Author's Note: This was originally posted on my old blog on December 29th, 2020.

30/07/2024

My Three Most Regrettable Reads of 2020

In the midst of a terrible year, books offer a welcome escape into a more enjoyable world. Or at least they’re supposed to, sometimes they just end up being one more thing to be upset about, as I discovered not just once, but several times this year. I’m not going to place these in a definite order, as they’re all bad in their own way, but feel free to leave a comment if you have strong feelings one way or another.

Now without further delay, some truly regrettable books.

The Halfling’s Gem

Cover of The Halfling's Gem

While R.A. Salvatore’s third novel has earned its place here on its own merits, it will also be representing the Icewind Dale Trilogy as a whole, in the interests of brevity. For while the whole series is lamentable (See above link), Halfling’s Gem is by far the worst. It has the worst setting, the worst villains, and the whole thing revolves around the worst character. I’ve said plenty about how much I hate this book already, so let’s move on.

1/10 - Would Not Recommend

Skulduggery Pleasant: Bedlam

Cover of Bedlam

I read this back in January, a time that doesn’t even feel real anymore, and I’d almost forgotten all about it. That would also be my advice to anyone thinking of reading this book, forget all about it.

Bedlam is the thirteenth full length novel in the now venerable Skulduggery Pleasant series, a series that is suffering from being too damn long. The original Skulduggery Pleasant book was published in 2007, and was at the time self-contained. Sure there were plenty of hooks that could lead into more stories, but the book stood up just fine on its own. Then it got two sequels, completing the first trilogy. Then it got another trilogy, a side novel, an anthology of all the short stories, and a final trilogy to end the series.

Then Derek Landy wrote the Demon Road trilogy, an amazing set of books that proves he can still write, a fact that makes this book even sadder. After taking a few years off he decided to return to Skulduggery, penning another trilogy, of which Bedlam is the third book. The best thing I can say for Bedlam is that the title is perfect, this book is a mess. Every character you ever liked died years ago, their replacements are lackluster, the stakes have been raised so high that they’ve looped around and now mean nothing anymore, none of the characters seem to know what their motivation is, and worst of all Landy has decided to bring back the plot tumour that nearly killed the series once already.

I checked while writing this, and the next book has apparently been out for eight months, a fact that makes me nearly as weary as 2020 as a whole does. Seasons of War is the fourteenth novel, and the beginning of what Landy promises will be the final trilogy, which is set to finally wrap up in April 2022. It cannot come soon enough.

2/10 - Would Not Recommend

The Legend of the Crystal Lens

Cover of Legend of the Crystal Lens

I honestly can’t believe The Legend of the Crystal Lens happened to me this year, but I wrote a post about it so I guess it did. That post goes into all my problems with the book in great detail, and 2020 has left me weary beyond words, so just go read that, I’ve really nothing more to add. I promise my next post will be about books I actually like and can be bothered to produce proper writeups about.

0/10 - Would Not Recommend


Here’s hoping 2021 can be the year we fix all the shit that has plagued us this year. Stay safe everyone, and have a happy new year.