And yes, that's elf on the shelf in the background. Funny story about those two... This year my wife and I had the elves bring a gift for the kids the first two nights they showed up. Then on the third night we didn't bring a gift, so the kids were disappointed and thought they were now on the naughty list. So now I am caught in a never-ending loop of having to buy a new little gift every. single. day. Christmas...you can't come sooner!
We did the Elf Magic version and she would sometimes bring a tiny gift, but mostly she got up to 'mischief'! My daughter loved it, and it kept us from having to buy little things for each day. As an example, one night the elf went swinging on the ceiling fan and another night she cleaned the toilet with our daughter's toothbrush! Good thing she was nice enough to also buy her a new one, though, haha! After a few years it was hard to come up with new ideas, even with the internet's help. I'm so glad my daughter is past the Santa phase now, but sometimes I really miss that Christmas magic the little elf brought!
A lot of crazy people around. If there are death threats over books, imagine when serious political issues arise. We have forgotten how to disagree respectfully.
I love Blood Meridian, but yeah, there are plenty of lauded books that I don't care about, and no one has the right to force me to love them. Dam right fuck those people.
I’ve said it once, I’ll say it again; the amount that I disagree with almost all of Matt’s opinions baffles me. I loved seeing “most disappointing” because that translates to “add to TBR immediately” 😂
I loved the Cradle ending myself. It’s tied for my favorite fantasy series of all time and I’m super excited about the map and the anime. I didn’t read many disappointments this year, especially in fantasy. My biggest was probably Empire of Storms by Sarah J Maas. It was the hardest in that series to get through for me and overall I really enjoyed the series.
Everyone is entitled to their opinion. I love your videos and have found some great books by your recommendation (looking at you Wondering Inn!!). That said, Memory Sorrow and Thorn is a series that really needs to be read all the way through. The first book is good, second is better and the conclusion is one of the best in any series I have ever read. Oh, and I can see why you were disappointed in Cradle's conclusion. I liked the end, but did not LOVE the end. Still love the series too, give the series a 10/10. I was hoping for more of a "Reaper" ending. Oh well.
Hey Matt, Just wanted to say thanks for giving me a *ton* of suggestions to add to my Sissyphean TBR. I'm a new dad (10-months) so it's been slow reading this year, but I can't wait to dive into some of your suggestions!
What did I read this year that disappointed me.... the Mistborn trilogy. *ducks tomatoes* It is so hyped up and it was my first foray into Sanderson but I just thought it was fine, honestly. It has a lot of problems for me and I didn't like the ending. Other than that - Wheel of Time! Haha. Technically, my main period of disappointment with that happened around 6 years ago, when I tried reading it for the first time and only got a couple hundred pages into Eye of the World before DNFing - I went in expecting a masterpiece and I was like, "wait, THIS is the masterpiece?" Six years later the Daniel Greene hype train finally got to me so I decided to give it another try this year with more humble expectations. While my disappointment isn't quite as drastic this time since I knew kind of what to expect, I still ended up being disappointed because I really was hoping it would surprise me. I've gotten six books in and plan to try to finish it, mainly just so I can say that I did (I'm that type of person unfortunately...) and I wouldn't have gotten this far if I hadn't enjoyed a fair amount my time. I did. It can be a fun series. But man, it also sucks...
I finished the series a few years back and I have to agree with you. You’ve read the strongest of the bunch and still dislike the series, I hope you stopped and moved on to better stuff
I read Bookshops & Bonedust earlier this year and, while it didn't feel like the SEQUEL I wanted for Legends and Lattes, I rather loved it. As a prequel, the only thing I was mildly disappointed in was the fact it never showed the moment Viv first tried coffee
Here is a theory on why you feel that R.R. Virdi’s The First Binding is a rip-off of “Name of the Wind”. Perhaps R.R. Virdi wrote The Name of the Wind as a ghost writer for Patrick “I can’t finish anything” Rothfuss and now that they have had a falling out Rothfuss can’t finish the series because he can’t write so R.R. Virdi has decided to rewrite the series. Just a thought.
Going into Cormac McCarthy book hoping for some fun is hilarious 😂. He has written one of my favourite books ever (The Road) but agree with your evaluation for Blood Meridian - applies to most of his others too
I was disappointed by Grace of Kings by Ken Liu. I liked the book a lot, but from a lot reviews, I was really expecting something more. It probably doesn't even make my top 10 books of the year. I plan on continuing the series at some point, but I'm in no hurry.
You should read the first few chapters of Book 2 and see how you feel. I liked Grace of Kings but it's quite a weird way to write a book I'll admit. Everyone says it like an extended Prologue. I'm halfway through book 2 and I love it so much. it's way more focused on telling an actual story and making an actual point. Also the debates and conversations are just awesome. Grace of Kings was very much Ken being like "ok let me just write a book of setup so you know how all the characters got to where they need to be for me to tell the story" kinda thing. The point is, I think book 2 is way better so far but if you read a few chapters and still don't like it then ya maybe just stop lol
I legitimately cannot imagine sending death threats because someone didn't like a thing I like. I disagree with so so many of your reviews of books, and yet I still find value in your work and insight as a whole. In fact, I think because our personal tastes in fantasy/literature seem so at odds I find your reviews so much more valuable than just another echo chamber praise fest. I think so many people enter this kind of content with the wrong mindset, that a reviewer is supposed to make some objective claim on the value of a work and you're either with them or against them. But like the entire value (in my opinion) of a review is to spark earnest, productive discussion about different aspects of a work, be they good or bad or whathaveyou.
It's always interesting to me when people who like Wheel of Time talk about books or series that don't go anywhere. I'm six books into WoT and I'm not sure anything's happened other than it hitting me in the head when I doze off. :D I think I read WoT 5 and 6 this year and I thought they were both pretty lame. Otherwise it was a pretty good reading year for me overall.
The first six books of WoT each get better than the one before. Lord of Chaos is basically the climax of the series (I mean, come on, Dumai's Well and Rand's revenge!!). If you didn't like those, then I don't recommend reading any more of WoT. Or you could jump ahead to 11. 11-14 are practically a separate series.
After hearing your SK opinions, I can solidly say that he’s just not a writer for you… Totally OK, but don’t waste your time on a writer you’ll never enjoy. Different strokes for different folks!
The Dragonbone Chair was a serious struggle for me, too. It came so highly recommended, and Tad Williams was highly recommended. But I never connected with the main character, and that just killed my enjoyment of the book. People talk about how it’s a slow burn, and compare it to Robin Hobb, but they are just two totally different types of slow burns.
I agree with you here. Can't get enough Robin Hobb, her books are slow but so awesome. Dragonbone Chair was such a struggle for me from the first pages to the last. As usually this slowness is not about the pace, but about how filled, meaningful that slowness is. How characters think and breath. Herr I couldn't connect to anything in that book at all
Love a good worst 10 of the year list! Mine should be out soon. I’m glad to have some fellow First Binding sufferers out there, since having the shared experience makes the experience feel a bit less of a total waste since we can commiserate together. I will die on the hill that it’s not bad cuz it’s a Name of the Wind ripoff, but because it is horribly boring on its own merits! Gladly I had much better times with some of the others here like with Waybound and Bookshops and Bonedust (I enjoyed reading about someone else falling in love with reading, and fixing up the bookshop so it could become more popular). You’ve definitely convinced me ti stay away from the Book that Wouldn’t Burn, and otherwise I’m probably gonna give the others a go and hope that they work better for me. Oh that doesn’t include Blood Meridian, which I read 5 pages of and had enough of for a lifetime.
@@josephwilson-doan4163 oh that had me intrigued - I’m in no rush on a bk 1 of a trilogy though and will probably wait to see how the sequels are received
Sometimes, I watch Matt as a character study. If there’s an algorithm to his brain, I haven’t quite figured it out. Many of his likes and dislikes are so random and unpredictable. I think you have to read a lot from his one stars and five stars to get the full picture.
@@BooksWithBenghisKahn I'll let you know if book two holds up. I'm about 99% sure it will though, because the short story "Overdue" was just as good and I've seen a couple of excerpts. I never really cared for Mark Lawrence until this series, but it's straight s-tier. Far above and beyond his other work on the writing front.
Cormac McCarthy is rough. I’m with you on “Blood Meridian.” Most literary fiction like that book is a drag. I don’t see the appeal, but to each their own I guess.
I've tried to read Nevernight twice this year and its so jarringly written i couldn't get into it. Agreed, i hate his turns of phrases even in Empire of the Vampire which for the most part i was enjoying.
The Drawing of the Three is my favorite of The Dark Tower. I think that's pretty common for people, as well. It's overall reader ratings are through the roof. This is honestly the first negative video review for it I've ever seen.
Bookshops and Bonedust didn’t work for me either. I was so excited to get into it because Legends and Lattes was a very welcome palate cleanser, but here the characters (including Viv) seemed to have half-baked motives.
I read Blood Meridian many, many year ago and I remember disliking it. Uninteresting and sleep inducing. I did finish it (to my credit) but afterwards thought what a waste of time that was.
I am genuinely surprised by how much I agree with this list. The biggest being First Binding. It legit upset me by how blatantly the author just plagiarized Name of the Wind but badly. Way of Shadows also didn’t work for me. It felt like a worse version of Assassin’s Apprentice but I couldn’t have cared less about the characters. Stephen King has also never worked for me. I read the Dark Tower series this year at a friend’s behest and just kept waiting for it to get good. It didn’t. But I just don’t think King is for me. I’ve read The Shining, It, Outsider, and all of Dark Tower. Not exactly a massive selection but I didn’t even remotely like any of them. It also makes me extremely uncomfortable that every book I’ve read by him had a concerning amount of sex with children.
Well, if you have some money set aside, you can sue all those who threatened you and you can become very rich. :) Speaking seriously, Of Darkness and Light by Ryan Cahill disappointed me. The book starts very high with an epic picture but gets swampy towards the middle. I explored the idea of DNFing it. Ryan is an author who is not constant in the narrative, and this kind of author disengages me from what he writes.
I completely agree with you about The Book That Wouldn't Burn, and I had high hopes for The First Binding, but it was just mediocre for me. And wow, death threats over disliking a book. Some people are unhinged.
I was a pretty big fan of night angel. I also feel so bad for Brent about the (i think it was awful) ending. He was feeling so much pressure to put it out I think he just put it out so he didn't disappoint fans.
The only book I've read on your list is "The Dragonbone Chair". I really enjoyed the first half and admit I struggled through the second third, but I did finish it. And each book after that got better than the previous. This year I read "Into the Narrowdark" and it is a favourite book of 2023 along with a GGK book and some by Janny Wurts and Jack Whyte Fairy Tale by Stephen King was my least favourite of the year. I was about to dnf it at about the halfway point, but fortunately I found an audio version and used that to help push me through to book to the end. Without the audio, it would have certainly been a full DNF.
I dnf'd Red Rising at 40%. I also own the Audible book, but even with the audiobook I just couldn't finish it. I generally don't count nor rate dnfs since they usually go into the "wasn't for me" bin. I only mention it because I did get past 30%.
I have such an unstable opinion of Malazan. I'm also in the middle of House of Chains right now and I'm just now starting to actually legitimately enjoy it. I liked GoTM ok, very much disliked Deadhouse Gates. Like the first half of MoI, but felt lukewarm about the second half. Love the first half of 4. I'll probably go back to disliking it soon 😂.
I mostly agree with the list. I think the only two I disagree with are The Book That Wouldn't Burn (i love it but you explaining what you like in your storytelling makes sense why you didnt) and Waybound. Thats the only one that blows my mind you didnt like. I feel like it was the perfect ending. All the others though....for sure lol. Theyre pretty bad. Nice list man!
Murderbot hard failed for me. I loved the idea, but it was just a chore to get through even the small page count. I didnt care at all about this main character. And the fact they are all priced like full length novels means i likely wont be continuing with them
People are allowed to hate and dislike books like wth we can't all have the some opinions that are the beauty of it...also if there are no one stars than five stars mean nothing...
The Gunslinger miserably failed for me this year. Hated the characters. No redeeming qualities. The action was meh. I tend to give a 1st book in a series a little leeway but this turned me off completely to the Dark Tower. Pass.
I take into account that not everyone has the same reading taste as I do, but I do like hearing new recommendations and while I like to read a book that has divided reviews because I want to form my own opinion on it I don't not read a book just because someone said not to, but after hearing that a book is basically a rip off of another book that I want to read I defiantly won't read it because I do not support authors who rip off other authors works.
My biggest disappointments this year were (no particular order): 1: A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers 2: Partners in Crime by Agatha Christie 3: The Pariah by Anthony Ryan 4: Emily Wilde’s Encyclopedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett 5: Royal Aasassin by Robin Hobb 6: The Way of Shadows by Brent Weeks 7: Ulysses by James Joyce 8: The Last argument of Kings by Joe Abercrombie 9: City of Golden Shadow by Tad Williams 10: Imperium by Robert Harris I have discovered that I am more of a plot driven reader than I thought. Don’t get me wrong, I love compelling, complex characters, but if the story is full of holes, or is half baked, or has tropes I despise it doesn’t matter. I will hate the book. Also, certain types of prose annoy me so bad.
The biggest one for me was The Once and Future King by T.H. White. I love Arthurian lit., I love classics, I’d previously read the first 4 chapters, and loved them, so I fully expected to enjoy this one as well. And I didn’t. Not the worst book I’d ever read, but it just wasn’t the masterpiece that everyone makes it out to be. -T
I read the first three books of Jordan's Wheel of Time. They're good, not the mind-blowing "best ever" series I was led to believe. Recently finished Heinlein's Friday. I thought it would be about a genetically superior human using her talents to complete spy missions. There's almost none of that. Instead she just travels about the world socializing, having lots of sex and viewing the broken up world in some undefined year. It's okay, the writing pulls you along and I wanted to keep reading, but in the end there's not much there.
My biggest disappointment was definitely Good Omens. I love Pratchett and I love Gaiman, and I could even see how this was a brilliant book, but somehow it just did not click with me. I almost DNFd it several times and it was really a chore to finish... Also how absurd that people do death threats for books...I mean, sometimes I completely disagree with you, but I think that is fun and provides another perspective and I know that if you really recommend something I'm probably going to love it.
In a way i am like you where I see nothing but praise on reddit about a book and it usually turns out “meh.” I dont know if people have little experience in a genre so they are easily impressed or Im a moron 😂
Agreed on Blood Meridian. I found the prose unnecessarily cumbersome and the story gairly dull and uninteresting. Wish I had stopped Dragonbone Chair. I literallyvhmthrew Green Angel Tower 2 against the wall with a silly ending only surpassed by Otherlands. I didnt mind Night Angel, just channeled my inner adolescent AD&D gamer. Other than Blood Meridian, it was Assssin's Apprentice. I did read Liveship first and had some plot issues. The character work was excellent. But I just could not get into Fitz as a mass murdering whiny teenage orphaned farm boy chosen one. And again, some plot issues.
It's a snore. Haha. I loved MST as a teen. I have it on my TBR for 2024 because I desperately want to read the sequel series. Hopefully I still like it on the 2nd go. My most disappointing books of 2023 were: 3) Flowers for Algernon - Well written but I hated everything about it. The retarded man became such an incredible a-hole. I think that idea is more insulting to mentally handicapped people than anything he experiences in the book. I'm glad I finally read it, but I would not recommend it. I also wouldn't call it sci-fi. More like speculative anthropology. 2) The Humans - Again, well written, but not enjoyable. I was told it was funny, ala Hitchhikers Guide, but it was not. It is very slow paced after the first couple chapters and the ending was so depressing. I'm still not sure if anything in it was real or just this guy's attempt to cope with being a failure in life. I suspect the latter. 1) Dark Matter - Just a garbage book. I wish I could remember who recommended it, just so that I can never read anything else they recommend ever again. No redeeming qualities whatsoever.
for me it's The Heroes by Joe Ab. I loved the first trilogy(4.5/5), was disappointed by BSC (3/5), and I DNF'd The Heroes three seperate times 😂. Such a bummer because so many people love it and I want to finish it and Red Country so I can get on to Age of Madness but MAN! I can't even get halfway through when I have so many other books on my shelf I want to read and enjoy so much more.
@@MattsFantasyBookReviews that's good news 😂 I do plan on getting through them one day but with such a big tbr "getting through" something isn't very appealing. I'll move Age of Madness back up the list some, thanks!
I dont agree with you very much but i enjoy watching ypu. Always nice to hear pther peopels side The first vid i saw of yours you were praising the second dresden book God that book was awful
And I’m disappointed that crescent city is not even gonna make it to the worst or most disappointing books of 2023. I’ll put Fourth Wing next on the raffle. Mind you I didn’t even read that book, but I’m bent on making you suffer somehow lol. The other book I chose I think you’re gonna like
You can skip the entire Memory Sorrow Thorn trilogy and just jump into his new sequel series. The writing is more modern and is definitely better IMO. Plus if you hated book 1, you'll absolutely hate book 2, I considered dropping it so many times he just rambles on and on and on about useless details. Then Book 3 is twice as big as the other books, it's a tough sell for sure.
I'm surprised you gave low grades to books you believe to be plagiarized (First Binding and Blood Meridian) though you did not do this with 'Empire of the Vampire,' which too seemed copied from 'Name of the Wind' and 'Interview with a Vampire ' - especially after Empire used the phrase, "I was born, I grew up" (from Interview).
The only part of name of empire of the vampire that seemed the same as name of the wind was the framing narrative, which is a very popular storytelling device. What else was similar?
Using the same phrase (a phrase which has been used and reused over far more than just these two books) is not even close to hitting the exact same story beats in the exact same order with nearly identical characters, motivations, and magic systems. First Binding is a direct copy of Name of the Wind that is worse and more pretentious.
And I’m flabbergasted that people are threatening to bleeping kill you over a stupid book review. We like what we like. People should just go touch some grass
Sorry to hear you didnt enjoy Blood Meridian. I actually thoroughly enjoyed it but i listened to the audio version so maybe that had something to do with it. Though you are spot on with the fan base for that book. I totally agree with you on that Tad williams book. Its the only book i dnf. Though im gearing up to try it again. 😂
Wish so bad youd finish the dark tower. Because its the worst final book ever written. Ever. Its awful. Book 2, 3, and 4 are fantastic though. But book 5,6, and 7 are GARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRBAGE
Steven Erikson's House of chains was à terrible let down compared to the previous one in the series. The beginning of Midnight Tides is redoubtedly boring and cumbersome. Don't think I'm gonna make it to the end...Just too dreary...
Wow, Mighnight tides is one of my favorites. Tehol and Bug are fantastic. Malazan does definitely move around the world to tie in storylines, which is on display there. I can see how some people don't like that. I really do think that style pays off when it all culminates, though
House of Chains opens with Karsa right? I really enjoyed that - I remember him talking about killing children and it took me so long to realize that was his term for normal humans haha. My mental images before that were a lot worse..
If the prose, characterisation, setting, themes etc are good then people won’t care if it’s slow. Slow pacing only becomes a problem if the plot is the only good thing about the book.
And yes, that's elf on the shelf in the background. Funny story about those two...
This year my wife and I had the elves bring a gift for the kids the first two nights they showed up. Then on the third night we didn't bring a gift, so the kids were disappointed and thought they were now on the naughty list. So now I am caught in a never-ending loop of having to buy a new little gift every. single. day. Christmas...you can't come sooner!
It's a never ending thing too. We had the same thing happen last year. now the elves do an advent calendar so we can add more junk!
Just need a trip to CVS and should be all set lol
We did the Elf Magic version and she would sometimes bring a tiny gift, but mostly she got up to 'mischief'! My daughter loved it, and it kept us from having to buy little things for each day. As an example, one night the elf went swinging on the ceiling fan and another night she cleaned the toilet with our daughter's toothbrush! Good thing she was nice enough to also buy her a new one, though, haha! After a few years it was hard to come up with new ideas, even with the internet's help. I'm so glad my daughter is past the Santa phase now, but sometimes I really miss that Christmas magic the little elf brought!
Getting death threats over someone not liking a book is just nuts
Over that book, no less. It's not the easiest book to deal with. It's one that is bound to be divisive.
A lot of crazy people around. If there are death threats over books, imagine when serious political issues arise. We have forgotten how to disagree respectfully.
I love Blood Meridian, but yeah, there are plenty of lauded books that I don't care about, and no one has the right to force me to love them. Dam right fuck those people.
“I thought Blood Meridian was going to be a fun little adventure tale.” Famous last words.😂
I’ve said it once, I’ll say it again; the amount that I disagree with almost all of Matt’s opinions baffles me. I loved seeing “most disappointing” because that translates to “add to TBR immediately” 😂
I have another BookTuber I watch that is literally the opposite for me so I always watch her videos where she hates things to add to my TBR. 😂
At this point, series that he hates are on my TBR.
I loved the Cradle ending myself. It’s tied for my favorite fantasy series of all time and I’m super excited about the map and the anime.
I didn’t read many disappointments this year, especially in fantasy. My biggest was probably Empire of Storms by Sarah J Maas. It was the hardest in that series to get through for me and overall I really enjoyed the series.
Book two of Dark Tower is actually my favourite out of the series
Same here. It's most King fan's favorite of the series. That one and The Waste Lands are very close to being tied for the #1 spot.
Everyone is entitled to their opinion. I love your videos and have found some great books by your recommendation (looking at you Wondering Inn!!). That said, Memory Sorrow and Thorn is a series that really needs to be read all the way through. The first book is good, second is better and the conclusion is one of the best in any series I have ever read. Oh, and I can see why you were disappointed in Cradle's conclusion. I liked the end, but did not LOVE the end. Still love the series too, give the series a 10/10. I was hoping for more of a "Reaper" ending. Oh well.
Hey Matt,
Just wanted to say thanks for giving me a *ton* of suggestions to add to my Sissyphean TBR. I'm a new dad (10-months) so it's been slow reading this year, but I can't wait to dive into some of your suggestions!
What did I read this year that disappointed me.... the Mistborn trilogy. *ducks tomatoes* It is so hyped up and it was my first foray into Sanderson but I just thought it was fine, honestly. It has a lot of problems for me and I didn't like the ending. Other than that - Wheel of Time! Haha. Technically, my main period of disappointment with that happened around 6 years ago, when I tried reading it for the first time and only got a couple hundred pages into Eye of the World before DNFing - I went in expecting a masterpiece and I was like, "wait, THIS is the masterpiece?" Six years later the Daniel Greene hype train finally got to me so I decided to give it another try this year with more humble expectations. While my disappointment isn't quite as drastic this time since I knew kind of what to expect, I still ended up being disappointed because I really was hoping it would surprise me. I've gotten six books in and plan to try to finish it, mainly just so I can say that I did (I'm that type of person unfortunately...) and I wouldn't have gotten this far if I hadn't enjoyed a fair amount my time. I did. It can be a fun series. But man, it also sucks...
I finished the series a few years back and I have to agree with you. You’ve read the strongest of the bunch and still dislike the series, I hope you stopped and moved on to better stuff
I read Bookshops & Bonedust earlier this year and, while it didn't feel like the SEQUEL I wanted for Legends and Lattes, I rather loved it.
As a prequel, the only thing I was mildly disappointed in was the fact it never showed the moment Viv first tried coffee
Here is a theory on why you feel that R.R. Virdi’s The First Binding is a rip-off of “Name of the Wind”. Perhaps R.R. Virdi wrote The Name of the Wind as a ghost writer for Patrick “I can’t finish anything” Rothfuss and now that they have had a falling out Rothfuss can’t finish the series because he can’t write so R.R. Virdi has decided to rewrite the series. Just a thought.
Lol
Going into Cormac McCarthy book hoping for some fun is hilarious 😂. He has written one of my favourite books ever (The Road) but agree with your evaluation for Blood Meridian - applies to most of his others too
I was disappointed by Grace of Kings by Ken Liu. I liked the book a lot, but from a lot reviews, I was really expecting something more. It probably doesn't even make my top 10 books of the year. I plan on continuing the series at some point, but I'm in no hurry.
You should read the first few chapters of Book 2 and see how you feel. I liked Grace of Kings but it's quite a weird way to write a book I'll admit. Everyone says it like an extended Prologue. I'm halfway through book 2 and I love it so much. it's way more focused on telling an actual story and making an actual point. Also the debates and conversations are just awesome. Grace of Kings was very much Ken being like "ok let me just write a book of setup so you know how all the characters got to where they need to be for me to tell the story" kinda thing.
The point is, I think book 2 is way better so far but if you read a few chapters and still don't like it then ya maybe just stop lol
I legitimately cannot imagine sending death threats because someone didn't like a thing I like. I disagree with so so many of your reviews of books, and yet I still find value in your work and insight as a whole. In fact, I think because our personal tastes in fantasy/literature seem so at odds I find your reviews so much more valuable than just another echo chamber praise fest. I think so many people enter this kind of content with the wrong mindset, that a reviewer is supposed to make some objective claim on the value of a work and you're either with them or against them. But like the entire value (in my opinion) of a review is to spark earnest, productive discussion about different aspects of a work, be they good or bad or whathaveyou.
It's always interesting to me when people who like Wheel of Time talk about books or series that don't go anywhere. I'm six books into WoT and I'm not sure anything's happened other than it hitting me in the head when I doze off. :D
I think I read WoT 5 and 6 this year and I thought they were both pretty lame. Otherwise it was a pretty good reading year for me overall.
LoL oh man WoT....
The first six books of WoT each get better than the one before. Lord of Chaos is basically the climax of the series (I mean, come on, Dumai's Well and Rand's revenge!!). If you didn't like those, then I don't recommend reading any more of WoT. Or you could jump ahead to 11. 11-14 are practically a separate series.
My most disappointing read of 2023 was Babel….I hated that book.
I appreciate that you give honest opinions on books!
After hearing your SK opinions, I can solidly say that he’s just not a writer for you… Totally OK, but don’t waste your time on a writer you’ll never enjoy. Different strokes for different folks!
The Dragonbone Chair was a serious struggle for me, too. It came so highly recommended, and Tad Williams was highly recommended. But I never connected with the main character, and that just killed my enjoyment of the book. People talk about how it’s a slow burn, and compare it to Robin Hobb, but they are just two totally different types of slow burns.
I agree with you here. Can't get enough Robin Hobb, her books are slow but so awesome. Dragonbone Chair was such a struggle for me from the first pages to the last. As usually this slowness is not about the pace, but about how filled, meaningful that slowness is. How characters think and breath. Herr I couldn't connect to anything in that book at all
Love a good worst 10 of the year list! Mine should be out soon.
I’m glad to have some fellow First Binding sufferers out there, since having the shared experience makes the experience feel a bit less of a total waste since we can commiserate together. I will die on the hill that it’s not bad cuz it’s a Name of the Wind ripoff, but because it is horribly boring on its own merits!
Gladly I had much better times with some of the others here like with Waybound and Bookshops and Bonedust (I enjoyed reading about someone else falling in love with reading, and fixing up the bookshop so it could become more popular). You’ve definitely convinced me ti stay away from the Book that Wouldn’t Burn, and otherwise I’m probably gonna give the others a go and hope that they work better for me. Oh that doesn’t include Blood Meridian, which I read 5 pages of and had enough of for a lifetime.
You really would’ve loved TBTWB, bud. Everyone who likes Piranesi loves It. But ah well, we can’t read everything!
@@josephwilson-doan4163 oh that had me intrigued - I’m in no rush on a bk 1 of a trilogy though and will probably wait to see how the sequels are received
Sometimes, I watch Matt as a character study. If there’s an algorithm to his brain, I haven’t quite figured it out. Many of his likes and dislikes are so random and unpredictable. I think you have to read a lot from his one stars and five stars to get the full picture.
@@BooksWithBenghisKahn I'll let you know if book two holds up. I'm about 99% sure it will though, because the short story "Overdue" was just as good and I've seen a couple of excerpts. I never really cared for Mark Lawrence until this series, but it's straight s-tier. Far above and beyond his other work on the writing front.
Love your rants Matt! haha
Cormac McCarthy is rough. I’m with you on “Blood Meridian.” Most literary fiction like that book is a drag. I don’t see the appeal, but to each their own I guess.
I've tried to read Nevernight twice this year and its so jarringly written i couldn't get into it. Agreed, i hate his turns of phrases even in Empire of the Vampire which for the most part i was enjoying.
You're not wrong about Stephen King. Way overrated and can't write an ending to save his life.
That’s disappointing to hear. I read Revival and it was bad until the ending, and then it was a really bad. So you’re probably right.
The Drawing of the Three is my favorite of The Dark Tower. I think that's pretty common for people, as well. It's overall reader ratings are through the roof. This is honestly the first negative video review for it I've ever seen.
Bookshops and Bonedust didn’t work for me either. I was so excited to get into it because Legends and Lattes was a very welcome palate cleanser, but here the characters (including Viv) seemed to have half-baked motives.
You would hate book 7 of the Dark Tower so much I wish you could make it through the series just to see that review.
😂
Its the worst ending ever writtenm hot garbage. Eraser...thats all im gonna say...eraser
I read Blood Meridian many, many year ago and I remember disliking it. Uninteresting and sleep inducing. I did finish it (to my credit) but afterwards thought what a waste of time that was.
I am genuinely surprised by how much I agree with this list. The biggest being First Binding. It legit upset me by how blatantly the author just plagiarized Name of the Wind but badly. Way of Shadows also didn’t work for me. It felt like a worse version of Assassin’s Apprentice but I couldn’t have cared less about the characters. Stephen King has also never worked for me. I read the Dark Tower series this year at a friend’s behest and just kept waiting for it to get good. It didn’t. But I just don’t think King is for me. I’ve read The Shining, It, Outsider, and all of Dark Tower. Not exactly a massive selection but I didn’t even remotely like any of them. It also makes me extremely uncomfortable that every book I’ve read by him had a concerning amount of sex with children.
“Snore “ was the word you were looking for 😂
Well, if you have some money set aside, you can sue all those who threatened you and you can become very rich. :) Speaking seriously, Of Darkness and Light by Ryan Cahill disappointed me. The book starts very high with an epic picture but gets swampy towards the middle. I explored the idea of DNFing it. Ryan is an author who is not constant in the narrative, and this kind of author disengages me from what he writes.
I completely agree with you about The Book That Wouldn't Burn, and I had high hopes for The First Binding, but it was just mediocre for me. And wow, death threats over disliking a book. Some people are unhinged.
Great vid as always but why have you stopped doing chapters?
Christmas season is leaving me with less time than normal.
Totally fair, hope you, your wife and daughters have an amazing Christmas :)
I was a pretty big fan of night angel. I also feel so bad for Brent about the (i think it was awful) ending. He was feeling so much pressure to put it out I think he just put it out so he didn't disappoint fans.
Dude yes. I don’t get the night angel hate. I loved the series
The only book I've read on your list is "The Dragonbone Chair". I really enjoyed the first half and admit I struggled through the second third, but I did finish it. And each book after that got better than the previous. This year I read "Into the Narrowdark" and it is a favourite book of 2023 along with a GGK book and some by Janny Wurts and Jack Whyte
Fairy Tale by Stephen King was my least favourite of the year. I was about to dnf it at about the halfway point, but fortunately I found an audio version and used that to help push me through to book to the end. Without the audio, it would have certainly been a full DNF.
I dnf'd Red Rising at 40%. I also own the Audible book, but even with the audiobook I just couldn't finish it. I generally don't count nor rate dnfs since they usually go into the "wasn't for me" bin. I only mention it because I did get past 30%.
great video to bring on that christmas cheer
Malazan, bailed a quarter way into House of Chains (book 4). Simply not a series for me and dammit did I want to love it!
I have such an unstable opinion of Malazan. I'm also in the middle of House of Chains right now and I'm just now starting to actually legitimately enjoy it. I liked GoTM ok, very much disliked Deadhouse Gates. Like the first half of MoI, but felt lukewarm about the second half. Love the first half of 4. I'll probably go back to disliking it soon 😂.
Todd here. Nice video Matt, I want to get into Tad Wiliiams as well. I've started The Dragonbone Chair and found it to be a little boring.
I mostly agree with the list. I think the only two I disagree with are The Book That Wouldn't Burn (i love it but you explaining what you like in your storytelling makes sense why you didnt) and Waybound. Thats the only one that blows my mind you didnt like. I feel like it was the perfect ending. All the others though....for sure lol. Theyre pretty bad. Nice list man!
Murderbot hard failed for me. I loved the idea, but it was just a chore to get through even the small page count. I didnt care at all about this main character. And the fact they are all priced like full length novels means i likely wont be continuing with them
I listened to all or most of them and thought they were lame. I don't get the love for it at all.
People are allowed to hate and dislike books like wth we can't all have the some opinions that are the beauty of it...also if there are no one stars than five stars mean nothing...
The Gunslinger miserably failed for me this year. Hated the characters. No redeeming qualities. The action was meh. I tend to give a 1st book in a series a little leeway but this turned me off completely to the Dark Tower. Pass.
I was flabbergasted. I’ve never given a 1 star, so I didn’t even rate it.
I take into account that not everyone has the same reading taste as I do, but I do like hearing new recommendations and while I like to read a book that has divided reviews because I want to form my own opinion on it I don't not read a book just because someone said not to, but after hearing that a book is basically a rip off of another book that I want to read I defiantly won't read it because I do not support authors who rip off other authors works.
I can't wait to start the Tide Child trilogy in the new year! It's probably my most anticipated read for 2024.
Always love the honesty you have about the books you read.
My biggest disappointments this year were (no particular order):
1: A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers
2: Partners in Crime by Agatha Christie
3: The Pariah by Anthony Ryan
4: Emily Wilde’s Encyclopedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett
5: Royal Aasassin by Robin Hobb
6: The Way of Shadows by Brent Weeks
7: Ulysses by James Joyce
8: The Last argument of Kings by Joe Abercrombie
9: City of Golden Shadow by Tad Williams
10: Imperium by Robert Harris
I have discovered that I am more of a plot driven reader than I thought. Don’t get me wrong, I love compelling, complex characters, but if the story is full of holes, or is half baked, or has tropes I despise it doesn’t matter. I will hate the book. Also, certain types of prose annoy me so bad.
Thank you for going against this toxic positivity trend on booktube. Not reviewing something you didnt like is so dishonest and weird.
The biggest one for me was The Once and Future King by T.H. White. I love Arthurian lit., I love classics, I’d previously read the first 4 chapters, and loved them, so I fully expected to enjoy this one as well. And I didn’t. Not the worst book I’d ever read, but it just wasn’t the masterpiece that everyone makes it out to be.
-T
Had the exact same experience
Oh man. I agree with you about First Binding. Plus it was BORING! I completely disagree with you about Drawing of the Three. 😁
I read the first three books of Jordan's Wheel of Time. They're good, not the mind-blowing "best ever" series I was led to believe.
Recently finished Heinlein's Friday. I thought it would be about a genetically superior human using her talents to complete spy missions. There's almost none of that. Instead she just travels about the world socializing, having lots of sex and viewing the broken up world in some undefined year. It's okay, the writing pulls you along and I wanted to keep reading, but in the end there's not much there.
You should read django wexler the thousand names its excellent flintlock fantasy
My biggest disappointment was definitely Good Omens. I love Pratchett and I love Gaiman, and I could even see how this was a brilliant book, but somehow it just did not click with me. I almost DNFd it several times and it was really a chore to finish...
Also how absurd that people do death threats for books...I mean, sometimes I completely disagree with you, but I think that is fun and provides another perspective and I know that if you really recommend something I'm probably going to love it.
I think you and I are just about the only people who don't despise the ending of Lightbringer.
In a way i am like you where I see nothing but praise on reddit about a book and it usually turns out “meh.” I dont know if people have little experience in a genre so they are easily impressed or Im a moron 😂
YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEES 🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻
So glad I didn’t bother with Bonedust and Bookshops!
can you review epithet erased prison of plastic?????
I'm finding that we have similar tastes in books 😅. Looking forward to your videos
Agree with every assessment.
I think Mark Lawrence is a super cool dude too, but his books are not for me. 😢
Agreed on Blood Meridian. I found the prose unnecessarily cumbersome and the story gairly dull and uninteresting.
Wish I had stopped Dragonbone Chair. I literallyvhmthrew Green Angel Tower 2 against the wall with a silly ending only surpassed by Otherlands.
I didnt mind Night Angel, just channeled my inner adolescent AD&D gamer.
Other than Blood Meridian, it was Assssin's Apprentice. I did read Liveship first and had some plot issues. The character work was excellent. But I just could not get into Fitz as a mass murdering whiny teenage orphaned farm boy chosen one. And again, some plot issues.
Toally agree with your assessment of Stephen King. Loathe his writing.
It's a snore. Haha.
I loved MST as a teen. I have it on my TBR for 2024 because I desperately want to read the sequel series. Hopefully I still like it on the 2nd go.
My most disappointing books of 2023 were:
3) Flowers for Algernon - Well written but I hated everything about it. The retarded man became such an incredible a-hole. I think that idea is more insulting to mentally handicapped people than anything he experiences in the book. I'm glad I finally read it, but I would not recommend it. I also wouldn't call it sci-fi. More like speculative anthropology.
2) The Humans - Again, well written, but not enjoyable. I was told it was funny, ala Hitchhikers Guide, but it was not. It is very slow paced after the first couple chapters and the ending was so depressing. I'm still not sure if anything in it was real or just this guy's attempt to cope with being a failure in life. I suspect the latter.
1) Dark Matter - Just a garbage book. I wish I could remember who recommended it, just so that I can never read anything else they recommend ever again. No redeeming qualities whatsoever.
My most disappointing or least enjoyable were Frugal Wizard Handbook and Artemis
for me it's The Heroes by Joe Ab. I loved the first trilogy(4.5/5), was disappointed by BSC (3/5), and I DNF'd The Heroes three seperate times 😂. Such a bummer because so many people love it and I want to finish it and Red Country so I can get on to Age of Madness but MAN! I can't even get halfway through when I have so many other books on my shelf I want to read and enjoy so much more.
The standalones are not required reading for the second trilogy. If you aren't liking them, just skip them!
@@MattsFantasyBookReviews that's good news 😂 I do plan on getting through them one day but with such a big tbr "getting through" something isn't very appealing. I'll move Age of Madness back up the list some, thanks!
Aww. I loved Way of Shadows! Lol. My most disappointing read was A Plague Of Giants by Kevin Hearne. 0/5
Publishers are scared to death of sending you ARCS. Lol
13:09 It made your eyes or ears sore. 😂
I dont agree with you very much but i enjoy watching ypu.
Always nice to hear pther peopels side
The first vid i saw of yours you were praising the second dresden book
God that book was awful
I did? I gave the 2nd book a 3 stars.
And I’m disappointed that crescent city is not even gonna make it to the worst or most disappointing books of 2023. I’ll put Fourth Wing next on the raffle. Mind you I didn’t even read that book, but I’m bent on making you suffer somehow lol. The other book I chose I think you’re gonna like
You can skip the entire Memory Sorrow Thorn trilogy and just jump into his new sequel series. The writing is more modern and is definitely better IMO. Plus if you hated book 1, you'll absolutely hate book 2, I considered dropping it so many times he just rambles on and on and on about useless details. Then Book 3 is twice as big as the other books, it's a tough sell for sure.
These vidoes need time stamps
I'm surprised you gave low grades to books you believe to be plagiarized (First Binding and Blood Meridian) though you did not do this with 'Empire of the Vampire,' which too seemed copied from 'Name of the Wind' and 'Interview with a Vampire
' - especially after Empire used the phrase, "I was born, I grew up" (from Interview).
The only part of name of empire of the vampire that seemed the same as name of the wind was the framing narrative, which is a very popular storytelling device. What else was similar?
Using the same phrase (a phrase which has been used and reused over far more than just these two books) is not even close to hitting the exact same story beats in the exact same order with nearly identical characters, motivations, and magic systems. First Binding is a direct copy of Name of the Wind that is worse and more pretentious.
Fire and Blood for me was YA and really a big disappointment.
You got some hot takes there brother 😂
And I’m flabbergasted that people are threatening to bleeping kill you over a stupid book review. We like what we like. People should just go touch some grass
Sorry to hear you didnt enjoy Blood Meridian. I actually thoroughly enjoyed it but i listened to the audio version so maybe that had something to do with it. Though you are spot on with the fan base for that book.
I totally agree with you on that Tad williams book. Its the only book i dnf. Though im gearing up to try it again. 😂
Wish so bad youd finish the dark tower. Because its the worst final book ever written. Ever. Its awful. Book 2, 3, and 4 are fantastic though. But book 5,6, and 7 are GARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRBAGE
Steven Erikson's House of chains was à terrible let down compared to the previous one in the series. The beginning of Midnight Tides is redoubtedly boring and cumbersome. Don't think I'm gonna make it to the end...Just too dreary...
Wow, Mighnight tides is one of my favorites. Tehol and Bug are fantastic. Malazan does definitely move around the world to tie in storylines, which is on display there. I can see how some people don't like that. I really do think that style pays off when it all culminates, though
House of Chains was my favourite up to that point. Midnight Tides became my all time favourite book in 2020.
@@Canoe64 To each his own...
House of Chains opens with Karsa right? I really enjoyed that - I remember him talking about killing children and it took me so long to realize that was his term for normal humans haha. My mental images before that were a lot worse..
I can not take people who dislike books for being slow serously
If the prose, characterisation, setting, themes etc are good then people won’t care if it’s slow. Slow pacing only becomes a problem if the plot is the only good thing about the book.
Go and read Ulysses of James Joyce ;)
You need to type slower. Seriously*
@@TheMrNukeman well something makes me think you still get my point