Disappointments from the Fantasy & SF Masterworks series

[Fried Egg]

Have you ever been dissappointed with books you've read, because they're in the fantasy or SF masterworks series, and thought that they didn't deserve to be regarded as a "masterwork" of their particular genre?

I have read and enjoyed many books from these series but a few have turned out to be dissapointments for me:

The Centauri Device - M John Harrison - I think it was mainly the style with which this was written. It really grated on me. The main character irked me as well.

Ringworld - Larry Niven - Don't get me wrong, I quite enjoyed this one but found the ending quite lame. It was quite a good story but just not what I'd call a "masterwork".

The Mistress of Mistresses - E.R. Eddison - Reading this after "the Worm Ouroborus", I had high expectations. But found it quite hard to engage with. It had it's moments but largely dissappointing. Not in the same leage, I thought, as the other work (that also featured in the series).

 

[iansales]

re: Disappointments from the Fantasy & SF Masterworks series

I really enjoyed The Centauri Device. Ringworld I've not read for many years, but plan to do so soon. I found most of the PKD novels disappointing - Flow My Tears the Policeman Said, for example, read as though Dick had made it up as he went along.

 

[UltraCulture]

re: Disappointments from the Fantasy & SF Masterworks series

I struggled to get through Lord of Light by Roger Zelazny, just got confused (which is easy)with all the eastern gods names to the point where i lost sense of the plot.

I would of liked to know more on how the characters became stranded on the planet in the first place, unless i missed that bit.

 

[rai]

re: Disappointments from the Fantasy & SF Masterworks series

I couldn't read The Wanderer by Fritz Lieber. It won the Hugo award, but gave up on it about 50 pages in.

I rarely give up on a book but I hated that book so, I think I threw it in the trash so I'll never finish it.

 

[Taltos]

re: Disappointments from the Fantasy & SF Masterworks series

The only book in these series I really disliked so far is The Centauri Device - M John Harrison. As Fried Egg mentioned it's all about style and doesn't have any other redeeming qualities

Also I don't really like the last third of Eon - Greg Bear - but thats all about my taste and not about the quality of the book.

I like all the other books/authors that have been mentioned in this thread so far ... except E.R. Eddison whom I haven't read at all.

PS: UltraCulture - Lord of Light characters came to that planet by spaceship, but there is not much information about that in the book.

 

[Gav]

re: Disappointments from the Fantasy & SF Masterworks series

I struggled to get through Lord of Light by Roger Zelazny, just got confused (which is easy)with all the eastern gods names to the point where i lost sense of the plot.

I would of liked to know more on how the characters became stranded on the planet in the first place, unless i missed that bit.

I know exactly what you mean.

If I recall correctly the entire story is actually a (loose?) retelling of the Vedas (sp) which, being hindu myth and coming from a different culture, might not seem as coherent as we are used to. I really like the book though I thought the 2nd last story made little sense given the context.

I loved the subtle humour too - the Christian fanatic being the dark lord with millions of soulless zombies at his command.

One book that disappointed me was Babel-17. I thought the story wasn't very good (not to mention predictable) and tied itself up a bit too neatly. Not only that but a lot of the elements seemd... I don't know - out of place? Delaney wrote well but seemed hung up on the prose. It was just generally dissatisfying.

I didn't thnk The Stars My Destination had aged well, but it was such a compelling story of revenge and redemption I loved it.

 

[iansales]

re: Disappointments from the Fantasy & SF Masterworks series

I like The Stars My Destination, but I thought The Demolished Man was poor. A badly contrived murder-mystery, and the silly typographical tricks did nothing for me. But I know a lot of people rate the book highly - just as I rate Babel-17 highly

 

[Fried Egg]

re: Disappointments from the Fantasy & SF Masterworks series

Oh, here is a link that lists the books in both series:

http://www.sfsite.com/lists/orion01.htm

 

[iansales]

re: Disappointments from the Fantasy & SF Masterworks series

And here are some more: for sf, and fantasy

 

[High Eight]

re: Disappointments from the Fantasy & SF Masterworks series

I really enjoyed The Centauri Device. Ringworld I've not read for many years, but plan to do so soon. I found most of the PKD novels disappointing - Flow My Tears the Policeman Said, for example, read as though Dick had made it up as he went along.

I liked The Centauri Device too. It's an attempt to write a nihilist space opera and, as such, it succeeds.

Then again, I also liked Flow My Tears the Policeman Said........

 

[Connavar]

re: Disappointments from the Fantasy & SF Masterworks series

I really enjoyed The Centauri Device. Ringworld I've not read for many years, but plan to do so soon. I found most of the PKD novels disappointing - Flow My Tears the Policeman Said, for example, read as though Dick had made it up as he went along.

Is that the only PKD you have read?


I hope it isnt cause i read several times you think there is too much PKD in the list.

I would understand that if you had read 3-4 books of him and not only one of his many famous works.

 

[iansales]

re: Disappointments from the Fantasy & SF Masterworks series

No, I've read quite a few: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, Valis, Ubik, A Maze of Death, Martian Timeslip, The Man in the High Castle, The Man Who Japed and Solar Lottery.

 

[Connavar]

re: Disappointments from the Fantasy & SF Masterworks series

Ah good to know. Now i can understand your PKD thing.


I have read 7-8 in SF/Fantasy Masterworks series.

Only one i thought wasnt a true Masterwork was A Maze of Death. It was a good story, i wouldnt call it a dissapointment just cause i have read better PKD books. It wasnt a PKD masterwork though.

Sure it belongs in the list IMO cause PKD is more than classic and doesnt have many novels in print specially when the list was made. Im the opposite of Ian in that i think any famous PKD work belongs in the list.

Im very biased about PKD i enjoy PKD much more than any other SF i have read except Heinlein,Jack Vance. Those three are the best in SF that i have read.

 

[Snowdog]

re: Disappointments from the Fantasy & SF Masterworks series

It's a major classic, but I didn't like Ringworld myself. The only M John Harrison book I've liked is The Pastel City, which I think is fantastic.

The Worm Ouroboros took me two attempts to read, but the second successful attempt convinced me that it's one of the essential early classics. I've only read Mistress of Mistresses once and not the other two in the trilogy, and although I didn't like it as much as Worm, I think it's worth it's place in the Masterworks series, if only because it's pretty unique and if it wasn't in the series, it would probably be lost to most readers today. I had a really difficult time finding an old copy of Mistress before Masterworks and before the internet, and never did find the other two at the time.

Preserving some of the more obscure titles from the past for today's readers is the most important aspect of Masterworks, IMHO, even though so many are missing from the list.

 

[j d worthington]

re: Disappointments from the Fantasy & SF Masterworks series

On the subject of Mistress of Mistresses (as well as A Fish Dinner in Memison and The Mezentian Gate), part of the problem is that they are vastly different books than The Worm Ouroboros -- different in technique (though not in style) and in emphasis and intent. While Worm is, overall, a swashbuckling fantasy written in an archaic style, the other three are more what one could call "philosophical fantasy", bordering at times on science fictional concepts (alternate universes, the creation of reality by thought, epistemological questions such as PKD often pondered in his fiction, etc.). The result being that expectations are often jolted by the sheer change in direction of the works at that point.

I would, however, argue that the set ranks very highly among the greatest works of fantasy written in the last two centuries....

 

[GOLLUM]

re: Disappointments from the Fantasy & SF Masterworks series

It's interesting that most of the complaints are directed toward SF rather than Fantasy Masterwork series.

Presumably the members who have so far replied are more into SF than Fantasy.

I can only really speak for the Fantasy Masterwork series. I think they're a great series and have no real complaint about what has been added so far. I would like to see some contributions from McDonald, Morris, Merritt, LeGuin and Lewis. I would also like to see some contributions from non-european and US authors like the Mahabrata and Ramayana.

Of the few SF I have read I am happy with those to date.

 

[Quokka]

re: Disappointments from the Fantasy & SF Masterworks series

I was a little disapointed in A Maze of Death by Philip K Dick. Although it wasn't a bad read, it's not his best work either but I also wondered how much of the edge was taken out of the story by having seen similar plot devices/twists in books and movies that have been made since. Maybe this would have had a bigger impact on me if I had read it in 1970. A weakish storyline balanced by some really interesting ideas I'd still put this at the bottom of the Masterworks I've read so far.

The only Fanstasy Masterworks I've read so far has been The Worm Ouroboros which I enjoyed and found interesting from the point of view of trying to see the history of SFF. Having said that I wouldn't read it again in a hurry that was hard work and I plan on coming back to Elric, I kind of drifted away from it but that was probably more about other things getting in the way rather than the writing.

 

[Fried Egg]

re: Disappointments from the Fantasy & SF Masterworks series

It's interesting that most of the complaints are directed toward SF rather than Fantasy Masterwork series.

Presumably the members who have so far replied are more into SF than Fantasy.

Actually, I've read more from the fantasy list than the SF but have found the SF list more variable in quality. Maybe that's just me though.

The only questionable book from the fantasy list (that I've read) was "Replay" by Ken Grimwood. It was good, just not great (imo). Mind you, it's one of those books that could be classed in either category really.

 

[iansales]

re: Disappointments from the Fantasy & SF Masterworks series

I've bought books from each series as they've been published, but I've read more of the sf ones. Most of the books belong, I think, in the series (too much PKD aside), although a couple of their choices I don't understand. Silverberg should be represented, yes; and Dying Inside is an excellent choice. But why no A Time of Changes? And why three of his novels? For Delany, Nova certainly, but I'd sooner have seen Dahlgren than Babel-17.

I've read fewer of the Fantasy list, and more of those seem older, less common, works. Tales of the Dying Earth and the Book of the New Sun, I'd argue are sf anyway; although both are excellent. Darker Than You Think by Jack Williamson was a disappointment - nice idea, but crudely written. Sheri S Tepper's Beauty is also sf and not fantasy. The Dragon Waiting and Grendel were both very good. Replay is one of the books you either love or it makes you go meh. I remember loving it when I first read it; I've not reread it for years, though.

For "Masterwork" series, the books in both are a little variable in quality

 

[Connavar]

re: Disappointments from the Fantasy & SF Masterworks series

Its not surprising the complaints are against SF masterwork books, people here read more SF classics than fantasy.


Plus the SF books are more famous than the fantasy ones in Masterworks series.

There were many of the SF ones i knew of almost every one was authors and works that are big in SF.

Fantasy list was full of many less famous works.

Only Fantasy one i have read so far is Tales of the Dying Earth and it was a great read.