Game of Thrones: Books

Rowan · Post by **Rowan** » Wed October 5th, 2011, 1:50 pm

Rebecca, I think you have hit the nail on the head for me and what annoys me most about this series: there are no leaps in time between books. It's like we're reading a moment by moment account of every character which is tedious. I get the feeling that Martin believes he is getting around this by having the 20 million points of view, but it is still tedious.

Brenna · Post by **Brenna** » Wed October 5th, 2011, 7:20 pm

[quote=""rebecca""]Hi faith

I think the most frustrating thing for me when it comes to Martin's plot lines is that the time zone stays the same, no-body seems to grow to maturity. Sansa and Arya are still children and that can be wearying to the reader. As for Jaime yep I can see his POV and his irritation over why so many hate him for kiling the mad king and call him 'Kingslayer' what was he supposed to do play tiddly winks for goodness sake! There is a touch of hypocrisy from all of them when it comes to the murder of the mad king. But I still swing back and forth with Jaime(there is his er sister thing and what he did to that child!) And now you know why I threw CoK across the room...How could he!!! At times I long to put Martin in the stocks and throw rotten eggs at him! lol.

Now I wait for 'Winds of Winter'...sigh...

Sharz--"A Dance with Dragons. Off to a good start but I'm keeping expectations lower..."

There is a revelation in ADWD and also another shocker...so reader rejoice and also beware. Isn't Martin a stinker at times? lol

Rowan--"Faith, I can understand your frustration, but when you have kids as POV characters.."

I wish Martin would move the characters on a bit ADWD would have been the perfect opportunity to move ahead a few years, but unfortunately he didn't. Now I have to tap my toes and wait for his new book...Goodness knows when that will be finished!

Bec

[/quote]

I can't believe you were able to get through FofC but gave up on Distant Hours. Really???

Madeleine · Post by **Madeleine** » Thu October 6th, 2011, 8:57 am

I wouldn't blame people for giving up on Distant Hours.

rebecca · Post by **rebecca** » Fri October 7th, 2011, 2:51 am

Brenna--"what was he supposed to do play tiddly winks for goodness sake!"(My quote)That made me laugh out loud this morning!....."I can't believe you were able to get through FofC but gave up on Distant Hours. Really???

Glad my comment gave you a laugh

, I have been in need of one myself lately. I've been dealing with a tummy bug for near on 2 weeks so when it came to Distant Hours I just could not be bothered following the plot and so I went for an easier read-biography of Wallis Simpson. But I did not throw out Distant hours so I probably will go back to it later.

Rowan--It's like we're reading a moment by moment account of every character which is tedious....Martin believes he is getting around this by having the 20 million points of view..."

I don't remember if it is written in one of his books where Martin says that he decided to stay with the current time and carry it into his next book so that the reader can see what happens to the characters X Y & Z....This is where Martin gets it wrong...A new novel is the perfect opportunity to move the characters along a few years...I mean at the end of the series is Arya still going to be a child? Sansa? Bran?..I do believe our criticism is a valid one and hopefully others are able to voice it to Martin himself. I have to admit he makes it hard for himself. *shakes head*.

Bec

fljustice · Post by **fljustice** » Fri October 7th, 2011, 2:23 pm

[quote=""rebecca""]A new novel is the perfect opportunity to move the characters along a few years...I mean at the end of the series is Arya still going to be a child? Sansa? Bran?..I do believe our criticism is a valid one and hopefully others are able to voice it to Martin himself. I have to admit he makes it hard for himself. *shakes head*.

[/quote]

Totally agree! It feels like he even goes back in time a little at the beginning of FoC when he deals with

I guess Marten counts on the delay in communication, but aren't ravens supposed to be the telegraphs of the civilization? I find it really hard to skim, but have been making a conscious effort to do so when he gets bogged down in descriptive detail.

rebecca · Post by **rebecca** » Sat October 8th, 2011, 1:05 am

Oh Faith I skim over chapters otherwise I'd feel as if I am continually treading water...I kind of speed read the Bran and Dany chapters and also Samwell.

I know what you mean about the flashbacks to earlier times and wonder if Martin is leading up to doing prequels after this series is finally finished? If so I wont be buying into it mainly because he simply takes too long to tell a story and I have no wish to wait years for his books.

I can't understand him in that he says himself that many of his books were a bitch to write...Well there is a remedy..MOVE the storyline along and stop introducing even more characters.

I have made the decision because of Martin to buy trilogies only and only then if they are completed. Last week Robin Hobb's books arrived but I will wait until my tummy bug is completely gone before I start reading it.

I don't know if anyone has info about when 'Winds of Winter' will be published?

Bec

Susan · Post by **Susan** » Sat October 22nd, 2011, 11:50 am

I have to go back and read this thread over now that I am well into book 2. I don't mind the plot, but I think this book could have used a good editing. Perhaps I am just anxious to finish it because I have SKP's Lionheart waiting in the wings.

fljustice · Post by **fljustice** » Sat October 22nd, 2011, 3:38 pm

I finished A Feast for Crows a week or so ago and now understand why Tyrion and company haven't shown up in this book. Do all the editions (mine's a mass market paperback) have Martin's coy little note at the end:

"Hey wait a minute!" some of you may be saying about now. "Wait a minute, wait a minute! Where's Dany and dragons? Where's Tyrion? We hardly saw Jon Snow. That can't be all of it..."

Well no. There's more to come. Another book as big as this one...I felt the readers would be better served by a book that told all the story for half the characters rather than half the story for all the characters...all the characters you love or love to hate will be along next year (I devoutly hope) in A Dance with Dragons...

And he lists a character that we're told a couple of times is killed in Crows. Martin has a habit of letting us think a character is dead then bringing them back in some bizarre way, or seems to bring them back and we find out, they really are still dead (ARRRGH!) I wonder how he'll handle this one in Dragons? Whatever. It'll be a few months before I tackle this one.

rebecca · Post by **rebecca** » Sun October 23rd, 2011, 5:37 am

[quote=""fljustice""]I finished A Feast for Crows a week or so ago and now understand why Tyrion and company haven't shown up in this book. Do all the editions (mine's a mass market paperback) have Martin's coy little note at the end:

"Hey wait a minute!" some of you may be saying about now. "Wait a minute, wait a minute! Where's Dany and dragons? Where's Tyrion? We hardly saw Jon Snow. That can't be all of it..."

Well no. There's more to come. Another book as big as this one...I felt the readers would be better served by a book that told all the story for half the characters rather than half the story for all the characters...all the characters you love or love to hate will be along next year (I devoutly hope) in A Dance with Dragons...

And he lists a character that we're told a couple of times is killed in Crows. Martin has a habit of letting us think a character is dead then bringing them back in some bizarre way, or seems to bring them back and we find out, they really are still dead (ARRRGH!) I wonder how he'll handle this one in Dragons? Whatever. It'll be a few months before I tackle this one.[/quote]

This is the bug bear I have with Martin, he needs to move the story line along but no he doesn't! In DWD it is the same time frame as FFC except it is focussed on the characters you didn't read in FFC. Confusing? Sometimes his books are..actually most of the time for me that is.

I will say that in DWD a major characters 'seems' to be killed off....but is he? Who knows when it comes to Martin! But I will now have to wait years to find out! Can you imagine a fave character gone and yet is he? Argh!!!! Now the long wait to find out....When 'Winds..' is released I will probably have to re-read DWD again so I can remember exactly what happened.

As I said never again will I read another long saga as this one.

Bec

Vanessa · Post by **Vanessa** » Wed October 26th, 2011, 7:00 pm

I got an email from Amazon today to say that I could get a free update to my Kindle edition of A Clash of Kings. Apparently there were a few typos and they've been corrected. I was wondering if it was some sort of bogus email but I don't think it is. So I replied to accept but I can't tell whether it's been updated or not! Well, I haven't read it yet, have I, so wouldn't know what the typos were!! LOL.