Fantasy Aficionados discussion

I'm noticing a trend that I'm not too fond of...the never ending series.

It's everywhere now. It's fantasy, romance, urban fantasy, and even mystery...it's like a disease.

With very few exceptions (Dresden and Mercy Thompson), I stay away from these types of books. I was thinking about that when I read a blog post of the In Death by JD Robb (of which there are like 22 books). O_o

Also not going to read:

The Wheel of Time Series - tried 2, realized that I would drown myself in the word-count alone
The Black Dagger Brotherhood - tried 3, they are all carbon copies to me



That's my "will not touch" section. What's yours?

What books are you never going to read and why?

Anything by James Patterson. Have read some of his older stuff. But since learning about the whole "ghostwriter" thing I can't stand him.
Other than that, and maybe that someday, I'm up for just about anything.

Traci wrote: "Anything by James Patterson. Have read some of his older stuff. But since learning about the whole "ghostwriter" thing I can't stand him.
Other than that, and maybe that someday, I'm up for just ab..."

Yeah, I try to avoid any author that comes out with more than one book a year. Either they've a formula or someone has to be writing for them. Either way the story is not going to be as good as it could be.

Traci wrote: "Anything by James Patterson. Have read some of his older stuff. But since learning about the whole "ghostwriter" thing I can't stand him.
Other than that, and maybe that someday, I'm up for just ab..."

I agree with your assessment Traci. I still do read them ocassionally but only because I inherited about two dozen of the things from my mom...and I can't seem to leave a book unread. They're always at least OK (of the few I've read) and they are quick reads. But I don't get any new ones.

I already crossed off BDB because of the silly names, and your commentary makes me feel a bit better about that. I just had that "carbon copy" reaction to another series, and it's not an experience I care to repeat.

In general, I'm developing an increasing aversion to fantasy series advertised as GRITTY and DARK. There are exceptions, of course, but... eh.

The Twilight Series.....I do not like the stuff about vampires.

A lot of times, I stay away from particular series for political reasons...examples would be Orson Card and Pullman.
That might be judgmental of me, so be it...there are too many things I really WANT to read.

I have to agree with Maggie. Right or wrong, an author can turn me off of a series whether by political stance, religious reasons, or overly promoting themselves. Once I get that bad taste in my mouth, I just can't shake it.

Traci wrote: "Anything by James Patterson. Have read some of his older stuff. But since learning about the whole "ghostwriter" thing I can't stand him.
Other than that, and maybe that someday, I'm up for just ab..."

I've seen a few of the movies but I've never read the books...so I'm not too caught up on the ghostwriter. Please spill it!

Valerie wrote: "I already crossed off BDB because of the silly names, and your commentary makes me feel a bit better about that. I just had that "carbon copy" reaction to another series, and it's not an experience..."

Yeah, I felt like I was already doing a re-hash directly after reading book 1. I know the series has millions of fans - and it was my intro to erotica ;-) - but I felt it was...all the same.

I also have a major problem with "dark and gritty," too. I read for pleasure and escapism...so take your dark, gritty realism and shove it! Someone give me an elf with a rainbow and a magic sword on a flying talking horse, STAT!

I tried the first Anita Blake book, (I forget the name, Guilty Pleasures?),but I could not get past the first few chapters, so I don't plan to read any more books by Laurell K. Hamilton.

MrsJoseph wrote: "Traci wrote: "Anything by James Patterson. Have read some of his older stuff. But since learning about the whole "ghostwriter" thing I can't stand him.
Other than that, and maybe that someday, I'm ..."

It's come out that he doesn't write all of the books under his name. His publisher uses his name as a brand to sell books. So when you see a book that has his name large and prominent and a smaller unknown guy (or girl) hidden away somewhere on the bottom it was probably written by that second author, alone.
It just really bugs me for some reason.

I refuse to read the Twilight series or the Sookie Stackhouse series. Vampires are supposed to scare the bejeebies out of you, not sparkle!!

I'm going to say never say never, for the most part.

I won't read Pullman for the reasons Maggie stated. I didn't really have any background on Card's politics, so I read Ender's Game. I might read Ender's Shadow, but I'm not married to reading the whole series.

I don't have any desire to read Anne Rice's vampire series. Other than that, I can't say 100% I won't try any fantasy series. I'm still trying out fantasy and seeing what I like at this point.

I definitely avoid erotica because I don't like it. Otherwise, who knows?

I know that I won't continue the Kushiel's series by Carey because the books are too long and I don't like the BDSM content. I am done with Anita Blake after Obsidian Butterfly because I'm not into the magical orgy stuff. Riley Jensen for similar reasons.

I don't plan to ever read anything of the 'Twilight' series. Vampires that sparkle in the sun and werewolves that lose all of their body hair when they revert to human form just annoy me.
I also gave up on reading anything more by Tom Clancy or anything not by him that bears his name as an imprimatur. All I can say there is that I just lost interest.

Lady Danielle "The Book Huntress" wrote: "I'm going to say never say never, for the most part.

I won't read Pullman for the reasons, Maggie stated. I didn't really have any background on Card's politics, so I read Ender's Game. I might re..."

I thought you liked the BDB series? They're erotica...

I read the Anne Rice Vampire series years ago (before she flipped out) and I was ok with that...then I started the side books and realized she has a thing for young children. I can't deal with children being sexualized so I had to give her up.

I had always planned to read Anita Blake but the stories of how the series changed keep me away. And while I don't care for LKH, I dislike what the PC Cast group said about her - for no reason - and so I stay away from their series, too.

I don't consider BDB erotica. I would call it steamy romance. They're about as steamy as I get.

S.J. wrote: "I don't plan to ever read anything of the 'Twilight' series. Vampires that sparkle in the sun and werewolves that lose all of their body hair when they revert to human form just annoy me.
I al..."

I've read one Tom Clancy book...it was decent but waaaay to long for the quality of writing. My husband - who's recently turned into a Larry Correia fan - has one of his books on audio...he says it's boring him to tears.

A friend of mine once commented that things in Clancy's books run far too smoothly for the most part, and whenever something goes wrong for the protagonists it always felt to him as if that part was put in just because Clancy felt that it was time for an accident or setback so things didn't seem too easy.

Laurel wrote: "I have to agree with Maggie. Right or wrong, an author can turn me off of a series whether by political stance, religious reasons, or overly promoting themselves. Once I get that bad taste in my ..."

Word.

MrsJoseph wrote: "I had always planned to read Anita Blake but the stories of how the series changed keep me away. And while I don't care for LKH, I dislike what the PC Cast group said about her - for no reason - and so I stay away from their series, too."

What did they say about her? I've seen some pretty horrible things out of them... :/

Valerie wrote: "MrsJoseph wrote: "I had always planned to read Anita Blake but the stories of how the series changed keep me away. And while I don't care for LKH, I dislike what the PC Cast group said about her - ..."

They made a point to bring up LKH - as an author - in one of their books. Can't remember the whole thing but the gist is that LKH is a rather tragic person (read pathetic) and has a tragic sense of fashion.

Not that the words are especially bad...but there is no cause to bring up the author or the author's characters...unless they are in the same "universe." Personally, I prefer when authors pretend the others don't exist inside of their works.

S.J. wrote: "A friend of mine once commented that things in Clancy's books run far too smoothly for the most part, and whenever something goes wrong for the protagonists it always felt to him as if that part wa..."

Agreed! That's how the one book I read felt to me. I can't imagine espionage to be as...clean as Clancy makes it.

I'm grinning and agreeing with most of your assessments - BDB was hilarious for a couple of books, but then got really, really old; LKH I only read half of one and threw it away - AWFUL, sex for sex's sake. Haven't read Anita Blake, PC Cast, and many others because they all are the same. Don't plan to read any more Karen Chance because she's just too hyperactive for me - no pacing, no time to breathe, and just too wild, although there are a few hilarious moments. Read one Patterson and it made me gag; thought Clancy was thriller by popular mechanics and it bored me to tears. Orson Scott Card - no no for political reasons. Read one WOT and that was more than enough. Read one Sanderson and that was more than enough. Read one and a half Erikson's and that was enough.

MrsJoseph wrote: "Valerie wrote: "MrsJoseph wrote: "I had always planned to read Anita Blake but the stories of how the series changed keep me away. And while I don't care for LKH, I dislike what the PC Cast group s..."

Is it this? http://dearauthor.com/book-reviews/tu...

That's pretty... yeah, idk. I know they once attacked a blog commenter in one of their books, but I didn't know that airing personal beefs was a regular thing for them.

I haven't read any Karen Chance...I don't think?

I am not going to read [more] Orson Scott Card...mostly because I was BORED to TEARS by him...years before I found out he was un-PC. Note to all...Stay AWAY from the Alvin the Maker series...unless you like boredom.

I've not tried Erikson as yet...I'm sure I won't get into it too much...too many books and I've heard it's very dark and gritty realism (Calling for that talking flying horse again).

I keep trying to start some Sanderson since everyone claims he's the next thing to sliced bread (with the best thing since sliced bread still being occupied by Gaiman...who I also have not read). But I haven't as yet.

If I could remember them all, I'm sure I could make quite a list. Here's a few off the top of my head:

* WoT - Just not interested plus I've heard it gets crap, even though it's picking up again.
* Sword of Truth - Generic S&S + I've heard Goodkind's a douche.
* Kushiel - Sado-masochism is so not my thing.
* Anita Blake - I'm not going to start a series that even fans say devolves into bad porn.
* War of Light and Shadow - I've read excerpts and don't like the writing, and I'm not into door stoppers.

I won't put Twilight on the list 'cause I am morbidly curious, so I might actually read at least the first one some day.

But there are probably a bajillion other series that I have no interest in reading - though some of which I'm sure I'll get talked into at some point.

Maggie wrote: "A lot of times, I stay away from particular series for political reasons...examples would be Orson Card and Pullman.
That might be judgmental of me, so be it...there are too many things I really W..."

Its like me with Bruce Springsteen. I really have never heard of any of his songs, but I would never listen to him because he has the opposite political view as me.

Eragon/Inheritance Series. by C. Paolini. Just too everything. Tried and it wasn't worth my time for a second go around.

Anything newer by Anne Rice until she gets fixed whatever happened that totally ruined her ability to write and left her publishing nonsense and bad word processor effluvia. Her older works (Interview,etc and others) sit on the shelves waiting to be read again.

I have yet to find anything that poses as both fantasy and YA to be worth anyone's time and effort.

Valerie wrote: "MrsJoseph wrote: "Valerie wrote: "MrsJoseph wrote: "I had always planned to read Anita Blake but the stories of how the series changed keep me away. And while I don't care for LKH, I dislike what t..."

That's it!

No need to be petty.

Curse the Dawn is the first in the Cassie Palmer series by Karen Chance. I read five of her books before deciding I'm not interested in more. Erikson is terribly dark and gritty and I decided is more for gamers or younger people than this senior citizen. Sanderson is not terrible. His writing is very workman like, and, to me, flat and uninspired. None of his books entice me to read more. I waded through Way of Kings and that was enough. Seemed to me like he was trying to copy GRRM with a different character in each chapter and some thrown in there for no apparent reason except that one would surmise that they'll be relevant later in the series? I have read two Gaiman's now - American Gods, which I HATED; and The Graveyard Book, which I liked a great deal. So I feel ambivalent about reading another.

CD wrote: "Eragon/Inheritance Series. by C. Paolini. Just too everything. Tried and it wasn't worth my time for a second go around.

Anything newer by Anne Rice until she gets fixed whatever happened that tot..."

As far as YA... I would recommend to you:

The Blue Sword
Riddle-Master: The Complete Trilogy *
The Darkangel Trilogy

I completely agree about James Patterson. A lot of his older books are great but recently I have avoided him completely due to the ghostwriting stuff. I may still pick up one if I'm bored enough though.

I gave up on the Eragon series after the 2nd book failed to catch my interest.

The Dark Tower series by Stephen King----just couldn't get into it.

WOT is just too long for my tastes and Kushiel's content skeeves me out. I'm a bit flip-floppy on Neil Gaimen though. I loved Neverwhere, Good Omens and his Sandman series but found American Gods only so-so.

However, I don't think I have ever not read something due to the authors political/religious/what say you beliefs. Most of the time I find out after the fact....

I tend to stay away from the PNR-YA books unless it is heavily recommend by someone I trust. Most of the time I just want to rage at them...

Wheel of Time series. I recently read the first book which I've put off for years. It sucked. I knew the end in the first 50 pages...that left a whole lot of wasted time to tell me what I already knew. If the first book of a series is predictable and boring, the rest will suck too.

Malazan Book of the Fallen series, read the first one, too military and too boring; the only interesting thing was some dude's amnesia but by the end of the book I wasn't one iota closer in learning anything useful about him or his identity. I knew that was gonna drag out forever.

Urban paranormal romance, sexy vamps and werewolves, no, I want to be terrified to death by these creatures. With so much of this stuff out, I stay away from it all, they're all basically the same book.

All romance novels, it holds no interest for me.

Add me to the ambivalent-on-Neil-Gaiman camp -- loved American Gods and The Graveyard Book but haven't been too keen on anything else he's done (Good Omens, Neverwhere, Anansi Boys).

Sandra aka Sleo wrote: "Sanderson is not terrible. His writing is very workman like, and, to me, flat and uninspired. None of his books entice me to read more."

This is about how I feel about him... he has some really interesting ideas, but his prose is unremarkable and repetitive. His books are too easy for me to put down.

MrsJoseph wrote: "CD wrote: "Eragon/Inheritance Series. by C. Paolini. Just too everything. Tried and it wasn't worth my time for a second go around.

Anything newer by Anne Rice until she gets fixed whatever happe..."

I will check out The Blue Sword. Not really familiar with that one. Thanks.

Never really thought of The Darkangel series as YA. Not my favorite.

Riddlemaster was kind of a joke among the gaming community when it came out 30+ years ago. You could just sort of "Riddlemaster" your way through a role playing scenario by making up stuff that didn't have anything to do with the plot. Kind of like the books which I still feel were rather pretentious. It too has been 'added' to the new canon of YA for some reason.

A book I will probably never read, but the difference being I would like to, is The Exorcist. I'm curious. But the movie scares me so much...someday I will be brave enough. Maybe.

Traci wrote: "A book I will probably never read, but the difference being I would like to, is The Exorcist. I'm curious. But the movie scares me so much...someday I will be brave enough. Maybe."

Oh my, I loved that book. Yes, very scary. But I do like horror when it's done well and doesn't descend into cheesiness.

I read Ender's series long before I knew about Orson's political views. So, nothing there.
I would definitely not pick up anything by Terry Goodkind again. I've read Sword of Truth completely. And it was such a pain to finish it. Then I had to be an idiot and pick up latest one. Oh my mind..
I don't mind Kushiel's series. I find the BDSM part of it alright.

The ones I would not read are Stephen King's books. I don't like horror. Read his It long time back and remember staying up all night. And that means whole Horror Genre is big No No for me.

There are LKH books at my apartment, left by previous tenant. Wondering if I should risk them?

Maybe this is TMI...but I found the BDSM kinda hot. It's not my personal kink but if she's enjoying it, why not? You go, girl!

My personal motto in life? If you like it, I love it!

MrsJoseph wrote: "Maybe this is TMI...but I found the BDSM kinda hot. It's not my personal kink but if she's enjoying it, why not? You go, girl!

My personal motto in life? If you like it, I love it!"
:)
I find problem with BDSM only when it's bit too crude. With Kushiel's books, I thought it was nicely done.

Jacqueline Carey is the perfect example of why I don't believe in judging an author or book before reading them. Never ever thought I'd like a book with a prostitute heroine (I know she isn't really but that's what I thought before I read it) who is into bdsm but not only did I like it I LOVED it. The first three anyway. Didn't like the second trilogy so much. I also read a lot of pnr though so by those standards it was actually quite tame.

Soan wrote: "MrsJoseph wrote: "Maybe this is TMI...but I found the BDSM kinda hot. It's not my personal kink but if she's enjoying it, why not? You go, girl!

My personal motto in life? If you like it, I lo..."

Hrm, maybe I miiight give this a shot if it was written well. I've been burned way too many time by really tasteless sex/romance scenes in books--which is one of the main reason why I stay away from a lot of romance books.

Also, there is a lot of mention about Terry Goodkind on here. I haven't personally read anything by him but was planning on it. Now I'm worried....aha.

Oh.. Don't get me started on Terry Goodkind. I loved first Sword of Truth book, Liked second and third. And from there on, It was just downhill. He decided his readers need lot of preaching as if we all are bunch of unethical, immoral idiots. So pages and pages of preaching.. By the end of series, I was ready to burn those books.

Pauline wrote: "Soan wrote: "MrsJoseph wrote: "Maybe this is TMI...but I found the BDSM kinda hot. It's not my personal kink but if she's enjoying it, why not? You go, girl!

My personal motto in life? If you ..."

I wouldn't if I were you - Goodkind, that is.

I liked the first few books so I say give atleast the first Sword of Truth book a chance. Like I said it was just a series I stopped. But I'm becoming intrigued by how they progress....

Pauline wrote: "Also, there is a lot of mention about Terry Goodkind on here. I haven't personally read anything by him but was planning on it. Now I'm worried....aha."

Short answer: RUN AND DON'T LOOK BACK

Long answer: I liked his first books a lot, but I was also a preteen when I read them -- if I re-read them now, I'll probably scream. They get INCREDIBLY message-heavy as they go on. Also, he's said some very stupid things in the past. Somebody asked him about comparisons to Wheel of Time and he said something like, "If you see similarities then you're not old enough to be reading my books." (I was something like 14 or 15 when I saw that. I was devastated.)

Lol. Guess I'm not old enough to be reading his books. Because YES there are strong similarities between his work and Jordan's. :)

I had to look up BDSM. I only enjoyed it in the Kushiel novels because I loved the book and heroine. I don't have the urge to read about it on a regular basis.

I don't think there's anything that I'd never read. I'm very stubborn, but I've been wrong quite a few times about authors, and I hate the idea that I'd let a few good series get by me.

Twilight is actually a good series. People like to hate on it now because it's goten so popular. I'm so glad I read it before all the movies started.

I love the idea of the neverending series. Doesn't bother me at all. But certain authors should be jailed for taking it too far, like GRRM. Since he's not 20 years old, he needs to get a move on.

Now that Anne McCaffrey's son Todd has taken over the writing of the Pern series, I don't think I'll be reading any more of those books. Which is a crying shame because I love Pern! But, I tried one book written solely by him and it ended up being the first 2-star review I've ever written on Goodreads. There were just too many issues for me to enjoy it.

Another series I don't plan on completing is Terry Goodkind's "Sword of Truth". I read up to and including the seventh book and then said that's enough. I really enjoyed the first 3 or 4, but, after that, they went downhill. I stubbornly read on for awhile because I was hoping they would get better, but they never did.