A Song of Ice and Fire

Basically, a topic to discuss the books in the awesome series written by George R. R. Martin. I personally love them and have read all 4 books so far ^^ (As you can tell by my sn and signature which is one of the characters xD)

and just a warning to whoever might want to read these books, it is for mature audiences, trust me, it definately is mature audiences, so if you decide to read it, don't forget that I warned you firsthand and also at some times it might be hard for one to understand if you're not used to reading in depth series with loads of detail and such

So, for those who have read it, any theories you might like to share? ^^

Damn I love that series,it is one of the best if not the best fantasy series out there at the moment.
My Favorite characters are
1 Tyrion(one of the best characters in fantasy books IMHO)
2 Arya (kid assasins rule)
3 Dany(long live the Queen)
4 Jaime (I have really warmed up to him in the last 2 books)

I have someone that tells me to go and read this series. And I will someday, they sounds rather cool. ^^

That wouldn't happen to be me, would it Ome? =P

Bran is where it's at. Nothing touches a (SPOILER)warg. Nothing. Except maybe Jon Snow.

That all said, I've had the fourth book sitting in my room for months and I'm only now starting to read it. Go figure.

I'm only about 2/3 of the way through the second book, so no spoilers, plzkthx?

Anyway. I bought A Game of Thrones about six months ago at kikimm's behest, and read other things and basically put off reading it until Spring break a couple weeks ago. I read the whole thing in a week, most of that reading taking place over about two days. I'd say I'm more captivated by these books than I've been by anything in at least 5 years. Everything is fantastic. I'd list my favorite characters, but I like almost all of them, so it would be pointless. :p

I think I'm the only person who thinks that this series was mediocre.

The start of the series is pretty good. Tyrion was a fantastic character. So were Jon and Arya. And Ned and Dany, really. Good characters with good development. Littlefinger and Tywin and Cersei and them make good villains. Nothing exceptional, but very good.

However, it all falls apart after that. Catelyn Stark is the most annoying, frustrating character I've ever read, and is unrealistically stupid to an absurd degree. The plot is thrown together in what appears to be an almost haphazard fashion with the flimsiest of justification (Ned's and Lady's sudden death - though the former is somewhat justified, Tyrion being taken captive by Catelyn who insists that he tried to kill her son with NO evidence (part of her boundless stupidity), etc). The latter books become dull as they concentrate more and more on the less interesting characters (Sansa, Cersei, Jaime, etc). If the series had more Jon and Arya and Dany and Bran, it would at least be more tolerable.

The plot is suffering by there being too many character perspectives and not enough plot movement. Too much of simply plodding along, especially in the last book, which was the worst by far.

Here's my review of the first book right when I finished reading it, and here's my review of the last book.

I love reading fantasy books, but this series deserves a single read-through at best.

EDIT: For people that actually liked this series, read DragonLance or Death Gate Cycle. Now those are amazing fantasy series.

I admire that you've spoken up why you don't like the books and us why. I always love hearing other people's views, especially if they differ from mine.

and I liked all the books so far, but I liked the 3rd (Storm of Swords) the best (because it was the longest so far ^^) and the 4th (Feast for Crows) the least, I will agree that this one wasn't as good because it didn't have Dany, Jon or Bran in it, but it at least had Arya so that held my attention. Though I did like the chapters with Brienne and Jaime in them, and Cersei's were alright. I'm impatiently waiting for the 5th one to come out, A Dance with Dragons. I read at his site that he expects it be about 1200-1300 pages.

and does anyone really think the series is going to be only 5 books?

As far as I know, the original plan was a six book series, but because he had to split the fourth one into two, it's going to be seven. I do believe he's released tentative titles for the remaining books, but the only one I can remember off the top of my head is A Time For Wolves, which is supposed to be the last book.

I'm told that A Feast For Crows, despite the fact that it has the worst characters in the series, is still the best one so far just because of what happens.

I really enjoyed A Game of Thrones. I've been reading A Clash of Kings for like... a year, now. The book is massive. It can be a really hard series to get into because of the sheer volume of charactors... after putting it down for a couple of days it's easy to forget who's who and why they matter. I think that's why it's taking me so long to get through: many of the charactors don't have a lot to do with each other at this point.

But it's very good, whatever the case. I really need to get back into the habit of reading every night so I can finish the thing.

If you enjoy George RR Martin, I would highly recommend picking up Robin Hobb's Assassin's Apprentice, the start of her triple-trilogy fantasy epic. Her style is very similar, and she writes fantastic charactors. I like stories that are people focused rather than an action and magic extravaganza, which is something George and Robin excell at.

This series has ruined the fantasy genre for me! Nothing else I read seems to compare. However if anyone has any recomendations I would be more than willing to check them out.

Anyway huge fan of this series. Wasn't quite as into Feast For Crows, probably just because my favourite characters weren't very involved though. Needless to say I can't wait for the next book.

I started reading Assassin's Apprentice a while back but never really got into it. I'm considering trying again though seeing as I only ever seem to hear good things about it.

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Originally Posted by libertine

I started reading Assassin's Apprentice a while back but never really got into it. I'm considering trying again though seeing as I only ever seem to hear good things about it.

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I had some difficulty getting into it as well, but the same really goes for any new fantasy series. The patience really pays off when things finally get started.

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Originally Posted by libertine

This series has ruined the fantasy genre for me! Nothing else I read seems to compare. However if anyone has any recomendations I would be more than willing to check them out.

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Originally Posted by me a couple of posts ago

For people that actually liked this series, read DragonLance or Death Gate Cycle. Now those are amazing fantasy series.

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Both by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman (DL usually has its own mini-section, though separate from alphabetic order in most bookstores). DGC is superior overall to DL, but you really do need to read at least the first three DL books (Chronicles - Dragons of Aumtumn Twilight, of Winter Night, and of Spring Dawning) in order to understand some of the jokes. And the Legends trilogy of DL (the one after Chronicles) is just amazing.

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Originally Posted by libertine

This series has ruined the fantasy genre for me! Nothing else I read seems to compare. However if anyone has any recomendations I would be more than willing to check them out.

Anyway huge fan of this series. Wasn't quite as into Feast For Crows, probably just because my favourite characters weren't very involved though. Needless to say I can't wait for the next book.

I started reading Assassin's Apprentice a while back but never really got into it. I'm considering trying again though seeing as I only ever seem to hear good things about it.

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Hobb's Assasin trilogy is good you should give it another try.
Zelazny's Amber chronicles and his other books are very good
Many people love Erickson's Malazan books,although they are not my personal favorites