I started reading the as of now 5 book series, "A Song of Fire and Ice," by George R.R. Martin. Usually I don't start reading an unfinished series (it will eventually be 7 books but the last 2 have yet to be written) because I despise being left hanging but as I wrote in my previous post, I HAD to start because my in laws are all ahead of me in this series. It was either start reading so I could be involved in the conversations or suck it up, wait it out and be pissed every time we have a family event.
I just finished book 1, "A Game of Thrones" and am now onto book 2, "Clash of Kings." Before I start getting into what I think about the books so far, let me just start by saying that they are long. I mean loooonnnngggg. The second book is close to 1,000 pages. Now don't get me wrong, I enjoy long books because I'm a ridiculously fast reader and so I like being able to spend a little more time with a book that I enjoy, but having said that, there has to be a purpose for the length. So far, I have yet to find that purpose in these books. In "A Game of Thrones" nothing of significance even happens until the 300 page mark - I find that a bit indulgent on the part of the author. He spent a whole lot of pages introducing the million characters that populate the books which caused a lot of flipping back to figure out who people were far too often which took away from my over all enjoyment of the book. He also has nicknames for so many characters that I was confused for much of the time. Littlefinger is also Peter Baelish, the Spider is also Varys, the Kingslayer is also Jamie Lannister, etc, etc, etc....I get it - quit confusing your readers already! And did there have to be so many dream sequences with Bran and the three eyed crow? Too much description and too many idle words.
On the bright side, the many story lines are interesting and of the 1700 characters, a good many of them are fascinating and multi-faceted. Dimensional characters are what really drives a good story forward and this is done very well so far. I like not knowing what certain characters will do next and I feel as if the author has done a fine job of keeping you on your toes. I also like how each chapter is told from a different characters point of view. This helps keep the reader up on what is happening in each of the regions. Right now I'm a big fan of Jon Snow and what is happening on the wall as well as Daernys and the whole crazy mess with the Dothraki and the dragons. I also find Tyrion one of the most interesting characters in the novel because I'm still not sure where his loyalties lie. I'm at around the 300 page mark in the second book and much like the first not a whole lot has happened so far but I'm sure all hell is about to break loose like it did in book 1 and so I'm looking forward to that. The main reason I like these books is because it really does take me away from my every day worries which lately seem to be closing in on me. Money, work, hating my apartment and missing my family have dominated my thoughts these last couple of weeks and these books are doing the job I meant for them to do which is keep my mind away from all of that. As weird as it is it is far better to dream about direwolves and Lannisters than about paying my bills and getting more clients at work. Thank god I have 3 more hefty books to distract me through the spring.
I just finished book 1, "A Game of Thrones" and am now onto book 2, "Clash of Kings." Before I start getting into what I think about the books so far, let me just start by saying that they are long. I mean loooonnnngggg. The second book is close to 1,000 pages. Now don't get me wrong, I enjoy long books because I'm a ridiculously fast reader and so I like being able to spend a little more time with a book that I enjoy, but having said that, there has to be a purpose for the length. So far, I have yet to find that purpose in these books. In "A Game of Thrones" nothing of significance even happens until the 300 page mark - I find that a bit indulgent on the part of the author. He spent a whole lot of pages introducing the million characters that populate the books which caused a lot of flipping back to figure out who people were far too often which took away from my over all enjoyment of the book. He also has nicknames for so many characters that I was confused for much of the time. Littlefinger is also Peter Baelish, the Spider is also Varys, the Kingslayer is also Jamie Lannister, etc, etc, etc....I get it - quit confusing your readers already! And did there have to be so many dream sequences with Bran and the three eyed crow? Too much description and too many idle words.
On the bright side, the many story lines are interesting and of the 1700 characters, a good many of them are fascinating and multi-faceted. Dimensional characters are what really drives a good story forward and this is done very well so far. I like not knowing what certain characters will do next and I feel as if the author has done a fine job of keeping you on your toes. I also like how each chapter is told from a different characters point of view. This helps keep the reader up on what is happening in each of the regions. Right now I'm a big fan of Jon Snow and what is happening on the wall as well as Daernys and the whole crazy mess with the Dothraki and the dragons. I also find Tyrion one of the most interesting characters in the novel because I'm still not sure where his loyalties lie. I'm at around the 300 page mark in the second book and much like the first not a whole lot has happened so far but I'm sure all hell is about to break loose like it did in book 1 and so I'm looking forward to that. The main reason I like these books is because it really does take me away from my every day worries which lately seem to be closing in on me. Money, work, hating my apartment and missing my family have dominated my thoughts these last couple of weeks and these books are doing the job I meant for them to do which is keep my mind away from all of that. As weird as it is it is far better to dream about direwolves and Lannisters than about paying my bills and getting more clients at work. Thank god I have 3 more hefty books to distract me through the spring.
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