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[Cornballer]

Clash of Kings and Storm of Swords were released very closely together, i think within a year of each other, why the hell did he suddenly slow down and take 5 years to release the next book? He's got the ability to write quickly and write well as evidenced by the first 3 books in the series why the hell can't he get back to that?

A lot of people blame the pizza parties. I actually don't know what the problem is with the delays of late, but I'd suspect that it's gotten a lot more complicated to write with all of the balls that are currently in the air, and with the expectations being as high as they are, he's probably taking his time to make sure he gets it right. Plus he's extremely busy with all of the spinoff stuff that's going on right now.

 

[Brian Fellows]

Clash of Kings and Storm of Swords were released very closely together, i think within a year of each other, why the hell did he suddenly slow down and take 5 years to release the next book? He's got the ability to write quickly and write well as evidenced by the first 3 books in the series why the hell can't he get back to that?

Because he had to start over. There was supposed to be a 5 year gap in the story between books 3 and 4 but after while he decided that wasnt gonna work and started over.

 

[Manics]

A lot of people blame the pizza parties. I actually don't know what the problem is with the delays of late, but I'd suspect that it's gotten a lot more complicated to write with all of the balls that are currently in the air, and with the expectations being as high as they are, he's probably taking his time to make sure he gets it right. Plus he's extremely busy with all of the spinoff stuff that's going on right now.

He better not die before finishing. I'll never forgive the guy. Then some hack son of his will come along and try to "finish" the series much like that Brian Herbert dolt is doing to Dune.

 

[Manics]

that's IT!

I'm not highlighting spoilers in ASoIaF threads ever again!

Yeah, that's probably a wise thing to do if you don't want to find out major spoilers. I've avoided all Feast for Crows threads because of it.

 

[tokkun]

A lot of people blame the pizza parties. I actually don't know what the problem is with the delays of late, but I'd suspect that it's gotten a lot more complicated to write with all of the balls that are currently in the air, and with the expectations being as high as they are, he's probably taking his time to make sure he gets it right. Plus he's extremely busy with all of the spinoff stuff that's going on right now.

I'm pretty sure Martin said that there was only ever one Pizza Crawl planned and it ended up getting canceled.

He better not die before finishing. I'll never forgive the guy. Then some hack son of his will come along and try to "finish" the series much like that Brian Herbert dolt is doing to Dune.

That's a major worry for me. I met him a couple years ago, and he didn't look all that healthy. However, unlike Tolkien and Herbert, Martin has said that he doesn't keep notes on the future plot of the series. It's all in his head. As he said when I met him, "If I die, you're all shit out of luck."

 

[Cornballer]

I'm pretty sure Martin said that there was only ever one Pizza Crawl planned and it ended up getting canceled.

I was joking. The man's pizza habits aren't my concern. Weren't there a few people around here getting pissed off over the fact that he was doing a pizza crawl and thus not working on the novels?

 

[Brian Fellows]

I was joking. The man's pizza habits aren't my concern. Weren't there a few people around here getting pissed off over the fact that he was doing a pizza crawl and thus not working on the novels?

I was but that was hardly the only thing that pissed me off. It was just his excuse of the moment. He always has one.

 

[NintendosBooger]

At the end of Crows, he said the second half would release in a year. I only chuckled and shook my head at the absurdity of the claim.

 

[Ikael]

Its awful. Its junk. There are so many people who go crazy over it because its "dark" and "gritty" but really its just made of throw-away characters who are either evil or mad. Its not telling a particularly interesting story.

Judging from your commentaries, it seems that your hate for the series steams from the emotional shock of seeing your favourite characters getting killed (or worse things).

While it's good, it's not *that* good as I was expecting from everyone. Does it take a little while to get rolling?

A song of storm and fire is one of the best political intrigue books that I have read, up there with the First man of Rome. It is not a "feel good book", nor a blantantly dramatic one since one of its best qualities is its impredictability.

Unlike some of the books that tries too hard to be gritty, in aSoSaF both the bad and the good things are impossible to think. If you are always thinking that the worst will happen, you are going to be surprised, and the opposite will work too (with more frequency, that's true).

However, like every good planned book, it takes its time to start rolling. Once shit hits the fan and all the conspiracies starts popping out, then the fun starts and the characters starts to get more and more fleshed out as they have to face moral decisions at a quite fast pace.

Sure, it is not a book for everyone and not your typical fantasy book. In fact, while it have fantastic elements, it is a politic intrige book at its core. If you judge it by these measures, it is a very, very good saga.

I was but that was hardly the only thing that pissed me off. It was just his excuse of the moment. He always has one.

Well, I kind of understand the delayings. I mean, he is having way more preassure over him than when he started to write a series that nobody knew about. He have probably revised and changed the texts thousand times. Also, then there's the new tv series, which it seems that it will be massive in scope and he is contributing to it as well. Too many new projects and spin offs combined with preassure can be the ultimate delaying machine.

About Martin dieing before he can finish the series, for what I know he already has a planned writter to finish the series, a female writter colaborator that have worked several times with him.

 

[Brian Fellows]

Luckily I'm not someone who gives a shit about spoiler so I just read all the spoiler chapters from ADWD to keep myself interested.

 

[Cornballer]

Luckily I'm not someone who gives a shit about spoiler so I just read all the spoiler chapters from ADWD to keep myself interested.

They have a ton of those up. I've only read the first Tyrion one, but the rest are there tempting me.

 

[Brian Fellows]

They have a ton of those up. I've only read the first Tyrion one, but the rest are there tempting me.

My two favorites are the prologue and one of the new POV's.

Still nothing on Bran though the bastard.

 

[Cornballer]

I'll probably hold off for a while - they seem sort of jumbled at the moment, and he keeps on rewriting them, from what I've heard.

 

[Manics]

A song of storm and fire

in aSoSaF

Did I miss something? Why are you calling it A Song of Storm and Fire?

 

[Sirpopopop]

Much of the criticism towards ASOIAF reminds me of the criticism that people like to heap at Thomas Covenant.

It's simply a result of looking at characters at face value, rather than looking at the perspectives, lessons, and consequences of the choices they make.

 

[Scrow]

ASoIaF is so good. I don't know how any self respecting fantasy fan could NOT like it.

 

[hey_monkey]

The book doesn't really get going until 150 or so pages in. When I first started it, I was like "this is interesting, but nothing special" as I've read dozens of science fiction and fantasy before this. Then there was a certain point in the first book where things too an unexpected turn, it it was just balls out from then on.

I wondered if it took a while. I bought the first one about a year ago because people are usually all AH MAH GAH BEST FANTASY EVER and only made it through the first chapter, and that was a struggle. I just don't read a lot of fantasy, though, so maybe that's it. I think I'll try to give it another shot, though, because I want to read good fantasy. I'll try to get further in and see if it's any better (for me).

As an aside, there's some chick Martin is/was (already did?) work on a guide and maybe some other projects with who is craaaaaaaaazy. She has threatened to sue (and harassed the ISPs of) a ton of people for making fun of some fan-fiction-esque character description she wrote for a text-based f antasy roleplaying game. I swear, she has to spend a a good hour a day just googling herself to see if anyone has criticized her lately. It is wildly hilarious when she gets her panties twisted and gets all copyright crazy over what is essentially some fan-fic shit she scribbled. But the fact that Martin works with her makes me inclined to not want to respect him much.

edit: trying to skip all the spoilers and potential spoilers in this thread in case I get hooked.

 

[Kung Fu Jedi]

I wondered if it took a while. I bought the first one about a year ago because people are usually all AH MAH GAH BEST FANTASY EVER and only made it through the first chapter, and that was a struggle. I just don't read a lot of fantasy, though, so maybe that's it. I think I'll try to give it another shot, though, because I want to read good fantasy. I'll try to get further in and see if it's any better (for me).

Give it a shot and see if you can get further along. Like I said, it picks up much better later. When I first started I thought it was fairly run of the mill, but there are some twists along the way that make it anything but once you get going.

 

[QVT]

Judging from your commentaries, it seems that your hate for the series steams from the emotional shock of seeing your favourite characters getting killed (or worse things).

My hate from the series stems from it being utter shit. I've gone over why - You just don't need to murder all your characters. He isn't doing it to tell a great and epic story, he is a sadist and a fetishist.

There are just too many books out there to bother reading this series. How many people here call it the greatest fantasy series of all time, without having read Book of the New Sun? There is another reason I hate it. The nerd desire to have one singular series at the forefront passed over a legitimately awesome writer in favor of this dirty old man.

 

[cubicle47b]

My hate from the series stems from it being utter shit. I've gone over why - You just don't need to murder all your characters. He isn't doing it to tell a great and epic story, he is a sadist and a fetishist.

How do you make it to an event late in the 3rd book in a series that is "utter shit"? Especially when the books are as large as they are?

 

[Vyer]

The series is outstanding (though I didn't like the format of the latest book) and well worth reading. Characters that actually grow, plenty of twists that keep it surprising, and it does an excellent job of allowing the reader to reason out what's happening behind the scenes for themselves.

The first book does start a little slow, but the series flows after that.

Solid read.

 

[QVT]

How do you make it to an event late in the 3rd book in a series that is "utter shit"? Especially when the books are as large as they are?

Large? They're not even a thousand pages each.

This coming from a person who has read Proust, and is eventually going to read Proust in french, and then again in new english translation once they're all out.

If you read at anywhere near decent speed popular books shouldn't take all that long to finish. (as an example, it took me longer to read Lolita than it did a book of GRRMurder, and I've finished 2 WoT books in one horribly horribly long day)

 

[tokkun]

My hate from the series stems from it being utter shit. I've gone over why - You just don't need to murder all your characters. He isn't doing it to tell a great and epic story, he is a sadist and a fetishist.

Yes, how dare he write a story about war and have the nerve to have a couple characters die?

Well, you're in luck! I intend to write an alternate A Feast for Crows fanfiction in which

Spoiler

Brienne is sent on a quest to collect the 7 dragonballs, and once she finds them, she will summon Shen Long and wish that all the dead characters were back alive and then Lord Eddard will reveal that while he was dead he was really training in the dead guys' fighting tournament then he and Brandon Stark will both power up and destroy the Great Other with a double Kamehameha. Then Lord Eddard and Lord Tywin will make up and do a fusion dance and transform into Lord Edwin, the Ultimate Warrior, and he will end the war without any of the characters you like getting killed, then he will wield the Rainbow Dragon Sword of Destiny and the smoking ruins of Valyria will turn into a gigantic hot fudge sundae with extra whipped cream and enough cherries for everyone!

Then the readers will realize that my book is way better and GRRM is just a sadistic bastard.

 

[Chairman Yang]

QVT doesn't actually hate ASOIAF. The problem is that he got too invested in some of the characters who died and is taking a sort of "who cares?" approach to the books as a emotional defensive mechanism. It's completely understandable--I just wish he'd be a bit more honest with you guys.

 

[aceface]

I wondered if it took a while. I bought the first one about a year ago because people are usually all AH MAH GAH BEST FANTASY EVER and only made it through the first chapter, and that was a struggle. I just don't read a lot of fantasy, though, so maybe that's it. I think I'll try to give it another shot, though, because I want to read good fantasy. I'll try to get further in and see if it's any better (for me).

Do you mean the prolouge? If so keep going, as it's very unrepresentative of what goes on in the first 2 and a half books. The prolouge is indiciative of the larger struggle that's going to be portrayed in the series, but you have a lot (great) of juicy buildup to get through first.

 

[QVT]

QVT doesn't actually hate ASOIAF. The problem is that he got too invested in some of the characters who died and is taking a sort of "who cares?" approach to the books as a emotional defensive mechanism. It's completely understandable--I just wish he'd be a bit more honest with you guys.

I do indeed hate it. The characters aren't anything special, they're just the villains ripped out of basic fantasy and you're sat down and told that these are the good people in the world.

 

[snaildog]

I do indeed hate it. The characters aren't anything special, they're just the villains ripped out of basic fantasy and you're sat down and told that these are the good people in the world.

I'm not even sure you're reading the same books now. Why do you read them if you hate them? Why do you post about them?

 

[hey_monkey]

Do you mean the prolouge? If so keep going, as it's very unrepresentative of what goes on in the first 2 and a half books. The prolouge is indiciative of the larger struggle that's going to be portrayed in the series, but you have a lot (great) of juicy buildup to get through first.

Yeah, looking into this copy, I guess it was the prologue. I just didn't find it engaging. I have a book and a half to finish first, and then I'll see about giving it another try. I think it was the battle scene with the Other that I found less-than-great, but I'm just flipping through the pages.

 

[Pazuzu]

I do indeed hate it. The characters aren't anything special, they're just the villains ripped out of basic fantasy and you're sat down and told that these are the good people in the world.

What? Martin's characters grow and are developed more in each novel than most other characters across an entire fantasy series.

 

[cubicle47b]

Large? They're not even a thousand pages each.

This coming from a person who has read Proust, and is eventually going to read Proust in french, and then again in new english translation once they're all out.

You think about yourself when you masturbate, don't you?

 

[nelsonroyale]

Much of the criticism towards ASOIAF reminds me of the criticism that people like to heap at Thomas Covenant.

It's simply a result of looking at characters at face value, rather than looking at the perspectives, lessons, and consequences of the choices they make.

Thomas Covenant series is good, but it does have a lot of problems. Its dragged out quite a bit, and the world feels very constrictive at times...though maybe this is the result of being an imaginary world where he is the focus and the world permeates out from him (or is it? cant remember). SOFAI is a better series.

 

[nelsonroyale]

What? Martin's characters grow and are developed more in each novel than most other characters across an entire fantasy series.

no...hell no. There are many series which have vastly superior characterisation than ASOFAI....there are some interesting characters: Snow, Danaerys, Tyrion...but character progression is nothing out of the ordinary..at all. Its a good series, but character progression certainly isnt one of the elements that sticks out.... I was reading Musashi lately...now that book has amazing character growth

 

[alistairw]

To be fair, QVT does have demonstrably shit taste.

 

[tokkun]

Yeah, looking into this copy, I guess it was the prologue. I just didn't find it engaging. I have a book and a half to finish first, and then I'll see about giving it another try. I think it was the battle scene with the Other that I found less-than-great, but I'm just flipping through the pages.

Yeah, I almost quit because of the prologue, which made it seem like a typical fantasy novel. The tone of the series is actually more like historical fiction than fantasy, though the fantastical elements become more important in later books.

 

[QVT]

To be fair, QVT does have demonstrably shit taste.

Yeah fuck that guy I fucking hate him disagreeing with all these cool opinions. It's like, yeah, mine are right because I say so, but his? Nah.

I really can't stand him.

And yes, of course I think about myself when I masturbate. I'd fuck me, if I could.

 

[Brian Fellows]

I still love you man.

 

[QVT]

I still love you man.

That's because my idol owns you, it'd seem.

 

[Tim the Wiz]

You think about yourself when you masturbate, don't you?

:lol

I don't understand how you can acknowledge that the Book 1-5 cycle of WoT is decent to good, and say that ASoIaF is terrible. I get attached to certain characters too, but c'mon, Martin doesn't sacrifice character development for cheap deaths. Good to see you like Prince of Nothing (haven't got into Malazan yet) and er, Proust (good luck learning French for that; I know I eventually do... for Dumas though ). But yeah, I definitely think you have to elaborate further on why Martin is so bad for the rest of us who read seemingly different books.

 

[gollumsluvslave]

Just upsets me. It'd be like cutting Gandalfs hand off, just to make him imperfect or unhappy. Its not the darkness, its the mindlessness of it. He's not made the world dark to make a point, other than he hates humanity and has a low opinion of it. I know that might sound sword of truth-esque but Prince of Nothing and Malazan survive it with some type of purpose. Martin to me feels like it doesn't.

This indicates to me that you simply don't appreciate solid characters. Up until his POV and being maimed all we see is that Jaime is a flat stereotype medieval 'jock' - blond, beautiful, deadly and shallow. He becomes a far more interesting and 'better' character when his hand is cut off simply because he has to deal with it - he isn't the same person any more.

Jaime is IMHO one of the best characters in any series - I can't help but like hime, even though i know he's done some shitty things - if you took the maiming away there wouldn't be the same gravity to him.

Anyway, I thought the series was great up until A Feast for Crows, but I thought it really went off the tracks in that book - starting to veer into Robert Jordan territory of 1000 pages of 'nothing much happens'. I'm hoping A Dance with Dragons picks things back up.

 

[QVT]

:lol

I don't understand how you can acknowledge that the Book 1-5 cycle of WoT is decent to good, and say that ASoIaF is terrible. I get attached to certain characters too, but c'mon, Martin doesn't sacrifice character development for cheap deaths. Good to see you like Prince of Nothing (haven't got into Malazan yet) and er, Proust (good luck learning French for that; I know I eventually do... for Dumas though ). But yeah, I definitely think you have to elaborate further on why Martin is so bad for the rest of us who read seemingly different books.

Because fantasy is essentially escapism. It is about getting away from the 9/11 on the news every day and the stock market crash and subprime housing. It isn't about seeing how fucked up an authors view of the world is. I understand that has more to do with my views of this genre of literature, but why should I refuse to comment on things because I disagree? A thread that says "this is good" can't just be the law because someone says it is and people agree with him. GAF is perhaps the most hiveminded forum on the internet. With the exception of 15 or 20 posters, we could lose any or all of these guys and not notice, save the names.

I just assume I've clarified it so many times that it has become trite for me to even bother with "this guy is just fucked up" anymore. Since you bring up Prince of Nothing, was the maiming in that bad? No, it was awesome and brilliant to see something unexpected happen to such a seemingly powerful character in a situation where cliche dictates an escape. What about the maiming in Ice and Fire? Pure rubbish, done without point(except "oooh pride, how naughty. bad boy! bad boy! mmmm ohh yes pain now") and I don't get why people say it was a good thing.

In Prince of Nothing, hardship developed character. The major death? Brilliantly timed and executed. It was a turning point in the growth of the characters(especially Kellhus who began to show legitimate psychological impact) and important.

Spoiler

Red Wedding? With the exception of "oh someone else will lead us", what really changed? Jon just said(I believe) 'Oh shit my half brother is dead! Now I'm in pain! mmmm oh yes pain now' and sorta got on with fucking his boring two dimensional love interest.

I did actually enjoy Ice and Fire until it stopped being about the War of the Roses stuff and started being about other shit, thought. It is a new tradition of literature(unlikeable characters) that I don't like. Why? For the same reason Neutral Milk Hotel is the best band ever. That is why I don't like Ice and Fire, if you've gotten this far and disagree with all those legitimate reasons.

As for French, I'm already passable in it, I've just never studied the vocabulary part. Dumas is a good choice, I'm not learning the entire language to read Proust again so much as Hugo and Stendhal proper. But Proust will eventually come up, as well as Dumas.

 

[gollumsluvslave]

Because fantasy is essentially escapism. It is about getting away from the 9/11 on the news every day and the stock market crash and subprime housing. It isn't about seeing how fucked up an authors view of the world is.

Interesting viewpoint - of course thats a pretty subjective take on it. I'd rather you put it differently:-

"The kind of fantasy I like is about light and happy joy, joy because the real world sucks"

Which is fine for some - however I'm pretty much the opposite direction - I prefer fantasy that is dark and horrible and I'm far more interested in fucked up views on things.

Mainly because when I return to the real world it doesn't seem that bad.

All my favourite fantasy series are prettyy messed up, even Tolkien who normally gets accused of being 'safe' - The Children of Hurin is far and away his best story, and it's wretched!

Anyway my point is that just because someone likes a certain flavour does not mean that it's 'junk'.

What about Stephen Donaldson? Thomas Covenant is a wretched bastard, but it's one of the best series ever.

And what about other art? Films etc? Irreversible is probably one of the best movies ever made, but it's absolutley HORRIBLE to watch. But it had a profound effect on me.

Pure rubbish, done without point

Absolute nonsense. It is the crux and raison d'être of Jaime's character arc - without it he wouldn't HAVE a character arc.

 

[QVT]

Interesting viewpoint - of course thats a pretty subjective take on it. I'd rather you put it differently:-

"The kind of fantasy I like is about light and happy joy, joy because the real world sucks"

Which is fine for some - however I'm pretty much the opposite direction - I prefer fantasy that is dark and horrible and I'm far more interested in fucked up views on things.

Mainly because when I return to the real world it doesn't seem that bad.

All my favourite fantasy series are prettyy messed up, even Tolkien who normally gets accused of being 'safe' - The Children of Hurin is far and away his best story, and it's wretched!

Anyway my point is that just because someone likes a certain flavour does not mean that it's 'junk'.

What about Stephen Donaldson? Thomas Covenant is a wretched bastard, but it's one of the best series ever.

And what about other art? Films etc? Irreversible is probably one of the best movies ever made, but it's absolutley HORRIBLE to watch. But it had a profound effect on me.



Absolute nonsense. It is the crux and raison d'être of Jaime's character arc - without it he wouldn't HAVE a character arc.

I'm bad at "putting things" :lol It's pretty obvious that I've got comparatively little skill at getting points across unless I actually type them out and edit them and correct them and re-read them. But then, most people are bad at stuff like that.

That is indeed the kind of fantasy I like and not at all the kind of literature I like. When you write at least not entirely generic fantasy as long as it's happy it serves it's purpose. When you write actual literary literature it tends to suck unless it is way more original. That might be a better way to explain why WoT is ok, and IaF not so much for me.

I've not read Donaldson, it is on my bookshelf(which is somewhere in the "what are you reading" thread)

In terms of other art, I've mentioned that I enjoy Proust, my favorite author is Nabokov and some of his stuff is in many ways much darker than Ice and Fire, while being amazingly awesome. Cormac McCarthy is brutal, just brutal but I still love everything I've read of his.

To me I guess that if it has magic, I want it happy, and if it has real life people it can be sad. Or maybe sad with magic has just never worked out well for me? I've been interested in reading Covenant for a while now but I do have a lot of reading to do.

Films can go either way. My favorite film is probably one that virtually nobody has ever seen outside of France, "L'Auberge espagnole"

I liked Jaime much more as the intelligent guy who was brilliant at everything and not humble in any way and just an utter asshole to all he came across. My favorite part of the entire series was the reason he gave for sleeping with Cersei. It seems the new him would never think like that.

 

[tokkun]

Because fantasy is essentially escapism.

Sounds like you're fixated on labels and preconceptions. Why does anything labeled as Fantasy have to fit your definition?

I just assume I've clarified it so many times that it has become trite for me to even bother with "this guy is just fucked up" anymore.

Except that your accusation that he is a sadist is bullshit. How many major characters are pointlessly killed? Almost all the deaths are key plot elements or end up being fake-outs.

What about the maiming in Ice and Fire? Pure rubbish, done without point(except "oooh pride, how naughty. bad boy! bad boy! mmmm ohh yes pain now") and I don't get why people say it was a good thing.

Did you really read these books? Really? It's not like you have to interpret how

Spoiler

Bran's crippling or Jaime's loss of his sword hand

is important to their characters, he rams it down your throat multiple times in their POVs.

Spoiler

In Jaime's case he directly states in his own monologue "I was my sword hand". His prowess and cockiness were everything to him.

I don't know how much clearer it could possibly be stated.

Spoiler

Red Wedding? With the exception of "oh someone else will lead us", what really changed? Jon just said(I believe) 'Oh shit my half brother is dead! Now I'm in pain! mmmm oh yes pain now' and sorta got on with fucking his boring two dimensional love interest.

It's a critical plot element in A Feast For Crows.

Spoiler

It breaks the power of Winterfell, leaving the North up for grabs, which draws Stannis to the Wall. It also sets Jon Snow up to be the heir to Winterfell, which leads to him having to make his ultimate decision in whether he will remain loyal to the Night's Watch or the Starks when Stannis offers to declare him a trueborn Stark and Lord of Winterfell.

It is a new tradition of literature(unlikeable characters) that I don't like. Why? For the same reason Neutral Milk Hotel is the best band ever. That is why I don't like Ice and Fire, if you've gotten this far and disagree with all those legitimate reasons.

Well, I can't really argue about your opinion in whether you like the characters, but personally I think Tyrion and Davos are great characters.

 

[FnordChan]

Because fantasy is essentially escapism.

Your definition of fantasy is severely limited, if not mistaken. Let's change that to "For me, fantasy is essentially escapism", accept that you don't like the books and never will, and call it a day.

FnordChan

 

[Triumph]

Guys, guys. Stop feeding the troll.

 

[KingGondo]

Just started reading A Game of Thrones, and I'm really enjoying it so far. Is there a spoiler-free glossary somewhere on the internet? That's probably my biggest gripe with fantasy like this: endless new names, context-free historical references, and allusions to made-up places fill the pages. I feel like I'm fighting through the allusions to get to the story...

Spoiler

It's already better than Dune, though... ugh. At least Martin is capable of putting together a good sentence.

 

[Cornballer]

Just started reading A Game of Thrones, and I'm really enjoying it so far. Is there a spoiler-free glossary somewhere on the internet? That's probably my biggest gripe with fantasy like this: endless new names, context-free historical references, and allusions to made-up places fill the pages. I feel like I'm fighting through the allusions to get to the story...

The appendices are pretty helpful, so I'd check those out first. Wikipedia has spoilers that are somewhat difficult to avoid, so I'd steer clear of that.

 

[Sasquatch]

Just started reading A Game of Thrones, and I'm really enjoying it so far. Is there a spoiler-free glossary somewhere on the internet? That's probably my biggest gripe with fantasy like this: endless new names, context-free historical references, and allusions to made-up places fill the pages. I feel like I'm fighting through the allusions to get to the story...

Spoiler

It's already better than Dune, though... ugh. At least Martin is capable of putting together a good sentence.

Tower of the Hand is a pretty nice site. Some of the sections allow you to limit information by book, so you can't spoil things. There is a lot of info.

 

[Manics]

Large? They're not even a thousand pages each.

This coming from a person who has read Proust, and is eventually going to read Proust in french, and then again in new english translation once they're all out.

Wow, you must be so proud of yourself.

 

[Cornballer]

Tower of the Hand is a pretty nice site. Some of the sections allow you to limit information by book, so you can't spoil things. There is a lot of info.

Ooooh, nice site. Very useful and the spoiler masking function is very great.