I've had series that I wish I abandoned, but more for my mental state then for poor quality of the writing. Though his tendancy to kill off characters who were not major players (or in this case of this one book everyone one except the two protagonists) did annoy me.
Warning: Due to the sometimes dark nature of later books, young should be advised to avoid the Shannarah series of books, and sensitive readers this review.You gonna tell us which series? Or would that be too spoilery?
*returns about three to four years late to answer question*
Kristi, I think I was referring to Terry Brooks Shannarah series. (Not TLC or Lil recommend.) Although a friend of mine is very certain they are terrible writing, I'm not critic of good taste so I couldn't say. I liked the first one when I read it was a kid "The Sword of Shannarah." Then I found Lord of the Rings and realized how very plagiarism-y the Shannarah seemed. #genericfantasywriting.
The series and the following one "The heritage of Shannarah" had some parts that I really liked and characters too and interesting ideas, but they got a whole lot darker over the series. Sword" is in my opinion the best and lightest of them which features an evil overlord baddie overcome by truth. (The author tries to follow a family line, but sometimes jumps many years ahead so you don't really find out what happened to the other people other books.) It also has demons, I think featured in the second book I think, progressing to the last book in the heritage of Shannarah (at least that I read) into a sort of evil demonic zombie like force that takes people over. (There's no god that I remember being mentioned, unless it's in 'Sword' and the demons are defeated by magic. I didn't at all appreciate the making of something spiritual into a fantasy element.)
I appreciate the chance to have gained ideas from his universe (however generic) and to meet (to me) interesting characters, but the forces the characters often fight is pretty dark sometimes. I can't think that I'd ever re-read this series.
Statistics: Posted by Lil — Tue Jun 05, 2018 4:03 pm
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What about you? Have you read any series you wish you'd abandoned sooner? Or that made you want to burn the lot when you reached the final page?
Sagan om Isfolket, Sandemo.It turns out one of the heros, Marco, is none other than Satan. Byron style - the noble rebel who defied a narcissistic God, you know that rant.
The bad guy is some kind of Antichrist figure, the protagonists are his relatives, who have taken side against him. The scenario is pretty much like Rob Skiba's scenario for Nimrod, except that in the end there is a merely human defeat of this guy (and diabolic too).
Now, that book series is really sth which I do not recommend anyone to read.
There was ONE such villain in that series, but not the major one.What's with all the series lately where you've followed something for four to seven books, the stakes couldn't be higher (danger, death, world domination), only to find that ALL THE VILLAIN REALLY NEEDED WAS A HUG (No, seriously. Hug him and he'll go wibbly and lay down and conveniently die.) Without naming names, I've read two or three series with that approach recently.
Some guys are like that.
Statistics: Posted by hansgeorg — Tue Sep 29, 2015 4:45 pm
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SPOILERS!!!
For example, I wasn't the least bit sad when Podo died. He was really a boring character, in my opinion.
END SPOILERS!!!
And...well, a couple of you already know of my detestation for Sara Cobbler. She is the Suest Sue to ever Sue. SHE HAS LITERALLY NO FLAWS. It makes for a very boring character.
Like someone else said, I immediately guessed who the monster in the hollows was. And I also was disappointed that they didn't explore the relationships between the sets of brothers more. That's just my opinion on the series. I thought it was better...until the ending. And then I hated it so much that all the stuff I disliked before became.....worse in my mind. I know some of you really like it...and I'm not trying to insult the series, I just don't particularly like it.
Statistics: Posted by albero1 — Tue Sep 29, 2015 4:36 pm
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Regarding Wingfeather, I'll admit the author kind of broke a cardinal rule of writing with the end of book 3, possibly because he didn't realize who The Monster in the Hollows was until partway through writing it >.<
But that's nothing to the rule he breaks at the end of book four, so...to each her own.
Statistics: Posted by kristi — Fri Sep 04, 2015 6:40 pm
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I know some have good things to say about it, but, for me, it isn't worth putting in the effort. At first, I thought I liked the series but after putting more thought into what I was reading, I decided it just was not for me. I found it too predictable and guessed major plot points just by reading the first pages of each novel. If the author wants to put in "plot twists" I don't want to be able to guess them within the first chapter. The characters, save two or three, were not likable and characters make or break a book for me. The last part of the third book didn't leave me emotional like the author might have wanted - I was annoyed. Since the storytelling didn't leave the best impressions I don't believe I'll be purchasing the fourth book.
Statistics: Posted by elanorelle — Fri Sep 04, 2015 4:39 am
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I agree about the Pendragon Cycle. I initially thought it was a trilogy. When I found the fourth and fifth books, I was ecstatic, thinking I would finally have a conclusion to the trilogy. I was very wrong. They actually left me more confused than before (and I found the third book pretty confusing). That being said, I absolutely love that series, especially the first two books. I haven't been able to read Avalon yet, but I don't think I'll put too much effort into finding a copy.
Statistics: Posted by Shield Maiden — Thu Aug 27, 2015 6:48 pm
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After book ten, the author went on to write a book of the Ranger's "Lost Stories", which had short stories that answered questions fans had written in. While I applaud the idea, I stalled around the first story, which goes into grim detail about the death of Will's parents (covered previous in the novels in broad strokes). It was so depressing.
Well, turned out the author got another book idea (I don't think Flanagan plans anything. I think he just gets a plot bunny and runs with it. It doesn't always lead to the strongest writing and story arcs, but there's good fun to be had with these organic growths.) And while he didn't give us an epic battle to save Araluen from baddies, he did bring the story full circle, giving Will the chance to train his own apprentice. The scale was smaller than I might have preferred, but a much better series ending than book ten. Yay.
And now he's writing two prequels featuring Halt, one of the best characters. So. Much. Awesome.
Statistics: Posted by kristi — Thu Aug 27, 2015 3:31 pm
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Well, it looks like I have a bit of info for if/when I read the Pendragon Cycle.
Statistics: Posted by Ariel.of.Narnia — Thu Aug 27, 2015 1:54 pm
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On another TV series, I mentioned to Kristi the other day that when I was last in England I saw what was supposed to be the final episode of the Inspector Lewis (Oxford detective) series (successor to Inspector Morse). I was so disappointed I couldn't believe what they did. It was flat with a kinda "we need to give this thing up and we'll do it without much thought" feel to it. You can imagine my surprise when the following year, friends were posting on FB of sightings of the actors in Oxford and I discovered they were filming another series. No idea what they did with it or how they reversed the ending but it can't be much worse than what they originally did.
On to books, I've had mixed feelings with what Stephen Lawhead did with the Pendragon Cycle [Possible minor spoilers ahead]:. The original last book, Arthur, finished with way too many questions unanswered and so much disappointment that the Summer Kingdom was never fully realised. Then he wrote two more books that fit in before the end of Arthur (during his reign). It filled in a lot of the missing information, and we even saw something of the Summer Kingdom in Grail (which I disliked for other reasons), but I was still unhappy when I got to that end. Then I discovered he'd written what he called "a sequel" (Avalon) on the return of Arthur. I thought we'd finally get the answers and the premise of when and how Arthur would return was not at all what I expected but rather brilliant. Unfortunately the execution was poor. He didn't link it clearly with the earlier books and the characters who returned didn't match the characters who had gone to Avalon at the end of Arthur - it was almost like he'd forgotten what he had written before. Having said that, sometimes rereading a series helps to reduce the feeling of disappointment towards the ending. Some years after I first read the series, I finally came to understand why we never saw the Summer Kingdom and that there was actually a point to that - I also eventually got to appreciate what happened at the end of the first book (Taliesin) after years of being angry with Lawhead over that.
Statistics: Posted by Ajnos — Thu Aug 27, 2015 8:05 am
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Speaking of disappointing endings, am I allowed to say that the Merlin show had a rushed ending?
Statistics: Posted by Ariel.of.Narnia — Thu Aug 27, 2015 12:09 am
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