Books You Shouldn't Read

Don't read The Gift by Alison Croggon. Dull as ditchwater. Couldn't get into it so I gave it to a friend as a birthday present! I know, I'm a meany!
Also The Hunted by NM Browne, I don't think it's well written and it's a bit all over the place. And the ending sucks much ass.
 
Never, ever, ever, read the corellian trilogy: by some guy who didn't bother learning about terminology, physics, character depth, continuity, or skilled writing. (Its a Star Wars thing)
 
My 2p worth (we don't use cents here).

Stephen King; That mind is ghastly, he always makes me feel somehow tainted after reading him.

Anne Rice; She makes me feel like taking a scrubbing-brush to my soul. "Soiled," doesn't even begin to describe it.

John Norman; The natural state of woman is man's slave, god what a prick!

Having read widely, I have found many authors I dislike, but I accept that tastes differ. However, I can find no merit in any of there author's works.
 
Since this is supposed to be a family friendly forum, I think we could probably all manage to express our distaste for certain books without the anatomical references.
 
Here's a pretty safe advice for a book you shouldn't read:

No matter who you are, do not, under any circumstance, read Tales From Watership Down! Especially not if you're a fan of the original book. Reading Tales, it's truly hard to believe that this is written by the same guy as Watership Down.

It feels like a cheap Disney sequel. El-ahrairah uses magic to solve his problems. Magic, damnit! And here Prince Rainbow is suddenly his best friend. Not least, a completely unworthy continuation of the original storyline, with the "underground river" of Efrafa and all manner of rubbish.
 
I thought to have a look into this, and then I saw American Psycho is on the list, and thought very bad of this thread.
 
I wouldn't say that any books are not worth reading. Simply because it all depends on taste. A book I may have disliked is likely to have fans.
 
Just about anything by Douglas Niles is not worth reading or the paper they are printed on.

And I love reading the Bible - except for the books of Numbers and Leviticus - boring!
-g-
 
Eragon by Christopher Paolini. It was literally painful to read - he may have started writing it at 15, but it doesn't justify it's publication. At it's best, it's a pastiche of Lord of the Rings and Star Wars.
 
Brys said:
Eragon by Christopher Paolini. It was literally painful to read - he may have started writing it at 15, but it doesn't justify it's publication. At it's best, it's a pastiche of Lord of the Rings and Star Wars.
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Really? I rather enjoyed it - I've read worse, that's for sure.
 
can't believe i never added my vote for goodkind's books as being something no one should ever read.
also, robinson crusoe. heavens what a bore.
also an ethopian tale (it's an ancient greek novel. ott beautiful girl is a virgin, everyone thinks she's pretty, ends up away from home, can't remember the rest, everyone thinks she's pretty. EVERYONE FANCIES HER.) it was awful. i was drummed over the head with how everyone thought she was lovely and pretty and perfect. and if you have to tell someone something over and over you can tell that they're desperate to have you believe it. it's part of why i didn't like goodkind (one reason in a thousand) because he kept drumming it into us that kahlan was lovely, and richard was great and everyone was good, or everyone was evil. instead of showing us, he told us.

um, i also hated the witching hour stuff by anne rice. i loved the history of the mayfair witches, but some of her ideas were pretty far out in the yucky department. what i remember was, woman gives birth to child, demon possess child, child ages, woman has sex with it. or something on those lines. just icked me out.

they're the things i think no one should read. ever. :)
 
The Ace said:
My 2p worth (we don't use cents here).

Stephen King; That mind is ghastly, he always makes me feel somehow tainted after reading him.

Anne Rice; She makes me feel like taking a scrubbing-brush to my soul. "Soiled," doesn't even begin to describe it.

John Norman; The natural state of woman is man's slave, god what a prick!

Having read widely, I have found many authors I dislike, but I accept that tastes differ. However, I can find no merit in any of there author's works.
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Stephen King's mind, while "ghastly" (as you say) is brilliant and devious.

John Norman is a "god" for red-blooded, horny men everywhere! :p Praise Gor!

Anne Rice....well, I just never liked her stuff; other than that, no comment.
-g-
 
Sara Douglas Wayfarer's Redemtion

Not related at all to the story, and perhaps some of her more recently published books are improved .. but her first few are horribly edited and written. It is one of the only books I have ever read where I stumbled over incorrect grammar. Nothing can take you out of a story faster than random capitalization of names and words or even worse, made up words.
 
hedgeknight said:
Just about anything by Douglas Niles is not worth reading or the paper they are printed on.

And I love reading the Bible - except for the books of Numbers and Leviticus - boring!
-g-
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Good for you hedgeknight - I, too, love reading the Bible and I believe everyone should at least try - I know it's a huge tome but there is such a lot in it that is great in a literary sense, including wisdom and wonderful poetry.

So many famous authors use portions of it when writing: John Grisham, for one, is quite liberal with his quotes and I'm reading a Terry Pratchett at the moment and was surprised to see that he, too, also quotes from it.

I wonder whether those people who are against it have ever read it!?

hedgeknight - I quite Leviticus but struggle with Chronicles (lists and lists).
 
PS - Didn't mean this Chronicles!!!! Meant the one in the Bible!!!

Also any serious fantasy reader or writer must get their mind blown by Ezekiel or Revelation!!
 
As for the Bible as a literary influence in the fantasy field, I think you'll find that it's had a massive influence, from George MacDonald to Lord Dunsany, Harlan Ellison ("The Deathbird", among many, many others) to H. P. Lovecraft (who, despite being an atheist, thought it a beautiful book in its style and use of language) to Oscar Wilde with his fairy tales, to Tolkien to .... You get the picture.
 
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