Overrated Books

[HellMaster]

Mybe not, butthere's an awful lot of nonsense said about the book to support the industry that doesn't really stand up to the hype.

 

[Siberian]

What industry are you talking about? Fantasy genre? It's doing pretty well on its own.

 

[Connavar]

Mybe not, butthere's an awful lot of nonsense said about the book to support the industry that doesn't really stand up to the hype.

Just cause its overhyped doesnt mean its always overrated.

Okay if you said you didnt think it was as good as people say it is and then its understandable if you think its overrated.


But being important to the genre coming out when it did doesnt making it automaticly overrated.

 

[Fried Egg]

I will just preface my post by saying that when I regard a book/series to be overated, I mean that it's popularity leads me to believe a book will be better than I actually find it.

Thus, I would list:

1) "Lord of the Rings" Tolkien. Even when I try and judge it from the time it was written, I still cannot much appreciate it. And I can't help blaming it for the modern tendancy to elongate stories far beyond what is necessary.
2) "Gardens of the Moon" Erikson. Didn't get past this book on to the rest of the series. Just found it to to be trying too hard. Trying to be too compilcated, too clever for it's own good.
3) "Weaveworld" Barker. Too long and infuriating characters.
4) "Wheel of Time" Jordan. I quite liked it to begin with but eventually realised (by around book 6 or 7) that it was just being spun out.
5) "Replay" Grimwood. Why was this in the Fantasy Masterworks series? It was ok, but not a "masterwork" by any stretch of the imagination.
6) "Ringworld" Niven. Again, it was ok, but weak characters and story.

Probably many more but that'll do for now...

 

[Crazihors]

You know what? Eddings, Paolini etc. are all perfecty acceptable as overrated, but i really am surprised that nobody has yet mentioned Darren Shan - by the covers of his books you would think he was on a par with Stephen King, but i reckon a three year old could write better. i also think Phillip Pullman is hideously overrated - i struggled with Northern Lights and gave up on the third chapter of The Subtle Knife
anyway, toodlepip!

 

[Fried Egg]

i also think Phillip Pullman is hideously overrated - i struggled with Northern Lights and gave up on the third chapter of The Subtle Knife

Well, one thing you've got to keep in mind with His Dark Materials is that it is, ultimately, a childrens story. Albeit a children's story that many adults (myself included) have read and enjoyed. And I do think that he weaves together an array of interesting concepts in a unique and original way.

 

[rune]

The general feeling I had when reading that book was that there was an amazingly kick ass story just beneath the pages, but not quite reaching through. It was still a fun read though because of how different it was.

I think it frustrated me because I felt there as a great story, but it was just out of reach because of the way it was written

 

[Tielhard]

A few people have already suggested that The Lord of the Rigs is a bit overrated so let me pick on a few lesser, but still significant targets, a few Hugo winners.

1) Stranger in a Strange Land. Was it dire or was it dire? Heinlein had just discovered his pompous and pontificating voice and this book simply did not have the content or plot to keep you interested whilst you got lectured. It is OK, the man has been dead for years, you can now admit the book is a stinker without feeling you have slain the personal pussy cat of one of the greats of SF.
2) Ender’s Game was a wonderful short story but if one ever wants a cautionary tale about the sin of padding out a good idea to make a novel then this is it.
3) Stand on Zanzibar. Novel literary devices for obscuring intent.
4) Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell. It is possible I am being unfair about this book. I say this because try as I might I cannot finish … nay …get into,, it! I have tried reading from the front, several times, once I reached beyond page 100, I have tried reading from the rear, I have even dipped in at random points on numerous occasions. It does not take. It is a bit like trying to make a meal from smoke. The book has little substance and less charm.

 

[Soggyfox]

4) Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell. It is possible I am being unfair about this book. I say this because try as I might I cannot finish … nay …get into,, it! I have tried reading from the front, several times, once I reached beyond page 100, I have tried reading from the rear, I have even dipped in at random points on numerous occasions. It does not take. It is a bit like trying to make a meal from smoke. The book has little substance and less charm.

i'm not the only one then.

 

[Briareus Delta]

1) Stranger in a Strange Land. Was it dire or was it dire? Heinlein had just discovered his pompous and pontificating voice and this book simply did not have the content or plot to keep you interested whilst you got lectured. It is OK, the man has been dead for years, you can now admit the book is a stinker without feeling you have slain the personal pussy cat of one of the greats of SF.
3) Stand on Zanzibar. Novel literary devices for obscuring intent.

Thank God. I thought it was just me that held those opinions And welcome to The Chrons, Tielhard.

As for anyone who thinks that Lord of the Rings is overrated........well, I'll just sit here and seeth quietly

 

[Gav]

Where to start? So many books so little time...

Any of the pulpy fantasy trash that seems to be so infuriatingly popular: Eddings, Barclay, Martin, Erikson and so on.

Having said that The Da Vinci code would be at the top of my list.

 

[Mary Hoffman]

Oh I do agree about the da Vinci Code! And would add Labyrinth by Kate Mosse.

But I absolutely loved Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell. I thought Susanna Clarke was brilliantly inventive.

Mary

 

[Connavar]

I found Hyperion to be overrated. SF fans talk about it like its a classic but it didnt look good to me.

 

[Tillane]

Agreed, Connavar. I sort of liked the idea of the first book, a kind of re-imagining of The Canterbury Tales, but I thought the execution was pretty poor - and the books that followed weren't up to much.

 

[Connavar]

I have only read the first book just to be clear. I liked the idea too but not much more.

 

[brent.bennett]

Ok, The opening night of the new Harry Potter makes me believe that it is the most overrated. It was madness at Barnes and Noble

 

[Brigitte]

I, thankfully, never got into Harry Potter. I suppose some people can find them as worthy reads, but it sounds like the majority jumped on because of the fad. So, Harry Potter would have to be the top of my list.

Also, Lord of the Rings seems a bit overrated. I thought they were okay at best... nothing to get all revved up about. Oh well!

 

[Jack]

Agree totally with Brigitte which I very rarely do, agree with people that is.

I’ll just add R. Jordan, S. Donaldson and T.Goodkind to the mix.

 

[TK-421]

Different strokes for different folks. I actually have read the Harry Potter series and quite enjoyed it.

I do agree with Jordan and Goodkind being overated.

 

[Jack]

‘Different strokes for different folks. I actually have read the Harry Potter series and quite enjoyed it.’

Huntin ferret – Incredibly bad idea to stroke ha ha! The woman has something against ferrets , and I’ll probably be public enemy number one here but – They ‘are’ children’s fantasy, which is not saying much as so are some of the author’s I enjoyed - Robin Jarvis and Robert C. O'Brien, but they had a certain hardness/darkness to them – Harry Potter is a little too much like PaP to me, over PC happy clappy PaP at that – But variety is the spice of life, J’wizz what a boring world if we agreed with each other all the time, it would be absolutely no fun.

‘I do agree with Jordan and Goodkind being overated.’

Hmmm agreed, added Tomas Covenant because of the presumed hype over the book and the competition that’s going on between some writers to see how dark can they go, that and it was boring. That and Jordan and Goodkind – If you cannot wrap a series up in 3-6-8 books, why oh why inflict it on us.