ASOIAF

[Ser]

Anybody a fan of George R. R. Martin?

A Song of Ice and Fire, is the best fantasy I have ever read, due to its gritty realism and historic parallels. Terrific stuff, anybody else here an enthusiast?

 

[loveofreason]

I've not heard of his work. I'm actually a reformed sci-fi fantasy bookaholic, and since they prised the last David Gemmel out of my hands, I've read hardly a one.

The title sounds alluring.

 

[Queen of Winter]

Me! Me! Me!



Unfortunately here in Italy they cut the books in two and it takes like a year to translate them!
(and less than a week to read them...)

I was a lover of fantasy literature in my teens and the only saga I really enjoy to read now is ASOIAF

 

[Wisp]

It is a pretty title, but I have too much to read already....

 

[Devercia]

I often here it compared with LOTR, but the two are so unbefitting of comparison. More like contrast. The moral ambiguity, enormous amount of characters and their depth, combined with GRRM's atypical follow threw on threats to kill characters makes it one of the most gritty and mature books I have ever read, in spite of the low-fantasy stereotype that is so stagnant and polarized in other stories.

I perticularly like the fact that there is no clear protagonist or antagonist. It like the saying goes "history is written by the victors" except the history hasn't been written yet, so there is no good or evil.

The book first and foremost is a political intrigue and suspence story. The fantasy elements mostly add flavor to the main plot, rather than being the focus like in the vast majority of other fantasy.

I highly recommend it.

PS the prologue gave a false impression.

 

[Privateer]

I'm a die-hard Stark supporter, myself.

 

[Dr. Why]

I have just finished reading the second novel actually. It is one of my favorite fantasy series so far. Personally though, I am rooting for Daenerys. Restoration of the Targaryens for the win!

 

[JoeJoe]

YESYESYESYESYES!!!!
My favourite books of all time!
I love how you have lots of different viewpoints and how for example Jaime Lannister is such an ass and in the third book he totally transforms. Or what a relief it is when Cersei totally fails when she wants to get rid of Margaery. Or the complexity.
My favourite character is Jon Snow, in another forum I've read he's an INTJ. I wonder what types the other characters have.
I guess Ned Stark is an ISTJ.
Arya Stark: ESFP?
Sansa Stark: ISFJ?

What do you think?

 

[Latro]

I perticularly like the fact that there is no clear protagonist or antagonist. It like the saying goes "history is written by the victors" except the history hasn't been written yet, so there is no good or evil.

I dunno, there's some moral ambiguity, but the Lannisters minus Tyrion are pretty much universally made to look bad while the Starks are pretty much universally made to look good. At least where I am (most of the way done with A Storm of Swords).

 

[Sapphire Harp]

I dunno, there's some moral ambiguity, but the Lannisters minus Tyrion are pretty much universally made to look bad while the Starks are pretty much universally made to look good. At least where I am (most of the way done with A Storm of Swords).

The ambiguity rises when you think about things in terms of harsh reality.... The Starks have a greater respect for justice, law, and acting right... while the Lannisters will do whatever they think needs to be done. The Starks are generally more moral, but anyone who has read it knows about how far that carries them... The Lannisters are moral less often, but have a much greater chance to apply it...

Tywin Lannister: "I don't see how it's nobler to kill a thousand men on the battlefield than to murder a dozen men at dinner..."

It's hard to appreciate the Lannisters at first - but my sympathies go with Tyrion the entire way. He's definitely my favorite character and I feel a real strong affinity with him... partly because I've long felt different and unappreciated (typical INTP case, yes?), but also because I didn't care much for my appearance until I lost the majority of my excess weight three years ago...

(Tyrion is the third child of the head of the Lannister family and was born deformed - he's usually referred to as an imp or dwarf... and he's might be the character with the greatest acumen available... and sarcastically witty to boot. )

By the by - it sounds like HBO is producing a television series of this about on the magnitude they used to create 'Rome'. It should be wonderful.
​

 

[zxc]

Oh yes, quite possibly my favourite fantasy series. The first three books are the best fantasy books I've ever read. Apparently GRRM is starting to progress well on A Dance with Dragons, mentioned in one of his recent blog posts (he rarely talks about how the writing is going).

The HBO series also looks interesting.

 

[snowqueen]

ooh I'm intrigued - I'm going into town later and will look them out.

And hi Queen of Winter! Are we neighbours?

 

[Anling]

I've heard good things about these books. They're on my list of things to read. Unfortunately my library doesn't have the first book. It has some of the others but not the first. Sometimes I wonder about the person in charge of acquisitions.

 

[zxc]

I've heard good things about these books. They're on my list of things to read. Unfortunately my library doesn't have the first book. It has some of the others but not the first. Sometimes I wonder about the person in charge of acquisitions.

I suppose you can download a pdf ebook version, or an audiobook version (which is quite good). I've used ebooks in emergency situations (like when I've finished a book early and stuck at home without the next one) and it's not my favourite way of reading, but it's better than nothing (unless you're willing to wait, for the best experience possible).

I first found out about the series several months ago from the Fantasy thread on this very forum. One day a few months ago I was at my uni's leisure library and I saw the books, so I borrowed the first one.

 

[Anling]

I would download it, but my lap top died and I only have intermittant access to my parent's computer now. I'll get it in dead tree form eventually.