Worst HF you've ever read

Lauryn · Post by **Lauryn** » Tue April 21st, 2009, 7:34 pm

Without a doubt, The Border Lord's Bride (Bertrice Small) was my idea of awful. Whether it was well-researched, or the main characters reasonably realized, got absolutely lost in the horror of the dialogue. I have no problem with bodice-rippers, which this book clearly was (fun & escapist), but the foul language the characters used routinely was very off-putting. Another point I found quite disturbing was that two of the secondary characters were women so mindlessly in search of sex that their actions were not simply deplorable, but frankly unbelievable.

In the non-fiction category, I find that Alison Weir's writing can be a bit dry - and occasionally harsh. However, that is something I suspect I will see quite a bit more of, as I get further into researching my areas of interest. She is certainly not money wasted though: her bibliographies alone can make the purchase price worthwhile to a newbie

EC2 · Post by **EC2** » Tue April 21st, 2009, 7:49 pm

[quote=""Lauryn""]Without a doubt, The Border Lord's Bride (Bertrice Small) was my idea of awful. Whether it was well-researched, or the main characters reasonably realized, got absolutely lost in the horror of the dialogue. I have no problem with bodice-rippers, which this book clearly was (fun & escapist), but the foul language the characters used routinely was very off-putting. Another point I found quite disturbing was that two of the secondary characters were women so mindlessly in search of sex that their actions were not simply deplorable, but frankly unbelievable.

LOL. Bertrice Small is something of an acquired taste. I have Skye O'Malley in my collection somewhere and that's an eye popper in places!

In the non-fiction category, I find that Alison Weir's writing can be a bit dry - and occasionally harsh. However, that is something I suspect I will see quite a bit more of, as I get further into researching my areas of interest. She is certainly not money wasted though: her bibliographies alone can make the purchase price worthwhile to a newbie

[/quote]

Alison Weir has to be taken with a huge pinch of salt. Don't trust what she says until you have checked the details out yourself elsewhere and don't trust her sources ditto. I'm on an academic medieval e-list and mentioning her name is like throwing a lit firework into a room full of gunpowder! I have her biography of Eleanor of Aquitaine and it's rife with inaccuracy in that she states opinions as fact and also states various unproven myths as if they are fact too. Caveat Emptor!

Telynor · Post by **Telynor** » Tue April 21st, 2009, 8:37 pm

EC, _Skye O'Malley_ is tame compared to her later novels. At times the sex reads as though she just transcribed it from a very bad porn film that caters to those who like their sex to be of the group variety. And the use of foul language is pretty off putting as well. I can cope with some of the stuff, but most of it is pretty dreadful and a waste of paper.

Call me old-fashioned (!!) but when I want a romance, I want a romance -- not porn.

EC2 · Post by **EC2** » Tue April 21st, 2009, 9:14 pm

[quote=""Telynor""]EC, _Skye O'Malley_ is tame compared to her later novels. At times the sex reads as though she just transcribed it from a very bad porn film that caters to those who like their sex to be of the group variety. And the use of foul language is pretty off putting as well. I can cope with some of the stuff, but most of it is pretty dreadful and a waste of paper.

Call me old-fashioned (!!) but when I want a romance, I want a romance -- not porn.[/quote]

My goodness, she must be going some then!

Skye O'Malley as I recall has numerous positions and orifices, people getting off watching animal sex, bondage, humiliation, rape, multiple partners. I still remember Geoffrey of the lime green eyes and the enormous .......! I picked SO up from the charity shop because the cover was exactly like a Roberta Gellis cover for her Roselynde chronicles and I thought it would be similar. Yikes! Having said that, Betrice Small can write. I'd love to see what she could do with ordinary mainstream if she desisted from porn.

Lauryn · Post by **Lauryn** » Tue April 21st, 2009, 9:15 pm

[quote=""EC2""]Alison Weir has to be taken with a huge pinch of salt. Don't trust what she says until you have checked the details out yourself elsewhere and don't trust her sources ditto. I'm on an academic medieval e-list and mentioning her name is like throwing a lit firework into a room full of gunpowder! I have her biography of Eleanor of Aquitaine and it's rife with inaccuracy in that she states opinions as fact and also states various unproven myths as if they are fact too. Caveat Emptor![/quote]

Good to know. My mother made a suggestion recently that I thought was pretty good for sorting some of the wheat from the chaff in terms of NF sources: she suggested that I cross-reference the sources that you, SKP, and some of the other HF authors I love have recommended, and start with what appears most frequently across the board. If Ms. Weir used it too, then good for her!

Telynor · Post by **Telynor** » Tue April 21st, 2009, 9:23 pm

[quote=""EC2""]My goodness, she must be going some then!

Skye O'Malley as I recall has numerous positions and orifices, people getting off watching animal sex, bondage, humiliation, rape, multiple partners. I still remember Geoffrey of the lime green eyes and the enormous .......! I picked SO up from the charity shop because the cover was exactly like a Roberta Gellis cover for her Roselynde chronicles and I thought it would be similar. Yikes! Having said that, Betrice Small can write. I'd love to see what she could do with ordinary mainstream if she desisted from porn.[/quote]

Which would be terrific to see. But she has dwindled so badly in quality over the years, I don't think it would be possible. Sadly, Susan Johnson who could write interesting HF with research (and footnotes, no less!) went down the same path, and her work just turned disgusting. I'm no prude, but there are limits...

Chatterbox · Post by **Chatterbox** » Thu April 23rd, 2009, 5:09 pm

I finally have the right word for all of these, tks to Misfit -- wallbangers!!! (I do find it's always better when I pitch the book at the wall, then when the horrors the book contains sends me dashing to bash my head against the wall...)

My current list of pet peeves:

Laurien Gardener (sp?) -- for manifold sins, including alternating between referring to Sir Francis Bryan as Sir Francis and Sir Bryan.

Jeri Westerson's Veil of Lies -- I'm with gyrehead on this one. Appalling writing (I gave it a blisteringly bad review on Amazon, which actually got me hate e-mail...) Anachronisms abound, as well, and by the end of the first chapter, I was reading simply to spot the (a) bad writing, (b) anachronisms and (c) impossible or improbable plot twists.

Carolly Erickson's fiction -- if she wants to be really inventive, why not just invent characters? Why create entirely new lives for people whose real lives were well known and documented?

Suzannah Dunn's books -- the height of improbability. At least the Sixth Wife was a fun read; the other two are tedious, to boot.

Charles Finch's historical mystery, A Beautiful Blue Death. Self-important writing, but sloppy as well, which heaps one sin atop another.

Sandra Worth's book about Elizabeth of York. I just got two or three chapters into it, by which point I had cursed the moment I added it to the Kindle. I believe the final straw was a black Mass involving Elizabeth Woodville.

I could go on, but...

In comparison to those, I can live with POTE. And I did enjoy Brothers of Gwynned. Pargeter has a very distinctive style, and if you can get used to that, the books in the series are very good. I alternated between preferring her to Penman and vice versa for a while. (My only beef with Penman is that she relies heavily on dialogue for exposition and sometimes I feel that the only reason for a particular conversation between her characters is to fill the reader in on what's been happening "off stage" and break the story up with some dialogue. But I do own all her books -- in HC and whatever I can get on Kindle...)

Gladiatrix I will def. pass on. Somehow, Lara Croft meets The 300 just doesn't do it for me...

boswellbaxter · Post by **boswellbaxter** » Thu April 23rd, 2009, 5:22 pm

[quote=""Chatterbox""]I finally have the right word for all of these, tks to Misfit -- wallbangers!!! (I do find it's always better when I pitch the book at the wall, then when the horrors the book contains sends me dashing to bash my head against the wall...)

My current list of pet peeves:

Carolly Erickson's fiction -- if she wants to be really inventive, why not just invent characters? Why create entirely new lives for people whose real lives were well known and documented? [/quote]

Agreed. She can write quite nicely, and the people she writes about led fascinating lives, so why all of the invention? I'm still shaking my head over her having Katherine Parr give birth during a siege of her home.

Misfit · Post by **Misfit** » Thu April 23rd, 2009, 5:24 pm

I finally have the right word for all of these, tks to Misfit -- wallbangers!!! (I do find it's always better when I pitch the book at the wall, then when the horrors the book contains sends me dashing to bash my head against the wall...)

Uh oh, another convert.

Chatterbox · Post by **Chatterbox** » Thu April 23rd, 2009, 5:35 pm

[quote=""boswellbaxter""]why all of the invention? I'm still shaking my head over her having Katherine Parr give birth during a siege of her home.[/quote]

As if she hadn't had enough drama in her life, trying to outlive Henry?

Not to mention Marie Antoinette's lost week in Sweden with Axel Fersen, Josephine's bizarre misadventures in the Caribbean and Tatiana's escape from the Ekaterinburg massacre?

She knows better! (Her historical non-fiction is respectable, if not brilliant.) And her writing is solid.