Worst Science
fiction novels
Star Trek: The Next Generation: Doomsday World
Star Trek
novels were some of the books I had the move fun reading in 2013. A lot of that
has to do with the structure of the series which the novels can tap into which
gives you stories that are similar in structure and execution as the TV show
but allowing greater flexibility in terms of characters and budget (the novels
can do anything). Doomsday World is,
as far as I know, the first novel that was written by a team of writers. Four
writers got together to write this little book. The problem with Doomsday World is that it’s not any
better than other Star Trek books
because of the additional writers. Much the opposite, its seems as though all
four writers decided to half-ass it thinking the others will pick up the slack.
While reading the book I had a feeling that the writers were more focused on actually
accomplishing the task of writing a collaborative book than they were on
writing a book that is good.
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| It's too bad you weren't as hilariously entertaining as The Courtship of Princess Leia. |
Runner-up: Star Wars: Choices of One
Timothy Zahn is regularly lauded as being the writer of
one of the best Expanded Universe trilogies. His other Star Wars novels are regularly included in list of the best Star Wars books. When I decided to
explore the Expanded Universe I immediately chose on of Zahn’s book. At the
time it was the most recent one, Star
Wars: Choices of One. The main reason I didn’t like Choices of One is that I felt lost. There were very many reference
points to the Star Wars I know.
Because Star Wars is such a huge
franchise I image this is an issue that fans who have not devoured everything Star Wars encounter with some of the
novels. Another problem that I had was that Zahn used characters unique to the
EU, many of them he created. I think that only fans of the Expanded Universe or
of Zahn’s previous Star Wars books
would appreciate and like Choices of One.
It might sound blasphemous to some, but I don’t give a crap about Mara Jade.
Worst Fantasy Novels
Streams of Silver
I had read a couple books by R. A. Salvatore in my teens
and I had enjoyed them. Part of my Blog Fantastic project was to discover new
writers in series in the fantasy genre while also taking the time to revisit
series and writers I was already familiar with. Some of those stories have held
up. I still enjoy a Dragonlance story
even though I now realise it’s not the best fantasy series in ever created
which my 12 year old self used to think. I wanted to give Salvatore another
chance and while he was disappointing with The
Crystal Shard, the first volume of his Icewind Dale trilogy, the second
volume, Streams of Silver is just
awful. His characters are invincible and Salvatore is using and more is more
approach with the monsters he puts in his heroes’ way. More importantly,
Salvatore borrows quite heavily from Tolkien and while he doesn’t try to imitate
the giant of fantasy fiction, he doesn’t do him justice either. At its best Streams of Silver reads like good fan
fiction and it’s convinced me not to continue the Icewind Dale trilogy or any
books with Drizzt Do’Urden who I find insufferable.
Runner-up: The Eye of the World
I really liked Robert Jordan’s prequel to his acclaimed
fantasy epic, The Wheel of Time. It
was the second time I read New Spring
and I enjoyed it just as much as an adult as I did in my teens. The desire to
read the rest of The Wheel of Time is
one of the reason I started The Blog Fantastic. Years ago I had started The Eye of the World but for reasons I
don’t recall clearly, I abandoned it. Needless to say I gave it another shot
this year and I was very disappointed. How is it that the first volume of an
epic fantasy series didn’t live up to my expectations after having only read
the prequel? I have no clue. If there’s one book I read in 2013 that I’m
frustrated about its The Eye of the World.
I wanted to love it so badly but I didn’t. I’m still not sure why. Part of me
thinks it’s because it’s bloated and that doesn’t bode well when it’s the first
volume of the series. Another part of me thinks the main character is far to
whinny and I really think we didn’t enough Moira. Despite my problems with the
first book, I want to keep on reading. If the first book was any indication,
there will be plenty for me to enjoy about this series to balance out for all
of the things I’ll dislike. One of my goals for 2014 is to read The Great Hunt. He’s hoping I love it.
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| It's shorter than The Eye of the World but is it better? |
Worst Collection
of Comics originally published before 2012/2013
Avengers: The Contest
This comic can be considered one of the first ever event
comics. It’s been a while since I read I and to be quite honest I forgot about
most of it. Lucky for me I remember just enough to know that the setup for the stories
was bland and the only real enjoyment I got out of it was some old school comic
book artistry. Unfortunately like some of its contemporaries, Avengers: The Contest isn’t a classic
comic storyline filled with the best examples of superhero melodrama nor is it
endearing. Ultimately, the background information that lead up to the creation
of The Contest is just interesting
enough to warrant its own reprint but it’s not good enough to find a home on
your bookshelf.
Runner-up: X-men: Longshot
The first time I read X-men:
Longshot was during my first year of discovering American comics. I specify
American comics because I grew up reading Tintin,
Spirou et Fantasio, Achile Talon and many other European comics.
Before re-reading Longshot all I remembered
was that it wasn’t much of an X-men comic and it’s not. What I hadn’t realized
before is just how influential Longshot
was for the 90s comics era. So much of Image’s identity as a comic publisher in
the 90’s can be found in Longshot.
The problem with that is Longshot is
kind of a mess but it’s an original mess and a surprisingly influential one. I
also enjoyed just how passionate Nocenti was in her introduction and in the
supplementary material. I don’ agree with everything she says but her
appreciation and thoughts on comics a good read.
Worst Collection
of Comics originally published during 2012/2013:
Mara
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| The little comic that could but didn't. |
Mara had a
promising setup but writer Brian Wood and artist Ming Doyle don’t follow
through. Instead, the story changes directions halfway through and everything
falls apart. I have no idea why Wood took the story in a superhero direction
because the first half of the comic about a not-so-distant future dealing with
power, media and fame seems better suited to his skill as a writer. There are
interesting scenes to be found in Mara
but it’s difficult to appreciate them when they’re surrounded by uninteresting
art and a story that feels all too familiar.
Runner-up: Avengers vs. X-men
Part of me isn’t surprised I didn’t like Avengers vs. X-men. After all, it’s an
event comic and those are always hit or miss with the added frustrations of
being terrible standalone stories and they’re often preceded by and end with a
new (temporary) status quo for the fictional universe in which the story takes
place. Based on those criteria, Avengers vs.
X-men does not disappoint. There are two additional reasons why I didn’t
like this particular comic. The first is the inconsistencies in the writing and
the art. I appreciated the experiment of having some of Marvel’s top writers
and artist working according to a rotating schedule but the shifts in tone, art
styles and storytelling techniques was jarring and unpleasant to say the least.
The second reason is that the story doesn’t try nor does it deliver anything
new. The Phoenix entity shows up, possesses some characters and the heroes find
a way to vanquish it by having a well-known character pay the price. It’s sad
that such high demand was put on so small a story. Don’t even get me started on
character development; clearly there wasn’t enough room for that in 12 issues
of comics. Obviously that’s what tie-in issues are for.
Worst OGNs
The Originals by Dave Gibbons
This one needs some explanation. There weren’t many OGN’s
that I’ve read this year and unless my memory serves me wrong, The Originals is the only one I read
that was released prior to 2013. It’s by no means a spectacular comic but it
isn’t bad either. It’s a well-executed middle-of-the-road story with stellar
artist. Gibbons’ style is classy and I really enjoy it. The highpoint of this
comic is the art and the reason I ranked it as the worst OGN of 2013 is because
of the unimpressive story. I would still recommend this comic to any fans of
good graphic storytelling and nice art.
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| When you name is Dave Gibbons you don't need to write the best comic. You just have to draw the hell out of it. |
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