*sigh*

At the library I noticed a new book (new to me that is, condition-wise it's probably quite old and has spent a while hidden in the stacks) containing an early trilogy by a prominent author. I really wish I hadn't checked it out because it's SOOOOO bad. To be honest, I have seen worse things published from prolific authors, but usually it's a case of either "I've got a big name now and can get the stuff that was rejected before published," or "I'm out of ideas but can stick my name on anything and it will sell anyway." This, well this feels like bad slash fan-fiction, only without the slash and without the fan-fiction. The main character is one of the worst Mary Sues I have ever come across, and I like to have protagonists who are supremely competent.

Strangely, however, I'm still reading the damned thing. Despite the fact that the plot is telegraphed a mile away, the ... writing style/layout/presentation/whatever the appropriate word would be ... is atrocious, and the main character is "the man who cannot make mistakes" (he claims to have, but that is him merely coming up with an even better way of doing things in hindsight [his hindsight must be 20/10 or 20/5 or something like that]) somehow it hasn't offended me enough to give up on it and hand it back to the library.