Sometimes I find a new book to read by reading other people’s recommendations online. The difficulty is not finding passionate reviews of fantasy books, but in finding reviews that I can trust. I.e. reviews by people whose tastes are at least somewhat similar to mine.

The Riftwar saga has been recommended more times than I can remember. People on /r/fantasy keep mentioning it as their favourite book ever. A few months ago I thought I’d try it out.

I’ve rarely been as disappointed in a popular book as with this one. This book was just so simplistic in all ways. There is no subtlety or complexity whatsoever. It’s fantasy for beginners; no thinking required.

The story is simple and linear. The characters’ actions and emotions are always the most predictable ones. Any foreshadowings are pointed out with a heavy hand – “watch closely now, this will be important later!” It’s almost a caricature of a popular book, so bland and so full of clichés.

I keep records of the books I read. When I was noting down this one, I saw that I had read it before, almost exactly ten years ago. I have no memory of it at all. Apparently it made no impression. That doesn’t surprise me.

Note to self: try to remember to never read this book again.

PS: And now I see I even reviewed it back then. I was indeed no more impressed the first time.