posted
Well, there's also the fact that it's a question of wanting it done fast and wanting it done right.
From what I've read, he's been working a lot on it, but also has a tendency to go back and delete a lot of his work because it isn't good enough (in his mind.)
I'd rather have a good one that took awhile than a bad one that was on schedule... still, I'd like to see more of what happens next!
Posts: 1577 | Registered: Sep 2005
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posted
Same. I thought affc was substandard with respect to the others (still good, tho), so I hope the lengthy gap has meant that whatever lead to it not being quite so good (too many PoVs? high attrition rate of 'villains'?) will not be present in adwd. The lengthy wait has dulled my anticipation somewhat for the simple reason that I have forgotten a lot. When I'm sure it will be released I might start re-reading the series- or I might hold off until the final book of the series is to be released. I started reading them when I was a grad student with a relaxed adviser and so could go on reading binges. I just can't do that now so getting up to speed will take some time.
Posts: 644 | Registered: Sep 2008
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posted
Speaking of A Feast For Crows, I'm actually deep into it already. I'm enjoying it, though I'm missing pretty much all my favorite characters save Jaime.
And I've gotten to
***SPOILERS***
The Cersei chapters. Dear God, it's like she takes offense at everything anyone says at all times. What a bitch.
Posts: 1577 | Registered: Sep 2005
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posted
Gosh I hate Cersei. My biggest beef with the series is that Martin forces me to be in her head.
Posts: 1903 | Registered: Sep 2003
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posted
Heh, she is probably the best example of a character who is thoroughly stupid and evil even after you're seeing the world through her eyes in a book I've read.
Posts: 17164 | Registered: Jun 2001
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posted
I was disappointed by his portrayal of Cersei; I just didn't find it believable that a character that stupid and petty would actually be capable of much of what she'd orchestrated in the previous three books.
Posts: 16059 | Registered: Aug 2000
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posted
Well, most of what she did was made possible by her families wealth and influence, not by her personally. I know a few people IRL who are in the same boat.
Posts: 15082 | Registered: Jul 2001
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posted
*nod* I mean, really, what did Cersei herself orchestrate? Most of the "genius" moves on her behalf were actually Littlefinger's, ultimately done to benefit himself.
Posts: 37449 | Registered: May 1999
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posted
Well, you may have a point. I'll have to keep the question in mind the next time I reread the series.
Posts: 1087 | Registered: Jul 1999
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posted
I am almost done with the 3rd book and I will buy and finish the series. However, I do not think this series is classic or even really really great. It is decent, but sometimes it reads like a fan fic of his own world.
If I were to sum up the series for someone who hasn't read it, it would go like this:
The story kicks off good. You grow to love the characters. Someone eats meat and grease drips into the fire. They wander around. The character you grew to love dies. More good story develops. You slog through boring history and genealogy. Someone eats more meat and the grease drips on their chin. Someone you like dies. Someone doesn't get to where they want. There is a feast and the grease from meat dribbles down someone's fingers. Someone else dies. A new character comes. More boring history. Sex. bard songs, lots of food description and wilderness description, and more grease drips somewhere from meat. There is lots of boring descriptions, running around, and padding of the story. I think the author wanted to draw it out over 5 long books instead of 3 so he could make more money.
It is a good concept, fantastic characters, and a great world, but it is very repetitive and has way too much fluff. Seriously, if you were to take a shot after each time he describes the grease dripping off the meat you would have a very nice buzz after reading for a few hours.
Posts: 2445 | Registered: Oct 2004
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posted
Tastes vary of course, but I'm trying to think back - I've read `em all twice, but it's been awhile - and I can't really recall much that was fluff, definitely not 'way too much' fluff.
Posts: 17164 | Registered: Jun 2001
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quote: You slog through boring history and genealogy
I thought some of the history was pretty boring, until I read this awesome interpretation (spoilers) of the events at the The Tourney of Harrenhal that just blew my mind.
Hint: Pay attention to Meera's version of the story and think really hard about who the mystery knight really is.
Posts: 1592 | Registered: May 2000
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posted
I dunno, I can't really agree. There's a lot of description, and Martin clearly likes a lot of it, but compare it to some real, honest pointless description, the sort that really makes a story drag (I'm looking at you, unabridged 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea) and this stuff just doesn't compare.
And this stuff isn't really repetitive from what I've seen, either. I've read other books that went into painful detail of every single meal the characters eat, the details of cooking, etc, that went on what I suspect would make up a small novel all itself, and certainly compared to that I don't find any repetition.
But then, comparing this to really glaring examples isn't the best manner of comparison.
Still, what fluff? What scene is superfluous? Heck, even the pointless Sansa scenes show vital things that are going on. Even if none of them have anything to do with Sansa, who at page 800+ of A Feast for Crows has still done nothing at all. For the fourth book straight. But hey, you got to see all sorts of cool things through her perspective, which mattered to the plot!
But yeah. What scenes were pointless? The pace is really fast in this series, from my perspective. Things don't usually drag at all. Except for Brienne in A Feast for Crows, anyway. She doesn't really do anything either, but when has she ever done anything, really?
Spoilers:
I always figured the mystery knight was Lyanna. But that thread makes me think it might have been Eddard, too. But yeah, that tourney is the pivotal event in the backstory, certainly the most interesting point in time.
Posts: 1577 | Registered: Sep 2005
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quote:Even if none of them have anything to do with Sansa, who at page 800+ of A Feast for Crows has still done nothing at all.
She got most of her family killed, one way or another, by repeatedly choosing to side with or believe the wrong person at the wrong time.
Posts: 37449 | Registered: May 1999
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posted
True. There is that. And yeah, I forgot, she is the one who ultimately got so much of her family killed.
Granted, technically only three of them are dead... and one of them only technically dead. But the rest of them are still kind of screwed.
Take Arya. I read the cliches, and expected where she was going to go in the story.
Then she turned out totally different, and in a really frightening way, too. Gotta love that. Scariest 11 year old I've read in awhile.
Posts: 1577 | Registered: Sep 2005
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posted
Aren't two of Sansa's family "technically dead"?
Edit: Wait, no, I misinterpreted. Two are definitely dead, one is technically-mostly-sort of dead. Rereading is a bonus!
Posts: 3932 | Registered: Sep 1999
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