Support NeoGAF

[tokkun]

Oh and for anyone who cares one of the other new POVs has already been revealed as well as the POV for the prologue.

The new POV is

Spoiler

Asha Greyjoy

Not exactly new, though.

My thoughts are that the brand new POV will be Ser Loras. The Hound is better as a third party, because most of his appeal is his unpredictability and the way his inner conflict comes through in his actions. Melisandre knows too much.

How were the various books accepted by fans such as yourselves? As I said earlier I'm loving Game of Thrones. Does the series continue to be that good, is there some type of consensus on certain books, etc?

I would say that all of the first three books are excellent. The fourth book is just 'good'. It's still well-written, but most of the POVs were from characters I didn't like or can't relate to. Actually, as I look over the list of chapters from A Feast for Crows,

Spoiler

it seems like 75% of the POV chapters are from female characters, who I don't think GRRM writes as well, and pretty much all of these characters are either very naive or unintelligent.

Overall, that book seemed to have a more depressed tone to it than the others. Fortunately it really picks up towards the end of the book, leaving me optimistic for Dance, if it ever comes out.

He's been saying "close to finishing it" for the past two years. I don't believe that bullshit anymore. Will only continue to read when all books are out.

Good luck with that. He didn't look like the healthiest fellow when I saw him in 2005, and he said that he has no documents that would allow anyone to publish the ending posthumously. Actually, what he said was "If I die, you're all shit-out-of-luck".

 

[coldvein]

Good luck with that. He didn't look like the healthiest fellow when I saw him in 2005, and he said that he has no documents that would allow anyone to publish the ending posthumously. Actually, what he said was "If I die, you're all shit-out-of-luck".

ouch.

 

[suffah]

I've been to a couple of his signings and used to read his blog. This dude really loves the attention he gets meeting his fans face to face. It's ridiculous how much time he spends going to this convention or that award ceremony, etc.

Finish the damn series Martin! 3-4 years between books is really too much.

Also, do people really compare Erickson to Martin? I enjoyed reading Erickson, own all the Malazan hardcovers, but they are on completely different levels imo.

 

[Brian Fellows]

Not exactly new, though.

My thoughts are that the brand new POV will be Ser Loras. The Hound is better as a third party, because most of his appeal is his unpredictability and the way his inner conflict comes through in his actions. Melisandre knows too much.

I dont think Mel knows nearly as much as she thinks she does or atleast as she leads on.


But yeah you're right about Asha. Guess I didnt need to spoiler that one after all.

 

[methodman]

I understand you haven't(can't have) read Gene Wolfe, and that is the problem with most people who go crazy over this series, but those kind of statements are really kind of pointless.

I have read Gene Wolfe, and I've also read Guy Gavriel Kay, both of whom also have a great prose, but not (IMFO) better then GRRMs. Gene Wolfe uses too much allusion, while GGK just doesn't do it for me. Obviously you disagree, but why do you think I haven't read these other authors?

How were the various books accepted by fans such as yourselves? As I said earlier I'm loving Game of Thrones. Does the series continue to be that good, is there some type of consensus on certain books, etc?

AGOT - It's hard to compare this to other books, because it is just so much different then others. Look at QVT's post earlier, he was upset that certain characters died... In other fantasy books, you never see one of the main characters die so quickly.

A Clash of Kings - Freaking Awesome. The females are actually readable, and they have layers of emotions, unlike many other fantasy authors.

A Storm of Swords - The best book fantasy book I've ever read. The reason why this series is so good: There is no true bad guys, and no true good guys. Your favorite character has a chance to die, and he just might.

A Feast For Crows - Many people hate on this book, but it had to be written. We had to know what was going on in King's Landing, and A Dance With Dragons deals with all the best characters so obviously all the fans who despised what happened in this book will love the next one. I really liked this book because he writes just as good as his other ones, but we learn some more about the other characters who are pretty important.

I'd rate them like this: ASoS, ACoK, AFFC, AGOT

 

[Decado]

I enjoy Erikson's books more than Martin's. A Feast for Crows was rubbish and drags the quality of the series down significantly. I'm also getting a bit sick of so much of the books' being written in the POV of children.

BTW, anyone know what is happening with the HBO series?

 

[Dartastic]

I used to live in Santa Fe, and I actually met GRRM at the first screening of Lord of the Rings. Really nice guy. I wish I still lived in New Mexico so I could go see him again at Page One and beg him to write faster. A Feast For Crows had very, very few viewpoints I actually enjoyed, so I'm really looking forward to this book coming out. Please, please hurry.

 

[Kildace]

Also, do people really compare Erickson to Martin? I enjoyed reading Erickson, own all the Malazan hardcovers, but they are on completely different levels imo.

Overall I like Erikson's world and characters more than Martin's, especially after book 3 after which I only care about (spoilers so people don't know that they're not dead)

Spoiler

Arya, Jon, Dany & Tyrion.

Erikson's characters really are much more charismatic and more interesting than the average Martin character after book 3.

I agree that at its best (basically the second part of book 3), Martin is better than Erikson, but as a whole and in entertainment value I like Erikson's books more. The fact that he *will* finish his series and doesn't spend his life in conventions is also a huge plus for me.

 

[Brian Fellows]

I used to live in Santa Fe, and I actually met GRRM at the first screening of Lord of the Rings. Really nice guy. I wish I still lived in New Mexico so I could go see him again at Page One and beg him to write faster. A Feast For Crows had very, very few viewpoints I actually enjoyed, so I'm really looking forward to this book coming out. Please, please hurry.

I loved Cersei's, Jaime's, Arya's, Sansa's, and Arianne/Oakhart's POVs. Sam's and the Iron Born were alright. Brienne's was boring.

I just wish he'd have picked one POV for Dorne(Arinanne) and one for the Iron Islands(Victarion) instead of breaking his own format. Kinda made things feel sloppy to me.

 

[Drinky Crow]

please god never let grr martin write another sex scene again, i don't need his experience with pornography so painfully recreated on a page

 

[QVT]

please god never let grr martin write another sex scene again, i don't need his experience with pornography so painfully recreated on a page

 

[Drinky Crow]

every time i read about "the heat between her loins" or how "his seed was acrid on her tongue" or how "he rubbed her moistness" or somesuch penthouse-grade nonsense i see that picture and i pray for cataracts in my mind's rolling eye

 

[QVT]

every time i read about "the heat between her loins" or "his seed was acrid on her tongue" or "he rubbed her moistness" or somesuch penthouse-grade nonsense i see that picture and i pray for cataracts in my mind's rolling eye

I'm the same way. I think it's the squint.

 

[Gruco]

Not exactly new, though.

My thoughts are that the brand new POV will be Ser Loras. The Hound is better as a third party, because most of his appeal is his unpredictability and the way his inner conflict comes through in his actions. Melisandre knows too much.

The new POV has alread been revealed. In addition to

Spoiler

Asha Greyjoy

mentioned earlier in the thread, the 100% new one is

Spoiler

Quentyn Martell

 

[Jenga]

The new POV has alread been revealed. In addition to

Spoiler

Asha Greyjoy

mentioned earlier in the thread, the 100% new one is

Spoiler

Quentyn Martell

Ya, we knew that for a while now. He meant he was adding a new POV PREVIOUSLY unknown before the Jan. 1 '08 post.

 

[Gruco]

Oh, holy crap, guess I didn't read the update closely enough.

 

[ElyrionX]

That's George RR Martin? WTH. How old is he? If something happens to him before he finishes the series.......

 

[Ponn]

God dammnit. A Dance with Dragons topic should be banned unless it has "its done" and "releasing on X date"

 

[Tim the Wiz]

No. You are saying that without having read any of the writers who shit all over him.

I happen to dislike his plot, characters, style, and everything else except his basic prose and that's why I don't like him, but nobody should talk about his prose being anything more than a small step above Robert Jordan and Terry Goodkind.

I understand you haven't(can't have) read Gene Wolfe, and that is the problem with most people who go crazy over this series, but those kind of statements are really kind of pointless.

:lol BTW, Chinua Achebe > Vladimir Nabokov.

 

[Sirpopopop]

George RR Martin & John David Booty took turns with QVT's girlfriend.

That's why he's got such hate for both of them.

 

[Nicodimas]

random question: Has Hbo decided to make his series or not. I know its going against a king arthur tv series and only one will go. IS there any news on this front?

 

[Brian Fellows]

random question: Has Hbo decided to make his series or not. I know its going against a king arthur tv series and only one will go. IS there any news on this front?

From 12/18

3:38pm: No News Is ... No News
Lately I've been getting a lot of emails asking me for the latest news about HBO and their prospective adaptation of A GAME OF THRONES.

I appreciate the interest, really, but there is no news. No good news. No bad news. No news of any sort. With much of Hollywood presently shut down because of the writer's strike, I can't even say when there will be news.

I try to keep my fans and readers updated on everything that's happening -- with this and with all my other projects -- here on my Not-A-Blog, and on the News page of my website. If there was any news worth reporting, you'd read it there. Honest.

 

[Stinkles]

every time i read about "the heat between her loins" or how "his seed was acrid on her tongue" or how "he rubbed her moistness" or somesuch penthouse-grade nonsense i see that picture and i pray for cataracts in my mind's rolling eye

Drinky's rage clouded his vision. He smashed the goblet into the stone fireplace, watching in contempt as the flames flared, dragon tongues licking wildly at the blackened flue. He thought then of Denaerys, and the familiar flames of desire licked at his memory. I must have a wank, he considered.

 

[Triumph]

Only in volume.

PFFFT.

I guess if you like whiny teenage girls, SoIaF is better. If you like BADASS wizards with 12 souls trapped inside them outsmarting the gods themselves, Malazan is for you!

 

[Brian Fellows]

PFFFT.

I guess if you like whiny teenage girls, SoIaF is better. If you like BADASS wizards with 12 souls trapped inside them outsmarting the gods themselves, Malazan is for you!

You just make both books sound shitty. You fail.

 

[Tim the Wiz]

PFFFT.

I guess if you like whiny teenage girls, SoIaF is better. If you like BADASS wizards with 12 souls trapped inside them outsmarting the gods themselves, Malazan is for you!

Quick Ben! :rock

 

[BlueTsunami]

PFFFT.

I guess if you like whiny teenage girls, SoIaF is better. If you like BADASS wizards with 12 souls trapped inside them outsmarting the gods themselves, Malazan is for you!

I've been reading "A Game of Thrones" and god do I hate when the next chapter reads "SANSA: DAWSON'S CREEK "I don wanna' wait!". Though, when she gets explained too, how The Hound got his face burnt, that was fucken awesome.

Oh and I must thank PD for piquing my interest in this series. All the books that are currently released should last me a couple of weeks and then I'll jump on Triumph's Malazan train.

 

[KingGondo]

I've been reading "A Game of Thrones" and god do I hate when the next chapter reads "SANSA: DAWSON'S CREEK "I don wanna' wait!". Though, when she gets explained too, how The Hound got his face burnt, that was fucken awesome.

Give it a chance... as the story develops, Sansa's thread becomes quite effective. GRRM is great at building up tension and hitting you with something unexpected.

 

[Draft]

^^^

Anyone?

They're all great. Unlike say, The Dark Tower, which totally falls to pieces at the end. The last SoIaF book caught a lot of guff from people because it didn't have some of the fan favorite POV characters in it, but I think that's one of it's charms. I really, really enjoyed the Cersei, Jaime and Brien chapters, and thought they became interesting characters throughout the course of the book.

 

[PhoenixDark]

Give it a chance... as the story develops, Sansa's thread becomes quite effective. GRRM is great at building up tension and hitting you with something unexpected.

I agree. I'm almost done with the book, and Sansa's story becomes quite relevant. The early chapters essentially build her character up, explaining how she thinks. But yeah I agree, early on when I saw her name on the upcoming chapter I rolled my eyes; her sister is so much cooler.

 

[Flynn]

Give it a chance... as the story develops, Sansa's thread becomes quite effective. GRRM is great at building up tension and hitting you with something unexpected.

Sansa is the easiest Stark to hate from the outset -- that means she has the furthest to grow. I think the underlying theme in this series is that those with narrow world views and the inability to adapt always suffer. No matter if you're a good guy or a bad guy.

With each of the main characters we see them learn to adapt themselves to their increasingly difficult situations and learn to look at the world differently.

Sansa has the most difficult time initially because she was raised to be a princess. That's all she's known and her narrow, romantic view of the world suited her purpose -- to represent the Starks in court.

But where the Starks understood war and survival from being in the North and hardened by battles, Sansa never had the chance to hone her "skills" as a royal. And when she finally made it into the big leagues they were much different than she expected. Her story is about her coming to terms with that and, eventually (hopefully) morphing into a creature that better understands and works that world.

It ain't swords and dragons, but it's a distinct angle on medieval worlds that G.R.R. Martin choses to explore. And it's not just Sansa he's exploring it with.

 

[Brian Fellows]

Sansa is gonna be the baddest bitch in the 7 kingdoms and not even Dany will be able to stand before her!

 

[BlueTsunami]

I just got to the part where the wildling girl Oslo tells Bran that

Spoiler

his brother should direct his troops to the North where the real threat is (the Others already turned some of the Rangers into undeads). Mmmmmmm foreboding. I love when a Fantasy book sets up a very mysterious part of the world where in the inhabitants in the book know nothing of it.

Sansa is still a bitch

Spoiler

but its very apparent her lil' Fantasy world is going to crash down around her I can't believe what she did to Eddard, her own father

I currently like Tyrion, Jon and Arya's viewpoints and find Daenerys's to be really boring (I honestly don't care about the Horse lords and its the viewpoint with the most sexual related scenarios which are just creepy in this book).

 

[thestopsign]

I just got to the part where the wildling girl Oslo tells Bran that

Spoiler

his brother should direct his troops to the North where the real threat is (the Others already turned some of the Rangers into undeads). Mmmmmmm foreboding. I love when a Fantasy book sets up a very mysterious part of the world where in the inhabitants in the book know nothing of it.

Sansa is still a bitch

Spoiler

but its very apparent her lil' Fantasy world is going to crash down around her I can't believe what she did to Eddard, her own father

I currently like Tyrion, Jon and Arya's viewpoints and find Daenerys's to be really boring (I honestly don't care about the Horse lords and its the viewpoint with the most sexual related scenarios which are just creepy in this book).

The North definitely becomes the most exciting part of the book. He keeps everything that is happening up there very mysterious. I'm still not certain on what is going on up there.

My favorite characters through out the books though are Tyrion, Dany, Jon, Arya, and Littlefinger. Sansa becomes a lot better in the last two books as you see where she is going to fit into the story, and she becomes less of a whinny girl to a full grown woman.

Really, once you get to the middle of the third book, you'll think that the whole series should just stop and die. You'll know what part I'm talking about when you get to it.

 

[Azih]

In my view

Spoiler

Tyrion and Jamie are on opposite paths. Tyrion is going from noble to ruthless while Jamie is becoming more and more selfless. Plus Tyrion and Sansa are intertwined, Tyrion is heading for the Eyrie. The mountain clans there support him and the first time he met them he got on their good side by promising them the Eyrie (dun dun dun)

 

[Keen]

In my view

Spoiler

Tyrion and Jamie are on opposite paths. Tyrion is going from noble to ruthless while Jamie is becoming more and more selfless. Plus Tyrion and Sansa are intertwined, Tyrion is heading for the Eyrie. The mountain clans there support him and the first time he met them he got on their good side by promising them the Eyrie (dun dun dun)

Spoilers for Dance...

Spoiler

Isn't Tyrion going to Daeny? Seem to recall from the spoiler chapters from Dance that Tyion is hanging around with Illyrio (sp) and is supposed to meet with Daeny. IMO much more interesting than him going to the Eyrie. Sansa is better off being taught "the game" by Littlefinger anyway.
But I do agree with you about Jaime and Tyrion

 

[nelsonroyale]

zzzzzz... Ive given up caring about this series until the next book comes. Haven't bothered with Feast of Crows yet since it seemed like a lot of filler.

Still enjoy the series very much

 

[Sasquatch]

You know every time a thread like this gets bumped or someone starts a new topic, I get my hopes up just a little.

 

[Shins]

Unlike say, The Dark Tower, which totally falls to pieces at the end.

Don't remind me. I've rarely been so disappointed as with the last two books in that series.

 

[BlueTsunami]

I'm bumpin' this shit

WHERE THE FUCK IS THIS FUCKING BOOK?!

 

[Chris R]

I'm bumpin' this shit

WHERE THE FUCK IS THIS FUCKING BOOK?!

come back next year

 

[Xenon]

WTF... someone needs to bump you for this tease.

 

[Nicodimas]

Ya bastard I thought he was done..

/grumbles

 

[Foob]

I'm bumpin' this shit

WHERE THE FUCK IS THIS FUCKING BOOK?!

You piece of shit

 

[Vaporak]

God damn GAF, why do you tease me so.

 

[PhoenixDark]

Oh hell no BlueTsunami :lol

almost had a heart attack between Obama momentum+ADWD thread bump. If I die in my sleep it's your fault

 

[nitewulf]

bah, WTF is this shit...

 

[BlueTsunami]

I'm sorry my brothers and sisters but we must keep the memory of this series alive! ;_;

 

[Gattsu25]

Fucking hell!

Everytime this thread is bumped with no new info a kitten gets kicked!

 

[PhoenixDark]

I was re-reading ASOS a couple months ago and stopped, not even half way into the book. It's gotten to the point where I just don't want to spend time re-reading/obsessing over it until I get a concrete date for ADWS. ADWS will basically be the true continuation of ASOS anyway, and there are so many fucking things I can't wait to know; so finishing ASOS again and then having nothing to move on to is an unbearable proposition.

And I loved AFFC btw, it has a large amount of interesting cliff hangers...but I want to know about the north dammit.