The downhill spiral of high hopes

Published by neil on September 25th, 2008 Leave a comment »

As a reader, discovering new writers and learning to trust them can sometimes be a toe-stubbing, root-riddled ramble. Having had my time stolen far too frequently by disappointing reads, I try to explore the potential based on recommendation or general background hum. Just this week, and despite the general hum sounding distinctly positive, I had more time stolen.

I’m not going to let out exactly who mugged me of a couple of hours of reading, suffice to say it is an author with a widespread online presence, a very “geeky” following, and this particular short story was in the sci-fi genre (no horror involved).

It all started so well

I was enthusiastic after the first few pages. A balanced dose of exposition but with the correct amount of colour and no need to take notes to keep up with information overload.

Then something went “eh?”

The main character changed personality. Or at least, reacted to a situation in stark contrast to what one might expect based on the information of him gleaned during the opening of the story.

Then it all fell apart

All it took was one of those “stuff happens that would actually be plausible if I could be bothered to go back and tweak some earlier stuff, but hey, what’s the point” moments.

I did not finish reading the story.
Having been mugged for enough of my time, I almost threw my Sony reader across the room in disgusted frustration, feeling the urge to email everyone I knew who liked this author’s work for some compensation. This is why I stopped reading science fiction so many years ago, and why my reading in general decreased as I found so little that satisfied.

Where to go next?

I have a vacation coming up and require the necessary reading matter to accompany what has been pre-defined as two weeks of total relaxation. In light of the above experience I am once again in the realm of mistrust that deepens with every – far too frequent – disappointment. Am I fussy? Do I simply have too high an expectation? I have no idea, but choosing a book for the holiday is a tricky affair.

Thankfully, the new Sony Reader will be an enormous help as it currently contains over 130 books, of varying lengths, genre, and author. If the chosen vacation read proves another disappointment, I can always switch to some classics from Wells, Conan Doyle, or Algernon Blackwood (my current favourite).

Tags: disappointment, quality, reading, vacation
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