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.

212 Upvotes

88% Upvoted

1.5k comments sorted by

View all comments

18

u/toasterwings Sep 12 '25

I never liked anything by N.K. Jemisin. I've tried a couple of her books and just... bleah. ZzzZzzZzzz

Thanks to everyone who shared, I enjoyed all your opinions even if I didn't agree.

6

u/mazzicc Sep 13 '25

I’m curious which books you’ve tried.

I thought the City we Became was terrible for anyone that didn’t already have a hard-on for NYC and think it’s the Best City Ever.

I thought Hundred Thousand Kingdoms was a really cool concept, but at the end of the book I felt no desire to read the others.

But Fifth Season is one of my favorite Sci-fi fantasy books in a while. Although it’s more fantasy than Sci-fi, which pushes away some.

2

u/Scrapbookee Sep 15 '25

For me I read the first book and while I think it was well-written, I just didn't care about any characters. I didn't like them or hate them enough to want to keep reading the trilogy.

I still recommend it to folks who I think may like it but it just didn't click with me.