James Patterson books, specifically Maximum ride
Pros: has bird kids who can fly and have wings
Cons: the story, writing, and 2-dimensional characters. The characters are given superpowers left and right, are overpowered with no logic, and face no real threats. The cliches, mary sue quirks and trope counts are off the charts. Also I can't track the motivations and logic behind the main characters actions or the villains. It's like it was written by a 10 year old with no life experience. My sister is kidnapped and will possibly be killed? Lets make a pit stop at NYC because this is a road trip apparently. Also I laughed when the scientists are making her run a maze like a mouse, it's such a cliche that doesn't make any practical sense.
Vladmir Todd:
Pros: is short
Cons: Emo kid is cries a lot and hits mary sue tropes such as : dead parents, half magical breed, bullied at school, is actually powerful, fighting evil organization ect. Also what lame and stereotypical vampires. I don't think I've ever found a vampire novel I like in YA, with the exception of Peeps. Everything is predictable, blah. I bought it because an author I like recommended it, but I feel betrayed.
Also disappointed that so many people don't like lord of the flies. I feel like it's because people read it fast over summer break and don't get a good analysis later. I personally don't like Jane Eyre because I just staunchly oppose the victorian era, but I still appreciate the complexity and work the author put into the story and the specific roles of each character.
ps I gotta find a good book forum, my read comics/manga list is long while my novel list is comparatively shorter.
James Patterson books, specifically Maximum ride
Pros: has bird kids who can fly and have wings
Cons: the story, writing, and 2-dimensional characters. The characters are given superpowers left and right, are overpowered with no logic, and face no real threats. The cliches, mary sue quirks and trope counts are off the charts. Also I can't track the motivations and logic behind the main characters actions or the villains. It's like it was written by a 10 year old with no life experience. My sister is kidnapped and will possibly be killed? Lets make a pit stop at NYC because this is a road trip apparently. Also I laughed when the scientists are making her run a maze like a mouse, it's such a cliche that doesn't make any practical sense.
Vladmir Todd:
Pros: is short
Cons: Emo kid is cries a lot and hits mary sue tropes such as : dead parents, half magical breed, bullied at school, is actually powerful, fighting evil organization ect. Also what lame and stereotypical vampires. I don't think I've ever found a vampire novel I like in YA, with the exception of Peeps. Everything is predictable, blah. I bought it because an author I like recommended it, but I feel betrayed.
Also disappointed that so many people don't like lord of the flies. I feel like it's because people read it fast over summer break and don't get a good analysis later. I personally don't like Jane Eyre because I just staunchly oppose the victorian era, but I still appreciate the complexity and work the author put into the story and the specific roles of each character.
ps I gotta find a good book forum, my read comics/manga list is long while my novel list is comparatively shorter.
I think the Inheritance Cycle has potential, but the execution was bad. I feel like with Eragon, the author was trying too... hard? To what? To do something. Maybe trying to write himself out of the corner he wrote himself into earlier where everyone was screaming he wrote a Tolkien/Star Wars ripoff. Everything was almost over-detailed and, hm, not clinical, but a bit dry. Saphira was my favorite part and I was very disappointed she didn't get more chapters about her or from her POV. I would have loved to see a small book just from her POV, Paolini made her think a bit complexly, so that might be why she only got one chapter out of the entire series.
And there was the romance. I hate romance. Really, I do, I like it in the Queen's Thief books where it takes a backseat to the plot and is handled almost in fleeting snatches. I just have never been able to stand romance. I just do not like it at all. Particularly in this situation where I dislike Arya a lot, and felt she shouldn't have started to reciprocate with him after rejecting rejecting annnd brutally rejecting him.
She rejected him because it was wartime. Good. She rejected him because of the species difference, I believe. Ok. She rejected him because she's over a hundred and he's SIXTEEN. GOOD. I just don't think an age difference like that would work, especially given Eragon's youth. Maybe if he was 40 or so.
He got some flak for making the series "glorify war" but I think that's bull. Maybe in the first book, yes, that was written when he was younger. But come Brisingr and a lot of the conversations turned toward Eragon's nightmares.
Eragon's vegetarianism annoyed me. For one, it was a sort of author insert thing, when Paolini had started to finally move away from that. Ok. That's fine, it happens with my characters too. But it was the way it happened. Eragon gets taught by the elves who are all extremely liberal hippies. He learns to insert himself into the minds of other creatures and observe them, and that, paired with the elves views, turned him into a vegetarian. Something about it rubbed me the wrong way.
And then the next book, Brisingr, he realizes it's ok to eat meat so long as he doesn't do it cruelly and excessively, and he 's all reverent about eating lizards and such. And then in Inheritance he's back to killing giant snails without a second thought. Apparently because they're mean. The whole thing just rubbed my fur all wrong.
Tl;dr I came here for dragons, not elf-chasers, wibbly vegetarians, and dry, boring war.
I think the Inheritance Cycle has potential, but the execution was bad. I feel like with Eragon, the author was trying too... hard? To what? To do something. Maybe trying to write himself out of the corner he wrote himself into earlier where everyone was screaming he wrote a Tolkien/Star Wars ripoff. Everything was almost over-detailed and, hm, not clinical, but a bit dry. Saphira was my favorite part and I was very disappointed she didn't get more chapters about her or from her POV. I would have loved to see a small book just from her POV, Paolini made her think a bit complexly, so that might be why she only got one chapter out of the entire series.
And there was the romance. I hate romance. Really, I do, I like it in the Queen's Thief books where it takes a backseat to the plot and is handled almost in fleeting snatches. I just have never been able to stand romance. I just do not like it at all. Particularly in this situation where I dislike Arya a lot, and felt she shouldn't have started to reciprocate with him after rejecting rejecting annnd brutally rejecting him.
She rejected him because it was wartime. Good. She rejected him because of the species difference, I believe. Ok. She rejected him because she's over a hundred and he's SIXTEEN. GOOD. I just don't think an age difference like that would work, especially given Eragon's youth. Maybe if he was 40 or so.
He got some flak for making the series "glorify war" but I think that's bull. Maybe in the first book, yes, that was written when he was younger. But come Brisingr and a lot of the conversations turned toward Eragon's nightmares.
Eragon's vegetarianism annoyed me. For one, it was a sort of author insert thing, when Paolini had started to finally move away from that. Ok. That's fine, it happens with my characters too. But it was the way it happened. Eragon gets taught by the elves who are all extremely liberal hippies. He learns to insert himself into the minds of other creatures and observe them, and that, paired with the elves views, turned him into a vegetarian. Something about it rubbed me the wrong way.
And then the next book, Brisingr, he realizes it's ok to eat meat so long as he doesn't do it cruelly and excessively, and he 's all reverent about eating lizards and such. And then in Inheritance he's back to killing giant snails without a second thought. Apparently because they're mean. The whole thing just rubbed my fur all wrong.
Tl;dr I came here for dragons, not elf-chasers, wibbly vegetarians, and dry, boring war.
Pard-ra? Par-dra? I sound like a Thundercats character. Click please?
Name: The Mortal Instruments
Pros: I wouldn't know, I refuse to read it.
Cons: I refuse to buy, read or support this series, knowing that
Cassandra is a plagiarist, and with all the other things I've heard which happened back in her Drarry fanfiction days. I also recall hearing that she used to be quite a bully back in the day, which is a bit ridiclious if you consider how now she advocates anti-bullying.
Name: Fifty Shades of Grey
Pros: ... Are there pros to this trash?
Cons: Where do I start? At how badly it's written? At how terrible a pespective it is on the BDSM community, and how now a lot of people aspire to have a relationship like the one they see in this? At how abusive the relationship truly is in terms of power (like seriously: is the girl allowed to have
any mind of her own?)
I also couldn't stand Paper Towns, the final Twilight book I couldn't finish (although I liked the first two?), and I'm pretty sure I forced myself to read all of Grasshopper Jungle just because that book was so
strange (in a creatively, weird way. Grasshopper Jungle gets points for being wacky, at the very least!).
Name: The Mortal Instruments
Pros: I wouldn't know, I refuse to read it.
Cons: I refuse to buy, read or support this series, knowing that
Cassandra is a plagiarist, and with all the other things I've heard which happened back in her Drarry fanfiction days. I also recall hearing that she used to be quite a bully back in the day, which is a bit ridiclious if you consider how now she advocates anti-bullying.
Name: Fifty Shades of Grey
Pros: ... Are there pros to this trash?
Cons: Where do I start? At how badly it's written? At how terrible a pespective it is on the BDSM community, and how now a lot of people aspire to have a relationship like the one they see in this? At how abusive the relationship truly is in terms of power (like seriously: is the girl allowed to have
any mind of her own?)
I also couldn't stand Paper Towns, the final Twilight book I couldn't finish (although I liked the first two?), and I'm pretty sure I forced myself to read all of Grasshopper Jungle just because that book was so
strange (in a creatively, weird way. Grasshopper Jungle gets points for being wacky, at the very least!).
@
hinotoriii
I made the mistake of purchasing the whole series, off of my mother's suggestion to "just try it." (she had never read it, but she said I should try new genres.)
I got about a chapter in.
It was quickly sold back to Half Price Books.
(and now to go read the link! :D)
@
hinotoriii
I made the mistake of purchasing the whole series, off of my mother's suggestion to "just try it." (she had never read it, but she said I should try new genres.)
I got about a chapter in.
It was quickly sold back to Half Price Books.
(and now to go read the link! :D)
@
hinotoriii welp.
i knew she started a tizzy in the hp fandom a while ago but i'm assuming the ones detailed in the article were different, since the one i heard about involved romione shippers, if i remember correctly.
that being said, i
love cassandra's infernal devices trilogy, and also read the mortal instruments (even though i like it a lot less), and never noticed any plagiarism... but, then again, i'm not familiar with any of the stuff she's allegedly stolen, so i wouldn't know in the first place.
...i guess it's time to find another good ya author anyway, eh?
@
hinotoriii welp.
i knew she started a tizzy in the hp fandom a while ago but i'm assuming the ones detailed in the article were different, since the one i heard about involved romione shippers, if i remember correctly.
that being said, i
love cassandra's infernal devices trilogy, and also read the mortal instruments (even though i like it a lot less), and never noticed any plagiarism... but, then again, i'm not familiar with any of the stuff she's allegedly stolen, so i wouldn't know in the first place.
...i guess it's time to find another good ya author anyway, eh?
[img]http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41wudkdHRSL._SY344_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg[/img]
I hate this book with the passion of five million suns.
I hate this book with the passion of five million suns.
@
Shadowlark:
Eragon was an utter bore. Awfu stupid angry characters, every single flipping fantasy cliche in the book, and it felt like it dragged on forever. I love fantasy, but Eragon was a snore. It'd make great firewood, though.
@
Shadowlark:
Eragon was an utter bore. Awfu stupid angry characters, every single flipping fantasy cliche in the book, and it felt like it dragged on forever. I love fantasy, but Eragon was a snore. It'd make great firewood, though.
Utter Phasma Trash
i honestly really hated the call of the wild. i had to read it for school and i knew vaguely what it was about and thought it would be interesting. it wasn't.
the main character was painfully boring. like, it's a dog, i understand how that presents limitations but oh my god make an effort. my most vivid memory was the time he broke another dog's leg in one bite, not once but twice. i don't remember him ever losing a fight? or having any development? whatsoever? nor did any of the other characters?
the story was predictable for the most part and nothing really exciting happened....ever. i mean, potentially exciting things happened but they weren't genuinely honest to goodness exciting because by that point we'd already established that no matter what happens the main character will be fine. certainly won't have to learn from any mistakes or make an effort to better himself or any of that nonsense.
decent writing, theoretically good but poorly executed plot, criminally boring characters. wouldn't recommend.
i honestly really hated the call of the wild. i had to read it for school and i knew vaguely what it was about and thought it would be interesting. it wasn't.
the main character was painfully boring. like, it's a dog, i understand how that presents limitations but oh my god make an effort. my most vivid memory was the time he broke another dog's leg in one bite, not once but twice. i don't remember him ever losing a fight? or having any development? whatsoever? nor did any of the other characters?
the story was predictable for the most part and nothing really exciting happened....ever. i mean, potentially exciting things happened but they weren't genuinely honest to goodness exciting because by that point we'd already established that no matter what happens the main character will be fine. certainly won't have to learn from any mistakes or make an effort to better himself or any of that nonsense.
decent writing, theoretically good but poorly executed plot, criminally boring characters. wouldn't recommend.
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[quote name="inklizard" date=2015-08-29 15:33:11]
i honestly really hated the call of the wild. i had to read it for school and i knew vaguely what it was about and thought it would be interesting. it wasn't.
the main character was painfully boring. like, it's a dog, i understand how that presents limitations but oh my god make an effort. my most vivid memory was the time he broke another dog's leg in one bite, not once but twice. i don't remember him ever losing a fight? or having any development? whatsoever? nor did any of the other characters?
the story was predictable for the most part and nothing really exciting happened....ever. i mean, potentially exciting things happened but they weren't genuinely honest to goodness exciting because by that point we'd already established that no matter what happens the main character will be fine. certainly won't have to learn from any mistakes or make an effort to better himself or any of that nonsense.
decent writing, theoretically good but poorly executed plot, criminally boring characters. wouldn't recommend.
[/quote]
OH MY GOD I KNEW I WAS FORGETTING SOMETHING
I [i]LOATHE[/i] THIS BOOK WITH A BURNING PASSION
inklizard wrote on 2015-08-29:
i honestly really hated the call of the wild. i had to read it for school and i knew vaguely what it was about and thought it would be interesting. it wasn't.
the main character was painfully boring. like, it's a dog, i understand how that presents limitations but oh my god make an effort. my most vivid memory was the time he broke another dog's leg in one bite, not once but twice. i don't remember him ever losing a fight? or having any development? whatsoever? nor did any of the other characters?
the story was predictable for the most part and nothing really exciting happened....ever. i mean, potentially exciting things happened but they weren't genuinely honest to goodness exciting because by that point we'd already established that no matter what happens the main character will be fine. certainly won't have to learn from any mistakes or make an effort to better himself or any of that nonsense.
decent writing, theoretically good but poorly executed plot, criminally boring characters. wouldn't recommend.
OH MY GOD I KNEW I WAS FORGETTING SOMETHING
I
LOATHE THIS BOOK WITH A BURNING PASSION
Name: Havemercy (one word)
Pros: Awesome steampunk mech dragons used as warmachines by a society where magic is generally a very limited ability.
Cons: The story has absolutely nothing to do with the dragons, their riders, or the war they're fighting.
Plot: In a world where magic can only change the world when scores of wizards work together to create magical weapons, a barbaric horde wages war on the mighty empire that built its military around the power of mechanical dragons. And you won't read anything about that because the author would rather focus on the drama of 3 gay couples trying to make their relationships work. The first couple, two brothers that ride dragons, grew up apart and now that they're working together they have to stop hating each other for not being there and come to terms with their love for one another (not the brotherly kind of love either). The second couple is an elderly mage and an underage farm boy he's been educating. And the third couple were a forgettable scholar and noble.
This is one of the few books I've disliked enough that I couldn't finish it and the only book I've hated enough to want every copy burned. Mein Kampf deserves less vitriol than this abomination of a romance novel disguised as a fantasy story. I was really looking forward to reading about steampunk dragons too.
@
Shadowlark
Eragon is a great kids book because those cliches are still new to kids. I do not recommend finishing the series. If you just want to know how it ends I'll spoil the last book below for you.
Eragon goes off on his own after his elf training to learn his own true name. In the process he discovers a huge collection of dragon gems (those gems dragons can release at death that makes them immortal and gives the holder access to their power) and learns that the generic evil king stole a bunch when he betrayed the rest of the dragon riders which is why he's so powerful. Eragon and Sapphira return to the war for a siege on the capital city which leads to a mental battle between the dragon gems Eragon found and the ones the king stole. Eragon won with ease then takes the king's dragon gems off to a far off land where he can try to cure their insanity without being disturbed.
Name: Havemercy (one word)
Pros: Awesome steampunk mech dragons used as warmachines by a society where magic is generally a very limited ability.
Cons: The story has absolutely nothing to do with the dragons, their riders, or the war they're fighting.
Plot: In a world where magic can only change the world when scores of wizards work together to create magical weapons, a barbaric horde wages war on the mighty empire that built its military around the power of mechanical dragons. And you won't read anything about that because the author would rather focus on the drama of 3 gay couples trying to make their relationships work. The first couple, two brothers that ride dragons, grew up apart and now that they're working together they have to stop hating each other for not being there and come to terms with their love for one another (not the brotherly kind of love either). The second couple is an elderly mage and an underage farm boy he's been educating. And the third couple were a forgettable scholar and noble.
This is one of the few books I've disliked enough that I couldn't finish it and the only book I've hated enough to want every copy burned. Mein Kampf deserves less vitriol than this abomination of a romance novel disguised as a fantasy story. I was really looking forward to reading about steampunk dragons too.
@
Shadowlark
Eragon is a great kids book because those cliches are still new to kids. I do not recommend finishing the series. If you just want to know how it ends I'll spoil the last book below for you.
Eragon goes off on his own after his elf training to learn his own true name. In the process he discovers a huge collection of dragon gems (those gems dragons can release at death that makes them immortal and gives the holder access to their power) and learns that the generic evil king stole a bunch when he betrayed the rest of the dragon riders which is why he's so powerful. Eragon and Sapphira return to the war for a siege on the capital city which leads to a mental battle between the dragon gems Eragon found and the ones the king stole. Eragon won with ease then takes the king's dragon gems off to a far off land where he can try to cure their insanity without being disturbed.
