Authors who broke your heart

Phantasmagoria · Dec 5, 2008

I know I'm not the only one this has happened to. You're an avid reader of so-and-so, just love everything they do... and then they come out with one horrible (or simply mediocre) work after another, and you're forced to admit: they're no longer the hero you worship, the one you wish you could become. Maybe they decided they really would rather not deal with editors; cramps their style, don't you know. Or maybe they just took a turn in such a wildly different direction that they no longer write anything that interests you.

For me, this author is Anne Rice. I fell in love with her vampires, witches and opera singers as a teenager; I collected every book of hers (with the exception of her erotica, which isn't really my thing- though I know some would say all her work is erotica of sorts). She was my favorite author, the one I admired above all others, an inspiration I envied and thought I could never live up to. She was such a huge influence on me that I still list her as a favorite, even when I've stopped reading her newer works entirely. She's received so much vitriol from others, at this point, that I usually end up defending her for her earlier brilliance when her name comes up, or I don't say anything at all. But it breaks my heart to think of what she used to be, and how she'll likely be remembered now.

She disdains editors, publicly claiming everything that comes out on the first try is perfect. When criticized, she has tended to become extremely defensive, and I don't think she allows herself to hear any of it. Former fans point to different books as the turning point; I say she was great up until the Vampire Armand (with some works being weaker than others, but overall the quality remaining high). Everything after that is wildly out of character, both for her vampires and her witches, and the writing style- to put it as gently as I can- is really just not up to par compared to what she used to be able to accomplish.

She's turned to writing books about Jesus now, which I haven't read, so I can't comment on those. I suffered through the end of her Vampire Chronicles and then I gave up. The feeling is literally one of a broken heart. I loved her work so much, and if I ever met her I'd probably still do the fangirl-thing, because what else could I do? She doesn't seem open to change at this point, open to listening to outside advice.

So yeah. There you have it; Anne Rice broke my heart. Commiserate with me- share your pain! What other authors have done this to you, fellow AW posters?

KTC · Dec 5, 2008

I was going to say Anne Rice...as soon as I read the thread title. Looks like you beat me to it. I loved the first 10 or 12 of her books (I lost count). Feast of All Saints is quite possibly my ALL TIME FAVOURITE BOOK EVER. I spoke to her about it around the time of LASHER...she wasn't even sure what I was talking about. She was too busy fiddling with her black robes and trying to talk about vampires and witches. Feast should be curriculum...it is fine American literature. I loved the first five or more vampire chronicles...but then they just became horrid...absolutely horrid. The first witches up to Lasher were enjoyable too. She has gone crazy. She is high on her self and cannot see the forest for the light emanating from her own shiny, black cloaked ass. She broke my heart.

KTC · Dec 5, 2008

Yes...Armand was the last chronicle book I read...and I did not read the whole thing.

Ken · Dec 5, 2008

Samuel Richardson's "Clarissa."

Phantasmagoria · Dec 5, 2008

I was going to say Anne Rice...as soon as I read the thread title. Looks like you beat me to it. I loved the first 10 or 12 of her books (I lost count). Feast of All Saints is quite possibly my ALL TIME FAVOURITE BOOK EVER. I spoke to her about it around the time of LASHER...she wasn't even sure what I was talking about. She was too busy fiddling with her black robes and trying to talk about vampires and witches. Feast should be curriculum...it is fine American literature.

KTC, you MET her?? ((moment of confused envy- ah, the mixed feelings!)) I really loved Feast of All Saints as well. The Witching Hour and Cry to Heaven are right up there with it, for me. Her vampire books- well, I fell in love with the characters, but the books all had their flaws (even before she went downhill) so that's harder to say; I guess I'd have to go with The Vampire Lestat as my fav. out of all of those. The sense of spiritual torment, the communion with and rejection from the divine, and the lyric quality of The Vampire Armand make it one of my favorites, but then there's the pedophilia issue, which isn't really handled... the way it should be, so... (Armand is the Lolita that exists in the popular consciousness- rather than the one Nabokov actually wrote. The willing victim, the one who loves and deliberately seduces his abuser from a really young age; it's really disturbing, and it kind of puts a blight on the work as a whole, y'know?)

I do agree that she should be curriculum, that her earlier works earned her a place in the canon. I think some universities do actually offer classes on her work- I know some used to; it's one of the things she mentions when someone criticizes her

KTC · Dec 5, 2008

I met her in person and spoke with her on the phone. She was obsessed with being a vampire lady. It was around the time that I started to lose interest with her.

creamofmushroom · Dec 5, 2008

J.K. Rowling? Don't get me wrong - loved the Harry Potter books but it seemed to me like she didn't put too much effort into the last 2 books...

maestrowork · Dec 5, 2008

James Patterson. I liked his first books, and some others. But lately I think he's been churning out the same crap over and over. And his romances are atrocious to read. I give up.

roseangel · Dec 5, 2008

J. K. Rowling.
I loved the first four books, five was alright, but I only got a quarter of the way through the sixth, and only two chapters into the seventh before I put them down.

Dark Cyril · Dec 5, 2008

creamofmushroom said:
J.K. Rowling? Don't get me wrong - loved the Harry Potter books but it seemed to me like she didn't put too much effort into the last 2 books...

I've heard the same from my girlfriend. I've never read the books, but she keeps telling me the epilogue reads like bad fanfiction.

WackAMole · Dec 5, 2008

Patricia Cornwell.

Man, I ate her stuff up. At some point, and if I am not mistaken it was around the time she took on a new editor, her stuff got darker and her characters just plain less likeable.

I loved Scarpetta, I loved the forensics angle all of her stories took.

I finally gave in and picked a scarpetta novel up not too long ago and it was still just too dark and almost depressing for me. A little depressing I can deal with, but wow.

scarletpeaches · Dec 5, 2008

I read all the Cornwells up until she went third person. They just don't seem like her books any more.

JoNightshade · Dec 5, 2008

Lately I've been disappointed with two of my favorite authors ever: Lois Mc Master Bujold and Orson Scott Card.

Card hasn't actually written anything I would consider bad, but I feel like he's started to milk Ender for all he's worth. Actually I don't even know that it's Card; could be his publishers or whoever's in charge of marketing. Anyway whoever it is knows that there are a certain number of people out there who will buy anything that has the Ender mark on it, regardless, and so they do things like put out a little Christmas story tangentially related to the Ender series as a hardback. And then there's the comic version of Ender's game. Etc. etc. Personally, if I had a well-beloved character and/or series, I would want to keep the whole thing tightly controlled, so that everything that emerged from it was absolute quality.

Bujold hasn't written anything that really broke my heart, either, but I feel like she's heading toward that line. Every book she writes is more under-edited than the last. I could have cut her last 4 books by a good third without losing any quality. I like her writing, but I feel like everyone above her in the publishing chain has decided she no longer needs editorial feedback.

Dark Cyril · Dec 5, 2008

JoNightshade said:
Card hasn't actually written anything I would consider bad, but I feel like he's started to milk Ender for all he's worth. Actually I don't even know that it's Card; could be his publishers or whoever's in charge of marketing. Anyway whoever it is knows that there are a certain number of people out there who will buy anything that has the Ender mark on it, regardless, and so they do things like put out a little Christmas story tangentially related to the Ender series as a hardback. And then there's the comic version of Ender's game. Etc. etc. Personally, if I had a well-beloved character and/or series, I would want to keep the whole thing tightly controlled, so that everything that emerged from it was absolute quality.

That's like R.A. Salvatore and Drizz't. I know it's not all his fault, but I can't help but feel cheated every time a new Drizz't book comes out.

AmandaAcidic · Dec 5, 2008

I haven't quite given up on her yet, but Laurell K. Hamilton is starting to break my heart. You might have heard me say how great she is, and I still believe that. But her books lately.... have really gone downhill. The reason I fell in love with her books in the first place was because she mixed violence, sex, action, and the supernatural together perfectly. The last few books have been sex, sex, and more sex. I can't really put it into words very well, but I miss what her books used to be so much. There's nothing that keeps me reading. I mean, I like a good sex scene as much as the next girl, but if that's all there is in a two hundred page book.... it gets repetitive and dull.

William Haskins · Dec 5, 2008

writers sometimes write themselves out; sometimes they follow a new inspiration; sometimes they undergo radical life or philosophical changes (as was the case with rice); sometimes they struggle with personal demons that negatively influence their craft.

in all these cases, the same thing is true: 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.

C.bronco · Dec 5, 2008

I think if an author can write one fantastic book, even if it is out of many, then that's a fantastic feat.

I've only read two Richard Adams books, and loved them dearly. That's enough. King, however, has had a slew of great books, and I am grateful for them too.

Everyone has a dud now and then. It is nice, however, to be forewarned!

thethinker42 · Dec 5, 2008

William Haskins said:
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.

But there's nothing wrong with people voicing their feelings about a direction a writer took. If nothing else, that shows just how emotionally connected a reader can get to a piece of work, which I think is a good thing.

I have been disappointed in books by authors I'd previously loved. I wish some had gone in different directions, etc. That doesn't mean I think I *own* them or any such nonsense...I just get emotionally invested in some of the things I read, and am sometimes disappointed by a direction the writer takes.

I don't understand your post AT ALL. No one is laying claim to an author or acting like they should dictate their writing...just expressing the emotional results of said writing.

William Haskins · Dec 5, 2008

it was not a specific response to a specific post. it was a general observation.

thethinker42 · Dec 5, 2008

William Haskins said:
it was not a specific response to a specific post. it was a general observation.

I didn't think it was; that was actually why I responded, because I didn't understand how you'd gotten the impression that people thought they owned authors, etc...whether it was from this thread, in general, etc.

donroc · Dec 5, 2008

Authors do not always create what they like or work at the pace they like.

Perhaps there is an author's hell. You create a great best seller or three, become tired of the genre or the repeated MC, but the publisher demands more of the same genre book year after year, and you will write it without passion because you are a brand name and that means $$$. Or, perhaps, hire others to write the novel and put your name on it?

AmandaAcidic · Dec 5, 2008

thethinker42 said:
But there's nothing wrong with people voicing their feelings about a direction a writer took. If nothing else, that shows just how emotionally connected a reader can get to a piece of work, which I think is a good thing.

I have been disappointed in books by authors I'd previously loved. I wish some had gone in different directions, etc. That doesn't mean I think I *own* them or any such nonsense...I just get emotionally invested in some of the things I read, and am sometimes disappointed by a direction the writer takes.

I don't understand your post AT ALL. No one is laying claim to an author or acting like they should dictate their writing...just expressing the emotional results of said writing.

Yeah. What she said.

Keyan · Dec 5, 2008

WackAMole said:
Patricia Cornwell.

Man, I ate her stuff up. At some point, and if I am not mistaken it was around the time she took on a new editor, her stuff got darker and her characters just plain less likeable.

I loved Scarpetta, I loved the forensics angle all of her stories took.

I finally gave in and picked a scarpetta novel up not too long ago and it was still just too dark and almost depressing for me. A little depressing I can deal with, but wow.

Yes, I felt the same way about Cornwell. I don't read her books now, though I have all the early ones.

I'm beginning to think series authors find they have to top what they've done in previous books. At some point, it goes beyond interesting into some pit of unbelievable horribility.

Laurell Hamilton's in this category for me. When I first discovered her books, I couldn't even wait for the paperback versions of her new novels. Then, quite suddenly I found too much boring sex, and meandering plots that ended nowhere.

The page-to-page stuff was entertaining enough, but I found that finishing a novel was the same as not finishing it. I borrowed one more from the library, and after that, I haven't bothered to keep track of what she's writing. Too bad.

illiterwrite · Dec 6, 2008

Anne Rice for me too. Loved Feast of All Saints and Cry to Heaven, loved the first 3 Vampire Lestat books. After that, meh. (Loved the Witching Hour but recently went back to reread and didn't enjoy it as much.)

Beach Bunny · Dec 6, 2008

William Haskins said:
writers sometimes write themselves out; sometimes they follow a new inspiration; sometimes they undergo radical life or philosophical changes (as was the case with rice); sometimes they struggle with personal demons that negatively influence their craft.

in all these cases, the same thing is true: 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.

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.

And if it is a series that I am partway through, then it gets even more frustrating and disappointing. I'm hooked into the story. I like the characters. I want to know how the story ends, damnit; but, the prose is so bad that it is a chore to get through. J. K. Rowling did this with Harry Potter. If the first book had been as poorly written as the seventh, she would never have gotten published.

Catherine Coulter is another author that I have stopped reading altogether. Her dialogue has become rambling monologues without tags so it is difficult to tell who is saying what. I would really like to know why her editor and publisher are letting her do this.

And Clive Cussler has started info-dumping in his recent Dirk Pitt stories. Paragraphs detailing what the characters are wearing and what they are eating. I've learned to be cautious when picking up one of his books.

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