Gave up on a 900-page fantasy doorstop after a 40-page battle scene

I tried that big epic series everyone keeps raving about, the one with the maps and the made-up religions. Got to chapter 14 where a siege just kept going and going, like 40 pages of catapults and poison arrows. I kept checking how much was left and realized I was only 300 pages in with zero attachment to any character. Wound up shelving it last Tuesday and grabbed a 200-page mystery instead. Anyone else bail on a supposed classic because the pacing felt like watching paint dry?

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rileynguyen15d agoMost Upvoted

That "zero attachment to any character" part really hit home for me... I've been there with other big books, where I'm just flipping pages waiting for something to click. It's like the authors get so caught up in their world-building that they forget the story is supposed to move, you know? Once I'm doing the math on how many pages are left, the book's already dead to me no matter how important everyone says it is...