Overrated Authors

H. Flashman

Well I have to admit that i haven't read much by him but thats probably because what i did read i didn't like - but i reckon Wilbur Smith is overrated. All I can remember about his books now is he had some sex scene and was going on about the guy's 'manroot' or whatever I hate that sort of nonsense

oncevotedff

I enjoyed quite a few of his books. The Courtney and Ballantyne books were good reads. His ramblings on the ancient Egyptians weren't so good. Eunuchs just don't make great heroes.:D

H. Flashman

Yeah I've only read the ancient ones so maybe I'm being too harsh on him - and rivergod was pretty good in fairness - they went downhill after that though

nompere

I read him when I was a teenager and for a few years after that.

It gradually dawned on me that he had a nasty sadistic streak and an equally nasty misogynistic attitude. As H.Flashman noted, he is/was strangely coy at writing sex scenes, which is odd given the evident joy he shows when writing very graphically about violence. Then add a considerable amount of racism, and the result is pretty unpleasant.

I recall a critic describing the experience of reading one of his books as being like wading through cold porridge!

Is H.Flashman, like me, an admirer of George MacDonald Fraser?

H. Flashman

H. Flashman is most certainly an admirer of mr. Fraser ..... I can't for the life of me figure out what gave that away!