Fantasy Aficionados discussion

Is it me, or is it them? Can I blame it on Goodreads? After so many fabulous reads, I feel like I'm expecting excellence of most of my reads. After all, they usually come highly recommended. And yet... yawners.

I've had that happen to me before. At one point I kept on getting a huge batch of excellent books then all of a sudden I hit a wall. Book after book after book of mediocre reads. I think I burned myself out so I took a break from reading and now things are flowing smoothly like before.

I really think it expectations and comparisons to "that last great book I read" really dampens thing and sometimes you just need a break.

Did you read a really good book recently?** I always seem to suffer book slump after a fantastic book catches me by surprise, and my tastes are too idiosyncratic to be able to depend on reviews.
Which books are in your current slump?

**Stupid question. You read Broken Homes. I'm jealous.

Well, Black Cherry Blues came highly recommended, won an award but just didn't do it for me. I wanted to like Angelmaker but I only read in fits and starts, basically pushing to get to halfway, where it started to work better (most of my friends/followed gave it 5 stars). The Black Prism is the same way. It's actually okay, but i can tell it is trying to be this huge epic plot that spans multiple books and the whole brother versus brother prophecy thing is just so yawn. I picked up Theft of Swords cheap, and the sword and sorcery angle was interesting enough but bored me when it turned into kingdom politics. So all of them supposedly good but unsatisfying. Or I have book ADD, because I keep putting them down.

I've had stretches like this too. In the last slump, I went searching in genres I don't tend to read. I spent a few weeks reading Daniel Silva, Lincoln Child, and Douglas Preston. It was a nice little side trip I wasn't sure I would enjoy, but I surprised myself. It was just what I needed to shake off the doldrums. You could also try reading a textbook on research methods or a history of pedagogy. Guaranteed to make anything with a narrative into bliss. ;)

It must be catching. I dropped The Crown Conspiracy--couldn't cope with the writing style.

When I get into a book slump, I usually turn to popsci. Since I don't read it much outside of book slumps, it usually feels fun, plus the added frozen-yogurt-style "not-actually-better-for-you-but-sounds-like-it-is" smugness factor. At least it means I can't really criticise the worldbuilding.

I had the same reaction to . I just dont see what all the fuss is about. We all go through slumps tho and like any slump, you just have to work through it.

How long does it take you to get out of this state?
For me, it was sometimes up to half a year!

When I get into this mood, I switch over to different style (like reading short stories only) or different genre (e.g. classics or historical fiction).

If it takes longer, I make up a project and engage in background articles or wikis about some beloved book (LOTR, here).

Happens to all of us, I suspect. I went through about six or seven samples once and didn't buy any of them.

Carly, just on the Riyria Revelations: The Crown Conspiracy is the weakest of the stories by some distance. I did consider dropping it early on, but really enjoyed later instalments.

I'm starting theft of swords today. I've heard pretty bad things about both the author and his wife the past few years on many of the hardcore fantasy groups here on Goodreads and have shied away from his book because of that. I've read enough a good reviews though that I finally decided to give them a shot. Hopefully the series won't disappoint

When this happens to me, I tend to go back to books I loved previously. It usually only takes one or two and then I try reading new ones again.

In retrospect, I think I came off a great binge--Leviathan Wakes, Broken Homes and Magic Rises. Perhaps it's like overindulging in chocolate--too much of a good thing. ;)

☠The Dread Pirate Grant☠ wrote: "I'm starting theft of swords today. I've heard pretty bad things about both the author and his wife the past few years on many of the hardcore fantasy groups here on Goodreads and have shied away f..."


I've got his books on my to-read list. Haven't read any yet.
Not heard anything bad, but I'm relatively new around here.



Mawgojzeta wrote: "When this happens to me, I tend to go back to books I loved previously. It usually only takes one or two and then I try reading new ones again."


I agree!

Carol wrote: "Is it me, or is it them? Can I blame it on Goodreads? After so many fabulous reads, I feel like I'm expecting excellence of most of my reads. After all, they usually come highly recommended. And ye..."

Carol, I often hit book slumps/try heavily recommended books and find they don't spark for me.

I, too, liked Leviathan Wakes - the quick pace, the tension, and the realistic portrayal of life in the Belt seemed just what I was looking for - If you liked this book, I found the pacing/characters/world detail NOT slowing the action in The Whitefire Crossing to be comparable. I read these titles back to back, and they played to the same level of tension. This is a pretty new author, and I was surprised how well I liked it.

Looking at your book list of unread titles, if you liked Cloud Roads by Martha Wells, The Siren Depths and its sequel were excellent follow ups. If you enjoyed the first, likely the second two will play well, also.

I see you also have The Time of the Dark by Barbara Hambly - that's a really fun trilogy, the characters are well fleshed out and a mixed bag - they may fit, too.

I am basing these on your enjoyment of Leviathan Wakes/these titles are comparable in that they are just complex enough, but not hard work.

If you never heard of R. M. Meluch, or her Merrimack Series - starting with The Myriad, that series is the very most fun I've had with space opera, probably ever. Don't let the fact this author is little known throw you - she deserves a far wider readership. The pace is quick, the characters are well done and enjoyable, and it gave me plenty of laugh out loud moments.

Last month I felt like that ! None of books that were monthly reads for groups I am in were outstanding. Daughter of the Sword was one of them. It was not pager turner for me!
I like to at least try the group reads because they are often not the kinds of books that I would not necessarily pick out myself,and sometimes I end up really liking them. But when I end up reading a lot books that I am not really liking that much, I just go back to the the authors that I know I can always depend on for a good read.

☠The Dread Pirate Grant☠ wrote: "I'm starting theft of swords today. I've heard pretty bad things about both the author and his wife the past few years on many of the hardcore fantasy groups here on Goodreads and have shied away f..."

I wasn't aware of any controversies. Without encroaching on the topic here, could you point to these threads?

I'd be interested, as everything I've seen here at Fantasy Aficionados has been positive, or at least of nature of the comments in this thread. Basically, couldn't get into it, wasn't my kind of thing, etc.

Robert, probably at this point best to let bygones be bygones.

Carol wrote: "Robert, probably at this point best to let bygones be bygones."

Let us not turn this into yet another Orson Scott Card-like debate.

I agree with Carol, Robert. For what it's worth, I started Theft of Swords last night and I'm finding it rather enjoyable :)

I find I get into slumps if I read too many similar books in a row. Dr Who, sword & sorcery, epic fantasy, hard boiled detective, whatever. It all starts to blend together and seem bland, even when it isn't.

Yes, I'm going back to a hard-boiled mystery now. And I have a book about cancer, The Emperor of All Maladies (which also comes very highly recommended) that I might give a go for something completely different.

Carol wrote: "Is it me, or is it them? Can I blame it on Goodreads? After so many fabulous reads, I feel like I'm expecting excellence of most of my reads. After all, they usually come highly recommended. And ye..."

I go through book slumps a lot. I went through one recently after reading 'Ocean at the End of the Lane', which I loved. Even worse was reading a similar kind of story about childhood and growing up which was nowhere near as good. I think I might've been less harsh on that book had I not read it so soon after Ocean.

I think I'm out of that one, and I did it by retreating into a reread of a book I liked, which I liked even better this time around. It probably helped that it was a totally different kind of book, too.

Sometimes I go through them when I'm reading a lot of group books or books I pick up because so many other people say how god they are. With a few notable exceptions, I rarely see what the fuss is in the books that get lots of raves.

But, then, I'm a big believer in Sturgeon's Law and that 90% of everything really is crap. I really don't grok people who seem to love almost everything they read... but I do sort of envy them. I guess they're just better at picking out books to read than I am. No matter how much I think I can weed out books, it's still kinda a crap shoot.

For me it's quite natural that my sources of entertainment come in waves. I love books, tv shows and gaming.
I do all 3 of them constantly, but one is always the dominent source of entertainment. So, when I reach a book slump, mostly gaming or tv takes over in a dominant fashion, until reading is a fresh experience again.

Carol wrote: "Is it me, or is it them? Can I blame it on Goodreads? After so many fabulous reads, I feel like I'm expecting excellence of most of my reads. After all, they usually come highly recommended. And ye..."

I have this problem sometimes. It's mostly because I get tired of the same stuff over and over. I usually read fantasy, and nothing else. But just recently I got burned out on them, and spent a few weeks reading true-crime novels. The two are so different that it knocked me out of my slump, and now I'm happily back to reading fantasy. :)

Carol wrote: "Well, Black Cherry Blues came highly recommended, won an award but just didn't do it for me. I wanted to like Angelmaker but I only read in fits and starts, basically pushing to get to halfway, whe..."

Carol, IMHO The Ocean at the End of the Lane is Neil Gaiman' best book to date. I think you might really like it. It is also very short, more of a novella.

Thanks for the suggestion, Jalilah, but it would have to be. I'm almost consistently underwhelmed by his writing.

Yes, this happens to me all the time! With books and video games, too! After I played Skyrim, I didn't touch my xbox for a year. I was like ughhh I already played the best game ever. What's the point? I had that after I read ASOIAF this year. Then I seemed to be putting everything else down. Idk if it's necessarily that the books I was reading were bad, or I just had really high expectations or what. And also I swore off unfinished series, but here I am tapping my foot over the new Dresden Files book. Why did I do this to myself?