The internet is too happy and positive...let's get NEGATIVE.

I'm kidding, of course. I usually like to talk about stuff I like and enjoy, I find it far more productive and a lot more fun...but I wanted to get some broader book talk going, so let's break the ice!

What's the worst book you've ever read? I can start us off:

As a Literary scholar, I've read a lot of fantastic stuff and a lot of horrific trash throughout my life. When I think of the worst book I've ever read, it's probably "The Running Dream" by Wendelin Van Draanen. I had to read this for a Young Adult lit class during my undergrad and it was absolutely miserable. It's 300+ pages of infuriating inspiration porn. The characters are flat as stick figures and the pacing is choppy at best. I was happy to get rid of my copy at the end of the semester...there's good YA and kids' lit out there, but that book sure is shit isn't it.

Anyway, what are some bad books you've read? What did you not like about them? Any redeeming qualities?

Hate me for this one because its a hot take: Eragon. I tried to read it in high school and the book is mind numbingly verbose with scenery details, irrelevant to the plot. You can paint a picture sure, but spending multiple pages describing something is just fucking dull. Describe enough to let the reader fill in the gaps and move on. On top of that, the story is just a mashup of other sci-fi and fantasy, which have been done better before and since. You want fantasy, go read Tolkien or King's The Dark Tower series.

I'm not particularly cultured, I don't read books that often. When I do read books, I struggle to suspend my disbelief in the way I'm better able to when watching movies or shows, or when playing video games. I become very critical of tiny details and it makes it hard for me to enjoy a lot of books that get things wrong.

Something I've always been extremely sensitive to is the way women are written. There's well-written women, there's poorly-written women, but what manages to annoy me the most is when a woman is written in such a way that to the untrained eye they appear to be well-written, strong, and capable, but if you pay attention it's evident that they're written that way because the author has a sexual fetish for strong, capable women. It feels objectifying and disingenuous. The author Dan Simmons is bad about this in general.

Something else I'm sensitive to is when an author lacks restraint and refuses to be subtle when subtlety is called for. Horror novels can quickly go from tense and disturbing to funny or embarrassing when an author can't maintain subtlety. At worst it can become insulting. "The Store" by Bentley Little is a novel which builds up intrigue and horror in the most captivating way before deflating due to a lack of subtlety.

skullmeat wrote: Mar 23rd, '26, 17:54 Hate me for this one because its a hot take: Eragon.

I actually totally agree with you. I gave it a shot back in the day and I loathed it. couldn't finish it.

Probably the Throne of Glass books. I was looking for some fantasy to read and those popped up as a recommendation. At the time I think the first two were out with the third about to be released. The first two were fine and had some high points but also had some eye roll moments. They definitely felt a little more YA than I had expected, but then around book 3 or 4 the author decided to up the smut lol. Not really my thing so I just kind of sped through those sections. By this point though I was already committed and ended up finishing the series. They were all fine and nothing about them was like offensively bad.

I think the main character is the thing I disliked the most. As the series went on I just kept finding her more and more unlikable and was always waiting for the story to switch back to the other characters.

"Kill Your Friends" by John Niven, what absolute edgelord late-90s workplace sexism worship, actual toilet paper bound in false leather and chickenwire.

I'm going to spoil the whole book right here and right now. Every single chapter is this:

"meet inconsequential character -> take lots of drugs have lots of sex -> be a general prick and not care about anything, have no love for anything but greed and what's reaped from it -> throw business lingo around -> murder the secretary you fell most in lust with -> just leave to the next inconsequential character -> THE END??????"

Bought the book senior year of high school, so at the time it was at least something to gawk at. I'm glad I gave it away soon after arriving to uni. Niven is no Burroughs or Thompson, and even those guys can kick a few million rocks in a time loop that has it so they get hit by what they roll.

I go through a lot of books in several formats, usually audio these days so I can exercise while "reading." I can't think of the worst ever, so I'll mention the worst from this year: My Best Friend's Exorcism
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/410 ... s-exorcism

I was doing some research on other material set in/during the Satanic Panic and this one kept coming up. I think most people will like it. The narration is pretty good... the main characters are fun (mostly)... and the writing is good. However, it feels shallow to me... and maybe that's because I lived through the most insane elements of the satanic panic and experienced some of this nonsense... It feels like it was written by an outside party... so it comes off as kinda like tourism or the subject matter rather than anything real or lived-in. There are some major pulled punches as well. So, it was a bit too soft for me.

It ain't bad, but it actually made me mad in the same way something like Big Bang Theory seems to anger hardcore nerds.

The Legends of Dune trilogy (butlerian jihad, machine crusade, battle of corino). Brian Herbet is just a poor writer compared to Frank Herbet. The stories were very flashy with big explosions plus generic sci fi. It was almost interesting to see how the technology, world, and magic of the original Dune began but it's executed so boringly. You'll have a better time with your own thought experiments imagining how Dune got to where it is based on the blurbs at the start of each chapter than reading these. I only finished them all because of sunk cost fallacy.

Actually stratch ALL of that, Dracula 2 (or Dracula the Un-Dead) was the worst...

Deadhand wrote: Apr 9th, '26, 20:52 The Legends of Dune trilogy (butlerian jihad, machine crusade, battle of corino). Brian Herbet is just a poor writer compared to Frank Herbet. The stories were very flashy with big explosions plus generic sci fi. It was almost interesting to see how the technology, world, and magic of the original Dune began but it's executed so boringly. You'll have a better time with your own thought experiments imagining how Dune got to where it is based on the blurbs at the start of each chapter than reading these. I only finished them all because of sunk cost fallacy.

Actually stratch ALL of that, Dracula 2 (or Dracula the Un-Dead) was the worst...

I didn't even know there was another Dracula book... I guess the moral is that posterity should probably just work on their own projects.

How did you like the core Dune books? I tried reading them when I was way too young and haven't tried again. I did like them but a lot was probably lost on me. I think I was 14 or so.

ward wrote: Apr 10th, '26, 00:40

Deadhand wrote: Apr 9th, '26, 20:52 The Legends of Dune trilogy (butlerian jihad, machine crusade, battle of corino). Brian Herbet is just a poor writer compared to Frank Herbet. The stories were very flashy with big explosions plus generic sci fi. It was almost interesting to see how the technology, world, and magic of the original Dune began but it's executed so boringly. You'll have a better time with your own thought experiments imagining how Dune got to where it is based on the blurbs at the start of each chapter than reading these. I only finished them all because of sunk cost fallacy.

Actually stratch ALL of that, Dracula 2 (or Dracula the Un-Dead) was the worst...

I didn't even know there was another Dracula book... I guess the moral is that posterity should probably just work on their own projects.

How did you like the core Dune books? I tried reading them when I was way too young and haven't tried again. I did like them but a lot was probably lost on me. I think I was 14 or so.

The core Dune books so far are pretty good. I couldn't put the first one down and finished it in two sittings and the 2nd book I just started and it's more political intrigue and no action yet, but it still feels very much like Dune. I don't have a full opinion formed yet on it yet other than I like it so far, even though it's different from the first one.

And yeah when the younger generations try to pick up the work their parents/grandparents it just doesn't seem to work out. Also they have a very high bar to meet.