Literature Game of Thrones (Book)

Lord Snot

Lord Snot

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I just read the first couple of chapters and wow, I'm hooked. This is the kind of book I love, I'm really into alternate worlds that aren't too sci-fi or set in the future, but are like ours with some quirky twists. I loved that about His Dark Materials and Harry Potter.

It's the kind of writing I love too. Descriptive without being overly flowery and it shows, not tells.

I know GOT is kind of a craze at the moment, I'd never heard of it until a fortnight ago then suddenly I'm seeing and hearing about it everywhere. I rented the first DVD from LoveFilm because it had five stars which is very rare.

So let's discuss the books! I can't be the only one late to the party so let's keep stuff in spoiler tags.
 
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I just finished it a few days ago & LOVED IT. Can't wait to get the next book. :D

I love the TV series & have that on dvd too. It was only £20 on Amazon which I thought was pretty damn good.
 
I read them. Would love for the author to finish the books before he dies, but sometimes I think that's not going to happen. :( Good books.
 
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I read some of them awhile back. But I've forgotten most of it and I don't think I have the motivation to read through all of them a again for the new one that came out last year, especially since Martin will probably die before finishing them like Robert Jodan did with the Wheel of Time (like kazy said).
 
I still need to start this series, but I haven't bought the books yet.
Did you guys get the box set or just buy individual books?
 
Rosie said:
I still need to start this series, but I haven't bought the books yet.
Did you guys get the box set or just buy individual books?
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I started reading them about 10 years ago, so I've been buying them individually. He used to say it would be a trilogy, then 4 books, then 5... and now I think he's saying 7.

I really like the first three (Game of Thrones, A Clash of Kings, and A Storm of Swords). I like his writing style and the world he's created. Each book seems to become longer and longer.

I wasn't thrilled with A Feast for Crows and was disappointed that he separated out characters to make AFFC and Dances with Dragons (these two novels are supposed to run concurrently, but came out several years apart. He separated them because originally he tried to make them into one and it was too long).

There are a few characters I'm not thrilled about, like Sansa. She was incredibly boring to me. AFFC was also overall, boring.

I'm sure DWD will be interesting, but I have not read it. I think I'll wait until the last book is coming out and then re-read the first 4 and finish the whole series. :)
 
Lord Snot said:
It's the kind of writing I love too. Descriptive without being overly flowery and it shows, not tells.
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Just wanted to say that you've really nailed what I like about some writing and dislike about other writing. I've never been able to put it into words as succinctly as you just did.

Haven't read these books yet, but I bought them for my sister, so I'll probably start reading them this winter after I've moved back to St. Louis.
 
nog said:
There are a few characters I'm not thrilled about, like Sansa.
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Sansa is a deconstruction of the regular fantasy heroine/damsel in distress. Once you understand that, her actions become much less annoying.

I'm sure DWD will be interesting, but I have not read it.
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ADWD needed an editor, badly. There were some great parts, such as the whole Reek storyline, but there are some parts that drag, such as the south Essos storyline. (Being vague here as not to spoil things.)

But I thought that AFFC dragged as well the first time I read it, while on the reread it was a lot better.

I also thought that the second Dunk & Egg story wasn't that great. First and third ones were pretty good though. Can't wait for the fourth one.
 
I've reread the whole lot of em every time a new one came out. Loved the 1st three from the get go. ****** when the 4th one came out that I didn't get to follow the story lines of my fav characters, last one was better but still not up to par with the 1st three, still probably a bit mad it took so frikken long for it to come out.

That being said when I reread the 4th book just prior to #5 coming out I appreciated it much more. 12 year stretch between #3 and #5 was way, way too long. I believe my daughter was in kindergarden when this thing started, she's graduated college now... still not done.

However, if Martin can wrap up all his story arcs in the next couple of books I do believe the series will stand the test of time.
 
Lord Snot said:
Ooh I'm scared now, I don't want to get into something and then it never ends. That drives me MAD, I like answers to every little thing.
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You might want to wait for another decade before starting then. :p

If you want some satisfying reasonably quick reads with endings so to speak at the end of each book I'd recommend Jim Butcher, both his Dresden Series and Codex Alera series are great. Dresden is urban fantasy, takes place in real time with wizards, werewolves, vamps, fae etc. Awesome reads, the Codex is strictly fantasy in an alternate world.

Not to derail the current thread...
 
das_nut said:
Sansa is a deconstruction of the regular fantasy heroine/damsel in distress. Once you understand that, her actions become much less annoying.
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I've only read the once through, so maybe if/when I go back to re-read them, it'll be a bit better. I wasn't so bothered by her idiot actions, what bothered me most was her chapters seemed to be the most detailed (since she was kind of focused on who was what and what things looked like).

I understood that it was also a way for GRRM to get more detail, but oh my, I had to skim over some sections.


das_nut said:
ADWD needed an editor, badly. There were some great parts, such as the whole Reek storyline, but there are some parts that drag, such as the south Essos storyline. (Being vague here as not to spoil things.)
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Thanks. :) I'll keep my homes up, but not too much.

I was worried that he was so pressured to put it out (especially since it was originally stated to come out years ago) that it'd be rushed too much and be lacking in areas.

das_nut said:
But I thought that AFFC dragged as well the first time I read it, while on the reread it was a lot better.

I also thought that the second Dunk & Egg story wasn't that great. First and third ones were pretty good though. Can't wait for the fourth one.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I remember liking the stories, but I don't remember much about them. :)
 
I just prefer the TV show. I read the first half of the first book, but it just wasn't for me. Something about the writing really irked me, it told you too much, every little motive and thought in everyone's head. Not for me. Love the world that Martin created, but I feel it works better on screen.
 
I started reading the books this last winter and read all of them. I really can't wait for the next one but I also worry that he'll wind up dying or becoming very ill or something and can't finish the series. It's been a while since I read books that I couldn't put down.

I also love the t.v. series. I bought my husband season 1 as a fathers day present.

My fav characters are Jon, Tyrion, and Daenerys.
 
I'm divided on the TV series.

(Spoilers for second season.)
They seem to throw out story arcs from the books, which I understand, because the books are long and complicated and cannot translate to the big screen.

But they also seem to abandon parts of the book for no good reason. And they introduce horrible, horrible story arcs for no good reason. Why have a new love interest for Robb, which takes more time and doesn't really show us much about the character? Jeyne Westerling from the book would have taken less screen-time, and would have kept Robb as a flawed hero from the book. Instead, Robb, a supposed tactical genius, decides to screw over his major ally.

Then there are the small things. The Jon/Halfhand setup was horribly done, IMO. It made sense in the books, it doesn't come across clearly in the adaptation.

There's things I really love about the series. It is great to see the books on the small screen. Some of the characters are very well done. But some of the changes, big and small, are confusing. Why change things for no good reason?
 

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