Song of Ice and Fire

[Khazad-dum]

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]

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]

I think David Eddings books are quite good too.

[Legolam]

Who writes "A Song of Ice and Fire"?

[GuardianRanger]

"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]

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]

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

[Beleg]

Best fantasy series ever????

Probably.

[e.Blackstar]

Yeah, I'm thinkin' so.

[Beleg]

So who is your favorite character?

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

[e.Blackstar]

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

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. :D

Bronn's cool.

Check out this (http://wightsvsdragons.tripod.com/website/id1.html) site. It's way cool. And most of the people are perfect...MOST.

[Lomin...]

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]

*ruthlessly deals out a bump*

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

[Falagar]

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]

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]

The only complaint I have is the rampant sex, but otherwise flawless.
That's a complaint? :confused: ;)

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]

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]

'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]

That's a complaint? :confused: ;)
!

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. ;)