What's the worst SF book you've read? (or tried to read)

[Solfe]

I'm in this not really happy situation where it's obvious that people who don't know about the books have no idea what I'm talking about and discussing other books by the author means the point has been missed completely.

Plus I really don't want to try to explain because an explanation is likely to get very close to a rules violation.

Oh well, I'll explain by PM for those curious who don't know what I mean.

Oh, I know what you are talking about. I read two of the Beauty series. And I thought Harlan Ellison was ah... crazy.

[parallaxicality]

Oh ho I read those Beauty books too

Well one of them.

Well 20 pages of one of them.

I should have made it clear that those were the books I was referring to.

All I can say is that at least in those the men were slaves too...

[Paul Beardsley]

I'm in this not really happy situation where it's obvious that people who don't know about the books have no idea what I'm talking about and discussing other books by the author means the point has been missed completely.

I know the (Rice) books. I remember seeing one lying around in a canteen at a work site I was visiting. I read a few random paragraphs and thought, Oh-kay.

Bashing Rice's other books is always fun too, especially when she became editor-proof and included the line, "We're not dieties!" (Presumably she meant deities.)

[Solfe]

When I was a kid, my family bought me every "Book on Record" and later "Book on Tape". I had two cousins who's parents tried to do the same, but sometimes there were epic failures.

One year instead of the "Star Wars" book on record, I received a double album of the Star Wars soundtrack. I was pretty happy. My older cousin received the book on record. He was extremely happy as the album was blue with R2-D2 on one side and white with a picture of Luke, Han, Chewie and Leia on the other side. It was half record, half picture. In the 70's, that was impressive. My younger cousin received this album.* He was unhappy.

*Youtube link. Close your eyes and listen to get the full disappointment.

[ravens_cry]

Timemaster by Robert L. Forward. I've probably read worse books, but this one just hit certain buttons that filled me with a perfect rage. At least at the time, I felt the antagonist had a point and I think the author did too, because he never ceases to heap on awful attributes to try and disguise the fact that, in the end, he had a point. Some of the ideas were interesting, but for the most part it just drove me up and down the wall.

[Eta C]

'From the moment I picked up your book until I laid it down, I was convulsed with laughter. Some day I intend reading it.' -Groucho

As long as we're looking for reviews that are perhaps appropriate for the books under discussion here's a couple more.

This is not a novel to be tossed aside lightly. It should be thrown with great force. ---Dorothy Parker

The covers of this book are too far apart. --- Ambrose Bierce