Overrated books (a thread for grumps)

Most of the books I've read in sf&f, have been obtained through sifting various threads on these boards. That having been said, I don't think I've come across anything "overrated" yet. Is that truly possible? I don't know.
 
These types of threads always make me laugh. What does overrated mean? Come on people... I mean really...

Someone starts a thread about popular books that he/she doesn't think are very good and can't understand why they are so popular. If someone has a different opinion, or wants to add to the list, they are encouraged to do so. Seems pretty harmless and simple to me.

Then these people come in and want to argue what 'overrated' means and make little snide comments about what the poster 'needs to clarify' or 'needs to state' for the thread to be valid. You know, if you don't like the thread, you don't have to post or even look at it.

It seems to me that these are the real people who want to start an arguement. They just want to say "You don't know what you are talking about." I notice that few of these people offer any opinions of their own on the books mentioned. To me it looks like they just want to argue.
 
Arguing about the meaning of the word overrated is petty and pointless. Overrated simply means that other people hold the book in high regards for one reason or another and you can't see why. Calling something overrated is not a shot at someone who claims it is a great work. It is just a disagreement with that assessment.
 
I kinda think 'overrated' is pretty straight forward. Overrrated means it gets more attention or praise than maybe it should warrant. *shrug* It's all opinion anyway, why get up in arms about it? My list is short, since I tend to not read stuff that doesn't interest me:

The Host, Stephanie Meyer: I'm not going after Twilight because there's obviously something there that struck a chord with fans. Not my favorite book, but I see its appeal. I do not see the appeal of The Host. It had potential, but the wooden characters killed me, and it really had an awful message for girls that a guy can beat the crap out of you, but just keep being nice and he'll love you! Sorry, that makes me a bit ill.

James Patterson: Does he even write his own stuff anymore? I got one of his books free, can't even remember the name of it. In fact, I finished it in fours hours and immediately forgot everything about it. All I remember is wondering why the hell I kept reading. Look, books aren't TV. They're work and money, and if you want me to first, pay you, and then work, you gotta give me something worth remembering.
 
If overrated means the ratio of hype to substance, then the winner must be Harry Potter. Runners up are the other books that monopolize the shelves in the fantasy section of every single bookstore, replacing variety and quality with "mainstream" uniformity, books such as the Dark Tower or SoIaF series.
 
Oh dear. Not another "Harry Potter is overrated"' person. Harry Potter got where it was in sales, etc. because it was targeted and could sell to people of all ages, and was enjoyed by many, many people. You can't reach the success level of Harry Potter without being something very special. You try it, and see how it turns out.

Mainstream books are mainstream for a reason. More people like them, and as a result, they were recommended to more people, and the cycle continued. A book that's widely perceived as crummy (Goodkind's not widely perceived as crummy by the many people who read him) cannot reach mainstream success. Books don't work that way.
 
Armor by John Steakley; It just didn't seem as ferocious and action-packed as it could have been.

Gateway by Frederik Pohl; The whole thing just seemed blah.

Ringworld by Larry Niven; Could have had alot more action and adventure

Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card; Expected it to be more like a Star Wars or Battlestar Galactica-type space opera. Was sorely dissapointed when it wasn't that, especially with the mushy ending.

The Symphony of Ages Trilogy by Elizabeth Haydon; I can't talk about this series without throwing up in my mouth a little

The Belgariad by David Eddings; About as boring and predictable as watching paint dry.

Assasin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb; Just seemed to lack something that I just couldn't quite put my finger on.

The Once and Future King by T.H. White; Couldn't even make it halfway through. Far too whimsical and Disneyesque.

Eragon by Christopher Paolini; Again, couldn't even make it halfway through, it seemed like a blatant ripoff of Dragonlance.

The Return by Bently Little; The flow of the book was quite good, but the ending was God-awful

Running With the Demon by Terry Brooks; Couldn't make it through it. It just seemed utterly cardboard and lackluster.

Elfstones of Shannara by Terry Brooks; Same case here.
 
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Zsinj said:
Armor by John Steakley; It just didn't seem as ferocious and action-packed as it could have been.

Gateway by Frederik Pohl; The whole thing just seemed blah.

Ringworld by Larry Niven; Could have had alot more action and adventure

Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card; Expected it to be more like a Star Wars or Battlestar Galactica-type space opera. Was sorely dissapointed when it wasn't that, especially with the mushy ending.

The Symphony of Ages Trilogy by Elizabeth Haydon; I can't talk about this series without throwing up in my mouth a little

The Belgariad by David Eddings; About as boring and predictable as watching paint dry.

Assasin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb; Just seemed to lack something that I just couldn't quite put my finger on.

The Once and Future King by T.H. White; Couldn't even make it halfway through. Far too whimsical and Disneyesque.

Eragon by Christopher Paolini; Again, couldn't even make it halfway through, it seemed like a blatant ripoff of Dragonlance.

The Return by Bently Little; The flow of the book was quite good, but the ending was God-awful

Running With the Demon by Terry Brooks; Couldn't make it through it. It just seemed utterly cardboard and lackluster.

Elfstones of Shannara by Terry Brooks; Same case here.
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Wow, I think I may have been out-grumped! :)
 
For me, I found the whole Fellowship of the Ring to be overrated. I enjoyed the series, it just seems bland to me.
 
For me it would have to be anything by Terry Brooks, the Twilight series, and after about book 4, the Wheel of Time series. I often wonder what motivates some authors a it seems some just recycle the same ideas and put anything to print. I do disagree with the Night Angel books being overrated though.

My humble opinion of course

Kat
 
Robin hobb
C.S. friedman
elisabet Haydon - rapshody series
sarantine mosaic - g.g. Kay

Potter Šmotter
Twilight...
Dragon bone chair...


All overrated ... must drop books if you ever read anything good
enders game is a good book, how can you compare it to this !?
It had that - wow how didn't I think of that...
 
Maybe overrated is the wrong word and disappointing would be more appropriate.

Goodkind was very disappointing to me. Drivel.
 
I didn't check the link, but I didn't notcie anyone mention Harry Potter??

I agree about Pullman and the Wheel of Time, but I do not agree with the responses about Erikson. I don't see him on the same lines as Jordan.

I didn't give Martin a good enough chance the fist time, and I haven't finished A Storm of Swords, so I can't say if I like him or not yet.
 
I enjoyed the Harry Potter series for a number of reasons. The first being that it got a lot of kids interested in reading. Which as a teacher I can tell you is not an easy thing to do. Another reason being that while the plot was simple the overall story maintained through the entire series was a very good lesson for kids. Love conquers all and stick with your family. At least that is what I got out of it.

With that in mind and in the spirit of this thread I would say that The Magicians by Lev Grossman was a major let down. It was "marketed" as a more adult Harry Potter series and after reading it was very disappointed and not just because they missed the mark by telling me that it was potter-like. For all of the positive reviews it just didn't live up to all of the hype. In fact halfway through the book I started to lose interest.

The Lord of the Rings was another series of books that had no appeal to me. I read them long ago and wasn't impressed with them as a young adult and years later when I reread them I can't say that my opinion changed at all. I believe Kevin Smith said it best when he said "it was a giant book on people walking, everyone walked, including the trees"

Finally I am currently reading GRRM's ASOIAF and the first book blew me away. A Game of Thrones was amazing. But as I read my way through A Storm of Swords, I have to admit that while the series is good I am not finding in mind blowing. The first book was a masterpiece and each book that follows goes down hill just a bit more. Considering where the series started the books have a long way to go before they are considered bad but they sequels are no where near as good as the opening book in the series. Of course the fact that Ned doesn't appear in future installments of the series may have something to do with my negativity as he was a very impressive character. I will continue to read the series but I am not finding the books to be the end all and be all of fantasy as I was lead to believe.
 
DurzoBlint said:
The Lord of the Rings was another series of books that had no appeal to me. I read them long ago and wasn't impressed with them as a young adult and years later when I reread them I can't say that my opinion changed at all. I believe Kevin Smith said it best when he said "it was a giant book on people walking, everyone walked, including the trees
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I guess that's why I love LotR...I've always loved walking long distances, and descriptions of people doing the same...
 
While I agree that getting kids to read is great, I guess it's harder for me to appreciate them because I was already reading fantasy when they came out. I had finished the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings, and I was just getting into David Eddings. I think I was 9 when the Sorcerer's Stone first released. I just didn't get as much out of them as everyone else. I didn't like the first two books at all, but the third was good. The fourth was alright, I hated the fifth, despised the sixth and by the seventh I was just worn out.

Also, it isn't fantasy but Twilight anyone? Or any of the other vampire cult books that suddenly became popular this year? (Sookie Stackhouse rings another bell).
 
firqoret said:
Yup, this one's overrated all right.

Fahrenheit 451 is an awful, awful book. The message it sends might be admirable, but it's written in such a way that after finishing it, the first thing one wants to do is to watch TV for 48 hours straight, just to wash away the memories of ever having read that high-strung, whiny, stupid, pretentious piece of nonsense that Bradbury wrote.

In 1953 one classic science fiction novel about the excesses of modern media was published, but that wasn't Fahrenheit 451, it was the much superior The Space Merchants my Pohl and Kornbluth.
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Here's where this thread should have been left to die.
 
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