That 700 page fantasy epic I dropped after 150 pages of nothing happening

I slogged through 150 pages of some highly recommended fantasy book last week and literally nothing happened except descriptions of trees and a guy walking through a market. I kept waiting for a plot or a conflict or literally anything interesting to show up. Anyone else give up on a hyped book because the pacing was just dead in the water?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_river9d ago

Hold up, that slow build is exactly why the payoff hits so hard when things finally do go down. Getting invested in the world and the little details first makes the big moments feel earned instead of just tossed at you.

diana_park9d ago

Totally get this. It's like when someone recommends a "slow burn" restaurant and you wait 45 minutes for a dish that's just okay. Pacing is everything, and sometimes hype makes people forget that a story actually needs to move. I've had books where the opening felt like a Pinterest board of "vibes" instead of a plot, and I noped out fast. Why do so many books these days think describing a forest for three chapters counts as worldbuilding?