LOL great opening! No regrets on Cradle. Can't believe you read that far into the series. I've heard so many mixed things on Blacktongue I constantly punt on it. I'm going to pretend I didn't hear the Dune Messiah bit. Three Body has great ideas but it just wasn't enough to carry it for me. I feel good about having no interest in Wandering Inn. Sword of Kaigen was fine, but I certainly wasn't blown away by it like most of BookTube. Great picks! Except for Dune Messiah, of course.
Great hearing your most disappointed picks! I'm guilty of being pessimistic at times. Maybe it’s a split between wanting to love a book and fearing I won’t 🤔. That's exactly how I feel about reading The Fifth Season, especially after this video! 😅
Man! I'm right there with you on Three Body Problem! I've tried 3 or 4 times to get through the audiobook and just couldn't get into it at all. I can't put my finger on why though.... And it's not the narrator, because I love Luke Daniels.
Huge Luke Daniels fan as well. One of the biggest problems I had with it though is that he uses the same voice for the detective as he uses for Oberon the dog in The Iron Druid Chronicles. I kept thinking it was the dog.
I couldn't get past page 10 when I tried to read it. It sounds harsh but it literally didn't seem like correct English to me. I don't know if that was a translation issue but I had to put it down, the characters made no sense and the writing was giving me a headache it was that bad.
Please Like & Subscribe! It helps a ton. Leave your list here in the comments and please be respectful of everyone with different opinions. That's all they are, opinions :) Cheers!
Brian, thanks for a great year of video entertainment (and a few reading recs along the way)! My biggest disappointment of the year was definitely The Wandering Inn book 1. The first half was so excruciatingly slow and pointless. I had many starts and stops on this book throughout the year but I managed to finish it over the Thanksgiving break. The side characters were definitely more interesting than the main character. To be fair the last 1/3 of the book picked up but overall you can see where this online serial just forced the author to put out chapters to meet his goal without moving the story along. I hear it gets much better in later installments but, like you, I have a ton of other stuff onyvTBR so not sure I’ll ever get back to this world. Happy Holidays my friend!
Somehow - I don’t know how - all the tables in my house remained unflipped for the duration. I do want to read on in the Dune series, having read Dune twice now. Let’s see if I find it a little more inspiring than you did. In the meantime, may your disappointments be few and far between, Brian!
Wow, Yeah. I 100% agree with you about Sword of Kaigen. I'm still completely mystified about how it swept through BookTube like a spell. I thought it was average-ish? Maybe? So, you are not alone sir!
Operating without a TBR list, and instead, just going with the flow, so I can't think of any disappointing books. The beauty of not having a BookTube channel:)
I personally like that the group of BookTubers I watch have different tastes. There are a lot of books and genres that I have not read yet, so getting exposed to those different books is great for me.
agree with you about sword of kaigen. i recently picked up blacktongue thief so hopefully ill like it better than you did considering im not doing audio
Great video Brian! I’ve had no desire whatsoever to read Sword of Kaigen. 😂 I really liked Dune Messiah, but not the following books. Really sad about that series.
Great video, Brian! Thanks for sharing! I also couldn’t get into Fifth Season or Three Body Problem. I liked Sword of Kaigen, but it is massively hyped to its detriment. My biggest disappointments were Annihilation and I DNF’d The Justice of Kings 80% through it, which is rare for me. Plenty of great reads this year! Appreciate you and your content
Thanks so much, Jeremy! Very glad you are here! I think I may have liked Kaigen better if it was less hyped as it made expectations quite high. Cheers!
I had the same reaction to The 3 Body Problem in my review a few years back. I must be a character-focused reader because I was bored except for the gaming stuff also. I'm sorry Dune Messiah didn't work for you, I do think you will like Children a lot more. Sword of Kaigen is on my 2025 reads so we will see how it lands for me. Cheers Brian! 🍻
Always a bummer when some of the most hyped, well-respected or well-crafted books don't work for your personal tastes, that's the beauty of subjectivity in reading for you ;))) Also still stunned that you made it all the way to the end of Cradle despite your dislike hahaha. Hope you have even less duds next year!
Great video! Even though I haven't read some of the books mentioned, I was still excited about those first six titles 😂. For me, Rhythm of War was disappointing; I had high expectations, but it fell short for several reasons. I'm glad I'm now reading Malazan instead of Wind and Truth. I'm currently on House of Chains, and it's a delight every moment! The shift in main characters and the focus on just one perspective (Karsa) is so refreshing. I've noticed that each book in the series has a different setting and flavor, which makes the experience even more engaging. It seriously makes me wonder now if there are any limits to Steven Erikson's imagination!
Oh… really worried about sword of kaigen now 🫣 so hyped on BookTube and I don’t have a good track record with overly hyped books 🤣 oh well. I loved Dune Messiah. Bummer you didn’t vibe with it as much. But that’s okay 🥰
Thank you for speaking truth about The Sword of Kaigen. I DNF'd it. The writing was terrible in the first 100 pages. Four of the first five scenes were nothing but info dump conversations (or a literal classroom setting with a teacher droning on about the location's history). Very unnatural world building. Then the sixth scene was a hard cut to a flashback of one of the main character's youth. From what I've heard, there's no way I'd want to read the second half of the book which is emotional reaction to what happened at the midpoint.
You know both of us have distain for The Fifth season. The crazy thing is I went ahead and read the rest of the series. I do totally understand why you could bounce off of the three body problem
I gotta say I will sacrifice my enjoyment for Sword of Kaigen and permit it on this list since Prince of Thorns avoided being listed here. Hahaha In all seriousness Brian I love Mark Lawrence’s Broken Empire books but even if you didn’t I’m glad you gave them a shot. I’d love to chat with you about them if you ever think of picking them up again. Have a Merry Christmas week!
Happy New Year to you as well! Yeah, SoK was mostly a let down for me because I feel like it got oversold. It's hard when something feels overpromised and underdelivers. If I knew nothing about anyone having liked or disliked it going in, my expectations would have for sure been tempered and may not have been quite so disappointed.
@@BrianBell7 The fact that each book is so long and there's no sign of the series ending means I'll probably never get to it. I still haven't read Wheel of Time, Cosmere, Malazan, etc. Not to mention all the LitRPG I added to my TBR thanks to your most popular video lol.
Well, right on with The Fifth Season, Dune Messiah is kind of weird, and I totally get Androids (very different from the movie), and haven't read the rest, so... the tables are safe. Almost started on Blacktongue Thief recently, but the mixed reactions scared me off. Sort of the same with Three Body Problem since that blew up.
“the bowels of my personal enjoyment meter” is definitely a thing! I also really disliked Dreadgod…Cradle should’ve ended at 10 books for my money with the reveal of the great plot twist. The high powered kaiju-sized action in the last couple books just did very little for me. Oh nice Dune Messiah is also on my most disappointing books of the year-what a bore!! I liked the Sword of Kaigen alright but actually had a similar experience of liking the first half and wishing the whole story had focused more on Mamoru. Totally agree about the inconsistency with the husband character.
I didn't vibe with Black Tongue Thief either AND I did the audio. I enjoyed the humor but not the storylines. One of my disappointments was as a result of the audio narrator this year was Fool's Hope, second book in The Last War series. I had to DNF.....a soft DNF though, I'm sure I'll finish the series at some point. Excellent video Sir.
You seem like a great guy and I like your vibe. I have liked and subscribed but I think you may be someone with such total opposite taste to me I can use that as a guide. If you hate a book I'll pick it up , if you rave about a book -nah! 🤣🤣
The Buehlman brogue made Blacktongue , 5 stars for me! Pure magic listening to the audiobook! You may want to avoid the audiobook for Glorious Exploits too, the author narrates it in “Dublin” English. I also think you may want to avoid Harlan Ellison’s rendition of the Wizard of Earth Sea, again magic but his delivery is very fast!!
Agree with the Sword of Kaigen. The character writing can be beautiful at times, but the sloooow plot and unfulfilling world building make it completely underwhelming. The reader gets no answers as to why the government acts a certain way, very disappointing.
Still hoping Sword of Kaigen works for me whenever the Wraithmarked edition comes in lol. I already do not like that it sounds set up for sequels and isn’t getting any though. Hope there’s still some sort of decent payoff!
My only real issue with it, and why it made this list, is that BookTube hyped the book up to heights that are IMO beyond it. Plenty of booktube loves it, so if you do, you'll be in good company!
@ that’s why I went ahead and ordered the Special Edition when it came out. It seemed ALL of Booktube loved it lol. Maybe you being disappointed will help me temper my expectations and not be as disappointed. So, for that, I thank you.
I’m glad I’m not the only one who thought The Blacktongue Thief was disappointing. Though I didn’t hear the audiobook, I also grew tired of the narrative voice. It seemed like Joe Abercrombie tried to badly write Fafhrd and The Grey Mouser. Shame you didn’t like Do Androids Dream. I really like that one. Great video though.
You should try Buehlman’s Between Two Fires! It’s similar to Berserk, but a bit less fantastical. I think Blacktongue Thief is his worst work. Also, the audiobook is fantastic and free until December 31!
My biggest disappointment was Red Sister. Had an awesome introduction, I was so hooked. Then the middle of the book happened, or should I say, "then the middle", because ABSOLUTELY nothing happened up to around 70%. Had to DNF it sadly.
Maybe its because I'm from Ireland and Hollywood shenanigans but an American doing an Irish accent has always been a big red flag for me 😂 luckily I'm not an audiobook guy
I have for the last years been very blessed with almost only competent, interesting or great reads, but if I had to pick 3 for this year: «Idoru» by William Gibson («The Bridge Trilogy» #2, Cyberpunk): While very forward-minded, being from the 90s with an Japanese AI Idol as a central character, being away from Golden Gate Favela of Book 1 and 3, lose a lot of the Atmosphere and while competent, the main POVs are not as interesting as in Book 1 and work better in Book 3 together with the returning Book 1 POVs. «The Buried Giant» by Kazuo Ishigaro (Fantasy inspired by Arthurian Legend): More a «oh so close to be really, really great, if it only had had a tighter story», then bad (the main characters broke my heart though, in a positive way!) «The Eternal Champion» by Michael Moorcock (Epic Fantasy/S&S): The Origin of Moorcock’s Multiverse, to me fell flat. The big twist is telegraphed with the subtlety of an Elephant stampede and the ending just totally reads as «Proto-Angry Young Man Grimdark» with hardly any moral difference between the main character and the antagonists…I also read his «Warlord of the Air» this year and it was much more deftly written with many similar themes. Cheers Brian!
Probably my biggest disappointment of the year was Shatterpoint by Matthew Stover. I DEEPLY love Stover, in fact a different Star Wars novel of his will end up on my top ten of the year. However this novel about Mace Windu I really wanted to love, but I dnfed about halfway through. Then I gave it a few months, started over determined to love it and sure enough was just as disappointed with it by the end. Really disappointing since Stover was a huge favorite discovery of an author for me this year!
I liked Fifth Season enough, wasn't blown away from memory, but the followup books in the trilogy did not like nearly as much. You likely did yourself a favor not continuing.
Me: "Oh cool, looks like none of my favorites are on the list" You: "Number 4 on my list is Do Androids Dream of Electric Sleep." Me: *Unsubscribe* Lol j/k. That's the only one I don't agree with. Definitely feel you on Fifth Season. I hated that I didn't like it because I love Jemisin as a person.
For me, the biggest disappointments were: "A Clockwork Orange" by Anthony Burgess, it's just unpleasant to read! Mark Lawrence "The Broken Empire" the whole trilogy, I'm not interested, the characters are repulsive and disgusting! Martha Wells "The Murderbot Diaries" the first book was still nothing, but the subsequent ones are not, I increasingly notice that when the main character is an Android or a robot or an artificial intelligence, I cannot empathize with him, and I do not believe that a robot can have its own way of thinking! Well, the last book, Kazuo Ishiguro's "Klara and the Sun", again, I do not believe that an Android can have its own mindset, and in general, the story turned out to be dry, uninteresting and leaving questions for me! By the way, "The Three-Body Problem" was my disappointment of 2023, I agree with you here!
Thanks Sergey! I always appreciate your thoughts here! I haven't read A Clockwork Orange and it's not super high on my radar. I read the first book in the Broken Empire and it wasn't for me. But I know a lot of people do love it.
I DNF'd both Kaigen and Three Body. I just didn't like either one. Like you, Dune is one of my favorite SF books of all time, and I've reread it multiple times. I found all the sequels disappointing, though, including Dune Messiah. Electric Sheep is a weird one. I like PKD and I feel like this should be a good book, but the story is so different than the movie (which I love) that I just could not enjoy the book on its own merits.
Interesting, we like a lot of the same, but I can't put my finger on why I like some things like Cradle and Wandering Inn and you didn't. Cradle last few books do clean up a bit too quick. Awaken Online tapered off for me as well. He Who Fights with Monsters is amazing pacing, character progression, magic cultivation system, but an annoying main character. Once he goes to Earth it never got the same. Went from 10/10 to 4/10 for me. I liked the Fifth Season, the interweaving of the 2nd person perspectives, the culmination of the mystery, the feeling of the world. I have also liked her Hundred Thousand Kingdoms. Her books are short on plot, mostly characterization and worldbuilding, and I can see why you wouldn't like it. I love Dune Messiah, but have to be ready for the antihero story and intrigue. You do seem to like more straightup action, pacing, and less intrigue. DADoES by Dick is nothing like Blade Runner and I agree with you. 3 Body is alright. I've read better in the genre. I wonder how much of the Booktube love is from those who haven't read widely in scifi. Sword of Kaigen on my tbr forever, lol. As for TWI, well its not for everybody. Thinking back to myself, I think first few volumes really need to be read not listened to, as the pace becomes much faster, you can see the litrpg stat boxes. The updated volume 1 on the website cuts, edits, and links much better. However, yes, it really is just slice-of-life genre for majority of book 1 and hard to see where plot was moving. I think the world was intriguing to me, then the segue to volume 2 where pacing and plot picks up kept me going. Then by volume 3-5 it was amazing and turns into more epic fantasy, and better still in Arc 2 from volumes 6-8. However, it is perfectly valid to not like the slow, sloppy beginning that meanders and stop it. If you ever have some time, I would encourage you to maybe just start reading a few chapters starting volume 2 (book 2 on kindle) a little at a time. As for litrpg, some recent ones I read that were fast-paced and action packed, that seems like you would like: System Universe by SunriseCV. Overpowered MC, similar to The Good Guys. Bastion by Phil Tucker. Amazing, better than Cradle, mostly prog fantasy. Wake of the Ravager by Macronomicon. Above average with overpowered MC, more straight litrpg stats. Unbound series by Nicoli Gonnella. Grittier, more well written straight litrpg, another overpowered MC. Best of listed. Quantum Cultivation by Jace Kang. Cool cultivation eastern style litrpg. Only 1 book though. Dragon Heart by Kirill Klevanski. Sword wielding mostly cultivation, but badass from a Russian author. Long, just finished series translation. Beware of Chicken by Casualfarmer. Hilarious cultivation/litrpg satire, with perspectives from a chicken.
I think that's the only way I could try TWI again, very little at a time. But even then, there are so many other books I'm legit excited about. The transformation zones thing in HWFWM is a snooze fest for me. Didn't like the Earth 3 books at all. Awaken Online's subseries are better right now than the main Jason story. Love the Dom and Finn books. Cheers!
Just the opposite of you. I thought the movie _Bladerunner_ was just "meh." I've watched it many times, especially in the company of others at college who loved it, but it still strikes me as "meh." The novel was, like you say, a totally different feel. So much more, and so much so subtle than the movie, which replaced the intellectually deep thoughts with flashbang gimmicks and cyberpunk; all atmosphere and no substance. to each his own
I think I just fell too much in love with the film. I liked DADOES ok enough - just had higher expectations purely from my prior enjoyment. Had I never seen the film or didn't love it much, I probably would've been happier with the book. First reading of Dick, so I'll try something else this year and see. Suggestions?
Books I was disappointed in, A Rival Most Vial. SPFBO finalist in a very generic "Jetsons/Flintstones" D&D world, meaning it resembled middle America only with SF/Stone Age/D&D trappings with a generic romance by people who acted like middle Americans.
I totally agree!! Sword of Kaigen was also my most disappointing (and maybe lowest rated) read of last year! The amount of patience required to go through all that incredulous parts and constant eye-rolling was exhausting!
Not sure I understand your statement. I'm saying I was disappointed in the book because of the author's choice to narrate the whole thing in the manner that he did. I was expecting a great read. I didn't get it because I was distracted by it.
LOL great opening! No regrets on Cradle. Can't believe you read that far into the series. I've heard so many mixed things on Blacktongue I constantly punt on it. I'm going to pretend I didn't hear the Dune Messiah bit. Three Body has great ideas but it just wasn't enough to carry it for me. I feel good about having no interest in Wandering Inn. Sword of Kaigen was fine, but I certainly wasn't blown away by it like most of BookTube. Great picks! Except for Dune Messiah, of course.
I KNEW I heard a table flip somewhere in the heart of Houston for Dune Messiah :) Just remember, Cradle gets good at book 12.
Daughters' War is a top five this year but I love Blacktongue Thief 🤷♀️
@@BrianBell7Cradle is fun but not my favorite Will Wight 🤷♀️ and I love his work.
Yeah The brogue is either brilliant or a deal breaker 😂
I read Do Androids... before I saw the film (and many times since). It adds a weird level of something 😂
it's really crazy how nobody is talking about the book the elite society's money manifestation
I haven't even heard of it until now. What's it about?
😂 get real
Great hearing your most disappointed picks! I'm guilty of being pessimistic at times. Maybe it’s a split between wanting to love a book and fearing I won’t 🤔. That's exactly how I feel about reading The Fifth Season, especially after this video! 😅
I mean, if even Josh had to to put it down.... ;)
Man! I'm right there with you on Three Body Problem! I've tried 3 or 4 times to get through the audiobook and just couldn't get into it at all. I can't put my finger on why though.... And it's not the narrator, because I love Luke Daniels.
Huge Luke Daniels fan as well. One of the biggest problems I had with it though is that he uses the same voice for the detective as he uses for Oberon the dog in The Iron Druid Chronicles. I kept thinking it was the dog.
@@BrianBell7 That's some special dog! haha But yeah, I could definitely see that taking away your ability to get/stay invested for sure!
I couldn't get past page 10 when I tried to read it. It sounds harsh but it literally didn't seem like correct English to me. I don't know if that was a translation issue but I had to put it down, the characters made no sense and the writing was giving me a headache it was that bad.
Please Like & Subscribe! It helps a ton. Leave your list here in the comments and please be respectful of everyone with different opinions. That's all they are, opinions :) Cheers!
Brian, thanks for a great year of video entertainment (and a few reading recs along the way)! My biggest disappointment of the year was definitely The Wandering Inn book 1. The first half was so excruciatingly slow and pointless. I had many starts and stops on this book throughout the year but I managed to finish it over the Thanksgiving break. The side characters were definitely more interesting than the main character. To be fair the last 1/3 of the book picked up but overall you can see where this online serial just forced the author to put out chapters to meet his goal without moving the story along. I hear it gets much better in later installments but, like you, I have a ton of other stuff onyvTBR so not sure I’ll ever get back to this world. Happy Holidays my friend!
Happy Holiday to you as well! I'm really glad you are here!
Somehow - I don’t know how - all the tables in my house remained unflipped for the duration. I do want to read on in the Dune series, having read Dune twice now. Let’s see if I find it a little more inspiring than you did. In the meantime, may your disappointments be few and far between, Brian!
Philip Chase will NEVER make my most disappointing lists! Only the bestappointing list! Which is not a word. But it should be.
Wow, Yeah. I 100% agree with you about Sword of Kaigen. I'm still completely mystified about how it swept through BookTube like a spell. I thought it was average-ish? Maybe? So, you are not alone sir!
I'm glad to be in good company!
Great video 😊 The Fifth Season didn't work for me either.
your wisdom shines through again, Johan!
Operating without a TBR list, and instead, just going with the flow, so I can't think of any disappointing books. The beauty of not having a BookTube channel:)
Ah yes, fond memories :)
I personally like that the group of BookTubers I watch have different tastes. There are a lot of books and genres that I have not read yet, so getting exposed to those different books is great for me.
Nice! I agree!
agree with you about sword of kaigen. i recently picked up blacktongue thief so hopefully ill like it better than you did considering im not doing audio
I think you'll like it sight-reading it.
Great video Brian! I’ve had no desire whatsoever to read Sword of Kaigen. 😂 I really liked Dune Messiah, but not the following books. Really sad about that series.
I'll see what I think of Children of Dune. Maybe that will help my thoughts on Messiah.. Thank you, Chas!
I liked the Sword of Kaigen and Dune Messiah! Glad (I think) my Jemison pick stood out this year! 😂
It certainly did!!
That version of The Martian behind you sure is purdyyy 👀
Thank you! It was part of The Broken Binding's Sci-Fi subscription service. Really well made.
Wandering Inn starts slow, but as the series expands it is fantastic.
I’m really glad you like it! I just don’t have time to get to them after such a tough book one. It took up like 3 weeks of my audio time
Great video, Brian! Thanks for sharing! I also couldn’t get into Fifth Season or Three Body Problem. I liked Sword of Kaigen, but it is massively hyped to its detriment.
My biggest disappointments were Annihilation and I DNF’d The Justice of Kings 80% through it, which is rare for me. Plenty of great reads this year! Appreciate you and your content
Thanks so much, Jeremy! Very glad you are here! I think I may have liked Kaigen better if it was less hyped as it made expectations quite high. Cheers!
I had the same reaction to The 3 Body Problem in my review a few years back. I must be a character-focused reader because I was bored except for the gaming stuff also. I'm sorry Dune Messiah didn't work for you, I do think you will like Children a lot more. Sword of Kaigen is on my 2025 reads so we will see how it lands for me. Cheers Brian! 🍻
Cheers! I’m curious to hear your thoughts on Kaigen once you read it. Yeah 3 Body was just not my thing.
Always a bummer when some of the most hyped, well-respected or well-crafted books don't work for your personal tastes, that's the beauty of subjectivity in reading for you ;)))
Also still stunned that you made it all the way to the end of Cradle despite your dislike hahaha. Hope you have even less duds next year!
same!
Great video! Even though I haven't read some of the books mentioned, I was still excited about those first six titles 😂. For me, Rhythm of War was disappointing; I had high expectations, but it fell short for several reasons.
I'm glad I'm now reading Malazan instead of Wind and Truth. I'm currently on House of Chains, and it's a delight every moment! The shift in main characters and the focus on just one perspective (Karsa) is so refreshing. I've noticed that each book in the series has a different setting and flavor, which makes the experience even more engaging. It seriously makes me wonder now if there are any limits to Steven Erikson's imagination!
I love Karsa! Witness! I'm glad you are reading it. Thank you for the compliment :)
Oh… really worried about sword of kaigen now 🫣 so hyped on BookTube and I don’t have a good track record with overly hyped books 🤣 oh well.
I loved Dune Messiah. Bummer you didn’t vibe with it as much. But that’s okay 🥰
I suspect I'll appreciate Messiah more when I read Children. It just fell flat to me compared to Dune. Keep me posted what you think of Kaigen!
Thank you for speaking truth about The Sword of Kaigen. I DNF'd it. The writing was terrible in the first 100 pages. Four of the first five scenes were nothing but info dump conversations (or a literal classroom setting with a teacher droning on about the location's history). Very unnatural world building. Then the sixth scene was a hard cut to a flashback of one of the main character's youth. From what I've heard, there's no way I'd want to read the second half of the book which is emotional reaction to what happened at the midpoint.
You know both of us have distain for The Fifth season. The crazy thing is I went ahead and read the rest of the series. I do totally understand why you could bounce off of the three body problem
You and me against the world, Tom!
I gotta say I will sacrifice my enjoyment for Sword of Kaigen and permit it on this list since Prince of Thorns avoided being listed here. Hahaha
In all seriousness Brian I love Mark Lawrence’s Broken Empire books but even if you didn’t I’m glad you gave them a shot. I’d love to chat with you about them if you ever think of picking them up again. Have a Merry Christmas week!
You too! Yep, it didn't make the list :)
Sword of Kaigen was not for me either ! Happy new year 🎉🎉🎉
Happy New Year to you as well! Yeah, SoK was mostly a let down for me because I feel like it got oversold. It's hard when something feels overpromised and underdelivers. If I knew nothing about anyone having liked or disliked it going in, my expectations would have for sure been tempered and may not have been quite so disappointed.
I'm leaving The Wandering Inn on my TBR until you and Matt's Fantasy Book Reviews duke it out on For Whom the Bell Tolls.
I just like so many LitRPG series so much better.
@@BrianBell7 The fact that each book is so long and there's no sign of the series ending means I'll probably never get to it. I still haven't read Wheel of Time, Cosmere, Malazan, etc. Not to mention all the LitRPG I added to my TBR thanks to your most popular video lol.
@@TF-lk6co hahah my most popular :)
I’m so glad I’m not the only one on Blacktongue Thief!!
I believe, in the words of Mick Jagger, "You're not the only one, with mixed emotions!"
Well, right on with The Fifth Season, Dune Messiah is kind of weird, and I totally get Androids (very different from the movie), and haven't read the rest, so... the tables are safe.
Almost started on Blacktongue Thief recently, but the mixed reactions scared me off. Sort of the same with Three Body Problem since that blew up.
I personally believe Blacktongue is an excelllent story. I wish I would've sight-read it.
“the bowels of my personal enjoyment meter” is definitely a thing!
I also really disliked Dreadgod…Cradle should’ve ended at 10 books for my money with the reveal of the great plot twist. The high powered kaiju-sized action in the last couple books just did very little for me.
Oh nice Dune Messiah is also on my most disappointing books of the year-what a bore!!
I liked the Sword of Kaigen alright but actually had a similar experience of liking the first half and wishing the whole story had focused more on Mamoru. Totally agree about the inconsistency with the husband character.
We align on lots of books, Ben! I'm sure we'll find some great ones in 2025!
I didn't vibe with Black Tongue Thief either AND I did the audio. I enjoyed the humor but not the storylines. One of my disappointments was as a result of the audio narrator this year was Fool's Hope, second book in The Last War series. I had to DNF.....a soft DNF though, I'm sure I'll finish the series at some point. Excellent video Sir.
Thanks, Dan! I appreciate you watching it. I am going to try to read those The Last War books this year.
@@BrianBell7 They are a good time so far. Just don't do them on audio. Happy Holidays to you and yours Sir.
Not 1 book I rated 4 stars, and TWO books I rated 5 stars! Brian coming in with some hot takes for sure. I'm here for the Wandering Inn takes tho
HOT TAKE! Ha, I'm glad you liked them :)
Sword of Kaigen is a booktube darling. Interesting to see it wind up as #1.
Also lol at Dune. You haven’t even gotten to the WEIRD Dune books yet
I suspect I'll like Messiah after I read Children. You're a booktube darling. hahahahaha
So good, i watched this twice 🎉
Thank you two times!
You seem like a great guy and I like your vibe. I have liked and subscribed but I think you may be someone with such total opposite taste to me I can use that as a guide. If you hate a book I'll pick it up , if you rave about a book -nah! 🤣🤣
Ha! I'll take it :)
You want another cool ex-machina story.. Electric Forest by Tanith Lee! Put it on your TBR Brian Bell!
The Buehlman brogue made Blacktongue , 5 stars for me! Pure magic listening to the audiobook! You may want to avoid the audiobook for Glorious Exploits too, the author narrates it in “Dublin” English.
I also think you may want to avoid Harlan Ellison’s rendition of the Wizard of Earth Sea, again magic but his delivery is very fast!!
Ha, I was thinking of you when I made that part of the video. I'm glad you loved the voice acting! I'll do that for those books!
Agree with the Sword of Kaigen. The character writing can be beautiful at times, but the sloooow plot and unfulfilling world building make it completely underwhelming. The reader gets no answers as to why the government acts a certain way, very disappointing.
I'm glad I'm not the only one! Cheers!
I came in here to argue with you but I got nothing. Maybe Three Body Problem that I like, but I know how it is.
Lol, I'll take it!
Still hoping Sword of Kaigen works for me whenever the Wraithmarked edition comes in lol. I already do not like that it sounds set up for sequels and isn’t getting any though. Hope there’s still some sort of decent payoff!
My only real issue with it, and why it made this list, is that BookTube hyped the book up to heights that are IMO beyond it. Plenty of booktube loves it, so if you do, you'll be in good company!
@ that’s why I went ahead and ordered the Special Edition when it came out. It seemed ALL of Booktube loved it lol. Maybe you being disappointed will help me temper my expectations and not be as disappointed. So, for that, I thank you.
I’m glad I’m not the only one who thought The Blacktongue Thief was disappointing. Though I didn’t hear the audiobook, I also grew tired of the narrative voice. It seemed like Joe Abercrombie tried to badly write Fafhrd and The Grey Mouser.
Shame you didn’t like Do Androids Dream. I really like that one. Great video though.
Thanks, Britton! I think my expectations on that book were just too high because of the movie.
He who Fights with Monsters through book 10 was fantastic - 11 was disappointing. Agreed.
No doubt. Every transformation zone book loses me interest-wise.
@@BrianBell7 those bits really are a slog. I also grew tired of Emo Jason in some of the other books, but, 11 was just grueling lol
You should try Buehlman’s Between Two Fires! It’s similar to Berserk, but a bit less fantastical. I think Blacktongue Thief is his worst work. Also, the audiobook is fantastic and free until December 31!
Maybe I'll check it out! Thanks!
I go 1.2x at best. You lose the tone and inflection if you speed up too much. Maybe if it was a text book or something, I'd speed up more :P
I agree. 1.2 seems to work for me. I've heard actual reading speed is 1.8 x audio.
i can't do anything beyond default 1x speed.
My biggest disappointment was Red Sister. Had an awesome introduction, I was so hooked. Then the middle of the book happened, or should I say, "then the middle", because ABSOLUTELY nothing happened up to around 70%. Had to DNF it sadly.
It's such a bummer when we hit a middle book and it takes us out of the engagement of the series. I feel you!
Maybe its because I'm from Ireland and Hollywood shenanigans but an American doing an Irish accent has always been a big red flag for me 😂 luckily I'm not an audiobook guy
He does, from what I've been told, a pretty decent job. I'm just not the market...
He no shade for bouncing off of Wandering Inn
thanks, brother! if it wasn't as long as it is, I'd continue as I trust your taste. Just have too many other series happening.
I have for the last years been very blessed with almost only competent, interesting or great reads, but if I had to pick 3 for this year:
«Idoru» by William Gibson («The Bridge Trilogy» #2, Cyberpunk): While very forward-minded, being from the 90s with an Japanese AI Idol as a central character, being away from Golden Gate Favela of Book 1 and 3, lose a lot of the Atmosphere and while competent, the main POVs are not as interesting as in Book 1 and work better in Book 3 together with the returning Book 1 POVs.
«The Buried Giant» by Kazuo Ishigaro (Fantasy inspired by Arthurian Legend): More a «oh so close to be really, really great, if it only had had a tighter story», then bad (the main characters broke my heart though, in a positive way!)
«The Eternal Champion» by Michael Moorcock (Epic Fantasy/S&S): The Origin of Moorcock’s Multiverse, to me fell flat. The big twist is telegraphed with the subtlety of an Elephant stampede and the ending just totally reads as «Proto-Angry Young Man Grimdark» with hardly any moral difference between the main character and the antagonists…I also read his «Warlord of the Air» this year and it was much more deftly written with many similar themes.
Cheers Brian!
Thanks, Mac! Actually Idoru is on my TBR. Good to know!
Probably my biggest disappointment of the year was Shatterpoint by Matthew Stover. I DEEPLY love Stover, in fact a different Star Wars novel of his will end up on my top ten of the year. However this novel about Mace Windu I really wanted to love, but I dnfed about halfway through. Then I gave it a few months, started over determined to love it and sure enough was just as disappointed with it by the end. Really disappointing since Stover was a huge favorite discovery of an author for me this year!
At least you still have other books from him. Sometimes the author just misses. Good to know, Sam!
I feel exactly the same way about 3 Body Problem. The TV Series was MUCH better.
I'm going to watch it. I've heard it's much better. It has to be for a TV series or we'd all fall asleep.
I liked Fifth Season enough, wasn't blown away from memory, but the followup books in the trilogy did not like nearly as much. You likely did yourself a favor not continuing.
Good to know!!
Me: "Oh cool, looks like none of my favorites are on the list"
You: "Number 4 on my list is Do Androids Dream of Electric Sleep."
Me: *Unsubscribe*
Lol j/k. That's the only one I don't agree with. Definitely feel you on Fifth Season. I hated that I didn't like it because I love Jemisin as a person.
I think the only issue I had with the book is that I am SUCH a Bladerunner fan.
@@BrianBell7 I also really like the movies. The sequel is my favourite.
@@Zivilin Sounds like I need to watch the films, which I never have
For me, the biggest disappointments were: "A Clockwork Orange" by Anthony Burgess, it's just unpleasant to read! Mark Lawrence "The Broken Empire" the whole trilogy, I'm not interested, the characters are repulsive and disgusting! Martha Wells "The Murderbot Diaries" the first book was still nothing, but the subsequent ones are not, I increasingly notice that when the main character is an Android or a robot or an artificial intelligence, I cannot empathize with him, and I do not believe that a robot can have its own way of thinking! Well, the last book, Kazuo Ishiguro's "Klara and the Sun", again, I do not believe that an Android can have its own mindset, and in general, the story turned out to be dry, uninteresting and leaving questions for me! By the way, "The Three-Body Problem" was my disappointment of 2023, I agree with you here!
Thanks Sergey! I always appreciate your thoughts here! I haven't read A Clockwork Orange and it's not super high on my radar. I read the first book in the Broken Empire and it wasn't for me. But I know a lot of people do love it.
I DNF'd both Kaigen and Three Body. I just didn't like either one. Like you, Dune is one of my favorite SF books of all time, and I've reread it multiple times. I found all the sequels disappointing, though, including Dune Messiah. Electric Sheep is a weird one. I like PKD and I feel like this should be a good book, but the story is so different than the movie (which I love) that I just could not enjoy the book on its own merits.
That's EXACTLY what happened. I was way, way, way overly influenced by the movie.
Well having finished it this morning I can firmly say Wind and Truth is my most disappointing book of the year…and it was my most anticipated 😳
I'm saving my thoughts for when I finish (currently on page 823) but I almost included the first half the book on this list.
Interesting, we like a lot of the same, but I can't put my finger on why I like some things like Cradle and Wandering Inn and you didn't. Cradle last few books do clean up a bit too quick.
Awaken Online tapered off for me as well.
He Who Fights with Monsters is amazing pacing, character progression, magic cultivation system, but an annoying main character. Once he goes to Earth it never got the same. Went from 10/10 to 4/10 for me.
I liked the Fifth Season, the interweaving of the 2nd person perspectives, the culmination of the mystery, the feeling of the world. I have also liked her Hundred Thousand Kingdoms. Her books are short on plot, mostly characterization and worldbuilding, and I can see why you wouldn't like it.
I love Dune Messiah, but have to be ready for the antihero story and intrigue. You do seem to like more straightup action, pacing, and less intrigue.
DADoES by Dick is nothing like Blade Runner and I agree with you.
3 Body is alright. I've read better in the genre. I wonder how much of the Booktube love is from those who haven't read widely in scifi.
Sword of Kaigen on my tbr forever, lol.
As for TWI, well its not for everybody. Thinking back to myself, I think first few volumes really need to be read not listened to, as the pace becomes much faster, you can see the litrpg stat boxes. The updated volume 1 on the website cuts, edits, and links much better. However, yes, it really is just slice-of-life genre for majority of book 1 and hard to see where plot was moving. I think the world was intriguing to me, then the segue to volume 2 where pacing and plot picks up kept me going. Then by volume 3-5 it was amazing and turns into more epic fantasy, and better still in Arc 2 from volumes 6-8. However, it is perfectly valid to not like the slow, sloppy beginning that meanders and stop it. If you ever have some time, I would encourage you to maybe just start reading a few chapters starting volume 2 (book 2 on kindle) a little at a time.
As for litrpg, some recent ones I read that were fast-paced and action packed, that seems like you would like:
System Universe by SunriseCV. Overpowered MC, similar to The Good Guys.
Bastion by Phil Tucker. Amazing, better than Cradle, mostly prog fantasy.
Wake of the Ravager by Macronomicon. Above average with overpowered MC, more straight litrpg stats.
Unbound series by Nicoli Gonnella. Grittier, more well written straight litrpg, another overpowered MC. Best of listed.
Quantum Cultivation by Jace Kang. Cool cultivation eastern style litrpg. Only 1 book though.
Dragon Heart by Kirill Klevanski. Sword wielding mostly cultivation, but badass from a Russian author. Long, just finished series translation.
Beware of Chicken by Casualfarmer. Hilarious cultivation/litrpg satire, with perspectives from a chicken.
I think that's the only way I could try TWI again, very little at a time. But even then, there are so many other books I'm legit excited about. The transformation zones thing in HWFWM is a snooze fest for me. Didn't like the Earth 3 books at all. Awaken Online's subseries are better right now than the main Jason story. Love the Dom and Finn books. Cheers!
Just the opposite of you. I thought the movie _Bladerunner_ was just "meh." I've watched it many times, especially in the company of others at college who loved it, but it still strikes me as "meh."
The novel was, like you say, a totally different feel. So much more, and so much so subtle than the movie, which replaced the intellectually deep thoughts with flashbang gimmicks and cyberpunk; all atmosphere and no substance.
to each his own
I think I just fell too much in love with the film. I liked DADOES ok enough - just had higher expectations purely from my prior enjoyment. Had I never seen the film or didn't love it much, I probably would've been happier with the book. First reading of Dick, so I'll try something else this year and see. Suggestions?
Books I was disappointed in, A Rival Most Vial. SPFBO finalist in a very generic "Jetsons/Flintstones" D&D world, meaning it resembled middle America only with SF/Stone Age/D&D trappings with a generic romance by people who acted like middle Americans.
I've heard the title before, but not the premise. Thank you!
Sword of Kaigen was probably my most disappointing book of last year. There are some very good parts, but overall the book is a mess.
100%
I totally agree!! Sword of Kaigen was also my most disappointing (and maybe lowest rated) read of last year! The amount of patience required to go through all that incredulous parts and constant eye-rolling was exhausting!
OMG exactly!
The Mercy of the Gods by James SA Corey was my number 1 most disappointing!
I think Mike's too.
You're criticising an author for his audiobook voice in a books you have *read* list? Hmm, I think that word does not mean what you think it means.
Not sure I understand your statement. I'm saying I was disappointed in the book because of the author's choice to narrate the whole thing in the manner that he did. I was expecting a great read. I didn't get it because I was distracted by it.
oh I understand what you are saying. It's pretty commonly accepted that audio is the same as sight-reading around these parts.