George R R Martin, "Song of Ice and Fire" Series

[phoenixx]

We were discussing this in another thread, and I thought I'd bring it out here. These books merit their own discussion. From the other thread:

ME:

One of my favorite fantasy authors is George R R Martin and his "Song of Ice and Fire" series. One of the reasons for my undying devotion to the series is his ruthlessness in keeping his story on point - he is fearless in what characters will die, and each one, as much as it pains the reader, is absolutely the right one for that turn of the story. An author with guts writes a better book, in my opinion

REDLASS:

Yes, but for a while I thought there weren't going to be any sympathetic characters left in Song of Ice and Fire and we'd be stuck reading about only the nasty ones.

Thankfully, (and this is what I really like about Martin) many of his characters undergo changes and are shown to have more dimension than just good and evil. OK, Cersai is still evil and nasty, but most of the others have shown sides that make you at least want their story to continue so you can learn more about them.

And, you can read Redlass' stunning interview with Martin at Book Help Web.

[Redlass]

You're sweet! Thank you for the praise.

That was a wonderful interview that I almost blew 'cause I messed up the time zones the first time we scheduled it. I kicked myself for a week.

I've had a love-hate relationship with that series. It really is the best fantasy stuff currently out there, but sometimes I get so frustrated with the series. It keeps getting darker and gorier, but I'm so hooked on the characters.

I was talking about the series with some friends a couple months ago. We so intrigued another one of the people there that he went out and got the first book. He was immediately engrossed and ran out to buy the rest in the series.

Are we allowed spoilers in this thread?

[phoenixx]

Heck yes. The main thing that irked me about the series (and that I even bitched about in my eps review of one of the books, it irked me so much) was the delay between books.

On one hand, as a writer I understand creativity can not be rushed, and the quality of his writing proves that out every time.

On the other hand, as a reader who reads so quickly I can devour five books a week or more if I have spare time, waiting years between books is torture. Torture I tell you.

Forget ripping out my fingernails. The enemy could get me to confess by giving me a really great first book to read in a series like this, then telling me I have to wait seven years in the hole to read the next one in order to see what happens.

[MrsNormanMaine[$]]

I absolutely love these (although was a bit disappointed by the most recent entry 'A Feast for Crows') as it didn't have quite as many jaw dropping plot surprises as the first three. It's also missing half the narrative and plot lines by doing the Southern stories and not taking in what's going on in the north or with Daenerys. I'm also not sure he should have opened up quite so many new voices. I'm hoping the next few are edited a bit more tightly before it devolves into too much sprawl a la Robert Jordan.

[phoenixx]

I know the next book will focus on the North, so I have not yet read the latest - I'm trying Very Hard to be patient and read them together to avoid being irritated any favorite characters were given short shrift.

[Redlass]

I'm just really glad that Arya is going to be in the next one 'cause I don't think I could wait two books to have her story continue--especially after the way it ended.

Rick and I have been going back and forth about whether what happened to Arya at the end is permanent or temporary. I'm weighing in on the permanent side. I think they did it to her for the same reasons they did it to the other guy at the temple. I also think it will end up being the means by which Dany will end up trusting Arya and the two of them will link up.

It's a pity that Samwell Tarly couldn't have recognized her.

[phoenixx]

Oh, and does anybody else have to go back and at least skim the last book before starting the next one? I have to give myself a kind of character tutorial because of the length of time between books and the complexity and vastness of the character list. And what amazes me is how every character, no matter how small, comes to live on the page fully realized.

[Redlass]

I can't find our copies of the first three books in the series. So I spend about three hours quizzing my husband and his encyclopedic memory about each of the characters, where they fit it, what last happened to them, etc.

I mean, I can remember the biggies, but I can't remember all of the minor players.