Authors who broke your heart

jgold · Dec 6, 2008

Laurell K. Hamilton is in this category for me too. Her books have become boring, self-indulgent and completely unsexy in spite of all the sex. There was one particular scene that was my breaking point. I was done and I won't go back.

Janet Evanovich used to be one of my favorite writers. Her earlier books are still some of the funniest I've ever read. But her newest ones are nothing but filler, and I'm tired of it. I've stopped reading her too.

I can't blame these authors for churning out books so rapidly and for wanting to make more money. Introducing a never-ending series earns more money than stand-alone novels. And of course they don't owe me anything. It's just a shame that what I loved about those series is gone.

William Haskins · Dec 6, 2008

Beach Bunny said:
True. Authors don't owe their readers anything and we don't own them. However, as a reader it is disappointing to me for a favorite author's work to change significantly to the point where I feel like I wasted my time and money on their recent novels. It's analogous to looking forward to a steak dinner and being served a hamburger or worse tofu.

point taken. and perhaps i was a bit too flippant in my earlier response, so let me share one of my own disappointments.

in the old testament books, god wrote about floods and plagues and casting out sinners and turning people into pillars of salt and incest. it was riveting.

then, in the new testament, it turns into a touchy-feely family story, with mangers and wise men and blind people seeing.

if it wasn't for ending it with a bang in revelations, i would have gone straight to his house and asked for a refund.

scarletpeaches · Dec 6, 2008

William Haskins said:
...if it wasn't for ending it with a bang in revelations, i would have gone straight to his house and asked for a refund.

Wouldn't you burst into flames if you crossed the threshold?

William Haskins · Dec 6, 2008

anything's possible, but if that's how he treats his fans...

Darzian · Dec 7, 2008

GRRM

I won't say he 'broke my heart' but let's say that the latest installment in his Song of Ice and Fire series is not as splendid as the former 3. I'm also getting a little annoyed at the time interval. I believe it's been 4 years since the last book. There isn't even a proper projected arrival date.

If it's going to take another 12 years to complete the series, then I'm going to lose interest pretty fast.

Dark Cyril · Dec 8, 2008

I had the same problem with A Feast For Crows. It just didn't have any of my favorite characters (although Jaime is rapidly climbing up on that list now). Though he's broken my heart in other ways with the way he's treated some of his other characters.

As for the idea of authors not owing their fans anything, I think that's a sack of horse dung. I really do. No matter why they got into writing in the first place, the fact of the matter is that it's the fans that got them to where they are in the first place. Does this mean they can't have some departures from what they normally write? Not at all. I'm all for an author flexing some of his other writing muscles in another part of the genre or a different genre entirely, but when they're work begins to start reading the same, and they start alienating some of their fans, then something has gone wrong.

Call it a business, that's what it is. But so is music, TV, and the movies. When musicians go a route with an album that current fans don't like, people call them sellouts. They stop buying their music. When a television actor or a movie star starts taking on unpopular roles time and again (or simply starts making a jackass out of him/herself), people get fed up and stop watching those TV shows and movies.

Why should writing be treated any different?

I sincerely hope that if and when I get published some day my readers feel that I owe them something. After all, they're the ones signing my paycheck by buying the book.

You could write the most brilliant piece of prose on the planet, but it's doing no one a lick of good unless someone out there is buying it, so yes, I do believe that authors do owe their readers "something," even if that something is ending a wildly popular series because they've lost the spirit of it.

Phantasmagoria · Dec 8, 2008

they don't owe you anything.

the course that their life takes is their business. the course they choose for their work to take is none of your business.

just because they wrote one, two, or ten works that you like, they didn't become your property. they create as they see fit.

if you don't like it, move on to the next author.

William Haskins, to some degree I agree with what you're saying; I don't think readers are entitled to dictate the direction of an author's career or anything, and of course (thank the Gods!) writers will write what they want to write, whether for inspiration's sake, or profit's, or both. However I think readers *are* entitled to their reactions to what authors do, and entitled to voice them. And fans who have grown to love an author's work in general will likely have strong emotional reactions when that author suddenly takes a different path; and that writer might lose a few old fans in the process of gaining new ones, or whatever. It's all par for the course, and writers should expect it from their fans/audience. I certainly would, if I ever became so lucky as to have an audience

Also... sometimes the author in question hasn't just broken your heart, they've jumped the shark. I know Anne Rice, for example, still has her rabid fans, but a lot of people who used to really love her think she's lost it entirely now. It's not that she's turned to writing about Jesus; it's that she's turned to writing poorly about Jesus (and everything else).

Now, as for Laurell K. Hamilton? I've only read part of one book- Incubus Dreams, I think it's called? My mom passed it on to me because she knows I like vampires and whatnot (with a hilarious, exasperated "Every other line is 'fuck me'! God, enough already, lady!")... yeah. From what I've read- I'm thinking this is after she jumped the shark?

And I hope George RR Martin hasn't jumped it, I just (finally) bought the first book in that series! :O

Jcomp · Dec 8, 2008

William Haskins said:
in all these cases, the same thing is true: they don't owe you anything.

Precisely. An author, musician or filmmaker owe fans nothing beyond what the fans originally enjoyed. All that is "owed" between the two parties takes place at the point of purchase. Fans can certainly voice their disapproval, but they shouldn't feel like they are "owed" a damn thing. That mindset baffles me.

KTC · Dec 8, 2008

Yes, for me...it's about the crap that Ms. Rice churns. She's too self important now to take the time to write a good story.

Darzian · Dec 8, 2008

I also suspect that some authors, especially when it comes to fantasy, have been seduced by the cash cow. I can't say definitely, but I highly suspect that this is the case in certain cases, where series just extend far longer than strictly necessary. So far, I would not class GRRM with that- I've loved his writing so far (though I would prefer less gore). With the next book (Dance with Dragons) it should be possible to come to a conclusion regarding this.

A Song of Ice and Fire began 12 years ago but is apparently only 50% complete. 24 years is just too much. Wow. I wonder how many readers would actually die before the series is completed. This last is a serious statement.

Darzian · Dec 8, 2008

Jcomp said:
Precisely. An author, musician or filmmaker owe fans nothing beyond what the fans originally enjoyed. All that is "owed" between the two parties takes place at the point of purchase. Fans can certainly voice their disapproval, but they shouldn't feel like they are "owed" a damn thing. That mindset baffles me.

Would this apply to a series?
Suppose a writer has a 4 book series. The first 3 are out and really good and there are a lot of fans etc.........everyone dying for the last book to find out the fate of the characters..etc...

The 4th installment ends up significantly different from the first 3 in terms of quality. This has happened all too often.

In such a case, many fans would be very unhappy with the abrupt changes and would feel 'cheated.' They invested in this series and the author ended up being a let down at the end.

While a writer doesn't truly 'owe' his fans anything- is it fair to the readers (Who have invested time and money) to receive a sub standard ending?

nevada · Dec 8, 2008

I think an author "owes" his or her readers his best effort. I think thats where the disappointment comes in. Okay, for some readers, they do feel they have the right to tell the author what that author should and should not write. One of my fav authors, suzanne brockmann, is going through that now. She writes military romances with ongoing story arcs and in her new book coming out, two couples get hooked up and to say that a large portion of her fans are extremely disappointed by the hook-ups would be an understatement. These fans are whining, crying, and threatening about a book they haven't even read yet. It doesn't come out till January. Obviously, those fans are going too far in what they think the author owes them.

However, I don't think it's too much to ask that an author does her best each and every time. While I love Suzanne Brockmann, I think that her last few books have been rushed and have been very thin on plot. I'm not sure she's trying as hard as she used to, possibly because she's so popular that who is going to send the manuscript back with extensive edits, and partly because she's so busy focussing on what she thinks the fans want that she forgets that stories do need plot.

One of her books in particular, was so obviously the author lecturing about gay rights. I understand every author has their causes and she's extremely active in gay rights for which i applaud her. However, all her books have supported that whithout ever being preachy, why she felt the need to write an entire book that was nothing but preaching is beyond me. I am allowed to express my disappointment in the lack of quality of that book.

I don't care what plot turns she throws in there, who she hooks up as couples, as long as it's supported in the writing. But when the writing becomes sub-par and less than what I know she is capable of, I'm allowed to say that I am disappointed by the lack of quality.

blacbird · Dec 8, 2008

Tony Hillerman. His last few Southwestern mysteries got really really lame, in almost every aspect. Except maybe the book covers. The book covers were always cool. But I'm hoping, now that he has passed on, that he left no posthumous, half-done manuscripts.

caw

AmandaAcidic · Dec 8, 2008

ganymede_elegy said:
Now, as for Laurell K. Hamilton? I've only read part of one book- Incubus Dreams, I think it's called? My mom passed it on to me because she knows I like vampires and whatnot (with a hilarious, exasperated "Every other line is 'fuck me'! God, enough already, lady!")... yeah. From what I've read- I'm thinking this is after she jumped the shark?

Yeah.. She had already started going downhill there. That's still not too bad. It just worse...

MaryMumsy · Dec 8, 2008

blacbird said:
Tony Hillerman. His last few Southwestern mysteries got really really lame, in almost every aspect. Except maybe the book covers. The book covers were always cool. But I'm hoping, now that he has passed on, that he left no posthumous, half-done manuscripts.

caw

I agree. I think those last 3 or 4 were ghost written. He had cancer some years ago, and it seemed like the quality of the books declined after that.

MM

MaryMumsy · Dec 8, 2008

Besides the above mentioned Hillerman, I have also become disappointed with Patricia Cornwell and Clive Cussler. Just don't buy them anymore. I have 3 unread Cusslers in my TBR pile that may never make it to the top of the pile. And I will read Robert Parker's 'Spenser' books, but not the 'Jesse Stone' series.

MM

Don · Dec 8, 2008

Robert A. Heinlein, of course. He died. It wasn't his fault, though, so I don't hold it against him. It still broke my heart, though.

blacbird · Dec 8, 2008

Don said:
Robert A. Heinlein, of course. He died. It wasn't his fault, though, so I don't hold it against him.

Pretty damn inconsiderate, I'd say.

caw

Jcomp · Dec 8, 2008

Darzian said:
Would this apply to a series?
Suppose a writer has a 4 book series. The first 3 are out and really good and there are a lot of fans etc.........everyone dying for the last book to find out the fate of the characters..etc...

The 4th installment ends up significantly different from the first 3 in terms of quality. This has happened all too often.

In such a case, many fans would be very unhappy with the abrupt changes and would feel 'cheated.' They invested in this series and the author ended up being a let down at the end.

While a writer doesn't truly 'owe' his fans anything- is it fair to the readers (Who have invested time and money) to receive a sub standard ending?

nevada said:
I think an author "owes" his or her readers his best effort. I think thats where the disappointment comes in. Okay, for some readers, they do feel they have the right to tell the author what that author should and should not write. One of my fav authors, suzanne brockmann, is going through that now. She writes military romances with ongoing story arcs and in her new book coming out, two couples get hooked up and to say that a large portion of her fans are extremely disappointed by the hook-ups would be an understatement. These fans are whining, crying, and threatening about a book they haven't even read yet. It doesn't come out till January. Obviously, those fans are going too far in what they think the author owes them.

However, I don't think it's too much to ask that an author does her best each and every time. While I love Suzanne Brockmann, I think that her last few books have been rushed and have been very thin on plot. I'm not sure she's trying as hard as she used to, possibly because she's so popular that who is going to send the manuscript back with extensive edits, and partly because she's so busy focussing on what she thinks the fans want that she forgets that stories do need plot.

One of her books in particular, was so obviously the author lecturing about gay rights. I understand every author has their causes and she's extremely active in gay rights for which i applaud her. However, all her books have supported that whithout ever being preachy, why she felt the need to write an entire book that was nothing but preaching is beyond me. I am allowed to express my disappointment in the lack of quality of that book.

I don't care what plot turns she throws in there, who she hooks up as couples, as long as it's supported in the writing. But when the writing becomes sub-par and less than what I know she is capable of, I'm allowed to say that I am disappointed by the lack of quality.

Here's the thing, how do we know the author isn't trying their best? This is a board full of writers and creative people, no? Surely we can all appreciate that the creative process is far from uniform. There's no guarantee that the brilliance you manifested before is going to extend to the most recent effort. Literature is full of great authors who turned out awesome material and other works regarded as far lesser efforts. You can't presume an author simply phoned it in just because you didn't care for their latest story. They might have put their all into that book and it just didn't come out good. It happens.

Zoombie · Dec 8, 2008

J-Comp outlines a great fear i have of my own writing.

What if my best just sucks?

If it can happen to me and a lot of other people, I'm sure it happens to big shots too. Though I do think if they keep coming out with dreck again and again, then they're just phoning it in.

nevada · Dec 8, 2008

JComp, I hear what you are saying and I am extremely tolerant of authors who occassionally turn out something bad. Nobody can be brilliant all the time. I realize that. But when the first ten or twelve books have been great, but the next four are less and less great and are being pumped out twice as fast as before, I have to suspect that less effort is going into them in order to fulfill a demand. One bad book, absolutely, it's possible. Two? Okay I'm willing to forgive that. But four in a row, now being published every six months instead of one a year? That's rushing and not leaving the author time to do her thing properly. And based on the prologue for the next one, it's not getting any better. Will I still read it? Yes I will. But will I demand a lot from the book? You better believe it. Because there are series that I read where every book gets better and better and i can see the journey that the author makes. The Nick Stone series by Andy McNab. The first book was carried solely because the story was fascinating and the character was fantastic. The writing was so-so. BUt as the series continued, the writing got stronger and stronger and yes, there was a bad one, and I didn't mind because the next one was better again.

In the case of Brockmann, it's not a case of me not liking the direction the series has taken, such as some people's beef with the Laurell K Hamilton books. It's a case of the quality simply not being there anymore. Hasnt been in the last four or five books. Like I said, I don't think the author owes us anything regarding story line, or character development other than consistency. But I do think the author owes us the best of her ability.

Darzian · Dec 8, 2008

Jcomp said:
Here's the thing, how do we know the author isn't trying their best? This is a board full of writers and creative people, no? Surely we can all appreciate that the creative process is far from uniform. There's no guarantee that the brilliance you manifested before is going to extend to the most recent effort. Literature is full of great authors who turned out awesome material and other works regarded as far lesser efforts. You can't presume an author simply phoned it in just because you didn't care for their latest story. They might have put their all into that book and it just didn't come out good. It happens.

I agree. The writer may indeed be putting up their best. This is especially likely if the writer comes under pressure due to sudden popularity etc...

Nevertheless, I have very often felt that the writer could have done better, and by could I do mean that he/she surely had the ability.
eg. a particular series that is popular world wide finished with a lot of deus ex. While the first 6 books were very well written- this one was full of deus ex. Now, I know that this author can write without deus ex- but this last installment was full of it! I didn't expect that because the first 6 were so well written.

I don't want to believe that this is her best effort because I've seen loads better. I can give so many titles where the work (which is solid and good throughout the book) deteriorates towards the end. Deus ex machina is not good writing.

Jcomp · Dec 8, 2008

I guess my thing is, best "effort" doesn't always equate to "good," especially with something so subjective. What you're capable of vs. what you actually accomplish can be very different things. It's like a basketball player in a shooting slump. Sometimes you try and try and try some more, and it's just not working. In fact you can get to a point where you're trying too hard, and God forbid you start getting into your head that you have to write for other people that you somehow "owe" something to. I can only imagine it would cause you to press even more. And sometimes people just legitimately fall off. Sometimes you only have so many ideas in the box, so much fuel in the tank.

I guess, finally coming back to the OP, I've never really had an author break my heart. I've had one filmmaker come "close," in M. Night Shyamalan, but then I realized that maybe the movies I enjoyed were all he really had in him. Maybe the magic is gone. Maybe he'll bounce back one day. *shrug* Not everybody can be Hitchcock; that's why he's Hitchcock. After being burned on The Village I started being more cautious about reading early reviews from trusted sources on M.'s movies and stopped watching them. I moved on to other filmmakers.

Darzian · Dec 10, 2008

Jcomp said:
I guess my thing is, best "effort" doesn't always equate to "good," especially with something so subjective. What you're capable of vs. what you actually accomplish can be very different things. It's like a basketball player in a shooting slump. Sometimes you try and try and try some more, and it's just not working. In fact you can get to a point where you're trying too hard, and God forbid you start getting into your head that you have to write for other people that you somehow "owe" something to. I can only imagine it would cause you to press even more. And sometimes people just legitimately fall off. Sometimes you only have so many ideas in the box, so much fuel in the tank.

I understand and agree with your point.

David Erlewine · Dec 10, 2008

David Foster Wallace, in his home, on a breezy September day.

Authors who broke your heart

jgold

Grinning

William Haskins

poet

scarletpeaches

William Haskins

poet

Darzian

To-to-to-ron-to

Dark Cyril

Phantasmagoria

Jcomp

KTC

Stand in the Place Where You Live

Darzian

To-to-to-ron-to

Darzian

To-to-to-ron-to

nevada

blacbird

AmandaAcidic

Good morning beautiful!

MaryMumsy

the original blond bombshell

MaryMumsy

the original blond bombshell

Don

All Living is Local

blacbird

Jcomp

Zoombie

Dragon of the Multiverse

nevada

Darzian

To-to-to-ron-to

Jcomp

Darzian

To-to-to-ron-to

David Erlewine