Post by johnnyreb1977 on Jul 3, 2005 11:22:42 GMT -5
Is anyone here a fan of George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series? The first three books are A Game of Thrones; A Clash of Kings; and A Storm of Swords. The fourth, finally coming out this fall, is A Feast for Crows.
For those of you who read this and haven't read ASoIaF Martin's saga is the best fantasy series since Tolkien's Lord of the Rings. But, it is far different than that older, grand tale. It's harder. It's grittier. The characters are real, with human virtues as well as human vices. They're greedy, vengeful, honorable and sinister.
The story begins across the Wall, in the lands of the Others and the wildlings of King Mance Rayder. You can feel the ice crunching under your feet as the characters move and hear the fierce winds howl. Soon, the story turns to our main characters, the Starks of Winterfell: Eddard Stark and his wife Caitlyn; His sons Robb and Brandon (Bran) and his daughters Sansa and Arya; and his son out of wedlock, Jon Snow.
It isn't long before other characters appear -- our supposed villains the Lannisters: Tywin Lannister and his children: Jaime, the Lion of Lannister; Tyrion the dwarf; Cercei, Tywin's daughter and Queen of the Seven Kingdoms, wife of King Robert Baratheon. Then, there is Daenerys and her brother, Vyseris of House Targaryen
The thing is, though...After a while the lines get blurred. You get to see everyone's point of view in different chapters and it's harder and harder to muddle through the grey fog to find a true villain. You find yourself wondering what you would do in their situations and then you begin to sympathise and empathise with them. And when you do that, you truly learn to love every character. You hold your breath as you speed through the pages, and watch the movie of the novels run through your mind.
As I said, it is absolutely the best series out there today. If there is anyone here who is a fan and would like to discuss the books, post on. Winter is coming.
Addendum: I need to make one change. I said you can empathise and sympathise with all the characters. Not totally true. I despise Sansa Stark. I hate her hate her hate her. Martin, kill her off please!
For those of you who read this and haven't read ASoIaF Martin's saga is the best fantasy series since Tolkien's Lord of the Rings. But, it is far different than that older, grand tale. It's harder. It's grittier. The characters are real, with human virtues as well as human vices. They're greedy, vengeful, honorable and sinister.
The story begins across the Wall, in the lands of the Others and the wildlings of King Mance Rayder. You can feel the ice crunching under your feet as the characters move and hear the fierce winds howl. Soon, the story turns to our main characters, the Starks of Winterfell: Eddard Stark and his wife Caitlyn; His sons Robb and Brandon (Bran) and his daughters Sansa and Arya; and his son out of wedlock, Jon Snow.
It isn't long before other characters appear -- our supposed villains the Lannisters: Tywin Lannister and his children: Jaime, the Lion of Lannister; Tyrion the dwarf; Cercei, Tywin's daughter and Queen of the Seven Kingdoms, wife of King Robert Baratheon. Then, there is Daenerys and her brother, Vyseris of House Targaryen
The thing is, though...After a while the lines get blurred. You get to see everyone's point of view in different chapters and it's harder and harder to muddle through the grey fog to find a true villain. You find yourself wondering what you would do in their situations and then you begin to sympathise and empathise with them. And when you do that, you truly learn to love every character. You hold your breath as you speed through the pages, and watch the movie of the novels run through your mind.
As I said, it is absolutely the best series out there today. If there is anyone here who is a fan and would like to discuss the books, post on. Winter is coming.
Addendum: I need to make one change. I said you can empathise and sympathise with all the characters. Not totally true. I despise Sansa Stark. I hate her hate her hate her. Martin, kill her off please!