A Song of Ice and Fire novels

[bcheero]

A Song of Ice and Fire novels

Hey guys, I picked up this boxed set of novels since I really enjoyed the tv series. Now I was wondering if it's just me that dislikes Martin's pacing? It's hard for me to get back and read voraciously as I used to do a while ago. Does it get better after A Game of Thrones writing wise?

 

[Aaden]

You're bored by A Game of Thrones' pace? Well, sorry to disappoint you, but I had the impression that it's getting slower and slower with each volume. And while I thought that AGoT had a very good pace and I'm loving the book series to pieces, even I had to fight to get through A Feast for Crows and A Dance with Dragons.
It's still superb writing, awesome characters, a wonderful world and promising plot. So, I truly enjoy it and think it's among the best works of Fantasy of all time. But the one big mistake GRR Martin has made, is, that there are several situations that promise groundshaking events for Westeros early on (I think it's even in the first book, maybe in the second), but he doesn't make good on these promises and keeps you waiting and waiting. Actually, I think there's quite a lot of intriguing politics and strategy stuff and small things happening - it just seems incredibly slow, because there's lots of characters (so lots of different perspectives and parallel timelines, resulting in slow time progression) and because you're actually waiting for the huge events to finally come to pass.

 

[Blothulfur]

Least it's not as bad as Robert Jordan, after reading three pages on what dress Egwene was going to wear I had to go and beat the crap out of my punchbag. Still understand what you're saying, brevity in prose is the true sign of a master, when Iago says. "Methinks the lady doth protest too much." It conveys an idea simply and with brute efficiency.

 

[Aaden]

Least it's not as bad as Robert Jordan, after reading three pages on what dress Egwene was going to wear I had to go and beat the crap out of my punchbag. Still understand what you're saying, brevity in prose is the true sign of a master, when Iago says. "Methinks the lady doth protest too much." It conveys an idea simply and with brute efficiency.

Well, great... I was going to start the Wheel of Time series next. But if it's as slow a read as is ASoIaF, I'll better get some other short, fast-paced, entertaining thing in between, just to have a little change and mentally prepare for more superslow awesomeness. Didn't read Pratchett in a while, might as well go back to Discworld. Thanks for the heads-up concerning Jordan!

 

[Blothulfur]

First four books set a cracking pace, and I enjoy re-reading them, this was book nine or ten I think.

 

[username_3514154]

Just about half way through the last volume in the 'Ice & Fire' boxed set, 'A Dance With Dragons'. Martin is a great story teller...but not the world's best writer. His descriptions are very repetative, he's obsessed with the exact contents of every meal his characters eat and he meanders between English and American English - I'm not saying one's better than the other, but a consistancy on the author's part would be less distracting. Don't get me wrong, I've thoroughly enjoyed the books, but can see how they won't be everybody's cup of tea. As to the pace picking up...yes, but there are characters and events introduced that slow things down again. It takes off halfway through book three (the beginning of 'Blood and Gold' if your book three is split into two volumes)

Now I hope I've established I'm not a rabid fanboy, I'll say that I really like the way his characters develop - he is very good at putting across differing points of view and creating a vast, complicated plot. Sometimes you see things coming a mile off, sometimes he'll surprise you with a plot twist that will delight or depress you, depending on how much emotional investment you put into certain characters. For all their faults, I've been avidly turning pages for a couple of weeks and will be waiting eagerly to find out what happens next as volumes are added to the series. If past form is anything to go by, I'm in for a long wait.

I hope that all made sense, and bear in mind it's just my opinion. Like Martin's characters, you may well find that other posters will have a wildly differing viewpoint.

 

[username_2093396]

I'm about 1/3 of the way through the third book right now. I've found the books incredibly slow to the point where it frustrates me a lot. I feel like there's way too much attention to detail and the book kind of loses the forest for the trees. There have been times where the book spent so much effort describing a bunch of trivial little crap that I actually forgot what was going on in the scene plot-wise.

And the different character viewpoints are a double-edged sword. I love certain characters' chapters (mainly Tyrion, Arya, and Jon so far) but I find it hard to keep reading through the chapters for characters that I don't like. I understand that each chapter is written differently to get across the characters' thought processes, but there are some characters where I just don't want to be inside their heads

For pretty much every exciting thing that happens in the books, it was foreshadowed so far in advance that I lost interest by the time it actually happened (like Dany with her dragons -- I knew as soon as she got the dragon eggs that they would hatch and that she was going to go for the throne herself, so by the time it finally happened I was just like, "Meh, took her long enough..."). And after all of that day-dream foreshadowing crap with Lyanna in a "bed of blood" and forcing Ned to promise her something that was conspicuously not said in the book, if it turns out that Jon is really her kid it won't phase me at all. It would have been interesting if it was revealed in the first book, but at this point I just don't care anymore and if Jon ever does find out who his mother was it will be totally anti-climactic and uninteresting.

So yeah, I'm going to keep reading until I finish the books, but I hate how slow-paced they are and I wish they moved more quickly.

 

[CostinRaz]

I really like Martin's style. I like the level of the detail but dislike when he is inconsistent ( Daenerys is mentioned to have 8.500 Unsullied and 5.000 Unsullied boys but after it's mentioned she has 10.000 Unsullied ). However I don't mind the slow pace one bit, in fact I enjoy it because it makes the war feel like a war, as in a long affair whereas most books/TV shows/movies have years of war pass in what seems like months or even weeks.

I've read all the books and I've enjoyed all of the PoV chapters...except for Arya and Bran chapters after book 2. Now don't get me wrong some of their chapters I did really enjoy ( Arya with Sandor for instance ) but most were boring for me and some were a drag to go through, but I did read them all.

At the end of the day I appreciate George's work and I am very much looking forward to book 6. We finally will have the showdown between Stannis and Bolton. The battle of Mereen and Aegon's fight for Storm's End.

 

[DanForever]

For me it feels as though books 4 and 5 dragged in way that the first 3 didn't (I actually feel like a lot of the mysteries and conspiracies were at least revealed by the end of book 3, if not resolved).

However, for the most part, I just feel like these guys:
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7lp3RhzfgI[/media]

 

[CostinRaz]

Hah great video.

 

[Guest 2091327]

I'm in the middle of book 3 now, and am loving it (so much so I dare not read (much of) the above posts). After watching the first season and then reading the first book, I decided to read the books before watching the second season, as the books contained so much more details. Just finished watching the first episode of season two, and I can't help but feeling it went so incredibly fast and it was hard to pick up much of the details the books contain. I actually felt a bit underwhelmed and slightly confused by the whole thing.

I've heard the pacing of the books slow down by the volume, but so far, in the middle of book three, I have no problems with it. I love all the details and the thought processes of people, the interaction and intrigue. It's strange, but I feel like I've watched season 2 and half of 3 already, because in my head there are so many details of landscape, dresses, fights, et cetera. Just going by the first episode of season 2, things just felt smaller somehow than when I was reading the book. The imagination can be a funny beast.

My only worry with this series is that Martin won't be able to finish it before he croaks. With his age and years between books lately, it's a real worry. I can understand he needs a break after writing such a mammoth of a book, but hopefully he ups the pace a little so we don't have to wait another 10 years to read the last book.

What other fantasy series are highly recommended btw? I've heard Wheel of Time, but then a friend with great knowledge of the field said he might as well have stopped after about 4 books as the rest were sort of fillers with not that much more happening. I've no idea if that is true or if he was overly harsh, but what other series would you recommend besides the excellent A Song of Ice and Fire?

 

[Blothulfur]

Try Stephen Donaldsons "Thomas Covenant" books and Michael Moorcocks "High history of the Runestaff". Cracking and original fantasy both, the Runestaff series is perhaps some of Moorcocks most vanilla sword and sorcery action and yet is still maniacally innovative and genre breaking.

 

[Guest 2091327]

Try Stephen Donaldsons "Thomas Covenant" books and Michael Moorcocks "High history of the Runestaff". Cracking and original fantasy both, the Runestaff series is perhaps some of Moorcocks most vanilla sword and sorcery action and yet is still maniacally innovative and genre breaking.

Thanks, have added them to my Book Depository wishlist

Like the dark and mature worlds of the Witcher and Ice and Fire books, so anything along those lines would be excellent once I'm done with book five of the Ice and Fire series.

 

[Veleda.980]

I'm about 1/3 of the way through the third book right now. I've found the books incredibly slow to the point where it frustrates me a lot. I feel like there's way too much attention to detail and the book kind of loses the forest for the trees. There have been times where the book spent so much effort describing a bunch of trivial little crap that I actually forgot what was going on in the scene plot-wise.

It is a world-building series, so if you are frustrated by this in book 3, it sounds like these are not your kind of book.

 

[Guest 2091327]

I feel sick to the stomach and don't want to read any more



Valar Morghulis...

 

[Jackinthegreen.152]

I feel sick to the stomach and don't want to read any more



Valar Morghulis...

I gather you got to the "Red Wedding"...? I feel your pain...
When I got to that part I literally tossed the book across the room...

But you TOTALLY should continue... without giving too much away...

Spoiler

the "goal difference" of deaths kind of evens itself by the end of the 3d book...

 

[prince_12]

Heh, I've heard a LOT of people mourning / talking / complaining over the evetn called "The Red Wedding". Luckily though, I have no clue who, what, when or where it concerns. But I am certain I will be heart broken.

 

[phamvan94]

Just finished A Dance with Dragons today. 1100 pages and still it was way too short.

 

[Guest 2091327]

I won't dare to read the spoiler, but I bloody well hope it gets better! Just to kick me in the face one more time, I read the next chapter and was perhaps even more heartbroken. I don't think you can recover well from an axe to the back of the head

That person (trying to not spoil anything here) was very special to me because I could see so much of myself in *it*.

Now I dread to read on any further. Barely got any sleep last night from the shock and sorrow, thinking about the many "if only..." that these books provide. Didn't throw the book across the room as it would damage it, badly, but it was tempting to throw it out the window in disgust.

The Others can take them all - the cunts

Small addition...

As I was reading it, I felt something was off, and kept thinking to myself "Okay, what's the gameplan here...?" None of the possible scenarios were close to what happened, as I'm sure other readers experienced as well.

 

[Jackinthegreen.152]

I won't dare to read the spoiler, but I bloody well hope it gets better! Just to kick me in the face one more time, I read the next chapter and was perhaps even more heartbroken. I don't think you can recover well from an axe to the back of the head

That person (trying to not spoil anything here) was very special to me because I could see so much of myself in *it*.

Now I dread to read on any further. Barely got any sleep last night from the shock and sorrow, thinking about the many "if only..." that these books provide. Didn't throw the book across the room as it would damage it, badly, but it was tempting to throw it out the window in disgust.

The Others can take them all - the cunts

Small addition...

As I was reading it, I felt something was off, and kept thinking to myself "Okay, what's the gameplan here...?" None of the possible scenarios were close to what happened, as I'm sure other readers experienced as well.

Pan... IT GETS BETTER... That's not to say you wont read more cruel stuff happening, as this is the kind of story that shit happens...

Regarding the "axe on the back" incident, and without giving too much away... There's actually a good way to "read between the lines" regarding the deaths of characters in this novel...

When there's a detailed description of it, you can believe what you're reading is actually happening, and kiss that person good-bye... But when IT'S NOT CLEAR, and open to interpretation... there's hope it's just a sick way of Martin to create a cliff-hanger.