I liked Lot 49 a lot, Steppenwolf not so much. The intrigue in Lot 49 was able to keep me hooked despite, as you mention, the general plot of meeting a random person and them somehow being connected to WASTE/Trystero. That was somewhat untenable IMO but the prose and mystery was interesting enough to me to merit continuing on. I'm a sucker for postmodernist stuff, plus I find a lot of the names funny. I can see why it has the reputation it has, but ultimately I agree it was not a perfect piece. If you care to, finish it. Steppenwolf I really didn't like. It's really all over the place. I found myself intrigued with the metatextual elements at first, and how the whole world seems to know everything about Harry except him. I wish it went further in that direction. Instead, I was bored with the character of Hermine and her friends. It's a story of how Harry rejects the Steppenwolf, but it gets muddled in some really bizarre elements by the end of it all. I would not encourage you to finish it.