Worst Books I Read In 2019!

[@DanielGreeneReviews]

What was the worst book you read this year??

[@craigh5236]

@Democrat Slayer We got a Wizards First Rule fan here!

[@juliaconnell]

technically not reading - audiobooking - your 'favourite' author (ha!) - Terry Goodkind - hear me out - 1) I'm finding them so bad they're funny (yes, them - you think Sword of Truth is bad - they get worse!!!) 2) - more importantly - OMG they put me to sleep - which is great - intended function - it shocks me how quickly they put me to sleep - going back to find the place left off the next time - almost instantly

[@craigh5236]

The bobiverse series. Incredible concept and follow through on that concept. But...since the entire series is all from one perspective (from the bobs) you get a one dimensional view into the world

[@benwhiley9680]

Spellslinger series by Sebastien de Castell. God, how I despise the protagonist. Unfortunately, this is not the intended emotional response to him. Edit: Or, I should clarify, I despise the notion that he is held up as heroic. - On a lighter note, Merry Christmas!

[@John-lo2wn]

The hungering saga. I always feel bad criticizing an author (especially a new self published author) because I know I could never do it. That being said. Holy heck this series is bad. I’m gonna avoid the diatribe that runs through my head every time I think about this series. Just take it from me. Not great. -5/10

[@liliesaregoodfortheliver2954]

I'm still floored that J.K. Rowling stole my sister's 14 year-old fanfiction about Bellatrix and Voldemort and published it.

[@ThePurpleGuy1983]

OMG 😂😂 😂😂😂

[@MrSmithers]

Smithers fact: they just plagurised a very potter sequel.

[@calebmauer1751]

If they're going to canonize any fanfiction please make it Harry/Draco.

[@MrSmithers]

@@calebmauer1751 please don't.

[@pdxtrent]

Hopefully your sisters ff was better than cc.

[@laurens.8475]

I'm still floored that people unsubscribe over an unfavorable book review. Dude, the Dresden Files has boatloads of books. One's bound to be a clunker.

[@fasdaVT]

Personally I thought that was either fool moon because it's just a read tread of Storm Front or Grave Peril because it needs Harrybto be so stupid.

[@Blarg6306]

I'm cool with him not liking Blood Rites. I didn't hate it, but it's far from the best Butcher has to offer. Dead Beat though. Man, now there's a good book. To date it's my 2nd favorite, beat only by Summer Knight.

[@magicalsimmy]

Yeah, that’s messed up. I stopped reading The Dresden Files after Fool Moon (and that doesn’t mean I’m a bad person. LOL!). I got a few chapters into book 3 and it bored me so badly it made me hate reading, so I had to stop. I think I gave the series a fair shake, but it just wasn’t for me. I’m loving the WoT and Witcher book series, however.

[@fasdaVT]

@@magicalsimmy yeah the books don't really change they only become better versions of what they are.

[@ZedsDeadBaby117]

especially since wheel of time has similar problems. the first few books have a very different scope then the last half of the series. explaining what is great about WoT doesnt make much sense to people who have only read eye of the world. and if we only looked at book 10 you would say WoT is terrible, but taken as a series it is great. Dresden files is a great series and you definitely get great entries in the first part of the story, but i dont feel you even know how great it is going to be till you get to changes. just like WoT you have to get through a few clunkers to get to the gold

[@KeyClavis]

Worst fantasy I read this year was the newspaper. No decent characters, inconsistencies out the wazoo, and plot holes you could drive a fleet of buses through.

[@xXLunatikxXlul]

Lol

[@fredrikgranstrom6743]

10 out of ten post

[@brendenbrown7666]

Hah, true dat. Very funny, I have now smiled, and chuckled, good job

[@PhoenixCrown]

Yea and the protagonist's quirk is obnoxious. He says all these words like "huge" and "tremendous" but never really communicates anything...

[@jonwatson3271]

@@PhoenixCrown Meanwhile, his antagonist, is an ancient one, full of incoherent babble, child abusive tendencies, and is shrouded in his previous leader's shadow.

[@slavking2797]

The Cursed Child is the Cursed Child of the Harry Potter franchise!

[@pretendtheresaname9213]

@Bucket List Here comes the intellectual

[@blankname2026]

No crimes of grindelwald is arguably worse but it’s close.

[@jackbharucha1475]

No that is JK Rowling's twitter feed.

[@edwardcornish2834]

Why are we doing this?

[@ithemba]

@@nejileesansenpai "allowed" - she herself has written terrible stuff. Her writing in retrospect truly is just one giant deterioration combined with huge amounts of (somewhat understandable) narcism.

[@jesusjuice7401]

Cursed Child is literally Boruto

[@saundramonette4137]

Omg this is so true. I was thinking of Boruto when he said this. Especially the links between Naruto and Harry being terrible fathers for some reason when they’re not at all established as that from the main series.

[@elessar6950]

boruto isn't good by any means, but it isn't cursed child bad

[@stephoncyrus7540]

Dont be so bad to boruto it at least gets better.

[@gwgrantis]

@@stephoncyrus7540 second this, the manga rn is so much better than the anime

[@fitoduarte8000]

Dude :O

[@shortystomper3656]

I remember when Cursed Child was coming out Our library had a party, harry potter themed, to when the truck carrying the books would come At around 1:30 am So me and my dad(great person) stayed at the library till then, with about 20 other kids. I got bored a picked out a random book I heard about, The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the ring. I read it there and loved it. We waited till the books came. Before that I was a Harry Potter Megafan. I read it in a half hour. And died. After that I lost much of my love for the series and moved on to the book I checked out So now I'm a Middle Earth Mega Fan that is maybe unhealthy obsessed

[@therandominfochannel6619]

I'm sad to hear you lost your love of Harry Potter because of something not related to the real series. But I'm thrilled you became a Lord of the Rings fan! My best friend is a huge fan of Tolkien and frequently quotes all the books and movies. He's even read all the spin-offs and unfinished tales of Middle-Earth. I'm working on it myself. Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings are my top two favorites, equally loved, but for (mostly) very different reasons!

[@MrSmithers]

Like the other guy said, it sucks that you list your passion for a series because of a fan fic.

[@Kat-gp6gj]

As an unhealthy obsessed Middle Earth Mega Fan and Cursed Child hater myself, this story made my night :)

[@jonatansan01]

For a play, "A very potter musical" is still more canon than cursed child imo

[@MrSmithers]

Avpm is canon the actual harry potter series is the books series Lockhart published in avpsy.

[@starlessnight1]

Cursed child was the worst! Can’t believe it still happened.

[@stephenlee4820]

I can't face reading it. I feel I should to finish off the HP series. But every time I think of buying it, I just can't. Heard awful things about it. I've decided I'll only pick it up if I see it in a charity shop.

[@noddyjoe]

I read this on a flight from Perth to Melbourne (Australia) and I was so disgusted by it I left the book on the plane to be thrown in the bin where it belongs This is coming from a massive Harry Potter fan

[@noddyjoe]

@@stephenlee4820 don't

[@AllTheFactorys]

I find it medium :)

[@violettbellerose1173]

what are you talking about it didn't happen

[@bansheethereader9074]

I have never read Terry Goodkind, but the response you got reminds me of reactions one gets for saying they hated ASOIAF or Dune. The most common response of the toxic fans is: "you're too stupid to fully appreciate its greatness". I don't understand why people can't just respect one another's opinions. I thought book lovers were better than that.

[@poggies7639]

True but Goodkind’s work was never up to the same quality as ASOIAF or Dune. One can dislike those yet still respect them. The same can’t be said for Goodkind’s work which seem to only exist to shove Ayn Rand down people’s throats

[@hitbycars]

@@poggies7639 Violently and poorly, too.

[@jasonlarkin8807]

Whats wrong with Dune? 😁

[@davidcohen7106]

Terry Goodkind is OK if you like sexual sadism and torture, I hate that crap

[@janhavi1977]

I thank you from the bottom of my heart as a Harry Potter mega fan. I just pretend Cursed Child isn’t canon, and I’ve even kept it apart from the HP books in my bookshelf 😄 Edit: Don’t you think Albus Potter is one of the worst protagonists written?

[@jwinget1999]

Yes, and he is not a slytherin at all..... he is a hufflepuff.

[@janhavi1977]

Jen winget yeah Scorpius didn’t strike me as a Slytherin either. He seemed more like a Ravenclaw. It’s like they just put Albus into Slytherin to have that stupid “Daddy issues” arc, which felt very cliche and unoriginal. I just really hated how Albus treated Harry, I found him to be very ungrateful.

[@Lazazia]

The Cursed Child isn't by J.K. Rowling so I don't consider it Canon.

[@pretendtheresaname9213]

@@Lazazia She confirmed it to be canon so...

[@TheJcpeterman1985]

Lol Better not put them too close the badness might spread through your book shelf and mutate the rest of the books into slightly different versions of Wizards first Rule.

[@ilitardo160]

Can your start your videos saying “Hi It’s Daniel Greene the internet’s busiest fantasy nerd!”

[@darmokandjalad7786]

Soooper Dooper Danthony Greentano

[@wadenarlock7648]

Why?

[@abcd-gn3nf]

Theneedledrop

[@SourceNinjaOne]

@@wadenarlock7648 It's a reference to Anthony Fantano, a music critic on KZbin, whose intro's always "Hi it's Anthony Fantano, the Internet's busiest music nerd"

[@jontiruell1934]

Ngl, I can't stand Fantano a lot of the time and Daniel's great but I see the connection

[@Gon_Din]

im a simple man, i see someone criticising cursed child and i upvote

[@gotbrady]

Daniel, I know what you’re thinking. “By George there’s no way I’ll read another Goodkind book”. But but hear me out! Your wizards first rule review was thoroughly entertaining content. Stone of Tears is equally terrible in so many ways. But it’s also incredible to see how Goodkind crafts his sequel and continues to have Richard the Superman solve every problem he faces with zero adversity.

[@jessi4894]

Daniel is missing such adventures as Dollar Tree Aes Sedai, Richard allows pacifists to be slaughtered but is still morally correct, Richard kicks an 8 year old girl in the jaw causing her to bite off her tongue, Richard and Kahlan lick toads and visit the underworld, off-brand Shai'tan, Richard teaches capitalisim, Kahlan nearly gets raped vol. 1-50, Queen Cyrilla gets gang raped to insanity and decapitated with her head used as a sports ball. Yeah, I read the entire damn series, because I always thought "It can't get much worse," but somehow it always did.

[@chivasowle286]

Jessi Walling if they didn’t want to get murdered they shouldn’t have been pacifists. That’s some airtight logic right there.

[@akairis8920]

@@jessi4894 You've left out a few things. Like chickens that aren't chickens. But about that 8 year old girl, you cannot talk about that without quoting. I'll do it for you. _At that feeling, he was surprised to feel the thing in him that had come awake rise up._ _Princess Violet squeezed her eyes shut, stuck her tongue out far as she could._ _It was like a red flag._ _The strength of the awakened power exploded through him._

[@Cooleepable]

@@akairis8920 I dearly hope that you're just making that up, or cribbing it from the Bulwer Lytton site, but somehow, I don't think you are.

[@akairis8920]

@@Cooleepable I'm afraid I'm just quoting. I cannot make stuff like that up. Goodkind seems to be able to though.

[@invaderzod8092]

“Make fun of men as much as you want” a Wheel of Time fan right there

[@swagromancer]

@Vox Populi Most of the time even, imho 😄

[@lilblock3564]

@@swagromancer maybe you two

[@MrSmithers]

@@lilblock3564 maybe you three.

[@melosgllareva8631]

@@MrSmithers maybe us 5

[@blueeyed5074]

If the world is ending, a woman will want to fix her hair. If the world is ending, a woman will take the time to tell a man something he's done wrong. - - - Wheel of time. So true, I love Matrim :D

[@johnwallace2319]

Jenna Moreci- laughed my ash off, the teacher is getting schooled in basics

[@JA-lr5ix]

I'm so glad he mentioned her book... I thought I was the only one who didn't like it!

[@voidsabre_]

There's an old saying that "Those who can't do, teach" and I'm afraid it rings true for Jenna It's entirely possible to give good advice while fundamentally unable to use that advice yourself

[@WriteCold]

I'm honestly not surprised. I unsubscribed from her channel due to a sense of belligerence towards men and condescension towards ideas/tropes/stories that were not in lock-step with her social views.

[@ericasheidler8179]

I remember watching your review for sword of truth and dying of laughter because you used the words “torture porn” and that’s EXACTLY how I’ve always described these books. Just massive amounts of torture porn.

[@alynam82]

I love Daniel's negativity-- it's hilarious. Even if he puts down something I enjoy (nothing in this video) I chuckle and continue watching

[@IShouldReadThat]

Ahhhhhh Wizard's First Rule. Absolutely dire book. I read it because a boy I liked loved that book. Let me tell you, that crush died real quick 😂

[@johnathankorkie4984]

Hey, I don't like wizards first rule, haha jk... unless?

[@KJnapalm]

I mean, it’s a good and easy way to find out he’s definitely not the one for you.

[@noamcohen7124]

I say this and cringe but when i first read it i was dumb and thought the romance was well written... Yea this is a secret ill try to take to the grave

[@davidcohen7106]

Terry Goodkind is OK if you like sexual sadism and torture, I hate that crap

[@userJohnSmith]

So a buddy of mine raved about Goodkind for years and after college I finally tried out the books. I had a job that had a brutal hurry up and wait cycle that kind of necessitated finding ways to stay awake and alert for an hour before I could do an operation that required pretty intense focus. Anyway, read Confessor first, and hated it. It abused it's characters in ways that made me want to take a bath and the protagonists would have been the villains in any other novel but his. I told my buddy what I thought, he'd read the entire series, and he told me to try the first book. It was basically the same beats in the plot. Same forms of abuse same shmarmy feeling after reading, only much much worse because there was the whole Atlas Shrugged vibe was a little more apparent. I hated everyone involved in the book and the arrogance of the author that each and every page was drenched with. I'm a conservative, my friend's a liberal; we're both physicists. Politics and intelligence didn't have anything to do with it. The books are just gross and derivative and pretend they're more than want they are. Glad to hear someone else agree that at least they suck.

[@lisapickren6997]

Totally agree with The Cursed Child! That was simply painful to read!

[@67ghostLOL]

For books I've read this year I've been absorbed in WoT for at least 1/2 of it and Stormlight Archives and Lightbringer after so not a lot of bad this year. Worst is probably Crossroads of Twilight and even then I liked that book. Being a relative baby in more modern fantasy means it will probably be a bit before I run out of top series to read.

[@Rille922]

that sounds amazing

[@TylerStout35]

That's a good year of reading. I think cross roads of twilight is the most common "least favorite" WoT book. I know a lot of people that pushed and when they got there it broke them and they gave up. Poor guys don't know what they gave up

[@thatotherguy5963]

Am in the same boat. Just got to Crossroads of twilight and taking a break to read Way of kings. Enjoyed my year with Wheel of Time.

[@sernoddicusthegallant6986]

What dark ritual must I preform to make Daniel read the onision books? I feed on his suffering.

[@laurens.8475]

Don't torture the poor soul. 😂

[@anthonycrayne2835]

You gotta make a sacrifice to the Godhand.

[@sernoddicusthegallant6986]

@@anthonycrayne2835 Ah, on a completely unrelated note, wanna join my mercinary band?

[@SwedishDuckey]

@@sernoddicusthegallant6986 It's been five months since you commented this, have you gotten a mercenary band together yet?

[@sernoddicusthegallant6986]

@@SwedishDuckey Unfortunately I wound up stuck on this boat before it could come into fruition

[@Cassia_L]

I literally read fanfiction written by teenagers that managed to capture the characters essence better than Cursed Child. Wait, no, let me rephrase, I barely read any fanfiction written by teens that manages to capture the character's essence worse than Cursed Child. I remember trying to read it years ago and stopping after 5 pages because those were not Harry and Ginny. And I just stopped and never looked back. I've watched detailed review of it, and the plot looks completely idiotic! Anyways, I haven't read many really bad book this year (DNFed a bunch, though :p). But I hated the Legend trilogy by Marie Lu (only read the second book because I was vaguely curious about the plot. Didn't read the last. And I don't regret that cuz I can know remember nothing about the books except the agony it was to go through them.) The Reluctant Assassin by Eoin Colfer was really bad! (shame, loved Artemis Fowl by the author)

[@Lost_isle]

I read the Legend trilogy when I was younger and I cant remember it being so bad. I should get to rereading them. I can agree with The Reluctant Assassin however, it was a chore to go through.

[@Cassia_L]

@@Lost_isle i know quite a few people whose opinion I truth and generally agree with who loved those books, so it's probably just me who couldn't get into it...

[@Lost_isle]

@@Cassia_L I think there are some weak aspects of it though because I remember having problems with the setting of the World the book is in

[@Jackylification]

Cassia L I read a good few books by Eoin Colfer and imo they’re terrible. I love Artemis fowl and have reread it since, it holds up but his other books are just bad.

[@juliaconnell]

I am a huge HUGE fan of Harry Dresden - *HUGE* - still, it's ok to agree to disagee - so sorry you lost subscribers - that sucks - (which one was blood rites? - oh that one - yeah wasn't great, but did introduce Mouse, so got a special place in my heart for that alone, and sets a lot of things in motion...) - keep going though - they are so worth it

[@Juanpa_SC]

I totally agree!! OMG I love Mouse. Cant wait to get a copy of Peace Talks next year.

[@Jak-Daxter47]

100% Mouse is amazing.

[@robertblume2951]

Mouse is worth a thousand sucky Dresden books.

[@QuixoticNinja]

Meh... I think Storm Front was the worst. I've read the series 3 times I believe... And that's the one I feel the hardest to get through. The second inline is Ghost Story and that's only because of the draggy parts. GS has some of the BEST backstory info sharing... just a little sleepy.

[@juliaconnell]

@@QuixoticNinja well... in fairness Storm Front was Jim's first - so still finding his feet maybe - my entry into the series was a complete fluke - simply looking for a new audiobook on youtube to listen to - captivated by the umm narrator - then realised it was James Marsters - i.e. Spike from Buffy - was it for me - the sardonic wit and humour Spike made Harry click for me - not sure if I just picked up the books and read them I would have stuck with the first one (frog demon? seriously? - almost lost me there) let alone the rest. oh I loved Ghost Story - a real change of direction, a different path, but a good one I thought.

[@mystoreysofstories]

I teach piano to a younger girl and the Cursed Child is her favorite Harry Potter book and I didn’t know how to nicely respond to that when she told me. I can’t believe anyone would like that thing more than some of the amazing moments we get in the actual series, especially in the later books. I’ll always be upset by how horribly J. K. Rowling has ruined her fantasy world.

[@TheGhstwlf]

my biggest issue with Goodkind's Sword of Truth series was the inconsistencies. He lays out rules of magic and then breaks them in a subsequent book. He writes one thing, then later on in the series says the opposite. I read the series all the way up to Confessor and was constantly irritated by those inconsistencies. I really wanted to like it more and suprised myself by how long I stuck with it. After that I started Wheel of Time and was much happier

[@spacewinter]

A friend reccomended me a vampire book called Guilty Pleasures. That was the worst thing I read this year.

[@jimzimmer2048]

Not your friend anymore I hope

[@jellevanbreugel325]

The building was on fire. It was not my fault. Say what you want about blood rites (probably right about it) but that was still one of the best opening lines! Also, Mouse gets introduced!

[@leknight]

"For my next trick: anvils."

[@ashm4738]

I didn't mind Wizard's First Rule - it wasn't great, but the second one is so much worse. I didn't bother trying after that.

[@thor30013]

On being reminded of the plot of Blood Rites, I'll agree that's it's certainly not the best. But I do think it has two things in its favor: - Best opening line of pretty much any book I've ever read, and - Introduces Mouse, who is just all kinds of great.

[@kreehomel]

I also read some Sword of Truth books last year, and they were unquestionably the worst books I read in 2019, and they're in my bottom 10 of all time. Although I was aware of your review and the author's reputation, I unwisely decided to read them anyway, A. because my brother has the whole series, B. because they'd be free, and C. because I wanted to connect with him over it, since we're not as close as I'd like. I made it to book 5 before I just had to call it quits. As much as I want to bond with my brother, me telling him how much a series he clearly invested in is terrible isn't going to help with that.

[@stimela1000]

Huh, you got further than I did. My then boyfriend gave me Wizard's First Rule for my birthday one year. I hated it, but decided to read the second book just in case I was being unfair. I wasn't being unfair, it's just that damn bad. I stopped there.

[@mattiOTX]

Give him the WOT.

[@kreehomel]

@@mattiOTX Read 6 of those too. I did not like it either. If anything, I disliked the WOT more, because my expectations were higher.

[@mattiOTX]

@@kreehomel ahhh when I read them I was back in middle school many years ago after I had read the lord of the ring series so I did not have expectations. I was really looking for something that was high fantasy but I was just launching into reading. Was a rather drastic jump from hank the cowdog but I got the reading bug and it gave me a great escape from my own issues.

[@cfalde]

Butcher agrees with that. He stated in a Q&A that for new readers he would recommend starting with Dead Beat. So...yeah.

[@conraddickinson24]

Really agree with your assessment of Terry Goodkind's "Wizard's first rule". For me it was so bad I couldn't even finish it. The overt and unapologetic stealing of other authors ideas and tropes was bad enough but what really killed it for me was the whole S&M torture of the protagonist that made no sense at all.

[@carolinek1818]

Amazon just keeps recommending me Terry Goodkind. I would have bought his books when they were on sale but I thank you from saving me from this mistake. Your Goodkind video has kept me away from giving him any money and not wasting my time on reading his books. I'm much happier reading The Witcher and The Wheel of Time currently :)

[@harisali3462]

Happy christmas eve bro

[@John-lo2wn]

If this is your most hated book I really want To read it... it sounds hilarious.

[@rosado0169]

I believe you mean MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!

[@rosado0169]

Merry, Not happy

[@magicalsimmy]

People in the UK and some other parts of the world say “Happy Christmas.” :) I think it’s charming. Happy Christmas!

[@jearsh]

@@rosado0169 this is a literature channel, and we're correcting which synonym to use?

[@juliamaria1126]

I read wizard's first rule when I was younger and loved it and now I am afraid to reread it.

[@Heathertheheathenkitty]

They're not as bad as everyone makes them out to be. It's a super easy read and it is enjoyable if you dont overthink it. He doesnt really get into the Ann Rand style stuff until book 4 if I remember right. The story of Nicci is awesome. Now, after the first 6 books, dump the rest and jump to the Nicci Chronicles and you'll be ok. Book snobs and people who want to look like book snobs hate on Goodkind.

[@fredrikgranstrom6743]

READ ABERCROMBIE INSTEAD

[@juliamaria1126]

@@fredrikgranstrom6743 the first low books are brilliant. I just finished them a few months ago

[@atanaspopovski7236]

@@Heathertheheathenkitty Faith of the Fallen is quite Randien in nature but still has the most character development Richard goes through from the whole series and is the best book from it imo. I've not read the newest entries tho, don't know if they are any good.

[@user-yc6vr8vn5j]

@@Heathertheheathenkitty I'd rather not support the guy, especially considering I certainly dont have a lack of fantasy series to read

[@lill1418]

I loved your Goodkind video. I started avoiding his stuff over 10 years ago cuz a friend told me it was derivative. I never paid any attention to him. Now I feel really good about my complete lack of interest in him and his work.

[@jessicaable5095]

2 things I liked about Cursed Child: - Albus is in Slytherin with Scorpius. Slytherin REALLY needed some not evil characters (in the books there's Slughorn and....no it's just Slughorn. I don't really count Snape as a very good person). - Albus and Scorpius are friends. That premise is just... really sweet, and I liked their relationship Things that I disliked about Cursed Child: - everything else

[@calebmauer1751]

Agreed, I thought that friendship was great.

[@jayscheer5529]

Salute for being honest about likes and dislikes of books ! Part of reason i follow you. Other is looking at lights on bookshelf! Keep telling us what really think on books. Keeping it real. Merry Christmas!

[@hexipo2352]

One i was excited to read but massively let down on was - The last necromancer by CJ Archer, A cool premise with likeable characters, basically nothing happens and the MC falls for a guy who doesnt give to shits about her and she consitently just cries at her problems and never impacts the world, despite the narative being that she was a strong woman who lived on the streets by herself... and the conclusion.... talk about unsatisfying.

[@violetstarhaze]

God, I HATED cursed child. It’s so bad, so so bad. I am not bothered by pottermore stuff, I love fantastic beast, but cursed child just doesn’t exist in my mind.

[@iam1hobbit]

As you said “I do not like it,” I thought, “Sam-I-am.” Love how our brains went right to the same place. #DrSeuss2020

[@firefly5677]

I read the whole Sword of Truth series in my early teens and I remember loving it (except the last 3 books in the series I remember disliking). I rememeber loving it so much it got me onto reading other fantasy series, the main one being thr Wheel of Time series. I went back and read Wizard's First Rule last year with the intention of re-reading the whole series. I was so appalled at how bad it was I couldn't bring myself to read the second book.

[@Newfiecat]

I've never read the Sword of Truth series (thank god) but this happened to me with the Shannara series from Terry Brooks. I read it in middle school and loved it, then years later when I tried to reread couldn't believe how boring and derivative it was.

[@Nimroc]

I'm still shocked they centered a play/book around the freaking Time-Turner of all things, arguably the worst thing introduced in the series and should have been left forgotten after book 3.

[@grrrexky]

Wizard's First Rule one book I've read. I gave it a solid 3 stars. It's only later that the series evolves to complete shait.

[@JohnVKaravitis]

5. The City in the Middle of the Night - Charlie Jane Anders 4. Blood Rites - Jim Butcher 3. The Savior's Champion - Jenna Moreci 2. Wizard's First Rule - Terry Goodkind 1. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - J.K. Rowling

[@IamMeHere2See]

My plan is to read more, mostly to cut down my KZbin watching (Argh! I'm failing!) So I decided to read 1 book a week for 2020, that's 52 a year. It's the 13th of January & I've already finished "Yes Please," "Rise of Kyoshi," "Jack, the Giant-Killer," "The Stone Sky," & "The Poison Jungle." Next up: "Fall with Honor," "Resistance Reborn," & "The Last Hero."

[@Law-of-EnTropy]

This year had been great, considering this year is the year I started reading as a hobby. All the 20 books (the 20th, Oathbringer, I'm still reading) were/are awesome experiences.

[@NoMereRanger73]

Lawrence Eric L. Taer Way to go!! That’s awesome!

[@timpeterjensen2364]

And just remember Wizards First Rule, is BY FAR, the best book in the series, after that, it gets more rapy, more ranty and severely more stealy…. gave up over 5 books in, its the series that taught me, that its okay not to finish a book series once started.

[@TheApostleofRock]

but how do ya KNOW? I'm jk, I havent even considered reading

[@timpeterjensen2364]

TheApostleofRock actually found out i read more like 9 books, but they are so samey that they all flow together. Also read summeries of the later books, so yeah dont ever bother starting 😂

[@gillesm8963]

Sword of thruth... oooh I just wanted to burn that book after reading eat, it was not only bad writtiing (in term of history, character, plagia ect...) it just make me sick at some point, I'm sorry it's physical and it's rare that I don't even find one reason to understand why someone could like something I don't. And then I discover a bit more about the author, and now I think I don't wanna talk about those book ever, nor even see the cover of one of his book. But watching an interview made me understand why the main character was so irritating... His creator is.

[@gypsyboomer]

"Wise Man's Fear", No.2 of the Kingkiller Series by Patrick Rothfuss. "Name of the Wind" was OK but #2 went downhill so far that #3 won't be attempted. Would like to hear your review of some of the classic SF such as Amber by Zelazny or anything by A.E. Van Vogh. Merry Christmas.

[@leica6502]

Terry Goodkind writes books on the level of 50 ct romance stuff, you know ~100 pages, a muscular dude on the cover, no shirt or neckline into the abyss, probably flowing hair and definitely a woman in arms just to proclaim "I wrote THE fantasy novel"

[@Darm0k]

As primarily an audiobook reader, if I'm not liking something I don't finish it. And then I just forget about it.

[@kain1799]

Even when I was an avid reader who'd read a book in a day or every other day every time I tried to read wizards first rule I would just straight up pass out every 15 pages and wake up like an hour or two later. Honestly that's super iregular for me. I usually just fall asleep to most movies within 35 minutes while in the car.

[@AGreenG]

The Cursed Child is the worst thing to have been created ever! I hate that I have it on my shelf and need to throw it out next time I'm near a bonfire.

[@shosty575]

I read onision 😨😨😨😨😨

[@KitchenSinkSoup]

I feel for your soul.

[@shosty575]

@@KitchenSinkSoup what is that man doing? He's mad to say the least

[@KitchenSinkSoup]

@@shosty575 I don't want to get anywhere near enough to his mind to find out.

[@shosty575]

@Bucket List yea

[@zacharyreichert5035]

Wizards First Rule was so painfully bad. Like the prose was bad. It was like a seventh grade language arts project that went ON AND ON. Good fucking lord.

[@scarybarry1323]

Well, all I’ve been reading this year was the silmarillion and the wheel of time. So the worst I read was probably Cot, because that whole book could’ve been wrapped up in a prologue. Also, I haven’t finished Wot yet so no spoilers pls

[@calebmauer1751]

Yeah, I think the rest of the slog has redeeming qualities but CoT is just not fun. And the one thing you want is some major reaction to the end of book 9 and it's basically just a non-event in book 10.

[@scarybarry1323]

Caleb Mauer I finished the series back in January and a lot of the events that happen throughout the series are non-events

[@selinana29]

Thank you for reading these books, so that we don't have to. Your channel has easily become one of my favorites this year, and I just wanted to let you know that I appreciate your hard work. Merry Christmas!

[@MetalGildarts]

I couldn’t even finish Cursed Child. That’s how bad it is.

[@lttfan9185]

I love that for the Goodkind book he included the release version where the publisher is essentially saying "look, if you'll take 2 of these steaming piles, we'll only charge you for one." So glad I got mine at Half Price Books.

[@rnb4262]

I read the sword of truth when i was 11 and i was traumatized since

[@strangementalitypaperYT]

I was really happy to see The Savior's Champion on here. Jenna is a marketing genius, but she can't write at all. I even returned her book to Amazon and got my money back. This is one of the reasons I just can't get behind self-pub.

[@therealdavemg5511]

*grabs popcorn* This is going to be good

[@WinterLady87]

Now I feel like I have to defend Blood Rites, lol. Is it the best book in the series? Maybe not. But you have the introduction of Mouse, the reveal of Thomas and Harry's relationship, the introduction to the White Court, the destruction of a major power, and a great battle scene with the Black Court vampires. In a way, it's a move away from the original noir detective background of the series, as the case becomes secondary to the issues with the White Court, but the case is what leads into that. Harry's moving on to bigger and better (more dangerous?) things. In regards to the worst thing I've read this year...I would have to say any supposed to be fantasy fiction book that brought up real world politics, especially those that demonize one side or the other. I read to get away from everything, and that does not help.

[@calebmauer1751]

Oh yeah, I forgot about that black court fight, that was excellent.

[@colarola7223]

The Cursed Child is Avada Kedavra in book form.

[@anastasiay5137]

I felt that the cursed child book was really bad, however, when I went to see it on stage it was absolutely wonderful, it was 6 hours of pure joy and I would like to see it again 😁

[@amandanorris8]

I dated someone briefly in college …..until he said his favorite series was the Sword of Truth series. I swiftly dumped him. I know the red flags. 😂

[@davehaynes9136]

I couldn't get through Wizards First Rule. The Libertarian preaching was so heavy handed it felt less like a Fantssy Novel and more like Propaganda.

[@beshabesha1233]

Im a new sub here what other review with a negative response was he talking about???

[@TheJoshuaborden]

I bought a bunch of terry goodkind novels in a used bookstore a few years ago, hoping that id be starting a new fantasy series that would keep me enthralled. Boy was i wrong. After the wizard's first rule i gave all the books away for free. I was very disengaged from the get go. Not an enjoyable read IMO.

[@lenamontgomery2542]

The Passage by Justin Cronin...first section was decent then it just jumped the shark into 500 pages of blah. I'm not sure why I finished it. Also for a YA book, Wicked Saints was a dumpster fire.

[@craigdanielmaceacher]

Lena Montgomery exact same feelings about The Passage, was liking it and it just took a nosedive. It was super hyped before it came out, which made me cynical about hype now.

[@lydiaschoen]

Totally agree! I actually dnf it at like 200 pages or wherever the plot totally changes into a different thing. I was absolutely loving it and then it switched gears and I just couldn’t even go on with it. So disappointing

[@hitbycars]

Terry Goodkind is the absolute fucking worst. But seriously, I read the whole series (until they did some weird spin off thing on earth). I read them when I was younger and never read another fantasy series besides Lord of the Rings at that time, so it was my first experience with adult fantasy and thought the darker elements were kind of "cool" since I was like 21. They were definitely entertaining books to myself at that time and through them I came to the fantasy genre that I love. They did some things right, but for everything they did right they did 3 things wrong. If I won't be using spoiler tags because that would encourage the reading of this series. I'm not talking about the pages upon pages in every single book that were basically torture porn. I'm not talking about how the world building seems to be based on the concept of "Basically the Wheel of Time, but with more torture porn." I'm not talking about the ass-pull character development where Richard seems to just... figure everything the fuck out every single fucking time, right after some classic torture porn. I'm not even talking about how the latter 2/3rds of the series seems to shift from a torture porn fantasy world to libertarian propaganda (featuring torture porn) so blatant and in our face that you can't get through a chapter without shouting "Shut the fuck up, Ayn Rand!" I am talking about the ENDINGS. Fuck, I don't even know if you can call them "endings." I challenge anyone reading this with a copy of any book in the series to flip to 10 pages from the end. You will see, 10 pages from the end of the book, that the action is STILL RISING! Not finally dying down and moving into the last exposition, but still building. Now turn FIVE pages from the last page. In about 80% of the books you will find that even at this point the bad guy has not been beaten. The day has not been saved. Now turn 2 pages from the end of any book in the Sword of Truth series and you'll finally hit the climax. The monster/god/dark lord/general/rapist wizard has been beaten and we are left with 500 words on how Richard did it, why only he could do it, and probably a scene of him longing for his often-lost love, Kahlan. Now it gets even better: after an ass-pull ending in double over time, turn to the first page of the next book in the series. Everyone is happy, everything worked out in the end. Congratulations, you found the "ending" was actually hidden at the beginning of the next book! Unfortunately, we can't have people be happy for TOO many pages, the readers are here for the torture porn, so about 5-10 pages into the start of every book in the series we'll have a NEW problem arise that only our hero Richard can solve. Repeat a dozen times.

[@Nasser851000]

happy christmas eve :)

[@glenfairen2996]

I almost want to reread Wizard’s First Rule just to recall how bad it is. Almost. But what was the review that had to be taken down?

[@Lau_wings]

Wait which review did you delete? Im trying to think of the one with the greatest backlash.

[@lilyz9539]

Zach Barry probably The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss

[@Cooleepable]

@@lilyz9539 Was that the short story one that kinda slots somewhere in between books one and two? Yeah, I had trouble with that as well. Bit of a slog.

[@lilyz9539]

@@Cooleepable No that's "A Slow Regard for Silent Things". He just got a lot of backlash for his "Name of the Wind" review

[@Cooleepable]

@@lilyz9539 Ah, right, thanks, I remember now. In that case, BURN THE HERETIC!!! /s

[@killjoy004]

I remember arriving early at the store so I could be the first one to buy Cursed Child from the shop. Imagine my delight after reading that garbage.

[@vikingsman18]

I'm one of the ones who actually really enjoyed the Sword of Truth series. Now I haven't read anywhere near the amount of different fantasy books like Daniel has, so I definitely don't have the great analytical view of different writing styles and what not but I just enjoyed the series. No where near my favorite of book series, but I definitely enjoyed it all the way through except for a few clunkers in the series. Guess I'm one of the weird ones! lol

[@brittney1034]

I loved the series as a teen and I read it now for nostalgia!

[@finalfrontier001]

its too politically motivated draws me out took quick.

[@Mac_auley]

I couldn't get through wizards first rule, I loved the tv series (sword of truth). I couldn't get over how the protagonist was set up to have anger issues and got over them in 1 chapter.

[@kevinthejace8511]

I actually enjoyed Savior’s Champion, but then again I listened to it all in one sitting, forsaking sleep for the second night in a row.

[@neriumsuitedher]

The Desert Spear, The Daylight War and The Skull Throne (DNF'd about 1/3rd way into The Skull Throne). What an atrocious series of sequels to a pretty decent first entry.

[@martakubala5488]

oh man, I had high hopes. but then the next book is the same story but from the perspective of someones third cousin or something

[@emmettfitz-hume9408]

First book: Pretty interesting. I liked it. But each book after was worse than the one before. DNF Skull Throne either.

[@mayareads708]

omg I LOVED Wizard First rule. Loved loved loved it. But, it was the first fantacy I ever read (except harry potter) and I was... 15? maybe. So I hve no clue what I would think now

[@SedTheMage]

Same.

[@harrydavis4600]

Me too. Loved it then things just got worse and worse after that. Probably would roll my eyes if I had to go back and re-read it.

[@mayareads708]

@@harrydavis4600 yeah I read till book 5 i think when he was following a chicken ? It was so long i never made it through but i own the whole series and always thought i would get back to it one day hahaha. I gave the books to charity a few months ago (except first rule cause its still means a lot ah)

[@SamuelSamuelSamuel1]

The worst books I read in 2021 were 1ST! 🥇The outsiders 2ND 🥈 Sound and the fury 3RD 🥉 A movable feast The best I’ve read in 2021 were 1ST! 🥇 The great Gatsby 2ND 🥈 The Hobbit & LOTR 3RD 🥉 The Book thief Most overrated book’s Ive read last year was 1ST! 🥇 Song of Achilles (I really liked it, but I was disappointed) 2ND 🥈 The 10K doors of January (It was such an Iffy book. Booktok totally lied about this one 💀) 3RD 🥉 Treasure island (This books pacing was literal garbage, none of the characters even had motives that even make sense) :| My expectations were low. But holy crap was the writing so average.

[@unsunghero1446]

When I started reading Wizard's First Rule, it was so bad that I honestly thought I'd lost my desire to read at all. I couldn't even get halfway through it.

[@Blarg6306]

You aren't missing anything. In fact, you are saving yourself quite a bit of grief down the road. I forced myself to read the first, oh, 4 or so books in Sword of Truth. Oh man. I cannot begin to describe how much you really shouldn't. Goodkind seems to also have a serious rape fetish as it's a major recurring thing he has happen, because plot I guess. Series is garbage. If I could I would have proudly put on my DNF pile.

[@EntertainmentEncyclopedia]

The one time my reading quirks saved me a lot of heartache, apparently. A former friend kept trying to get me into this series because it was so great. Chapter two started mid-page, and I just don’t roll that way. Top of the page please, so if I have to pause for some reason, my OCD can be appeased.

[@Blarg6306]

@@EntertainmentEncyclopedia never under estimate the power of OCD! In this case, I'm jealous. Wish something could have saved me too! I look at it like "I suffered this so I can warn you off" now. Deflected a few friends from this stinky dumpster fire.

[@LoyaFrostwind]

I actually liked it, and thought it was better than any of the novels that came after it.

[@angelikapotree2741]

I agree, i was first fantasy book i have never finished. For about 2 -3 years I am on page 293 that I bookmarked.

[@Fishys1120]

As someone who got through the whole Sword of Truth series I have to say: Just reading the first book doesn't do the series justice....it devolves into utter garbage! Seriously the train wreak that was the last two books (I'm not counting what he has written since no need to beat a dead horse) was a travesty. I don't want to spoil even this, but the beginning of book eleven was the oddest thing I had ever read. If you do want to see what I mean give it a try, you will regret it!

[@timpage9424]

"The Harry Potter franchise has been shockingly controversial" Oh 2019. You had no idea.

[@Pannenkoekenplantje]

The worst this year for me was trying to read Brent Weeks' Lightbringer series. I know many people praise it for the magic system, but I just could not stand any of the characters. I was constantly annoyed, so I left at around 200-250 pages in.

[@jonathanm6764]

I LOVE Dresden Files.......but not all books are equal in the series lol.

[@craigh5236]

The one where he was a ghost to me was the weakest.

[@Whiskey0880]

@@craigh5236 i agree 100%

[@Blarg6306]

@@craigh5236 he hasn't gotten that far yet! Freaking spoilers man! Weakest to me though was probably Fool Moon.

[@craigh5236]

@@Blarg6306 Well he did get better.. sorry I am bad for spoilers

[@Blarg6306]

@@craigh5236 no biggie, both of my brothers-in-law are worse for spoilers, I guarantee it. Spoiled the Rise of Skywalker AND Endgame for me...Ghost Story wasn't bad to me, but because I listened to the audiobook having Smallville's Lex Luthor narrate it took some getting used to. Had some cool concepts too.

[@questwise4077]

I can't agree more with your assessment of Wizards First Rule. As a bookseller, I try and be neutral when customers ask for books, but I really cringe when they ask to order Mr. Goodkind's series. I will always try to, nonchalantly, introduce them to something more exciting. ;)

[@silchasruin1]

You need to read a later book in the Wizards first rule series. The first book is actually the best book in the series, or as far as I got anyway.

[@SedTheMage]

The Sword of Truth is one of my all time favorite series!

[@soup8569]

I understand why you hated the cursed child, but I feel it was made more to be a spectacle, not a book. Before seeing the play I read the script and hated it too, but after seeing the play I understand why they did what they did; which was to create fun scenes to experience on the stage, and to that, I believe they succeeded. So if the show is in your town then give it a shot, because the script doesn't produce an ounce of magic, but the play is truly magical.

[@crollerlive]

Have you read any David Gemmel?

[@mikenewton389]

I shall add to this. Read ‘legend’ and ‘waylander’ first. Then have some fun.

[@robertblume2951]

I prefer the Rigante books myself. I always get confused by the chronology of the Legend series. a great stand alone is Morningstar.

[@mikenewton389]

Robert Blume I have no idea on the legend sequels order either, just read legend first, then whatever you feel.

[@robertblume2951]

@@mikenewton389 just recommending 2 other places to start.

[@MrSterlinglinford]

I was reading the Desden Files and literally just stopped in the middle of Blood Rites for probably six months before just finishing it because I didn't have anything else at just that moment. I'm glad to hear it gets better so I might just keep reading the rest.

[@mafiamentality8751]

That first book... That's a great cover tho

[@hunterhendrix5246]

Merry Christmas eve, I was wondering if you have looked/read son of the black sword books? I highly recommend the Audible book as the reader fits the main character like a glove. Same author that writes the monster hunter series. I couldn't stick with that series but this one seems to have a lot of potential. Love the videos keep it up

[@hunterhendrix5246]

(Saga of the forgotten warrior series)

[@JanPospisilArt]

Daniel! I sent you some books and USPS tracking tells me they've been delivered today. Just in time for Christmas! I hope you like at least one! :D Cheers, Jan (there should be three, though likely in separate packages. Two by Greg Keyes and one by Scott Bakker.)

[@colmanoreilly4247]

Merry Christmas to you and yours, bud. Thanks for all the solid recs all year.

[@magicalsimmy]

Just going off the thumbnail: I am so ready for a Terry Goodkind Christmas roasting.

[@gregoryeclifford]

I still have nightmares about reading Wizard's First Rule. That book bored me to death. Luckily, someone found me and gave me CPR. I am not sure why it is such a popular book and series. Maybe I'm missing something. Weirdly enough, I had nearly the same reaction to Game of Thrones, but I persevered with that series and came to love it.