Who would have thought!?! Not me, that's for sure.
But since my ARCs of Melanie Rawn's Spellbinder, Neil Gaiman's Fragile Things and Terry Pratchett's Wintersmith have yet to show up in my mailbox, and with my copy of Raymond E. Feist's Into a Dark Realm in transit somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean, I found myself facing quite the conundrum.:-) Namely, what to read next? Not that I lack any reading material, mind you. Heck, I have enough unread novels to keep me occupied for about two years running.
Be that as it may, that annoying little voice inside my head kept nagging me about a resolution I promised to keep. Last January, my New Year's resolutions included reading Steven Erikson's The Malazan Book of the Fallen, as well as finally caving in and read George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire. Well, summer is almost over and I've become an ardent Malazan convert.
So I told myself that it would be only natural to likewise give GRRM a shot. After all these years, every single volume in hardcover awaiting my attention and my A Game of Thrones ARC sitting there for the last decade, it felt as though I could do no less. Nay-sayers like Werthead and OsRavan doubted my resolve, and not without good reasons!;-) Bastards! Honestly, I'm doing this almost out of spite, to prove you guys wrong!;-)
Hence, ladies and gentlemen, please sit down for this news. This afternoon, with a steaming cup of coffee and using the Braveheart soundtrack as a backdrop, I sat down and began to read A Game of Thrones.:-)
Keeping two resolutions in 2006. . . What is this world coming to, anyway!?!
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15 commentaires:
Two kept resolutions in one year? Oh dear..
But worry not, nice and helpful as I am, I am ready to take the sacrifice upon me.
Just send the books to me and you need no longer fear the temptation of those bad bad bad 1st edition HCs ;)
Yes! I have been waiting like a year for this day!!!!
I wonder if you will be let down by how much others build it up... in that way I was lucky, just because I picked it out myself in the bookstore and didn't have any expectations. Very interested to hear what you thought.
so do tell.... how is it so far? :P
You are going to be pleasantly surprised from the depth of Martin's characters and the devious plots of the story. I warn you however, not to get sentimentally attached to any of the characters...
Hehe, its about time, dude! Enjoy
Sarah said...
I wonder if you will be let down by how much others build it up... in that way I was lucky, just because I picked it out myself in the bookstore and didn't have any expectations. Very interested to hear what you thought.
That's what happened to me...I read Malazan first and then saw all the hype for GRRM and then felt really let down by A Game of Thrones.
I then asked around a bit and read on, and now I really enjoy ASoIaF...but I believe that people who read MBotF first and enjoyed it tend to prefer it to ASoIaF...perhaps it is the decrease in 'epicness'.
Sir Thursday
Even if you read ASoIaF first and then MBotF, ASoIaF just doesn't seem to be as complex as you first thought - at least in my case
But it's still a great book ;)
My advice on the George RR Martin books - read the first three. Then pretend it ended there.
Like Jordan, and unlike Erikson, he has no idea how to end a story. I liked the books - quirky characters, some interesting storylines.
However, he spent 25% of book one on a story that doesn't meet the main story until book four, and even then, only tangently!
john
Uhm, as far as I know he has only told half of the story yet, so there is still a lot of time for that particular storyline to get fully involved with the rest of the story ;)
My advice on the George RR Martin books - read the first three. Then pretend it ended there.
Like Jordan, and unlike Erikson, he has no idea how to end a story. I liked the books - quirky characters, some interesting storylines.
I have NO idea where you get the idea from. Anyway, it sounds like you haven't got a clue what you are talking about.
Martin said a couple of times that the first book is only HALF of the book it should have been. So we all have to wait for Dance with Dragons to read the whole book.
Comparing Jordan, Martin and Erikson in one sentence is like comparing Brooks, Tolkien and Bakker. It simply makes no sense.
You can also try comparing Goodkind, Feist and Donaldson.
*shudders at the thought*
You're finally reading A Game of Thrones?
(keels over from disbelief as pigs fly pass the window and the weather forecast reports snowy conditions in hell)
:-)
I hope you enjoy AGOT! I know that some who dont find the works as enjoyable as others tend to be those who had it recommended to them highly.
AGOT is quite good, but it was the progression of the story in the 2nd and 3rd books that really made me a huge fan.
Enjoy!
-Trey
td said:
john p. looney said:
Like Jordan, and unlike Erikson, he has no idea how to end a story. I liked the books - quirky characters, some interesting storylines.
I have NO idea where you get the idea from. Anyway, it sounds like you haven't got a clue what you are talking about.
I think this is actually pretty clear cut in this regard. Martin does not give you a conclusion at the end of every book in the same way that Erikson does. If you've read him you'll know what I mean. To that extent what John is saying is valid. I have every faith that Martin will be able to tie it all off at the end of it all, but he hasn't really been doing that with each book.
And I don't see the problem with comparing the styles of authors myself - it's a good way to explore your reasons for liking or disliking a book. Contrast allows one to better appreciate a writer's technique (or lack of, as the case may be). Besides, it was only one element of the series, rather than the whole thing, that John was comparing.
Sir Thursday
Well,
I'm a little more than 300 pages into it and loving it so far!:-)
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