fandomsecrets | [ SECRET POST #4621 ]

[ SECRET POST #4621 ]

⌈ Secret Post #4621 ⌋

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But don't just take the easy way out and list titles, tell us why you think they're overrated and what their flaws are!

A Wizard of Earthsea. People dislike Tolkien because he had so few women in LoTR??? They should try AWoE. Tolkien had far more excuse for the dearth of women, both in terms of date of birth and because of his gender.

Moreover UKLG felt it necessary to write an entire essay to explain what she was getting at in AWoE. Star Trek TOS managed to send the same message in a single episode, "The Enemy Within" without the exposition.

*takes cover*

Honestly they didn't thrill me that much either. I like her work very much in general but I think that one is overrated too.

I tried to get through Wizard of Earthsea because... well, female fantasy author who's famous, etc. etc. Couldn't do it, it was just so boring.

Harry Potter. And I used to be super into it. But while there are parts of the worldbuilding that are interesting, they just aren't good. More like a lot of untapped potential. I still read fanfics sometimes. So something about the world is interesting. But the books just aren't that good.

A Song of Ice And Fire. I like them okay. But I don't think they are as amazing as people say. Grim and dark is not inherently superior.

Wheel of Time. I couldn't even make it through the first book. Really boring. And my favorite book is the Silmarillion, which most people think is boring.

Narnia. Too preachy and too juvenile.

His Dark Materials. The first book was good. But after that it became too preachy. I don't mind messages, even ones I disagree with. But when it gets in the way of plot and the book becomes more about message than plot, then it is no longer a good book, IMHO.

Anything by Jim Butcher.

Dark Tower. It started off well, but I think King just got too enamored with connecting it to his other works. It got too convoluted and there was too much going on. And I think the ending didn't work for me.

Wheel of Time is great because even people who are hardcore fans of the series will admit that the first two books are really slow and a bunch of the later books in the series are disappointing or actively bad.

It's going to be interesting to see what happens w the TV show that's allegedly coming out.

Brandon Sanderson's stuff. I find his writing style extremely glib and too clever, and I just don't care about the rigorousness of his magical systems and the cleverness of the rules that he comes up with.

I'd also say Rothfuss but I think disliking his stuff is generally the consensus opinion at this point.

Those horrible 'White Gold Wielder' books. Dear gods, boring.
Honestly, The Last Unicorn, it just never...caught me.

"I'm a rapist responsible for making the world worse, feel my manpain dragged out for whole volumes!"

*gags*
I only made it through one and a half books.

To be fair Covenant hates himself for having done that. Although since he hated himself to start with, I'm not certain what the difference is.

Doesn't matter. Still can't ever root for a "hero" who rapes someone. The fact that the author decided to write that is questionable.

Those are Thomas Covenant, I think. I made it to the rape scene in the first book. Where it was the hero doing the raping. And then couldn't read any further. And that's even though I'd been told that those books had a typical dark lord villain figure that I love and will hunt for in fantasy.

I can't stand anything where the "hero's" a rapist. That's why I hated Blade Runner.

I feel the exact same way. Don't like Blade Runner either. Covenant is worse, though.

Anything by Piers Anthony. Cheesy writing, misogyny, and he thinks he's way more clever than he is.

Oh, ugh. He's awful.

Harry Potter - lots of peoples' nostalgic fave, but it's just not that good. Its strength is the world building, which has oodles of charm if not originality. It's also very much an unfulfilled potential thing, which fuels the fandom aspect in terms of fic, so I get that.

Wheel of Time - BOOOOOORING. Terrible writing of female characters, who all seem to be cut from the same cloth.

Belgarian/Mallorean - Same as Wheel of Time, but at least it's shorter.

Sword of Truth - Author has a lot of weird, slightly icky hangups and it's extremely obvious in the writing. Not just his political heavy-handedness, but his thing for hot women in tight leather outfits wielding phallic pain-sticks is also very eyebrow raising. Like dude... your kinks are your kinks, but keep that shit more tightly locked down.

Night Circus - beautiful language, very little plot.

Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell - beautiful language and world building, plot is slow as molasses.

Night Circus - beautiful language, very little plot.

Oh man, agreed. At first I got really excited because I'm always looking for stories that have a strong romantic plot but aren't romance novels. And Night Circus fits that description. Plus magic, and a travelling circus, and curses, and sworn rivals, and abusive childhoods? Sigh me the hell up!

But then the novel just...completely failed to deliver an actual plot? Like, it put so much stock into the whole concept of the curse/rivalry thing...but it never actually made an actual plot out of it. It was a war/game...without any concrete terms, rules, boundaries, tenets, established stakes. Just-- Magical rivals who fall in love! But they are rivals! With magic! They have to use their magic to rival each other! By doing things with their magic they are winning? Maybe? Or not! But they have to keep using their magic! Or else!

I honestly could not believe people went that hard for the concept, as neat as it was. I can't remember anything else about the book. The characters were completely forgettable.

Same with the Belgariad. My high school friend group introduced me to it and I read it based on their enthusiasm but didn't have the heart to tell them I thought it was boring. Never read the Malloreon.

I still haven't finished The Night Circus. Not sure where I put it when I moved. A year ago.

I read both. I thought the Malloreon was a lot better. Both were only so so to me, but the Malloreon was a big improvement over the first series.

I have a super soft spot for the Belgariad becaues I adored it in middle school, but most of the reason I adored it was probably the characters. Yeah, there were some uh interesting ideas about women (to put it lightly), but Polgara was my idol.

I agree about The Night Circus, though. I bought it because the cover was pretty and the summary sounded interesting, but the only thing I remember about it was that it was a slog to get through.

Edited 2019-09-01 17:27 (UTC)

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[ SECRET POST #4621 ]

Overrated fantasy books

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