If only he'd included more Sanderson on this list because every single one of his books is like a spaghetti western without any of the fun and all of the cringe. With horrendous prose and just absolutely atrocious dialogue. Sometimes you wonder, does Sanderson actually talk to people in real life?
For Stephen King - he’s very hit or miss for me. Pet Sematary is the most stressful book I’ve ever read. Can’t recommend it enough. Also Matt, I’ll be tagging you in my video next week (a mid year check in/review video). No pressure if you’re uninterested/don’t have time but here are the questions: 1. Best book you’ve read so far in 2024 2. Best sequel you've read so far in 2024 3. New release you haven't read yet, but want to. 4. Most anticipated release for the second half of the year. 5. Biggest disappointment. 6. Biggest surprise. 7. Favourite new author. (Debut or new to you) 8. Newest fictional crush. 9. Newest favourite character. 10. Book that made you cry. 11. Book that made you happy. 12. Most beautiful book you've bought so far this year (or received) 13. What books do you need to read by the end of the year?
Stephen King's best book is probably IT. It doesn't have that weird "fever dream," kind of twist or ending that all of his books seem to have. It's just horror and well written characters. I agree though, Kings books always have bizarre and terrible endings. His book IT imo is the only exception.
@alb0zfinest uhh... did you miss the whole alien/turtle bit? And don't get me started on that sex scene. Still really liked IT, but The Stand takes the top King spot for me.
@@Marcus-id5ur No I didn't miss that, but since you're talking about The Stand there is all kinds of rape (especially the sick rape of those 8 captive women) and all kinds of fuckery lmao. And I've only read 50% of it so far. I meant solely that IT is mostly actually horror and it's pretty original. The events unfolding aren't absurd like in The Stand about a dark magic man and some savior woman, like at that point just make it fantasy and add it to The Gunslinger somehow. IT has some magic regarding the clown but all limited and justified, and certainly not absurd like Pet Sematary or Green Mile.
Pet Sematary freaked me out so much I couldn't finish it. I got through part where he buried the cat and it came back, and then when his kid got in the same situation as the cat (trying to avoid spoilers) I KNEW what he was going to do! I knew! And I noped TF out of there because I KNEW.
I watch every one of your "worst books" videos to see where you put Fifth Season. I think I found your channel by finding a review that reflected my own opinions on that book.
I thought 5th season was actually not that bad. Weak world building but higher litterary value than usual in SF/fantasy. Plus the 2nd person shift does work out and is coherent.
Jim butcher was forced to write the first Dresden files book by a professor in college. I usually restart the series no earlier than book 10. Thanks for making this video. I think we share 7 of these picks. I am especially glad that you picked "The Fifth Season". I thought I was going crazy when I tried to read it because it was supposedly so good..
As a definitely not-andrew-tate type of guy, I would only say that going to the gym is a generally a great thing, highly recommended! I've started a month ago - my mood and body already improved drastically. I love those brutal sword stories a la classic fantasy, but it's purely about the aesthetics, men aren't superior than women of course lol
The licanius trilogy I don't know what kind of a mindset I was on that I read all three books in 5 or 6 days, that kind of reading was too much for me and I felt nauseated afterwards. But looking back, for the kind of effort that I put in, the series was just ordinary and I feel (imo) that this doesn't deserve as much as the hype it receives from a lot of the book reviewers
Yes! Someone else who sees Fifth Season for what it is. And the “twist” that isn’t a twist because it’s obvious from the get-go. And how we’re supposed to not know about the moon being missing until the end even though it is mentioned right at the beginning - probably in the first few pages. I have read book two as I am reading the trilogy as a buddy read that includes a cake reward during our discussion. One of my friends jumped ship after book 2. I’m psyching myself up for book 3 so I can share the torture with my other friend - solidarity, you know. But I think I’m going to have to reward myself with two slices of cake 😆
The reason why I read fantasy books, its only because I know you are out there doing the dirty job. I love malazan because you recomended it, and I only read 50 pages of the gunslinger to find out you are right. You have saved me from wasting 100+ hours reading rubbish. For that, I thank you, my Lord Guide
My only hot take in my limited experience was not liking mistborn final empire . It felt like a chore to me to finish and I didn’t continue. I love storm light archive
I do love the fearlessness of how you express your thoughts, and will embrace any backlash the internet's best could offer! Anyways, I'll proudly state that I really enjoyed Dragon Haven. In fact, I enjoyed all the Rain Wild Chronicles. Though I will attribute that to knowing beforehand all the critiques about RW
I love the Gunslinger but I wouldn't unsubscribe for it 😂 The only King series I appreciate. I bought Fourth Wing for 5 bucks because I loooove the narrator 🤭🤷♀️ I feel like Gunslinger and Gideon the Ninth are similar vibes 🤔
Robert E. Howard died on June 11, 1936. None of the Conan books/stories by Robert E Howard were written in the 40s or 50s. We will have to disagree on this one. Did you read "The Tower of the Elephant?"
Many modern, spoiled authors would like to have the prose efficiency and creativity that many pulp authors had in the early 20th century. And "The People of the Black Circle" is one of those Conan stories that you just have to pay attention to see that Robert E. Howard was not a misogynist.
I do not like Darwin's theory of evolution because eugenicists like it. I mean, that's sort of the argument you are making about Conan -- critiquing the audience, not the work. He was the original barbarian archetype that is everywhere now, so of course it's going to be unpolished in its first iteration. And crude men who visualize themselves as alpha males are going to naturally be drawn to it. But REH had a very dynamic style of writing and I suspect that's why his stories remain popular, not because they reflect 1930s sensibilities of race and gender. I'm sorry you've had bad experiences with Conan fans.
@@MattsFantasyBookReviews also keep in mind that you were reading a collection of short stories submitted over time to a pulp magazine (Weird Tales, I think). So there was no possibility of a broader arc or of character development for Conan. That's why he is static.
Aww man, I loved the Goblin Emperor. I get that it’s not for everyone, but it was totally for me. I loved the slice of life mixed with intrigue from the perpsective of someone who was the straight man outsider who was instantly the emperor. Totally my jam. Edit: I absolutely hated Eye of the World. I couldn’t wait to be done with it. Characters were cardboard with only one trait which became their whole personality. World felt like it was what some kid who just finished Lord of the Rings made up for his D&D game. If the series got better, I didn’t stick around to find out…
I enjoy Conan and a lot of Robert e Howard's work but can see why it's not for everyone. While remaining a fantasy story it's about the opposite of what most modern fantasy is
When i first came across your channel, i almost dipped because you seemed so strangely favorable to every book you reviewed. So glad to hear we have shared critiques of these popular books. Read on!
After being away from the Fantasy genre for many years (since the early 1990's), I decided to return to the genre with Gardens of the Moon. I DNF'd Gardens of the Moon after the first 100 pages. It was as if the author decided to skip world building and developing the characters and plunge straight into the action with lots of jumps between past and present, so I didn't care about the characters and was bored. Reading those first 100 pages was like watching a grade B fantasy movie.
Thats somewhat sad to hear, but malazan is a pretty hard series to get into, but it is the most amazing and rewarding experiences you can have with fantasy, id recommend something lighter like Sanderson's books if you are looking to get into fantasy again
The best kind of reviewer is one who reliably agrees with your tastes. The second best kind of reviewer is one who reliably disagrees with your tastes. I like every one of the books on this list that I've read, which definitely argues for reading each of the others on the list.
Thank you for making this video. I felt resistance to read most of those books although they get recommended a lot in "the best of fantasy" videos. It seams, we have a similar taste. Subscribed :)
Conan is so great man, but it's ok, is just your opinion. and i think still very good storys nowdays, most of them. I disagree when you say you have to be bonr in the 1900 to liked, i'm just 22, and i love them. But i love the video as always, good job my Friend (Sorry my missespelling, english is not my frist lengueage)
I tried going through The Goblin Emperor, by recommendation of another booktuber that I also enjoy. I listened to the audiobook. I got maybe two hours in and started to realize that absolutely NOTHING was going to happen. I saw no advancement coming in the story. Quit the book, checked out your video on it, and was relieved to see I wasn’t alone in that opinion lol
I liked Fourth Wing. I thought I would hate it, but it kept my interest. Honestly, I was braced for more romance than I got. I liked the magic and the world. The story was a survival story in a school of horrors. Kind of cool. The writing was YA feeling, and I get that criticism. A guilty pleasure.
ALL of my "mom friends" read it earlier this year, but I refused. I read a ton of steamy romance in my 20s & 30s, and I just DON'T read it anymore. This piques my interest a little bit, though! Thx for sharing.
The Dark Tower is an acquired taste imo. It gets better with the more Stephen King books you read because it directly ties into every single one of them in some way or another. It’s hard to appreciate 80% of the hidden details without reading a bunch of other stuff of his beforehand. I love the series, but I can understand why it doesn’t work for some folks haha.
I loved Edgar Rice Burrough's Tarzan books when I was a teenager. But, as I got older it was harder to ignore the blatant racism and misogyny. (Although, Jane as a character had some agency as she had her own POV chapters, especially in the first couple books). I still do like Tarzan as a character in books and later iterations in TV and movies. (And, I've always like Johnny Weissmuller's version). Give me any story, mostly, in which a wild man or wild woman survives and thrives in the jungle or the wilds (e.g. The Jungle Book, which has its own colonialist problem).
I grew up (like preteen and teen years) reading ERB Mars and Venus series (some Tarzan too.) I thought they were just SO amazingly imaginative! And I guess they probably were, for that time. I'm certain if I re-read them now (I'm 50) I'd have very different opinions about them.
I liked Robert Jordan's Conan books more than I did Howards. But I didn't hate them like you did. I read a lot of old fantasy back in the 80's & 90's that I probably wouldn't like half as much today as I did back then. I don't really have that many that I would put on a list like this; I've been lucky in picking what to read I guess, lol. I have a few that I'm not a huge fan of but I really only have 3 or 4 that I can actually say I hated; at least as far as books that I read from cover to cover. Those are: 1. Wizard's First Rule by Terry Goodkind (I finished it and even tried the 2nd book and one later on; hated them all; didn't finish the other two though so I'm not going to count them here) 2. Midnight Tides by Steven Erikson (loved the rest of the series but this one was a dud for me; liked the last 300 pages but that first 700 was a pain to get through; hated the Sengar storyline; hated Tehol's BS; just a bad book in my opinion) 3. Royal Assassin by Robin Hobb (like her writing well enough but I HATE Fitz) Dishonorable mention: Of Blood & Fire by Ryan Cahill (I like the idea of it even if there is nothing new about it; but you can definitely tell this is a first time writer and he needed someone to tell him to go back to the drawing board and rewrite it; too many mistakes and cringe worthy dialog at times drags this one down a lot; but I will say Cahill is growing as a writer with each book; I'm currently on Of War & Ruin and it is a MAJOR improvement over that first one; If he keeps this up the series as a whole will become one of my favorites but that first book will continue to drag down the overall rating; just like MT did for Malazan)
I am so glad that someone else agrees with me about fifth season, I struggled with the weird writing style. So then I tried the audio, nope still difficult to follow and get interested.
Ugh. The Gunslinger series is a total MESS! I think I read four of them, because so many people love them! It's very bizarre, and it never made any sense! You said in one video that he wrote like he was hopped on a bunch of drugs & just free wrote while high. 😂 I've always felt like that was the most accurate description of King I've ever heard. 😂❤ (love it!)
I absolutely LOVED Mistborn Era 2 and Wayne’s humor hits every time with me, but I totally get it. I’ve read books that others have recommended to me based on their humor and I hated them. I completely agree with the Gunslinger and the Fifth Season. When I finished the Fifth Season (yes I finished it) I gave it to Goodwill. I think it has a very specific appeal with people who don’t read fiction or in general very often. I saw this because the prose and story elements were very simple and hid their motives by simply not stating them. I could see this being a way better movie than a book.
I LOVE The Shining, but I also didn't care for The Gunslinger. I love the concept for the Dark Tower series, so I might revisit it at some point. DNFed Storm Front at some point. Might just skip it entirely and start with a different book in the series. I absolutely loved The Fifth Season and the rest of that trilogy 😂 It's so interesting to hear differing opinions. EDIT: I just read Gideon the Ninth for the first time recently, and I had so much fun with it! Again, so interesting to see different opinions!
I never got into the Conan stories, but I found an interesting perspective on then by listening to Chuck Dixon talk about it. He wrote, and I believe still does to an extent, the Conan comic books. Conan was never supposed to be seen as a positive character. He is a barbarian for good reason, that he is a personification of man's base desires. He doesn't grow as a character because he's not, not does he strive to be, virtuous. He's like ancient James Bond.
No Conan novels (by Robert E. Howard anyway) were written in the 40s or 50s. Howard shot himself in 1936 after his mother died. Whatever else you're going to say in your critiques you should at least get your historical facts straight.
I liked Mistborn Era 2 more than you did but I agree it wasn’t as compelling as many of Sanderson’s other books. I liked the first Poppy War book but I dropped the 2nd one so I’m impressed you made it to book 3. The MC was grating in book 2 😩
Thanks for the video. It's great to talk about what we really dislike! Anywhere else and we get voted down! Gideon 9th was so terrible but 5th season took the biscuit! Unfortunately like you I make tragic mistakes in losing money purchasing these titles from all the 'rave' reviews!
Stephen King is my favorite author, but I agree The Gunslinger is bad. King has a very unique writing style that is unlike anyone else I’ve read. It’s definitely not for everyone, and that is okay. If everyone had the same opinion on books, book discussions would be pretty boring.
While I don’t agree with some of your opinions, some of there are my absolute favorites, I think that’s just how it works. Either a book/author clicks for you or it doesn’t, simple as that.
Great list. There are books here that I would never read. You made a comment about 2nd person being a bad way to write a book. Prepare to be proven wrong. Read Spear cuts through water. I dare you. Nice Video.
I also hated The Goblin Emperor, Gideon the Ninth, and The Fifth Season. What made it even worse is that they were so hyped. I began to distrust any group or person that gave these books awards, nominations, or recommendations.
The Conan stories are worse that Fourth Wing and The Fifth Season? Okay, now I KNOW for sure that this is a gigantic trolling operation. Just claim that you hate the collected works of Heinlein, Herbert, Wolfe, Simmons and Moorcock and really throw that bait out there for all the rage-clicks.
Unquestionably yes. Reading Conan is a much worse experience than Fourth Wing and Fifth Season. Maybe if I were born in 1900 I would like Conan. But I was born 85 years too late.
But that's true, he's one of those authors who invents the plot as he writes without any prior planning. That's why most of his books start to get worse and worse towards the end.
Good video, I understand about the gunslinger take, I know Stephen King is an autor you like or you don't for me I like a lot the gunslinger, but mostly because I am a fan of westerns, that's also why I find it funny that you don't like mistborn era 2 and I am super excited to start it, is in my tbr after I read some of the Stormlight archives books. Great video, really honest and respectful opinions.
Think many of us agree on that Rain Wild Chronicles. And I'll add this about The Lost Metal. Humor/comedy is incredibly subjective. It is easily the most difficult subgenre to write. So completely understand all the ppl that dislike era 2.
Matt, Great video! Might I humbly suggest the edited version of The Stand by Stephen King (that would be a pre-1990 printing)? If you haven't already read it, I think it's the one you'd enjoy. Just my guess...
Haven't read the second misborn series. But I would say book 2 of the first series and Warbreaker would be on my list, as well as The Colour of Magic by Terry Prachett (but a bit like your review of Storm Front even the author says don't start there)
I haven't read the Fifth Season yet (I currently have it out from the library), but in general, the Hugo Award is usually a sign to me that that book is horrible
I'm glad I'm not the only one who did not like Gideon the 9th. My view might be skewed by the audio book, but I kept thinking I was restarting from a previous bookmark, and then I realized no, the book is just repeating what feels like the same scene over and over. Just could not see the point -- or certainly the point in reading past the first loop of repetition. But YMMV.
I think many people hated the second series of Mistborn - I've tried to start it several times. I also hated The Gunslinger because it was so random and usually I like random.
@@jessezigg Of course, how could I forget 🤦🏻♂️ King is his favourite author of all time. Matt certainly won't be receiving a Christmas card from Mike this year 😂
Hard disagree on the lost metal- I thought it had a nice emotional closure arc. Plus bringing in multiple different magic systems from the various planets was a nice example of what is coming in the future cosmere books.
I read a bunch of the Dresden books and didn't really like them, but Jim Butcher's other series - the Codex Alera - made me seriously question my opinion of the friend who recommended it to me as one of his favorite series ever.
Re: Stephen King, I used to love him when I was a teenager. Until I realised he only had one trick and that he does to death. I actually rather like what you describe, where an author sits down and just writes and writes and writes and MAYBE there's thematic cohesion, or maybe there's just vibes. Problem is, I realised I neither like nor care about King's vibes, or all the humdrum characters he goes on at length about (middle aged small town man with life experience coming out the ears that King insists on telling you about, except it's dull dull dull and doesn't matter!). And at the same time, they go nowhere. Snappy ending that's too abrupt and just serves to deliver that extra dose of horror.
BTW - I had EXACTLY the same reaction to The Gunslinger when I was a kid. Everyone talked about how good and cool it was, but I found it to be confusing and a mess. Not fun. Not sublime. Annoying, actually.
Ñot disagreeing about most of these, but interestingly my other half read the first 6 Dresden novels, and was of the opinion that the get gradually worse as they go on. She gave up with book six. Ok, you lost me on Robert E. Howard, and I've yet to read Jemisin. 🙂
Provocatively, but then not that really. " Malazan book of the fallen ". Horrible prose. Unintelligeable. Over complex just for the sake of it. Boring to death. Reading that is a redoutable challenge. I gave up with the 4th book.
Fourth Wing needs to take the top slot. It's tropes upon messes mixed with horrific viewpoints on "romance" topped with uninteresting characters and recycled world building served with a side of dragon blasphemy.
Pretty much all of the actual Howard stories were written in the late '20's and there were dozens of characters. Many of those characters were repurposed into Conan stories by the pastiche authors who came after Howard's suicide. Howard only wrote Conan stories for the last three years of his life. The stories had to be 20 pages or less (except for one novel) because they were published in pulp magazines. Those magazines were usually less than 120 pages and almost always had to include four to five authors. I understand the feelings about attitudes regarding sex and violence...but if Howard had been writing today...you wouldn't have to hate him because he never would have been published. And the attitudes of most stories written in the pulp era shared the same world view. It's like reading Stoker's "Dracula." That character was great...but the writing is dry as dust to today's audience. Still...you like what you like.
Whew, Conan is so bad this went from book review to political discussion, it must be really bad haha. I didn't think A Dark Tower was bad, a few lines from that really stick out, especially the first. "'The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed.'" set such a good tone. I haven't read the following books though.
While I enjoyed book 1 of Dark Tower, I couldn't get past book 4 because Stephen King spends 70% of his books describing stuff, and 30% telling a story. I appreciate why people love the Dark Tower and King's worlds(man in black, crimson king and rolands guns are def interesting) but by book 4 I couldn't read another page of him describing stuff in detail for pages when none of it matters at all. One of the most triggering fantasy authors I've ever read. Perhaps the Crimson King is Stephen King...
Yo check out Raymond Feist Riftwar Series. Its incredibly refreshing in comparison to the stuff put out today. The first book, "Magician" is one of the best opening fantasy books all time. Its like, what if a fantasy world of men, dwarves, goblins, elves, dragons, wizards were suddenly invaded by a spatial rift of japanese samurai hordes with samurai wizards far superior to mankinds wizards...
So Gideon the Ninth will be removed from my TBR. That sounds like a very unpleasant read. Can’t believe number 2 has been dethroned. Your opinion of that book is what made me a fan in the beginning because, like you, I did not enjoy it and was refreshing seeing someone who felt the same. Lmao @ #1. Apparently you want all the smoke again.
*Through gritted teeth* To each their own, to each their own.
I had to repeat those same words to myself when I saw #2, #6 and #7😅
😂 Very true!
@@asfaloth12 I only had it with 6 and 1
yes lmao
We love these because you're fearless in giving your opinion without caring what anyone else thinks!
Thanks Nev! :)
100%
So are we with his favorite series. Malazan book of the fallen, for exemple, is a terrible litterary failure. So overblown, so boring, so overrated.
If only he'd included more Sanderson on this list because every single one of his books is like a spaghetti western without any of the fun and all of the cringe. With horrendous prose and just absolutely atrocious dialogue. Sometimes you wonder, does Sanderson actually talk to people in real life?
No matter how bad his take is either 🤣🤣🤣
"I just subbed out goblin for French."
Yeah, I think we all do that subconsciously.
LOL
For Stephen King - he’s very hit or miss for me. Pet Sematary is the most stressful book I’ve ever read. Can’t recommend it enough.
Also Matt, I’ll be tagging you in my video next week (a mid year check in/review video). No pressure if you’re uninterested/don’t have time but here are the questions:
1. Best book you’ve read so far in 2024
2. Best sequel you've read so far in 2024
3. New release you haven't read yet, but want to.
4. Most anticipated release for the second half of the year.
5. Biggest disappointment.
6. Biggest surprise.
7. Favourite new author. (Debut or new to you)
8. Newest fictional crush.
9. Newest favourite character.
10. Book that made you cry.
11. Book that made you happy.
12. Most beautiful book you've bought so far this year (or received)
13. What books do you need to read by the end of the year?
Stephen King's best book is probably IT. It doesn't have that weird "fever dream," kind of twist or ending that all of his books seem to have. It's just horror and well written characters. I agree though, Kings books always have bizarre and terrible endings. His book IT imo is the only exception.
@alb0zfinest uhh... did you miss the whole alien/turtle bit? And don't get me started on that sex scene.
Still really liked IT, but The Stand takes the top King spot for me.
@@Marcus-id5ur No I didn't miss that, but since you're talking about The Stand there is all kinds of rape (especially the sick rape of those 8 captive women) and all kinds of fuckery lmao. And I've only read 50% of it so far. I meant solely that IT is mostly actually horror and it's pretty original. The events unfolding aren't absurd like in The Stand about a dark magic man and some savior woman, like at that point just make it fantasy and add it to The Gunslinger somehow. IT has some magic regarding the clown but all limited and justified, and certainly not absurd like Pet Sematary or Green Mile.
@@alb0zfinest starting IT in a few days !!
Pet Sematary freaked me out so much I couldn't finish it. I got through part where he buried the cat and it came back, and then when his kid got in the same situation as the cat (trying to avoid spoilers) I KNEW what he was going to do! I knew! And I noped TF out of there because I KNEW.
I watch every one of your "worst books" videos to see where you put Fifth Season. I think I found your channel by finding a review that reflected my own opinions on that book.
I thought 5th season was actually not that bad. Weak world building but higher litterary value than usual in SF/fantasy. Plus the 2nd person shift does work out and is coherent.
@@KAB-w7n In a word. Manure.
Fifth Season showed me that I do not enjoy character driven books at all. Or maybe the plot was just that boring idk. Book 1 was good though
Jim butcher was forced to write the first Dresden files book by a professor in college. I usually restart the series no earlier than book 10. Thanks for making this video. I think we share 7 of these picks. I am especially glad that you picked "The Fifth Season". I thought I was going crazy when I tried to read it because it was supposedly so good..
I guess The First Binding falls in a different category ("Top 10 Most Plagiarized Books I've Ever Read")
LOL. Yeah and it's just not popular enough to fit on this list.
Pray that Steven Erikson and Cam don't watch this video because #1 will break both of their hearts.
As a definitely not-andrew-tate type of guy, I would only say that going to the gym is a generally a great thing, highly recommended! I've started a month ago - my mood and body already improved drastically.
I love those brutal sword stories a la classic fantasy, but it's purely about the aesthetics, men aren't superior than women of course lol
I DNF’d The Fifth Season for all of the reasons you hated it too. It’s terrible. I don’t understand the love for this series.
it had a few original ideas, bu thats it. The 2nd and 3rd book were pretty bad. It's overrated for the wrong reasons.
Totally agree. Glad to hear I am not alone on this opinion.
The licanius trilogy
I don't know what kind of a mindset I was on that I read all three books in 5 or 6 days, that kind of reading was too much for me and I felt nauseated afterwards. But looking back, for the kind of effort that I put in, the series was just ordinary and I feel (imo) that this doesn't deserve as much as the hype it receives from a lot of the book reviewers
Same with The Will of the Many. That book was trash.
@@Gooby12337 I would've read this book by now if it wasn't for my experience with licanius trilogy, though I would still like to read it someday.
Yes! Someone else who sees Fifth Season for what it is. And the “twist” that isn’t a twist because it’s obvious from the get-go. And how we’re supposed to not know about the moon being missing until the end even though it is mentioned right at the beginning - probably in the first few pages.
I have read book two as I am reading the trilogy as a buddy read that includes a cake reward during our discussion. One of my friends jumped ship after book 2. I’m psyching myself up for book 3 so I can share the torture with my other friend - solidarity, you know. But I think I’m going to have to reward myself with two slices of cake 😆
I gave up a third of the way through book 2.
The reason why I read fantasy books, its only because I know you are out there doing the dirty job. I love malazan because you recomended it, and I only read 50 pages of the gunslinger to find out you are right. You have saved me from wasting 100+ hours reading rubbish. For that, I thank you, my Lord Guide
My only hot take in my limited experience was not liking mistborn final empire . It felt like a chore to me to finish and I didn’t continue. I love storm light archive
Dragonbone Chair fans watching this entire video sweating bullets
Haha. Don't know Matt's opinion on dragonbone Chair, but as a MST fan your comment really made me dread number 1.
😂 I loved those books! I keep holding out hope that Matt will give them another chance. 🤷♀️
@@vol94 Matt doesn't care for "older" epic fantasy. The Dragonbone Chair begins sooooo slowly - he couldn't get into it.
Fifth season fans come prepared😂
Love the fact that you are honest about everything, such a rare trait these days!
First video I got to see from you and I'm instantly interested about the new viewpoint. I'm definitely watching your top favourites video next.
I do love the fearlessness of how you express your thoughts, and will embrace any backlash the internet's best could offer!
Anyways, I'll proudly state that I really enjoyed Dragon Haven. In fact, I enjoyed all the Rain Wild Chronicles. Though I will attribute that to knowing beforehand all the critiques about RW
I love the Gunslinger but I wouldn't unsubscribe for it 😂
The only King series I appreciate.
I bought Fourth Wing for 5 bucks because I loooove the narrator 🤭🤷♀️
I feel like Gunslinger and Gideon the Ninth are similar vibes 🤔
Robert E. Howard died on June 11, 1936. None of the Conan books/stories by Robert E Howard were written in the 40s or 50s. We will have to disagree on this one. Did you read "The Tower of the Elephant?"
Many modern, spoiled authors would like to have the prose efficiency and creativity that many pulp authors had in the early 20th century.
And "The People of the Black Circle" is one of those Conan stories that you just have to pay attention to see that Robert E. Howard was not a misogynist.
@@AnonymousAnonposter Excellent point!
I do not like Darwin's theory of evolution because eugenicists like it. I mean, that's sort of the argument you are making about Conan -- critiquing the audience, not the work. He was the original barbarian archetype that is everywhere now, so of course it's going to be unpolished in its first iteration. And crude men who visualize themselves as alpha males are going to naturally be drawn to it. But REH had a very dynamic style of writing and I suspect that's why his stories remain popular, not because they reflect 1930s sensibilities of race and gender. I'm sorry you've had bad experiences with Conan fans.
I hated the book before I got the negative reactions from the audience. I hate both equally! :)
@@MattsFantasyBookReviews also keep in mind that you were reading a collection of short stories submitted over time to a pulp magazine (Weird Tales, I think). So there was no possibility of a broader arc or of character development for Conan. That's why he is static.
Aww man, I loved the Goblin Emperor. I get that it’s not for everyone, but it was totally for me. I loved the slice of life mixed with intrigue from the perpsective of someone who was the straight man outsider who was instantly the emperor. Totally my jam.
Edit: I absolutely hated Eye of the World. I couldn’t wait to be done with it. Characters were cardboard with only one trait which became their whole personality. World felt like it was what some kid who just finished Lord of the Rings made up for his D&D game. If the series got better, I didn’t stick around to find out…
Had very similar feelings about the eye of the world! I found very little of it at all interesting and didn't feel like it improved in the 2nd book
Love both your reviews and Conan! Can't say you're not true to yourself when you do these, and I can appreciate it even when we disagree.
Conan is a classic
I enjoy Conan and a lot of Robert e Howard's work but can see why it's not for everyone. While remaining a fantasy story it's about the opposite of what most modern fantasy is
When i first came across your channel, i almost dipped because you seemed so strangely favorable to every book you reviewed. So glad to hear we have shared critiques of these popular books. Read on!
It would be boring if we all liked the same things. That said, I think my heart broke a little with #2, #6, and #7. 😅
Thanks for sharing!
Such valid complaints!! I tried to read book 1 of Dresden in high school and fell asleep within 20 pages 😂
The audiobooks are all I've done and they're brilliant. It's interesting to hear people bored with it 🤪🤣
Dresden series is SO MUCH DAMN FUN. Seriously. Stay with it. It's very pulpy, but tons of fun.
@@hawkname1234 I believe you!!! Now that I’m an adult maybe I’ll give it another shot. Do you also recommend starting with book 3?
After being away from the Fantasy genre for many years (since the early 1990's), I decided to return to the genre with Gardens of the Moon. I DNF'd Gardens of the Moon after the first 100 pages. It was as if the author decided to skip world building and developing the characters and plunge straight into the action with lots of jumps between past and present, so I didn't care about the characters and was bored. Reading those first 100 pages was like watching a grade B fantasy movie.
Thats somewhat sad to hear, but malazan is a pretty hard series to get into, but it is the most amazing and rewarding experiences you can have with fantasy, id recommend something lighter like Sanderson's books if you are looking to get into fantasy again
That’s pretty bold to say under a video made by someone who says that Malazan is the greatest fantasy series of all time lol
The best kind of reviewer is one who reliably agrees with your tastes. The second best kind of reviewer is one who reliably disagrees with your tastes.
I like every one of the books on this list that I've read, which definitely argues for reading each of the others on the list.
Where did The First Binding by R.R. Virdi go? Change of heart on that one?
Not popular enough to make it on the list :)
@@MattsFantasyBookReviews🔥🔥🔥😂
Thank you for making this video. I felt resistance to read most of those books although they get recommended a lot in "the best of fantasy" videos. It seams, we have a similar taste. Subscribed :)
Conan is so great man, but it's ok, is just your opinion.
and i think still very good storys nowdays, most of them. I disagree when you say you have to be bonr in the 1900 to liked, i'm just 22, and i love them. But i love the video as always, good job my Friend
(Sorry my missespelling, english is not my frist lengueage)
I tried going through The Goblin Emperor, by recommendation of another booktuber that I also enjoy. I listened to the audiobook. I got maybe two hours in and started to realize that absolutely NOTHING was going to happen. I saw no advancement coming in the story. Quit the book, checked out your video on it, and was relieved to see I wasn’t alone in that opinion lol
I liked Fourth Wing. I thought I would hate it, but it kept my interest. Honestly, I was braced for more romance than I got. I liked the magic and the world. The story was a survival story in a school of horrors. Kind of cool. The writing was YA feeling, and I get that criticism. A guilty pleasure.
ALL of my "mom friends" read it earlier this year, but I refused. I read a ton of steamy romance in my 20s & 30s, and I just DON'T read it anymore. This piques my interest a little bit, though! Thx for sharing.
Another fantastic video! Thank you!
The Dark Tower is an acquired taste imo. It gets better with the more Stephen King books you read because it directly ties into every single one of them in some way or another. It’s hard to appreciate 80% of the hidden details without reading a bunch of other stuff of his beforehand.
I love the series, but I can understand why it doesn’t work for some folks haha.
I loved Edgar Rice Burrough's Tarzan books when I was a teenager. But, as I got older it was harder to ignore the blatant racism and misogyny. (Although, Jane as a character had some agency as she had her own POV chapters, especially in the first couple books). I still do like Tarzan as a character in books and later iterations in TV and movies. (And, I've always like Johnny Weissmuller's version). Give me any story, mostly, in which a wild man or wild woman survives and thrives in the jungle or the wilds (e.g. The Jungle Book, which has its own colonialist problem).
I grew up (like preteen and teen years) reading ERB Mars and Venus series (some Tarzan too.) I thought they were just SO amazingly imaginative! And I guess they probably were, for that time. I'm certain if I re-read them now (I'm 50) I'd have very different opinions about them.
ERB did write some good straight up adventure series and stand-alone novels that were fun to read though.
I liked Robert Jordan's Conan books more than I did Howards. But I didn't hate them like you did. I read a lot of old fantasy back in the 80's & 90's that I probably wouldn't like half as much today as I did back then.
I don't really have that many that I would put on a list like this; I've been lucky in picking what to read I guess, lol. I have a few that I'm not a huge fan of but I really only have 3 or 4 that I can actually say I hated; at least as far as books that I read from cover to cover.
Those are:
1. Wizard's First Rule by Terry Goodkind (I finished it and even tried the 2nd book and one later on; hated them all; didn't finish the other two though so I'm not going to count them here)
2. Midnight Tides by Steven Erikson (loved the rest of the series but this one was a dud for me; liked the last 300 pages but that first 700 was a pain to get through; hated the Sengar storyline; hated Tehol's BS; just a bad book in my opinion)
3. Royal Assassin by Robin Hobb (like her writing well enough but I HATE Fitz)
Dishonorable mention:
Of Blood & Fire by Ryan Cahill (I like the idea of it even if there is nothing new about it; but you can definitely tell this is a first time writer and he needed someone to tell him to go back to the drawing board and rewrite it; too many mistakes and cringe worthy dialog at times drags this one down a lot; but I will say Cahill is growing as a writer with each book; I'm currently on Of War & Ruin and it is a MAJOR improvement over that first one; If he keeps this up the series as a whole will become one of my favorites but that first book will continue to drag down the overall rating; just like MT did for Malazan)
Sooooo with you on the Burning God!! Hated the whole book and then hated the series ending with a particular passion.
I am so glad that someone else agrees with me about fifth season, I struggled with the weird writing style. So then I tried the audio, nope still difficult to follow and get interested.
Ugh. The Gunslinger series is a total MESS! I think I read four of them, because so many people love them! It's very bizarre, and it never made any sense! You said in one video that he wrote like he was hopped on a bunch of drugs & just free wrote while high. 😂 I've always felt like that was the most accurate description of King I've ever heard. 😂❤ (love it!)
I absolutely LOVED Mistborn Era 2 and Wayne’s humor hits every time with me, but I totally get it. I’ve read books that others have recommended to me based on their humor and I hated them.
I completely agree with the Gunslinger and the Fifth Season. When I finished the Fifth Season (yes I finished it) I gave it to Goodwill. I think it has a very specific appeal with people who don’t read fiction or in general very often. I saw this because the prose and story elements were very simple and hid their motives by simply not stating them. I could see this being a way better movie than a book.
I LOVE The Shining, but I also didn't care for The Gunslinger. I love the concept for the Dark Tower series, so I might revisit it at some point.
DNFed Storm Front at some point. Might just skip it entirely and start with a different book in the series.
I absolutely loved The Fifth Season and the rest of that trilogy 😂 It's so interesting to hear differing opinions.
EDIT: I just read Gideon the Ninth for the first time recently, and I had so much fun with it! Again, so interesting to see different opinions!
I never got into the Conan stories, but I found an interesting perspective on then by listening to Chuck Dixon talk about it. He wrote, and I believe still does to an extent, the Conan comic books. Conan was never supposed to be seen as a positive character. He is a barbarian for good reason, that he is a personification of man's base desires. He doesn't grow as a character because he's not, not does he strive to be, virtuous. He's like ancient James Bond.
No Conan novels (by Robert E. Howard anyway) were written in the 40s or 50s. Howard shot himself in 1936 after his mother died. Whatever else you're going to say in your critiques you should at least get your historical facts straight.
Great video as always! Love these and I appreciate your honesty and authenticity. Thanks for sharing so that we all have been warned😂
I love Conan but mostly because of the comics . The Marvel and Dark Horse ones . I wonder if you tried them ?
Great vid once again, luv ur channel !
So I’m in the midst of reading the Realm of the Elderlings. Do you recommend skipping the Rain Wild Chronicles?
Probably best to read it.
I liked Mistborn Era 2 more than you did but I agree it wasn’t as compelling as many of Sanderson’s other books.
I liked the first Poppy War book but I dropped the 2nd one so I’m impressed you made it to book 3. The MC was grating in book 2 😩
Thanks for the video. It's great to talk about what we really dislike! Anywhere else and we get voted down! Gideon 9th was so terrible but 5th season took the biscuit! Unfortunately like you I make tragic mistakes in losing money purchasing these titles from all the 'rave' reviews!
Stephen King is my favorite author, but I agree The Gunslinger is bad. King has a very unique writing style that is unlike anyone else I’ve read. It’s definitely not for everyone, and that is okay. If everyone had the same opinion on books, book discussions would be pretty boring.
While I don’t agree with some of your opinions, some of there are my absolute favorites, I think that’s just how it works. Either a book/author clicks for you or it doesn’t, simple as that.
Great list. There are books here that I would never read.
You made a comment about 2nd person being a bad way to write a book. Prepare to be proven wrong. Read Spear cuts through water. I dare you.
Nice Video.
Good for you for calling out The Fifth Season for what it is (or for what it isn't).
I also hated The Goblin Emperor, Gideon the Ninth, and The Fifth Season. What made it even worse is that they were so hyped. I began to distrust any group or person that gave these books awards, nominations, or recommendations.
The Conan stories are worse that Fourth Wing and The Fifth Season? Okay, now I KNOW for sure that this is a gigantic trolling operation. Just claim that you hate the collected works of Heinlein, Herbert, Wolfe, Simmons and Moorcock and really throw that bait out there for all the rage-clicks.
Unquestionably yes. Reading Conan is a much worse experience than Fourth Wing and Fifth Season.
Maybe if I were born in 1900 I would like Conan. But I was born 85 years too late.
Gene Wolfe is vastly overrated. Book of the New Sun is randomized junk.
To not like Stephen King's style is fine, but to say he has no direction or doesnt know what he's doing is asinine
But that's true, he's one of those authors who invents the plot as he writes without any prior planning. That's why most of his books start to get worse and worse towards the end.
Good video, I understand about the gunslinger take, I know Stephen King is an autor you like or you don't for me I like a lot the gunslinger, but mostly because I am a fan of westerns, that's also why I find it funny that you don't like mistborn era 2 and I am super excited to start it, is in my tbr after I read some of the Stormlight archives books.
Great video, really honest and respectful opinions.
Think many of us agree on that Rain Wild Chronicles. And I'll add this about The Lost Metal. Humor/comedy is incredibly subjective. It is easily the most difficult subgenre to write. So completely understand all the ppl that dislike era 2.
Matt, Great video!
Might I humbly suggest the edited version of The Stand by Stephen King (that would be a pre-1990 printing)? If you haven't already read it, I think it's the one you'd enjoy. Just my guess...
I take satisfaction in the hate of the Poppy War series.
The graphic designer carried those books.
Haven't read the second misborn series. But I would say book 2 of the first series and Warbreaker would be on my list, as well as The Colour of Magic by Terry Prachett (but a bit like your review of Storm Front even the author says don't start there)
I haven't read the Fifth Season yet (I currently have it out from the library), but in general, the Hugo Award is usually a sign to me that that book is horrible
I agree.
The modern Hugo Award is a joke. But there are also great books from the 60's to 90's that won the award.
@@AnonymousAnonposterdo you mind suggesting a few of those?
I'm glad I'm not the only one who did not like Gideon the 9th. My view might be skewed by the audio book, but I kept thinking I was restarting from a previous bookmark, and then I realized no, the book is just repeating what feels like the same scene over and over. Just could not see the point -- or certainly the point in reading past the first loop of repetition. But YMMV.
I think many people hated the second series of Mistborn - I've tried to start it several times. I also hated The Gunslinger because it was so random and usually I like random.
Circe and The first binding should have been on the list, no?
Love How honest you are 2:11 by the way, many hate mistborn era 2!
I don't agree with all of these. But I enjoyed watching and the discussion!
Lol tell us how you really feel 😂 a few of these are on my TBR but I’m hoping I will like them 😅
I LOVE negativity
Mike's book reviews will hate you for this list 😂 he loves Robert E Howard.
And Stephen King!@
@@jessezigg Of course, how could I forget 🤦🏻♂️ King is his favourite author of all time.
Matt certainly won't be receiving a Christmas card from Mike this year 😂
Does anyone know if Matt likes the wheel of time? I’ve never seen him talk about it. I just finished book 1 and I really liked it.
I like it, but don't love it.
Hard disagree on the lost metal- I thought it had a nice emotional closure arc. Plus bringing in multiple different magic systems from the various planets was a nice example of what is coming in the future cosmere books.
Agreed on Lost Metal. It is a novel length interlude full of bad Sanderson dad-jokes.
I read a bunch of the Dresden books and didn't really like them, but Jim Butcher's other series - the Codex Alera - made me seriously question my opinion of the friend who recommended it to me as one of his favorite series ever.
Love you reviews
But I loved all the Robin hobb books are amazing well write , weekest but still better that most people's best
Love your vids
Re: Stephen King, I used to love him when I was a teenager. Until I realised he only had one trick and that he does to death. I actually rather like what you describe, where an author sits down and just writes and writes and writes and MAYBE there's thematic cohesion, or maybe there's just vibes. Problem is, I realised I neither like nor care about King's vibes, or all the humdrum characters he goes on at length about (middle aged small town man with life experience coming out the ears that King insists on telling you about, except it's dull dull dull and doesn't matter!). And at the same time, they go nowhere. Snappy ending that's too abrupt and just serves to deliver that extra dose of horror.
Ohhhhhh I always love these lists!
The best thing about this review is that it's spoiler free. So, you can still give those books a chance if you are still interested.
next time I win the TBR competition I'm going to (instead of trying to pick a top book) pick the worst possible book I can to make this list hahaha
i enjoyed the goblin emporer, but also agree with your critics.
BTW - I had EXACTLY the same reaction to The Gunslinger when I was a kid. Everyone talked about how good and cool it was, but I found it to be confusing and a mess. Not fun. Not sublime. Annoying, actually.
Headliner for my list is Grace of Kings.
Completely agree RE: Dragonhaven.
Ñot disagreeing about most of these, but interestingly my other half read the first 6 Dresden novels, and was of the opinion that the get gradually worse as they go on. She gave up with book six.
Ok, you lost me on Robert E. Howard, and I've yet to read Jemisin. 🙂
Have you read the secrets of silver clouds?
Didn't like Eye of the World enough to give up on the series entirely at the start. Just felt paint by numbers in a sea of fine art.
You are the BookTuber I like the most that I disagree with the most. Enjoy your content and respect your opinions.
So glad to see I'm not the only person who didn't like Fifth Season.
Circe is not here?
Provocatively, but then not that really. " Malazan book of the fallen ". Horrible prose. Unintelligeable. Over complex just for the sake of it. Boring to death. Reading that is a redoutable challenge. I gave up with the 4th book.
Completely agree. I also stopped at book 4. Absolutely boring, lacked character voice.
I made it halfway through book 6. Dont know if I'll finish. I liked Anomander Rake and Trull Sengar and that's about it.
“I work in politics, my job is to piss off people”. What a miserable career…
Fourth Wing needs to take the top slot. It's tropes upon messes mixed with horrific viewpoints on "romance" topped with uninteresting characters and recycled world building served with a side of dragon blasphemy.
Pretty much all of the actual Howard stories were written in the late '20's and there were dozens of characters. Many of those characters were repurposed into Conan stories by the pastiche authors who came after Howard's suicide. Howard only wrote Conan stories for the last three years of his life. The stories had to be 20 pages or less (except for one novel) because they were published in pulp magazines. Those magazines were usually less than 120 pages and almost always had to include four to five authors. I understand the feelings about attitudes regarding sex and violence...but if Howard had been writing today...you wouldn't have to hate him because he never would have been published. And the attitudes of most stories written in the pulp era shared the same world view. It's like reading Stoker's "Dracula." That character was great...but the writing is dry as dust to today's audience. Still...you like what you like.
Whew, Conan is so bad this went from book review to political discussion, it must be really bad haha. I didn't think A Dark Tower was bad, a few lines from that really stick out, especially the first. "'The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed.'" set such a good tone. I haven't read the following books though.
Damn. I agree with your number 2 so much
While I enjoyed book 1 of Dark Tower, I couldn't get past book 4 because Stephen King spends 70% of his books describing stuff, and 30% telling a story. I appreciate why people love the Dark Tower and King's worlds(man in black, crimson king and rolands guns are def interesting) but by book 4 I couldn't read another page of him describing stuff in detail for pages when none of it matters at all. One of the most triggering fantasy authors I've ever read. Perhaps the Crimson King is Stephen King...
“I’m not one of those people (who love Stephen King)”. Same. I made it to the third book in that series hoping it got better…. It didn’t
Yo check out Raymond Feist Riftwar Series. Its incredibly refreshing in comparison to the stuff put out today. The first book, "Magician" is one of the best opening fantasy books all time. Its like, what if a fantasy world of men, dwarves, goblins, elves, dragons, wizards were suddenly invaded by a spatial rift of japanese samurai hordes with samurai wizards far superior to mankinds wizards...
So Gideon the Ninth will be removed from my TBR. That sounds like a very unpleasant read. Can’t believe number 2 has been dethroned. Your opinion of that book is what made me a fan in the beginning because, like you, I did not enjoy it and was refreshing seeing someone who felt the same. Lmao @ #1. Apparently you want all the smoke again.
Bring ALLLLL the smoke! lol.