaging.
Robert Jordan too, I felt wrote a few good books at the beginning. It just got too big for him IMO.
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I only said that the first FEW Cook Black Company books weren't good. I think by about the 4th one they were better written. If you go back and read Shadow's Linger, it's like a 9th grader wrote it. No thoughts are followed through, and everything is so abrubt. The skill just wasn't there.

I suppose if you like Jordan, then I can see why you'd like Russell, as I said, the man cribbed directly from Jordan.
 
And here I thought Russell was somewhat reminiscent of a much more lyrical Brooks.

The problem with a topic such as this is that word bad is nebulous. People tend to answer with reasons why they didn't like a book, and I don't think such a subjective judgement is grounds for calling abook bad - there's heap of books out there I've not enjoyed but I wouldn't call them "bad", rather "not my cup of tea".

Perhaps there are some non-subjective grounds on which to grade a book though?
 
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Newcombe is bad in any definition of the word. There is no singular positive thing about the book.
Oddly, the Books of the North were my favourite...:D
 
Newcombe seems to be the only universal here (yeah, I hate his books too, no need to give reasons) - perhaps someone should try and draw up a scale based on Newcombe, or award "negative Newcombe points" for every type of literary flaw? So the books most like his would be objectively worst?

On the other books mentioned, Wurts's style I like, but find the plots irritating, and although I can't say I have particularly strong feelings on Russell, I didn't feel he resembled either Jordan or Brooks. I though he was tending more towards Robin Hobb....

There aren't any other really really bad authors I can think of, but some of the dragonlance / forgotten realms / etc. books were pretty dire. (But some of the others were ok, mind you - sometimes ones by the same authors...)
 
I enjoyed the first book of Russell's The Swans War. Ok, it's a bit cliched and there are some possibilities similarities with Jordan. However, I liked the use of the river throughout the book and generally it had quite a nice lyrical style. I also happen to think that Jordan's first few books are stunning, or at least they stunned me when I was taking up fantasy reading.

Funnily enough, I just finished Glen Cook's The Black Company and thought it was excellent!

Still, at least we agree about Newcombe. Is anyone here prepared to stick up for him, beyond pointing out that some people do like his "work".
 
Nightsorrow said:
JK Rowling.
Christopher Paulini.
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I agree and I will also add Terry Goodkind to my list as well asTad Williams, but only because I don't really like his writing style. I do resepct his writing though. I also think anything written by Eddings after Polgara the Sorceress is just crap. Redundant, and not original anymore.
 
The Elder Staves by Steve Oliverez.

And example par excellence of why A) publishing houses employ those pesky nuisances called "editors," and B) I generally avoid self-published books.
 
I remember reading a pretty positive review of Oliverez’s work…

Here's another name to avoid: Anne Bishop.
 
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