I'd have to agree. Many a time was there when I considered just setting that book down and not bothering to finish it. Not sure how I managed to finish it, but it was truly an awful book and felt more like work to read it. It got a bit better with the final desperate battle at the end, but it didn't even come close to redeeming the rest of the book. Since then I haven't been able to even bring myself to attempt reading the other two.