A Series of Unfortunate Rip Offs

ilweran on 26/2/2007 at 13:58

Quote Posted by Lady Taffer

As for young adult fiction. . I dunno. . I can't think of many that had satisfying endings especially in fantasy. . .I'm afraid I was and am a complete Lord of the Rings snob and I refuse to read any other fantasy series because after a few unsatisfying tries at some other series', I've decided that no fantasy can ever be as good as lotr. .not even Narnia. :p

Being an obsessive Tolkien fan does ruin most other fantasy books. I do like Phillip Pullmans 'His Dark Materials' trilogy and most books by Ursula le Guin.

I also like The X-files, at least upto the fifth or sixth season when I stopped watching it. I'm working my way through the DVD's now, just started season 3. I never really expected any answers at the end of it so hopefully I won't be disappointed.

Moi Dix Mois on 26/2/2007 at 14:11

I also was a right old Tokein snob until I read Ice and Fire. Not exactly childrens fiction by any means, but still, really really great.

I noticed somebody mentioned Wheel of Time somewhere around here. What's the average level of writing in that series? I adore fantasy fiction, but recently I've been slumming it with R.A. Salvatore and feel like going 'upmarket' again. :p

Uncia on 26/2/2007 at 17:03

I liked Tolkien when I was a kid, but don't really care for his works much now. The universe is great and all, but the writing is not to my taste. Too much filler.

Wheel of Time is crap. It's a cheap LoTR knock-off (a dark lord! In the East, or wherever! Only the border nation defends against his hordes! Birds are his eyes! A chosen one! Blah blah) with annoying, whiny characters where the story goes nowhere. I got through 3 books before dropping the series, mind, so for all I know it turns into literary brilliance afterwards and I've just been missing out.

Pyrian on 27/2/2007 at 00:28

Quote Posted by Uncia

Wheel of Time is crap. ... I got through 3 books before dropping the series, mind, so for all I know it turns into literary brilliance afterwards and I've just been missing out.

From what I've heard, the part you read was the good part.

Lady Taffer on 27/2/2007 at 00:46

Randomly, I just remembered that when I was a teenager I read Frank Herbert's Dune chronicles. . . ALL SIX OF THEM. And each book was like, five inches thick. I don't know why I read them!! Afterwards it was like, "WHYYYY DID I DO THAT?? That's days of my life I'll never get back!"
So, in conclusion, I'd say the first Dune book is a pretty good read for those who haven't read it. . .but the rest, you could take them or leave them, pretty much.

fett on 27/2/2007 at 04:29

Quote Posted by Lady Taffer

That's about what Jordan's books feel like after Book 4 (Return of the Infinite Dragon of Chaos for the Hunting of the Temporal Hounds of Agamarethia or Some Shit). When you hit the 5th five inch thick book and all you really know is that the main character has left his Village to fulfill his Destiny with some comic relief from his Traveling Companions then FUCK YOU ROBERT FUCKING JORDAN. My time would have been better spent cleaning the lint from the inside of my PC with a Q-tip, and the Q-tip is actually about as interesting as the Wise Wizard that guides the Hero, only to die in the third book in an epic moment of FUCK YOU ROBERT FUCKING JORDAN. :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:

aelburr on 27/2/2007 at 12:39

Took you 13 years to realise Chris Carter didn't know where he was going? It took me three episodes from the origional season.

No offense, but you need to expand your base and demand more results... ever seen Twilight Zone?:o

fett on 27/2/2007 at 13:28

Right on, but why are we making excuses for them? Just because a particular book or TV genre isn't refined art, doesn't give the creators a 'get out of an ending' card. Dr. Fucking Suess books have endings. Berenstein Bear episodes have endings. American Idol and Big Brother have endings. I can point to hundreds of examples of 'low-brow' entertainment that wraps up successfully at the end. Target audience or the difference between niche or mass consumption shouldn't matter.

D'Juhn Keep on 27/2/2007 at 13:38

'Grandpa!' I shouted. 'Be careful Oh, gee!
Who's going to drop it? Will you? Or will he?'
'Be patient', said Grandpa. 'We'll see. We will see...'

Edit: what the dickens? Ralph Bakshi made it into a (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0213536/) film! :o

sparhawk on 27/2/2007 at 15:31

Quote Posted by fett

The Emperor has no clothes people. This idea that writers/creators are doing us a favor by letting us 'make up our own ending' is a lazy cop-out, and nothing more than an excuse to keep taking our money. You existentialists, don't fool yourselves - that carrot they keep dangling in front of you that makes you keep watching/buying/speculating? IT'S THE FUCKING ENDING. And I'm sick and tired of never seeing it delivered. I don't even care if it ends badly, quickly, or without warning.

Add "Wheel of time" to your list. :)

Actually I started to Read Bernard Cornwell and I must say I like it. I read the Arthus and the Grail saga, both of them having "only" three books. I must say that I would have really prefered to see more of it, but I think having three books with a conclusion is much more preferably than having 12 books, like in WOT already, with no end in sight and a great story degenerating into a boring drag.

I also started to buy only books in a complete series. I'm very reluctant to buy any new books anymore if they are in the middle of the series, no matter how good they are supposed to be. Usually I always buy all the books of a series at once, because I hate to have an open end. But until WOT I also purchased them when the series was not yet finished. I guess that habit changes now and I simply refuse to buy such books anymore. I know that an author can not spill out all of the books at once, but I really hate it when I'm let down as a reader with an hanging end.