When I was young I wanted to be an author, after I decided I wasn't going to be a fireman, movie star, superhero, president, ninja, or other kind of superhero. Well, one day I found out that a young kid around my age had written a book. The young 'wunderkind' was Christopher Paolini and his book was called Eragon. If you fell off your bike and severely damaged your head, let me point out that Eragon is just 'dragon' but with an 'E' in the place of the 'D.' I wasn't particularly interested in the book but I wanted to read something a 15 year old had written since I was about that age. So I picked up the book. I read the first page and put it down. It was written in the passive voice, the Urglucks, or whatever they were called, were clear rip-offs of orcs, and the shade creature was poorly described and derivative of ring-wraiths. I was so disgusted with the book that I decided I would not just write a novel out of nowhere. I vowed to build up my skills by writing short stories. So yes, even as a teenager I was a pretty extreme, hipstery prick.
Despite my hatred of this work, I told myself I wasn't going to personally attack the book or the author, because I think that's mean-spirited. But yesterday I met a published author on the train from Winnipeg to Edmonton. She told me she has a son who read Eragon and had the same experience. After reading this book he was so disgusted that he decided to work up his talent and is currently in the process of writing a full-length novel. So there are at least two people who were driven from pursuing an early writing career due to the horror that is Eragon.
Have you ever read a book so bad it made you think twice about writing? Any books make you cringe? I have quite a few that I hate with passion, but I keep most of those to myself. Wouldn't want to make enemies, you know...
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