I still watch my fair share of cartoons and have a deep love for them that extends from early in my childhood. One of my favorites was Heathcliff — I adored that show when I was little. I recently found some old episodes on YouTube, sure that watching it again would whisk me back to the junkyard fights and trashcan-dumping shenanigans Heathcliff was famous for. Instead, I was disappointed; the cartoon was actually quite terrible. The voices were cheesy, the animation was cheap, and the plots were terrible. How could I have loved this show so much? When did I outgrow it? I never outgrow anything — I’m still amused by MadLibs for God’s sake. But sometime in the last 25 years, Heathcliff started to suck for me.

Could the same thing happen for books I think I love? If I went back and read some of my childhood favorites, would they suddenly be terrible? I highly suspect the pun-filled adventures of Piers Anthonys XANTH series would not have the same impact on me now as it did when I was 14. There are probably many other books I should never re-read. I rarely re-read books, so  I’m turning to the masses to answer my question:

Have you ever re-read a fantasy book and wish you hadn’t?

Author

  • Justin Blazier

    JUSTIN BLAZIER (on FanLit's staff since September 2009) is a Cyber-Security Analyst/Network Engineer located in Northern Kentucky. Like many fantasy enthusiasts, Justin cut his teeth on authors like Tolkien, Anthony, and Lewis. Due to lack of space, his small public library would often give him their donated SFF books. When he is not reading books he is likely playing board games or Tabletop RPGs. Justin lives in a quiet neighborhood with his wife, their daughter, and Norman the dog.