George R. R. Martin (as well as other recommendations)

[Argent]

Doesn't this happen every book?

Short answer?

Yes.

Long answer?

Certainly.

 

[Onion Knight]

Holy crap, I'm so glad that I found this thread! Perhaps the only thing I like better than Heroscape is ASOIAF.
Chimpy, read like the wind! I want to relive my first read of CoK (and especially SoS) with you. I can't wait to hear your thoughts.

I found that on multiple rereads, as with any good books, I had missed so much. Keeping up on various ASOIAF forums really enhanced my rereads. Anyone have a similar experience? Anyone miss any major plot points the first time through?

 

[Jonathan]

I found that on multiple rereads, as with any good books, I had missed so much. Keeping up on various ASOIAF forums really enhanced my rereads. Anyone have a similar experience? Anyone miss any major plot points the first time through?

I loved all of the conspiracy theories that I read on the ASOIAF boards. I had some thoughts on Jon Snow and the like, but there's people who have some THOUGHTS on the matter. Quite impressive, and very cool.

 

[Velenne]

I steered clear of the forums. I have no doubt that there's unplumbed depths of intrigue I completely missed in the first read, but I also have no doubt he's never going to finish the series at this rate. Robert Jordan all over again.

 

[DoesntCompute]

I found that on multiple rereads, as with any good books, I had missed so much. Keeping up on various ASOIAF forums really enhanced my rereads. Anyone have a similar experience? Anyone miss any major plot points the first time through?

I loved all of the conspiracy theories that I read on the ASOIAF boards. I had some thoughts on Jon Snow and the like, but there's people who have some THOUGHTS on the matter. Quite impressive, and very cool.

I completely missed the idea that Jon's parantage was in question on the first reading. After a friend read the book he asked me, "So who do you think Jon's parents are?" I immediately went back and reread Thrones looking for clues and found them all over the place.

I don't think this will be Jordan pt deux. For one thing, not a single braid has been tugged so far. Also Martin has expressed that he has the story mapped out in his head in its entirety. It was originally planned for 3 books but as he started writing he realized he couldn't tell it in 3 so it doubled to 6. Book 4 got too big so it split into 2 books. This seems different to me than Jordan's, "I want to make more money so I'll fill 20 pages with these characters walking down a dry dusty road."

I don't care how many books it takes Martin to tell the story as long as:
1) The quality stays the same.
2) He doesn't die before he finishes it.

 

[Onion Knight]

Yeah, I totally missed the importance of Jon's parentage thing on the first read. Then on the reread, I thought, "How did I miss that?" Then when I started reading the boards, I couldn't believe all of the layers of plot people were discussing that I'd missed or forgotten since my most recent read through. I think I'm going to start reading the series again when it gets colder outside. After all, winter is coming.

I'm worried that the guy will die like Jordan too. I read Eye of the World and thought that it was completely cliche' fantasy. Maybe the series got better as it went along, but I bailed. Martin's characters are written incredibly well. I just hope we get to find out how things end before he dies. I don't want to read the grand finale of a story that I'd been following for 10 years written by someone who is piecing together the original author's notes.

 

[Argent]

For the first three books, I didn't miss what I think are major plot points (yet) but I did miss some connections. (Like the story of the Laughing Knight and another story told at another point. I caught the Jon's parentage thing right away. 100% positive I know who the mother is and 99% positive I know who the dad is.

It wasn't until Crows that I found I missed some important things. One having to do with a person in Oldtown. The other having to do with the monks on the riverbank.

There are some therories I've heard that I can agree with, some that I can see where they got the idea, and some that are just out of left field. I love it.

 

[Joah]

My reading list is two miles long. I may just go right back and re-read the whole series again too though. Fantastic series.

 

[RichardD]

I've re-read WoT several times (thanks to rthe long gaps between volumes, and lack of any precis at the start). Loved it more on the fourth read-through than the first. Shame he went and craocked before finishing it (especially as the pacing of the books said to me that there were two more volumes required to finish it properly). All the flack about 50 pages for a bath, and 20 pages on a dusty road, is unfair IMO. The braid-tugging remarks are fair game, though.

ASOIAF is expanding at a more alarming fashion IMO. WoT was always going to be huge - conceived as 6 or 7 books, and expanding I can cope with; conceived as 3 books and with 5 or 6 so far (I can't remember the exact count, but one of the books was so huge that it was split into two still lrge volumes here in the UK) with no end in sight is scarcely any better, and arguably worse. Especially as there's a danger that he'll run out of characters! STill, it's good stuff; I just don't like having to wait 2-3 years between volumes.

 

[Riggler]

I steered clear of the forums. I have no doubt that there's unplumbed depths of intrigue I completely missed in the first read, but I also have no doubt he's never going to finish the series at this rate. Robert Jordan all over again.

I agree. If the quality of his next book in the series equels the last, I'm sure I won't care. ... Oh, wait, it is Robert Jordan all over again. This is about the number of books in RJ's series before it began to stink.

 

[DoesntCompute]

All the flack about 50 pages for a bath, and 20 pages on a dusty road, is unfair IMO. The braid-tugging remarks are fair game, though.

The braid tugging annoyed me but it was a dusty road that made me quit reading the series (which I almost never do). I was on book 7 or 8 and realized that I had been reading for awhile and couldn't remember anything other than the characters walking down a road happening. I went back and counted 20 pages of them walking down the road. I then re-read the section and determined that there was zero impact on the plot via dialog in those 20 pages. Nothing, absolutely nothing of worth had happened. I put the book down and vowed never to waste my time with a Jordan book again.

Martin's series has gotten bigger but I have never read a section of any of the books and felt that I was wasting my time.

 

[Onion Knight]

The only person who could talk about a dusty road for 20 pages, and get away with it, was Tolkien.

Does anyone have an opinion on other fantasy books that are comparable to ASOIAF? To me, it seems far superior than most fantasy that has been coming out over the last few decades. But, I haven't read enough of it to be sure.

 

[Velenne]

Martin's series has gotten bigger but I have never read a section of any of the books and felt that I was wasting my time.

Have you read "Feast for Crows" yet? Many of the showcased characters were entirely pointless and had zero discernible impact on the overall plot.

 

[Argent]

Have you read "Feast for Crows" yet? Many of the showcased characters were entirely pointless and had zero discernible impact on the overall plot.

I felt that way alot about Brienne's chapters, but then I realized that the main point of her chapters isn't so much to tell her story as it is to tell the Hound's story. From that perspective it seemed more worth while, but still some of my least favorite chapters in the book. I feel like a good bit of Feast was setting up for future storylines as well. Instead of saying "this happens because there was this attack on the princess." He shows us the attack, so that later he can go into the repercussions of it.

 

[Onion Knight]

Have you read "Feast for Crows" yet? Many of the showcased characters were entirely pointless and had zero discernible impact on the overall plot.

You don't mean that.

I understand that sentiment, but have you re-read it yet?

 

[Hahma]

The only person who could talk about a dusty road for 20 pages, and get away with it, was Tolkien.

Does anyone have an opinion on other fantasy books that are comparable to ASOIAF? To me, it seems far superior than most fantasy that has been coming out over the last few decades. But, I haven't read enough of it to be sure.

I really enjoyed Raymond E. Feist's Riftwar and Serpentwar series'. That's up there for me as a personal favorite along side ASOIAF. Start with Macigian Apprentice and keep going.

 

[DoesntCompute]

Martin's series has gotten bigger but I have never read a section of any of the books and felt that I was wasting my time.

Have you read "Feast for Crows" yet? Many of the showcased characters were entirely pointless and had zero discernible impact on the overall plot.

Yup and I disagree with your opinion of it. There are portions of the series that are slower than others but even the slow periods have a reason for being (imo, in some cases, we may not know that reason yet).

 

[Onion Knight]

I really enjoyed Raymond E. Feist's Riftwar and Serpentwar series'. That's up there for me as a personal favorite along side ASOIAF. Start with Macigian Apprentice and keep going.

I just looked it up on Wiki. Just what I was looking for. I'm going to pick it up on the way home from work.
Thanks.

 

[Hahma]

Martin's series has gotten bigger but I have never read a section of any of the books and felt that I was wasting my time.

Have you read "Feast for Crows" yet? Many of the showcased characters were entirely pointless and had zero discernible impact on the overall plot.

Yup and I disagree with your opinion of it. There are portions of the series that are slower than others but even the slow periods have a reason for being (imo, in some cases, we may not know that reason yet).

I agree DC. While there were some slow parts at times, I never felt that it was filler or wasteful.

 

[DoesntCompute]

I really enjoyed Raymond E. Feist's Riftwar and Serpentwar series'. That's up there for me as a personal favorite along side ASOIAF. Start with Macigian Apprentice and keep going.

I just looked it up on Wiki. Just what I was looking for. I'm going to pick it up on the way home from work.
Thanks.

Donaldson's White Gold Wielder series is a good read.

 

[Onion Knight]

Donaldson's White Gold Wielder series is a good read.

Thanks, DC. I picked up the first book from that series too. (Too bad that I read so slowly.)

 

[Riggler]

Martin's series has gotten bigger but I have never read a section of any of the books and felt that I was wasting my time.

Have you read "Feast for Crows" yet? Many of the showcased characters were entirely pointless and had zero discernible impact on the overall plot.

Finally, someone who is not such a "fanboy" that they are willing to realize his last book was an utter disappointment.

GRRM is too fat and happy collecting his knights and going to conventions.

 

[InfinityMax]

Martin's series has gotten bigger but I have never read a section of any of the books and felt that I was wasting my time.

Have you read "Feast for Crows" yet? Many of the showcased characters were entirely pointless and had zero discernible impact on the overall plot.

I was a little disappointed in Feast for Crows. It wasn't nearly as good as the previous books, particularly because it left out many of my favorite characters completely. I didn't feel like there was as much evolution of the plot as in previous books, and the stuff that did happen could have been much shorter and got to the same place.

 

[DoesntCompute]

Martin's series has gotten bigger but I have never read a section of any of the books and felt that I was wasting my time.

Have you read "Feast for Crows" yet? Many of the showcased characters were entirely pointless and had zero discernible impact on the overall plot.

I was a little disappointed in Feast for Crows. It wasn't nearly as good as the previous books, particularly because it left out many of my favorite characters completely. I didn't feel like there was as much evolution of the plot as in previous books, and the stuff that did happen could have been much shorter and got to the same place.

I felt like I was reading half a book. I viewed it as reading the first half of one of his regular books. An unusual situation but the book was better when I viewed it like that.

 

[Sweetcurse]

I disagree, FFC was awesome. I see it more as a book about the setting of ASOIF than a character piece, though there's plenty of that too. If you get over not having the main guys and just enjoy the ride across the world of Westeros, then you can have a great time.