Book Sacrifice Tag

Arielle tagged me in the Book Sacrifice Tag, and it looked like fun, so here we go.


#1: An Over-Hyped Book
Situation: You are in a bookstore when the zombies attack. Over the loudspeakers you hear the military announce that over-hyped books are the zombies' only weakness. What over-hyped book will you chuck at the zombies?

Go Set a Watchman should not have been published. It's based on (or is) an early draft of what eventually became To Kill a Mockingbird and it should have been left to rot wherever it was dug up from. Harper Lee thought it had vanished and never said she wished it hadn't. It isn't a good novel, and it is a tarnish on Harper Lee's legacy.


#2: A Sequel
Situation: You are caught in a torrential downpour and you're probably the type who melts when you get wet. What sequel are you willing to use as an umbrella to protect yourself.

Clariel by Garth Nix. It's technically a prequel, but it was the first *new* book in the Old Kingdom series since Abhorsen and it promised us the story of a "lost" Abhorsen who later became a notorious sorceress. Except when you reach the end of the book, Clariel is neither lost nor a sorceress and the journey to this point was ... boring. Despite imprisonment, murder, and intrigue, it was just plain disappointing. All the interesting stuff came in between this book and her later appearances in the series! So yeah, I don't mind sacrificing this one.


#3: A Classic
Situation: You're in English class and your professor won't stop going on about a classic that "revolutionized literature". Personally you think the classic is garbage and you decide to express your opinion by hurling the book at his head. What classic is that?

Clarissa by Samuel Richardson for two reasons. First, the plot is basically terrible. A young woman is endlessly pursued by a rake who, when his romantic attempts fail, falls back on rape to get his way. And then she dies because her soul can't recover. The worst he gets for his crimes is a slap across the face from his patroness aunt.* It's awful, and Richardson takes forever to tell this story. Through letters. Which brings me to my second point: it's the longest novel in the English language, which means it's hefty enough to do some damage when thrown.

*Assuming the miniseries with Sean Bean as the rake and an actress who looked to much like Megan Follows for my comfort was accurate to the book. I can only thank the professor whose class covered this novel for not forcing the actual novel on us.


#4: A Least Favorite Book
Situation: You're hanging out at a bookstore (where else would you be?) when global warming somehow manages to to turn the whole world into a frozen wasteland. Naturally, your only hope of survival is to burn a book. Which book would you not regret tossing into the fire?

Twilight. It's an easy/popular target, but it goes into the flames for wasted potential. There was so much more fascinating material in that book's world that could have been the focus of the plot rather than a romance between Bella and Edward. For instance, the stories of Alice and Jasper, the two most interesting characters in the story. (Their best scenes were cut from the film, too. There is no justice in this world.)

#5: A Series
Situation: There's a flooded stream you have to cross on your quest and you can't get your feet wet. Which series (oh yeah, btw, you brought your whole bookshelf and also probably local library with you) will you use as stepping stones?

A Song of Ice and Fire. George R.R. Martin does a fine job with worldbuilding and such, but I can't stand the level of debauchery and vulgarity he thinks necessary to tell his story. I made it through two books before I finally said I had to stop because the whole thing is so darn depressing (even when my favorite characters aren't being slaughtered -- or worse).

What books would you sacrifice? Let me know in the comments, or link me to your own blog post!