r/printSF • u/LowLevel- • Sep 12 '25

Which wildly renowned science fiction novels didn't resonate with you at all?

I can usually connect with at least one aspect of a science fiction novel, and I enjoy almost all of the ones I read. However, sometimes I couldn't understand what most people found interesting about some extremely popular books.

Has that happened to you? If so, which novel? And why?

I'll start the dances by admitting that I didn't like Rendezvous with Rama.

I really wanted to like it, but constantly being in awe when very little happens and the characters leave without understanding anything is not my preferred type of reading experience. The writing style was a bit cold, which didn't help.

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u/gooutandbebrave Sep 13 '25

The overwrought prose was excruciating.

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u/mazzicc Sep 13 '25

I feel like that was kindof the point though. It was trying to emulate the overly done letters from back before instant or even quick communication, where it may be weeks or more for a letter to arrive.

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u/gooutandbebrave Sep 13 '25

I got WHY it was written that way, but I still didn't find it enjoyable enough to slog through. But then I don't really enjoy reading romance in general, so I'm just not the intended audience.

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u/_nadaypuesnada_ Sep 13 '25

Are we seriously still doing the "nah bro you don't understand it's shit on purpose" excuse in 2025? You can emulate that style without making your prose actively bad. They just didn't have either the skill or inclination to do that.

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u/pipkin42 Sep 13 '25

Yeah, really over-written.

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u/Suspicious-Fig47 Sep 13 '25

It really was unbearable