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Thread: [Book] What do you think of them? (Spoilers marked)

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    Jinx's Avatar
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    Default [Book] What do you think of them? (Spoilers marked)

    I actually started re-reading the series yesterday, and I'm realizing the GRRM's writing style is actually not good at all. It reads like troutty fan-fiction.

    Obviously I enjoy the series, and I think he's spun a great tale that keeps us on the edge of our seats. I think his world building is AMAZING. But he's just not that good of a writer.

    Thoughts?
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    Jinx you are absolutely smurfing insane. Never change.

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    Huh? Flower?! What the hell?! Administrator Psychotic's Avatar
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    The man bloody loves to describe food.

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    I haven't actually gotten to a point yet where there's been much food description.
    Quote Originally Posted by Fynn View Post
    Jinx you are absolutely smurfing insane. Never change.

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    Resident Critic Ayen's Avatar
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    I think his writing style is fine. His books does read like a history textbooks at times. I remember getting confused at one point and then I just blanked out.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Jinx View Post
    I actually started re-reading the series yesterday, and I'm realizing the GRRM's writing style is actually not good at all. It reads like troutty fan-fiction.

    Obviously I enjoy the series, and I think he's spun a great tale that keeps us on the edge of our seats. I think his world building is AMAZING. But he's just not that good of a writer.

    Thoughts?
    I think you haven't read enough bad fanfic.

    I agree that he is an excellent worldbuilder, but an average writer. I have always described my feelings while reading the books as a lot happens yet at the same time nothing really happens. It is akin to reading Lord of the Rings for me: amazing world but standard writing that can sometimes make you lose interest because the build up is too slow. And there is nothing wrong with that at all, every writer has their strengths and they can't be good at everything.

    The writing itself isn't horrible by any means. Then again after reading fanfics with no capitalizations and little grammar. Also, the anus described as "the wound that never heals". x-x;;;;


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    ...you hot, salty nut! Recognized Member fire_of_avalon's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jinx View Post
    I actually started re-reading the series yesterday, and I'm realizing the GRRM's writing style is actually not good at all. It reads like troutty fan-fiction.

    Obviously I enjoy the series, and I think he's spun a great tale that keeps us on the edge of our seats. I think his world building is AMAZING. But he's just not that good of a writer.

    Thoughts?
    Either here or on FB, Rye once told me that his political, conspiracy writing is great but his emotional, sexytime writing is cheesy and I tend to agree with that. I also notice that each book is really hard to get into initially but that around the 25-30% mark each character of focus has something crazy or amazing happen and I get hooked again, so I definitely agree they're hard to get into and the build up is slow. For example, I'm in book five right now on my first read through and (SPOILER)I do not give one trout what is happening to Tyrion on this god forsaken river barge for three of his chapters BUT THEN HOLY trout RHAEGAR'S SON IS ALIVE WHAT ARE YOU EVEN TALKING ABOUT

    And Bran stuff. Still just hate all the Bran stuff. Looking forward to when all the Bran stuff becomes important.

    Signature by rubah. I think.

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    Ghost of Christmas' past Recognized Member theundeadhero's Avatar
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    Reading about Bran was boring, but by the end I smurfing dreaded every chapter titled Daenerys. Other than that, I have no complaints.
    ...

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    Huh? Flower?! What the hell?! Administrator Psychotic's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by theundeadhero View Post
    Reading about Bran was boring, but by the end I smurfing dreaded every chapter titled Daenerys. Other than that, I have no complaints.
    I used to hate the Dany sections in Meereen until I read this series of posts: https://meereeneseblot.wordpress.com...d-the-locusts/

    Little long but worth a read if you want to stop hating those sections of the book!

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    Crazy Scot. Cid's Knight Shauna's Avatar
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    I do think the books overall are written in quite a simplistic manner. But, I think that's part of the reason I like them - I know they are massive, and the fact that they are so easy to read makes it less of a huge undertaking in my mind.

    That being said, I just started Book 5 the other day, and I got to a Bran chapter and I think it was the first time I have felt that "Ugh I cannot be bothered with this". I am just reading so I can get back to Cersei, Jaime or Sansa.

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    Recognized Member Shorty's Avatar
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    His writing is nothing special. I do not feel for any of the characters, not do I have emotional attachments to any of them. I simply find the events and happenings in their lives to be interesting. In all of five books I read, at no point was there anything that made me feel especially emotional or connected to the characters at any time.

    His writing style is ordinary and uninteresting. He excels at weaving the intricacy of a plot and sucker punching his readers, that is all.

    Also, he is an especially poor writer of female characters, imho.

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    His world building and the way he builds up suspense and conflicts is great. His actual writing isn't the best but i'm one of those people okay with food description. As long as it's good description, I'm okay. It's no twilight description, paraphrasing of course, "his eyes were cold as ice. His hands were cold as Ice. His touch was freezing, like ice." For the most part, I don't find his too unnecessary. It sets the world up.

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    His writing is good enough that I cannot go back to some of the other fantasy writer's I was reading before.


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    <3 Recognized Member Jess's Avatar
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    I like the books, but I could only ever read 1-2 chapters at a time without needing a break. I like the food descriptions because I love food.

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    He was an award-winning writer before he started the series and many of today's top fantasists credit him with reintroducing quality prose and dialogue back into the genre. To me, this is a lot like when people on this forum say Tolkien wasn't a great writer - maybe it doesn't gel with your reading sensibilities but calling him objectively subpar wouldn't get you very far in literary circles.

    As far as the books, I think they're amazing. His pacing and cohesion have both really suffered in the last two entries, though, and I'm worried how much of that comes down to him not being the same person or writer he was 20 years ago.

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    Crazy Scot. Cid's Knight Shauna's Avatar
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    I finished reading all the books!

    They're a wee bit of alright.

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