Disappointing Authors

[Majimaune]

Thats true Elgee. More books, more money...

 

[Mike]

Nah, better if he has a nervous break down trying to tie up all the loose threads in one book and gives up writing altogether. Then the third book will never appear, and Paollini will never get such a big contract again, and, I'm sure, if he embarks on another book he'll have to attempt a much better job before the publishers will even go near it with a 130-foot pole.

 

[Violanthe]

I quite liked George R R Martin - in the beginning. Now, I have finished A Feast of Crows and it's getting a bit much.

I agree. Feast of Crows did seem a bit much. Especially due to all the new characters. Why do we need so many new characters at this point in the series?

 

[HLGStrider]

By the way, I WAS right. Paolini is doing a fourth installment. I knew it. I knew it. I knew it.

 

[HLGStrider]

Thought I'd add something to my lists:

1. I mentioned that Redwall was on my list but I forgot to fill out why.

When I read the Redwall book, as mentioned (I did start with Redwall, maybe that was wrong), I didn't really get into it, but I will have the ability to finish a book of that size in three hours so I might have considered keeping on with the series just for ease of reading them . . . had not, that night, I had the weirdest nightmare that I couldn't remember, only that it somehow vaguely involved talking animals and that I woke up in a cold sweat. I shrugged it off and a little later picked up Mattimeo (sp?). Same thing. Not really impressed with the work, but oh well. That night, nightmare, couldn't fall back asleep for an hour because someone was going to kill the baby animals. After that I solidly avoided the series . . .and I was at least 14 when this happened and had read much darker fiction so I don't exactly know why I found these books so subconsciously terrifying.

2. I finally read "The Golden Compass" because the previews to the film looked so absolutely gorgeous.

I don't know if I was really disappointed because I have never liked Pullman quotes about C.S. Lewis and such. He seems to bad mouth things without really understanding them.
Still, the characters were not at all appealing and the story barely held interest. The end of the book left more questions than answers but also didn't leave me with the desire to read the second book.

 

[Eledhwen]

2. I finally read "The Golden Compass" because the previews to the film looked so absolutely gorgeous.

I don't know if I was really disappointed because I have never liked Pullman quotes about C.S. Lewis and such. He seems to bad mouth things without really understanding them.

I read the whole trilogy, because the book has been slated by Christians and I like to form my own opinions. Having read them, I agree with the Christians. Pullman, as an atheist, simply doesn't understand the supernatural, and so his depiction of it came across to me, a Christian, as wooden; I found myself thinking "Hmmm!" more than "Wow!"

REDWALL: Interesting! I tried to get my kids to read this series (they like LotR, HP, Peretti, etc) but so far they haven't asked me for any sequels. When I bought them the Charlie Bone book 1, I was pestered for the rest of the series very quickly, and am currently being pestered for the rest of the Percy Jackson books; but not Redwall. Says something.

 

[Josephine]

This isn't really an author as a whole, but I was deeply disappointed by "The People of Sparks" and "The Prophet of Yonwood", the two books Jeanne DuPrau wrote after "The City of Ember". The first book is good. Okay, not everything is completely new, and not everything seems to be thought through properly, but it's a good read.

Only recently I found out that there are two more books in the series, and I was so excited that I bought them at once. Big mistake. The storylines are feeble compared to "The City of Ember" and filled with stuff no one really needs to know. While it was still kind of interesting to see how humanity had developed in "The People of Sparks", "The Prophet of Yonwood" was plain boring and incredible (Which mother would let her daughter skive off school for weeks and send her away with an aunt, just because the daughter wants it?). I stopped caring what would happen after about ten pages, and I only read the rest because I hoped it would get better.

The fourth book in the series will come out soon, and I don't think I'll read it. "The City of Ember" is one of those books that should have remained stand-alones.

 

[HLGStrider]

I liked "The City of Ember" enough that I read the "People of Spark" but didn't bother continuing after that. I felt that the first book had some moral points to it but didn't really slam them in your face. The second book was just preachy, and really how many times do I need to be told by the entertainment industry to "just get along" and "just because someone is different doesn't mean they are bad?" Seems I've heard that before . .. somewhere . .. somewhere's. . . repeatedly.

That said, the characters became less likable and the story was less interesting in the second book. The first was just a nice bit of escapism for a few hours.

Though I am trying to write a story about an underground city and with the movie coming out for the above mentioned book, no one is going to believe that I had the idea BEFORE I read the City of Ember. This ALWAYS happens to me. . . but my city is different and they know they are underground because it is a mining colony and the Airn are basically enslaving the Delvers to keep them there. Completely different.

 

[Aisteru]

About 6 or 7 years ago I was introduced to Ernest Hemingway. I was dissapointed, to say the least. After reading such amazingly descriptive works by Tolkien and the like for so long, I had gotten used to it and thus forgot how to appreciate simple literature. I looked at its simplicity as a lack of insight and depth to his writing.

I recently began reading a collection of Hemingway's short stories in a book entitled Winner Take Nothing. I now realize what ana amazing author he is.


However, full on dissapointment with Ken Follet. I read Pillars of the Earth, World Without End, and part of Code to Zero. Now there's an author who writes way too much. The plethora of characters goes from being entertainingly (word?) entwined to confusingly complex. There's just too much going on for my taste.

 

[e.Blackstar]

Eragon and Harry Potter.

Haven't read Twilight, don't plan to.