Feast For Crows rocks so far!(small spoilers)

[Justin]

Ok, perhaps some of you will remember my recent, Marvin-the-Robot-depression-inducing thread about not being able to find anything to read. I'd mentioned that I don't like excessive sex and/or violence in my fiction (or in real life for that matter, but that's another can of wyrms). But I have seen so many people raving about this series and I simply cannot understand it, based on my brief, ill-fated, 100-page excursion into A Game of Thrones.

So, I am honestly looking for an explanation of why so many people love this series. What is it about it that people truly enjoy? Did I just not give it enough time? I would truly love to read a series that is as expansive and richly detailed as this one seems to be, if only I could get past my aforementioned dislikes.

Justin

 

[BastionLightbringer]

So, I am honestly looking for an explanation of why so many people love this series. What is it about it that people truly enjoy? Did I just not give it enough time? I would truly love to read a series that is as expansive and richly detailed as this one seems to be, if only I could get past my aforementioned dislikes.

Justin

Well for me, I love the characters and how nobody is invincible. There is no superhuman fighting machines. I feel the violence helps deliver the feel and danger of the medievel time period. Martin does tend to go overboard w/ the sex , but thats in the 2nd & 3rd books(IIRC), and is usually important to the plot.

As far as not giving them enough time, I was hooked by page 70(i think) of Game of Thrones. I say keep reading, It can get overwhelming with all the characters and families, but the more you read the more it makes sense.

Bastion

 

[Kahuna Burger]

Ok, perhaps some of you will remember my recent, Marvin-the-Robot-depression-inducing thread about not being able to find anything to read. I'd mentioned that I don't like excessive sex and/or violence in my fiction (or in real life for that matter, but that's another can of wyrms). But I have seen so many people raving about this series and I simply cannot understand it, based on my brief, ill-fated, 100-page excursion into A Game of Thrones.

So, I am honestly looking for an explanation of why so many people love this series. What is it about it that people truly enjoy? Did I just not give it enough time? I would truly love to read a series that is as expansive and richly detailed as this one seems to be, if only I could get past my aforementioned dislikes.

Justin

no. You have tastes that do not include this series of books. I congratlate you on figuring this out in 100 pages, rather than trudging on through three books assuming people would not have put onto a sucky series until you were finally forced to acknowlege that you had wasted your time.

The people raving about this book have different tastes than you. If you think it sucks, it sucks for you and I can assure you that it will only suck more if you force yourself on. I read the first three books and they still sucked by the end. (for me - I know my tastes aren't universal, because someone must be eating all that poi.)

 

[Steel_Wind]

Simple. 100 pages only? You bailed too soon. For me it didn't get going till page 150 or so.

This is the best fantasy series ever written. I do not hedge on that opinion. Given that this opinion is widely shared, it would seem reasonable that where there is a great deal of smoke there is *some* fire.

I suggest that you pick up a Game of Thrones, start again, and continue to read.

 

[Justin]

Simple. 100 pages only? You bailed too soon. For me it didn't get going till page 150 or so.

This is the best fantasy series ever written. I do not hedge on that opinion. Given that this opinion is widely shared, it would seem reasonable that where there is a great deal of smoke there is *some* fire.

I suggest that you pick up a Game of Thrones, start again, and continue to read.

I appreciate your enthusiasm, but could you elaborate, much as BastionLightbringer did a couple of posts ago, on what about the series that you like so much?

One thing I realized, however, is that I had the same problem with Peter Hamilton's "Night's Dawn" series. Talk about sex and violence! I liked a lot of the characters and concepts in the first two books (one book for those outside the US), but the extreme, graphic nature was a severe turn off.

 

[Justin]

no. You have tastes that do not include this series of books. I congratlate you on figuring this out in 100 pages, rather than trudging on through three books assuming people would not have put onto a sucky series until you were finally forced to acknowlege that you had wasted your time.

The people raving about this book have different tastes than you. If you think it sucks, it sucks for you and I can assure you that it will only suck more if you force yourself on. I read the first three books and they still sucked by the end. (for me - I know my tastes aren't universal, because someone must be eating all that poi.)

Thanks for the blunt honesty. This is what will most likely be the case, though I wanted to make sure I was giving the series a fair shake. I read the ~1200 pages of Hamilton's Reality Dysfunction twice before giving up on trying to proceed with the rest of the series, and that was a painful read.

 

[Starman]

Well, I just finished reading it. Was it as good as the first three books? No. It was still good; I enjoyed it. However, I was let down.

It felt very obvious that this was half of a book. I think that including the missing POVs from Jon, Daenerys, Bran, Davos, and Tyrion would have fleshed things out more and made this book all that it could have been. Their absence was a huge weight that this half of the book just couldn't lift.

Likes:
The glimpses into Littlefinger's plotting was interesting, although it didn't really go anywhere. He did a clever job of buying time in the Vale, though. It was also nice to see Sansa maturing and beginning to learn from Petyr.

Arya's chapters were a treat as usual. She's going to be quite the killer. My jaw dropped when she killed Daeron so casually.

Sam's chapter's were also good. I'm glad that he finally bedded Gilly and it was good to see more of Maester Aemon.

I'm glad Cersei seems to be reaping her due at the end of the book.

Jamie backhanding Conningham for speaking ill of Brienne. I also liked his training with Payne. He seems to be slowly regaining some of his skill.

It was cool to learn more about the Iron Islands and Dorne. Hotah was cool and Damphair was scary.

Dislikes:
Cersei. I know Martin needed somebody's viewpoint for events in King's Landing, but did it have to be Cersei. I disliked her more with every chapter.

Since Martin did not give the characters in Dorne and the Iron Islands their own names for the chapters, I got the impression that we would not be seeing these viewpoints often or again. It would have been nice if he had found one viewpoint in each to stick with so we could get some continuity. Aeron would have been perfect for the Iron Islands as he is in the thick of it and he is an interesting character. Areo Hotah seemed a lot more interesting than Arianne Martell, but I don't know if he was involved enough to give a good view of what was going on in Dorne.

I like Brienne, but her story didn't really go anywhere until the end.

Death has not improved Catelyn at all. I like her even less now that she's dead. How does that work?

Of course, my biggest complaint is still the missing half of the book. I wonder if it wouldn't have been better for Martin to divide it in half by time rather than by character. The story has grown to be about more than the Starks, although they are still the heart of it. I want to read about them, darn it!

 

[Steel_Wind]

Based on the reactions posted to the SoIaF forums, virtually everything you've said Starman appears to be the general overall reaction.

There are a few interesting easter eggs though. Here's a few for you:

Spoiler

1. The Alchemist who kills Pate in the Prologue matches the description, feature for feature, of the form taken by Jaqen H'gar when he changed before Arya's eyes.

2. The Sphinx, Alleras in Oldtown is not male; she's a female in disguise. The riddle is that she is Serella of Dorne in disguise.

3. Sandor Clegane is alive and was the grave digger on the Quiet Isle near Saltpans.

4. Theory: the Horn of Darkness found by Euron is not a horn of Dragon control, it's the Horn meant to bring down the wall. The Horn of Jaruman found by Mance is probably the one to control dragons. Fire opposes Ice; Ice opposes Fire. When Euron uses it as his hole card against Dany - he'll get his cooked. But by sounding it, the horn may already have caused a crack in the Wall.

 

[Steel_Wind]

I appreciate your enthusiasm, but could you elaborate, much as BastionLightbringer did a couple of posts ago, on what about the series that you like so much?

On reflection, no. ASoIaF has a few hundred fan sites, is #1 this week on Amazon.com and, save for Mr. Potter, is currently the most popular fictional series in print.

So... no, I think, on reflection, there is more than enough material out there for you to decide why people love the books and why they are so popular. Comparing them to your reaction regarding a relatively obscure SF series seemed to me wholly bizarre. In the end, you are either going to read this series or you're not. I feel no need to seek converts to the cause or to advocate the series any further. If sexual themes make you uneasy - then they do.

Up to you.

 

[KenM]

So will "A Dance with Dragons", the next one due out be only the other half of Crows? Or will it be a a full book?