# Song of Ice and Fire



## Khazad-dum (Oct 19, 2003)

Hi everybody,

I was curious if any of you have read "A Song of Ice and Fire" series...If you have, is it worth picking up? I've finished LoTR and am looking for a new fantasy story to read.


----------



## Zale (Oct 20, 2003)

I've read the first book, but never got round to the rest. It was not so good the first time round but much better the second. It involves a lot of politics, some battles and not a little incest.
If you want some new fantasy, try "The View From The Mirror" quartet, by Ian Irvine. It starts off as creative but conventional, but near the end turns things upside down. Definitely worth a try.


----------



## Kahmûl (Oct 20, 2003)

I think David Eddings books are quite good too.


----------



## Legolam (Oct 21, 2003)

Who writes "A Song of Ice and Fire"?


----------



## GuardianRanger (Oct 22, 2003)

"The Song of Fire and Ice" series is written by George R. R. Martin.

I have the third book sitting on my nightstand, awaiting me to finish Carpenter's bio of Tolkien.

I absolutely love Martin's series, and he is probably my favorite author next to Tolkien. In my opinion, there is a lot "more" in Martin's books (for good or bad.) And to me, it seems like Martin writes his books almost like a screenplay.

But, I find the books fully enriching with lots of action, drama, plot twists. Be forewarned, though, there is plenty of adult language and adult "situations" scattered throughout the book.


----------



## Legolam (Oct 22, 2003)

Yeah, I thought it was him. I was recommended this series ages ago, but could never find it in my library. I've recently finished the first book and totally recommend it. It's a really good, Tolkien-esque story. But I agree that sometimes the themes can be quite adult, so be careful!


----------



## e.Blackstar (Jul 29, 2005)

Ooh, it's excellently good!  I love aSoIaF beyond reason!


----------



## Beleg (Aug 4, 2005)

Best fantasy series ever????

Probably.


----------



## e.Blackstar (Aug 4, 2005)

Yeah, I'm thinkin' so.


----------



## Beleg (Aug 4, 2005)

So who is your favorite character?

How did you feel at the decision of splitting the Feast of Crows into two books?


----------



## e.Blackstar (Aug 6, 2005)

Wait, what? Feast of Crows, two books? I'm so out of the loop.  

Tyrion is definetly the favorite. Although I feel cheated because I know that I like him mostly because we're SUPPOSED to like him. Readers' emotional manipulation makes it hard for me to read books.  

Bronn's cool.

Check out this site. It's way cool. And most of the people are perfect...MOST.


----------



## Lomin... (Sep 13, 2005)

*Re: A Song of Ice and Fire*

Ditto, and Ditto! I love'em! Great books, and great story.

The only complaint I have is the rampant sex, but otherwise flawless. I'd recommend them to just about anyone.

Who's your favorite charecter? Mine's Arya, but I like almost everybody at least some.


----------



## e.Blackstar (Sep 19, 2005)

*ruthlessly deals out a bump*

weeeeeeeeeeeee! Anyone else? Come on, let's get some decent discussion going on!


----------



## Falagar (Mar 7, 2006)

Another *bump* and another Martin-lover.  Big fan of A Song of Ice and Fire, as well as his Dunk & Egg-short stories. 

My favorite character is probably also Tyrion (the first meaty fantasy-dwarf ever), though most of Martin's characters are great. Like Ned, Jaime, Sansa...got some re-reading to do. 

_Feast_ was nice, but Martin seems to be slowing down the pace. :-/ Not Jordan-slow yet, but still. Hopefully it'll pick up again after _A Dance with Dragons_, when he's finished with the 5 years interlude.


----------



## e.Blackstar (Mar 7, 2006)

Indeed...I can't wait for A Dance with Dragons. AFfC seemed a LITTLE slow to me, but a not a lot; taking out half the viewpoints definitely gives the story less flesh.


----------



## Wolfshead (Mar 8, 2006)

*Re: A Song of Ice and Fire*



Lomin... said:


> The only complaint I have is the rampant sex, but otherwise flawless.


That's a complaint?   

I really enjoyed the first two (infact, I blame the first one for my failing higher physics the first time round...), but I lost interest some way into A Storm of Swords. I got distracted by a book where something was actually happening. The way Martin switches between characters every chapter was getting on my nerves - there wasn't a pressing reason to continue onto the next chapter because it wouldn't help you find out what happened next, if you follow me.

It's been suggested to me that I read all the chapters about one character and work through them like that. I might give that a shot, but not for a while - I've got a lot of other reading to do, including a lot of uni stuff and the newest Wheel of Time novel. Now _that's_ a slow-moving fantasy series!


----------



## Rhiannon (Mar 14, 2006)

I gave up. The writing and characters are good, but I just can't handle that many different POVs, or that many plots happening at once.


----------



## Adanedhel (Mar 14, 2006)

'Tis a good series, strong plot, good writing and some great characters. There's a lot of shocks as well.

If you're looking for new fantasy though, I'd suggest giving Steven Erikson's _Malazan Book of the Fallen_ series a try, IMO it's the best fantasy currently being written, 6 books wrote so far out of a 10 book series.


----------



## e.Blackstar (Mar 14, 2006)

*Re: A Song of Ice and Fire*



Wolfshead said:


> That's a complaint?
> !



I don't mind until it starts to detract from the plot. Sex is a great motive for LOTS of things, but anything in too many quantities becomes gratuitous and therefore annoying.


----------



## Halasían (May 17, 2019)

I tried a few times to read this seroes, like Ive tried to read Wheel of Time...
On the third try I got about half way through Game of Thrones and gave up. I'm one who was glad the TV series came along.


----------



## Lych92 (Aug 10, 2019)

Halasían said:


> I tried a few times to read this seroes, like Ive tried to read Wheel of Time...
> On the third try I got about half way through Game of Thrones and gave up. I'm one who was glad the TV series came along.



Read the GoT books up-to-date already during my university years. Some parts were a bore so I skipped over (I'm sorry). I still haven't picked up WoT though, heard it's nearly as good as LOTR.


----------



## Halasían (Aug 11, 2019)

I gave GoT a one book read *yawn* Wasn't my cuppa.


----------



## Radaghast (Jul 20, 2022)

WoT


Halasían said:


> I gave WoT a one book read *yawn* Wasn't my cuppa.


Wrong thread, I think.


----------



## Radaghast (Jul 20, 2022)

There seems to be a growing consensus that author George R. R. Martin will never finish _A Song of Ice and Fire_. The story he set out to tell with the first book (published 26 years ago) has reached a conclusion of sorts in the HBO adaptation series _Game of Thrones_ and so Martin has no strong incentive to finish it, even if that conclusion was terribly received.

Also, he has taken on a host of other projects including supervising HBO's new series _House of the Dragon_, suggesting Martin is more interested in Westeros' past than its future. He has practically said on his "Not a Blog" that he will not give A SoIaF any particular priority. The exact words were: "“I know, I know, for many of you out there, only one of those projects matters,” Martin writes. “I am sorry for you. They _ALL_ matter to me.”

So there you pretty much have it. To whomever is hoping for the 6th book to come out some point soon I wouldn't hold my breath that it will come out ever.


----------



## Erestor Arcamen (Jul 20, 2022)

Yup, and I couldnt even finish his books personally. I know a lot of people like them and that's great but I got to A Feast for Crows and just didn't enjoy them. I fear he'll never finish them anyways so see not point in trying to read them.

The same goes for Patrick Rothfuss. I was told his Kingkiller Chronicles are amazing but it's been over a decade since the second book and he's been promising the third. His publisher at one point said they never saw a draft of it, so I think he lost interest as well and I never started his series.


----------



## Radaghast (Jul 20, 2022)

I read up the the last book, _A Dance with Dragons_, 11 years ago. I was eagerly awaiting the next installment but the TV series (which, after season 5, I only followed through reviews) kind of ruined for me anyway, so I'm not sure how much I care anymore. Also, I have developed a distinct dislike of Martin and don't want to give him any money, so if he does ever finish the series I'll wait to borrow the books from the library.

Martin himself was involved with the TV series which of course had to have distracted him from writing the book series. He thought when he sold the TV rights to HBO that he would have finished the books before the TV series, which seems an incredibly naive thought to me, considering the threads he'd created even by that point in time, 2006.


----------



## Halasían (Jul 20, 2022)

Radaghast said:


> WoT
> 
> Wrong thread, I think.


No, right thread. Typo on phone. *GoT*


And yeah, I think I quit watching after season 5 as well. Think I watched #3, #4, & #5 on long trans-pacific flights.


----------



## Elbereth Vala Varda (Jul 20, 2022)

I must admit, I don't think I've even heard of this book, and this thread is very old, but I would like to note whoever resurrected it! It's always good to see threads resurfacing!


----------



## Halasían (Jul 20, 2022)

Elbereth Vala Varda said:


> I must admit, I don't think I've even heard of this book, and this thread is very old, but I would like to note whoever resurrected it! It's always good to see threads resurfacing!


Look up 'Song of Ice and Fire' by GRR Martin. The TV series only used the name of the first book, 'Game of Thrones'. Personally, I found it rather shallow and uninspiring despite several people who I respect telling me it was worth reading. I think I made it half way through the 1st book (Game of Thrones) on the seventh attempt at reading it. I gave up after that and moved on to Steven Erickson's 'Malazan Book of the Fallen' series. Despite being somewhat convoluted, I found it much more satisfying to read than SoIaF.


----------



## Elbereth Vala Varda (Jul 20, 2022)

Halasían said:


> Look up 'Song of Ice and Fire' by GRR Martin. The TV series only used the name of the first book, 'Game of Thrones'. Personally, I found it rather shallow and uninspiring despite several people who I respect telling me it was worth reading. I think I made it half way through the 1st book (Game of Thrones) on the seventh attempt at reading it. I gave up after that and moved on to Steven Erickson's 'Malazan Book of the Fallen' series. Despite being somewhat convoluted, I found it much more satisfying to read than SoIaF.


Hmm.. I suppose I might. Obviously it will be no Tolkien, seeing as absolutely nothing is save his works, but may be worth a bit of looking into.


----------



## Radaghast (Jul 20, 2022)

Halasían said:


> Look up 'Song of Ice and Fire' by GRR Martin. The TV series only used the name of the first book, 'Game of Thrones'. Personally, I found it rather shallow and uninspiring despite several people who I respect telling me it was worth reading. I think I made it half way through the 1st book (Game of Thrones) on the seventh attempt at reading it. I gave up after that and moved on to Steven Erickson's 'Malazan Book of the Fallen' series. Despite being somewhat convoluted, I found it much more satisfying to read than SoIaF.


I just finished reading the Erickson book and I don't think I successfully figured out what was going on. I picked up that book because of GRRM's epic flakiness but it didn't really do much for me and I don't think I'm in a hurry to start the next book.


----------



## Elbereth Vala Varda (Jul 20, 2022)

Radaghast said:


> I just finished reading the Erickson book and I don't think I successfully figured out what was going on. I picked up that book because of GRRM's epic flakiness.


I see. However there were parts of The Silmarillion that I had to re-read or process before I understood them. I suppose it doesn't altogether count the book as poorly written, because The Silmarillion is and was, and I think shall ever be, one of my favorite books.


----------



## Halasían (Jul 21, 2022)

Malazan is a bit of a slog I'll give you that, but compared to not being able to read Ice & Fire, I could actually read Malazan.
Now Glen Cook's Black Company series.... I got into those books a lot!


----------



## Radaghast (Jul 21, 2022)

I dunno, I felt I was invested in ASoiaF, and cared about certain characters while hating others. And the story was leading to somewhere interesting. In GotM I didn't really feel much for any of the characters. If any died, I felt nothing. Also, characters come out of nowhere and then just as quickly vanish. Dragons appear and fight some supposedly invincible creature who is then defeated by some sort of demonic tree. Things just sort of happen with no apparent buildup. It's all rather overwhelming. I think it took me a few months to read it as I could hardly bear to manage more than a few pages a day. The point of view keeps changing so often that it's hard to follow any kind of thread. And I don't feel that the end of the book is any kind of hook to the next volume.

I'll give 'Black Company' a look.


----------



## Erestor Arcamen (Jul 21, 2022)

Halasían said:


> Malazan is a bit of a slog I'll give you that, but compared to not being able to read Ice & Fire, I could actually read Malazan.
> Now Glen Cook's Black Company series.... I got into those books a lot!


I hadn't heard of these but the description sounds interesting, I'll have to check them out.


----------



## Elbereth Vala Varda (Jul 21, 2022)

Erestor Arcamen said:


> I hadn't heard of these but the description sounds interesting, I'll have to check them out.


I hadn't heard of them either. I don't know if they are worth the read, as I could spend such time rereading Tolkien, but I'll give it some thought.


----------

