What FANTASY book did you find hard to finish?

[Godslayer]

Right now I'm finding Book 10 of Jordans Wheel of Time hard to finish. Although its due to having no time rather than not enjoying it - damn university work!!

 

[Wulfa_Jones]

Well I just posted about this on the topic of Steven Erikson but I have totally lost the will to finish Deadhouse Gates. I don't know why, I still want to know what happens at the end and I've only about 5 chapters left to go but have for the moment given up.

I do also want to read Memories of Ice (that is the 3rd book right?) but its size is really putting me off, particually since I've had such a problem finishing Deadhouse Gates (which is odd as I really liked Gardens of the Moon). As for book 5 and the forth coming book 6 I'm not sure I will bother... I like House of Paren (spelling?) connection that looks like it runs throughout the first 4 books but I know Midnight Tides and the next book are both set in the distant past.

 

[Evil Agent]

That's interesting, since most people seem to say that Deadhouse Gates is better than the first book, Gardens of the Moon.

I'm about 300 pages into book 2, and I'm liking it.. I think so far it's a bit easier to read (less POVs, and now I'm more familiar with the world), there's more action, and it's (SO far) confined to a pretty small scale (for Erikson that is).

But I do kind of miss some of Gardens elements so far, like all the gods, and Anomander Rake, and ravens, and stuff like that. But I guess they'll reappear somewhere in the series.

 

[Jarek]

Shadow Rising (WoT book 4) by Jordan - This book just drags on too much and I am seriously thinking of just giving up the series since I hear it gets even worse later on. It's a bit of a shame to quit though since I put some time into reading the first three books and half of the fourth(I've been reading it for months now).

Otherland by Tad Williams - I have the first book in the series on my bookshelf and got about 300 pages into it before I lost interest. I might go back to it since I liked the idea behind the story, but I read it during a period when my interest in reading was waning.

 

[Leiali]

Three authors crop up here:

Robert Jordan
Steve Erikson
Tad Williams

And they are all on my list. Glad to know I am not alone!

 

[Miriamele]

I think what it all comes down to is that sometimes a good author also needs a good editor. So many times I've read a book, thinking, "Man this guy is great...or would be, if somebody cut out every fourth paragraph or so..."

Tad Williams is a prime example. I love his worlds and characters but if somebody had made him cut out a good chunk of MS&T, and maybe A WHOLE BOOK'S WORTH out of Otherland, he'd be just awesome!

Writers just get carried away, I think, and write more than is needed to tell the story. It's something I try to keep in mind when I'm writing my own stuff.

 

[Rhaegar]

Very interesting that Steven Erikson's name is mentioned so much. The first book was a struggle... and then I read the next two in quick succession and enjoyed them very much. Then the fourth book fell flat for me. No desire to get the fifth.

Just seems that Mr. Erikson has been overwhelmed by the details of his world.

 

[Keyoke]

With regards to Deadhouse Gates.

I found that I had some difficulty finish that book as well, not that I didnt enjoy it, just, it was so complicated, huge, engrossing, overwhelming, etc, that I'd put the book aside about half way through. I then read some smaller novels, and came back to it. I then found I could through it much easier, and enjoyed it immensely.

To Memories of Ice, loved that one.. Though, that is as far as I have read. Plan to read on though

 

[Wulfa_Jones]

Thanks Keyoke thats my current plan. Every so often I take a break from the genre (never normally halfway through a book...) and thats what I think I need to do before plunging back into it.

With regards to Robert Jorden... I've never even considered reading the wheel of time series as its just so big its off putting. Has he ever written outside that world?

 

[mistri]

I read the first 100 pages of Deadhouse Gates, but never really felt like I was 'into' the story. I put it down one day, and never picked it up.

However, I do own the others, so I might try it again some time.

 

[Gary Wassner]

I rarely put down a book. I read so infrequently these days that I try to pick and choose carefully. But, although I always hear wonderful things about him and admittedly, this was my first attempt at reading him, I could not get into Forests of the Heart by Charles de Lint.

 

[Leiali]

I rarely put down a book. I read so infrequently these days that I try to pick and choose carefully. But, although I always hear wonderful things about him and admittedly, this was my first attempt at reading him, I could not get into Forests of the Heart by Charles de Lint.

Try again! I absolutely love Charles De Lint. I would suggest Moonheart, or Some place to be flying. But all his novels are intertwined with people that you end up feeling like you know. One character especially really is quite amazing - Jilly Coppercorn, and I remember how excited I was when he wrote The Onion Girl.

 

[Yobmod]

It has taken me 3 weeks to finish the Prestige by Cristopher Priest, i think the longest for any book i've read.
I had no interest in the boring lives of the characters, and although the basic premise of the story being allegorical for a magicians act seemed OK, it was all too obvious.

I had thought i was onto a good thing by reading all the WFA winners, as i liked all the others i've read, but now i'm at a loss for what to read next - so started Mists of Avalon, which is long enough to give me time to decide.

 

[Spears&Buckler]

I posted a reply at another forum and it got me thinking about this topic a little. I found it brutally difficult to finish Lord of Snow and Shadows by Sara Ash. The storyline did not grab me at all, and I really could not have cared less about the characters. The Jackal of Nar by John Marco was a little tough to get through, but it got pretty good at the end. Not good enough to continue with the series though...

 

[Heresy]

I can think of three books that put me off.

1. Jordan’s Shadow Rising. How many damn pages of foreboding can someone write without driving the point home that something will happen to the Aes Sedai?! Considering I paid attention through book 1 to 3, I received enough hints about it. It just made me that uncomfortable that I put the book down.

2. Mickey Zucker Reithart (Ugh, I suddenly can’t spell his name!) The last of the Renshai. I couldn’t get through the crappily written set up. You get the feeling the book is shaped for one character, but suddenly the world tips over and there’s all this sudden and rapid back-writing to explain why the character you assumed would be the main character is no more. I detest when you can see the -author's thinking - winking back at you in the writing. You’re not suppose to notice the mechanics. A good writer will hide that from you, but Ugh.

3. The first book of Jane Welch’s Rune Stone stories. I don’t know, I felt that she was working too hard and as a result, it just got too tired and boring for me.

 

[Watcher]

I totally agree about the Coldfire Trilogy. Had to really try to finisht he first book.

Anything David Drake really turns my blood.

With that in mind I also add my opinion that I really appreciate Tolkien's work and mind, but I can't push myself to get through the Fellowship. The Hobbit was good but I don't think I'll ever read the full trilogy.

 

[Jenab]

I found the Sam & Frodo scenes in Return of the King to grind...on and on... the dark tunnels, the blasted landscapes, the orcs marching hither and yon, gollum-gollum, climb, fall, more blasted landscapes, more orcs, etc. The first time through that was worse than the second, though. I've read LOTR twice. (Three times? No, I think just twice.)

But the worst series for me to finish (so far) was The Dragonlance Chronicles. I was expecting this series to be so good because of the high praise for it on Amazon.com. But when I actually read it, I found much to irritate me (like the paper-thin characters), much that was goofy about the sense of the passage of time (e.g., those impromptu conversations the heroes kept having while there were enemies running about), and there was often no clear viewpoint character - the viewpoint kept bouncing around, just who's supposed to be telling this story? Anyway, I draaaaaaged myself all the way through the DL Chronicles, and, eventually, it ended.

Jerry Abbott

 

[Evil Agent]

It never ceases to amaze me that people find Lord of the Rings difficult! First of all, it's WAY SHORTER than most Fantasy series out there. Secondly, even when it's at a long slow part (ie. Frodo and Sam crossing Mordor, which I agree is one of the harder parts) I find I just relax, trust to Tolkien's beautiful language, and enjoy each sentence one at a time. Before you know it you're almost done! You don't need to feel any pressure to finish it quickly.

As for Heresy, if you're having trouble finishing Jordan's 4th book, all I can say is you might as well stop now! I'm not sure if you know, but most people think the quality drops off DRASTICALLY after book 6, and he's now put out 10 books (the last 2 or 3 being particularly terrible). It's really sad since this was one of my favorite all time series. But I'm still gonna finish it (book 10 was sooooo boring though).

 

[Jenab]

As for Heresy, if you're having trouble finishing Jordan's 4th book, all I can say is you might as well stop now! I'm not sure if you know, but most people think the quality drops off DRASTICALLY after book 6, and he's now put out 10 books (the last 2 or 3 being particularly terrible). It's really sad since this was one of my favorite all time series. But I'm still gonna finish it (book 10 was sooooo boring though).

I agree with you on Wheel of Time. Jordan should've "Dragonlanced" it; i.e., he ought to have partitioned the viewpoints into separate series, with each series containing only a manageable number of viewpoint characters. He could have had several shorter (and plotwise more forthright) series all dealing with the Wheel of Time universe. There'd be a cluster of books for Rand al-Thor (and his satellite secondary viewpoint characters), as well as clusters for Mat, Perrin, Egwene, Min, Elaine, Aviendha. A few other viewpoint characters (such as Morgase during her imprisonment among the Whitecloaks) could be cameoed somewhere.

Anyway, Jordon let the plot get away from him. I'm sure he keeps track of what's going on everywhere, but it's gotten to the point where he can't show much of it through most readers' reading bandwidth. That's why he can write 800+ pages now and nudge the plot forward by only a week or less.

Jerry Abbott

 

[vellenga1380]

Ya I'd have to say the Otherland series by Tad williams, I loved his first trilogy Memory, Sorrow and Thorn, and I recommend it.