What other fantasy books do YOU read?

[Nogrod]

Funny to be about on the exact opposite opinion with Kit.

I have only now realised that I have been a waay too busy with all my work that it takes a major operation and the following sick-leave for me to have time to read books again. But I have enjoyed Mr. Martin's A Game of Thrones. Although I do agree with Kit in that many of the main characters seem to have more or less one sided minds in sharing similar ambitions. But I do like it nevertheless.

Terry Pratchett and his Discworld I have found quite yawning reading. It has all the things that could make very fun reading but somehow I'm not impressed (after reading two books years ago). I mean it's like a joke that has gotten way too long. They're kind of witty and hilarious, but then again I do find them failing to be anything else. But surely I can be misguided in here as I have only read the two first ones... from what, fifty?


PS. A reason to love George R. Martin: he is able to kill off his main characters every once in a while thus making the books much more "realistic" and kind of breaking the phantasy genre where every well intending hero against his own will will prevail in the end (or if he dies a martyr his cause will prevail). I just love it how he makes fool of me the reader and reminds me that there are tales much more interesting than fairy-tales...

[Pitchwife]

I sort of see where you're coming from about Pratchett, Nog; he's a bit of an acquired taste, but I've found he gets better with age (as long as he still manages to battle Alzheimer's, at least). You might like to try The Wee Free Men and A Hat Full of Sky, if you haven't yet - there's a poet's heart beating in these. If you like them, anything else with Granny Weatherwax in it - that woman rocks!

[Nogrod]

Originally Posted by Pitchwife

You might like to try The Wee Free Men and A Hat Full of Sky, if you haven't yet - there's a poet's heart beating in these. If you like them, anything else with Granny Weatherwax in it - that woman rocks!

Thanks for the hint. As this might turn out the "summer of reading" after a long time, I might actually try to get a hold of those to see if my mind changes...

[Kitanna]

Originally Posted by Nogrod

Thanks for the hint. As this might turn out the "summer of reading" after a long time, I might actually try to get a hold of those to see if my mind changes...

I really didn't like him much at first. I felt like I had been dropped into an inside joke, but I read one of the books regarding the city watch and came to understand things better. I think becoming a fan of Pratchett's depends on what you end up reading first. There are a lot and some books aren't great, but there are others that are. He can be hit or miss for a lot of people so I get why some find him boring to read.

A reason to love George R. Martin: he is able to kill off his main characters every once in a while thus making the books much more "realistic" and kind of breaking the phantasy genre where every well intending hero against his own will will prevail in the end (or if he dies a martyr his cause will prevail). I just love it how he makes fool of me the reader and reminds me that there are tales much more interesting than fairy-tales...

I went into reading Game of Thrones knowing this from my boyfriend and while that's a great way to tell a story I still don't think he does it well. I feel like Martin has a lot of missed opportunities. Characters like Ned and Robert were good, but I felt everyone else, even the young girls, had that same sort of middle-aged man mindset and none were written to reflect age or gender. My boyfriend and my friend has told me what else happens and it's a captivating story, but I don't care for his writing style at all. Sometimes I think I just read way too much into these things.

[Galadriel]

Originally Posted by Kitanna

I went into reading Game of Thrones knowing this from my boyfriend and while that's a great way to tell a story I still don't think he does it well. I feel like Martin has a lot of missed opportunities. Characters like Ned and Robert were good, but I felt everyone else, even the young girls, had that same sort of middle-aged man mindset and none were written to reflect age or gender. My boyfriend and my friend has told me what else happens and it's a captivating story, but I don't care for his writing style at all. Sometimes I think I just read way too much into these things.

Middle-ages man mindset? I really don't think so. Cersei, Catelyn, Sansa, etc. very much behaved their own age and gender. Of course, they're very, very different, and Sansa seemed a bit too delusional in the first couple of books, but other than that I didn't see a problem with Martin's characterisation.

If there's one complaint I have about the series, it's his pessimism about humanity. He portrays everyone as evil or selfish, with no regard for anyone but themselves and/or a couple of others. The only character I thought was free form evil was Brienne. I mean, sure, you get sick of people being black and white, but there is some good in this world, and that's a fact. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE the fact that he hasn't done the typical 'good vs evil' cliché, and I think that most of his characters are well thought-out, but give these guys a break, man. At least a few characters should be leaning towards their good side.

[Thinlómien]

Originally Posted by Galadriel

The only character I thought was free form evil was Brienne.

Oh but there are lots of others (spoiler if you don't want to hear who are good guys) at least Ned, Bran, Jon, Samwell, Old Bear, Maester Aemon, Hodor, Meera, Jojen and Davos off the top of my head.

I personally enjoy Martin a lot (up to the point of recently being rather obsessed), and I have to disagree with Kit about the characters - they may start as slightly cardboardy, but they get so much better during the series: in fact so good that it depresses me as an aspiring writer. I really like the slowly revealed depth of characters like Jaime Lannister or Sansa Stark.

[Galadriel]

Originally Posted by Thinlómien

Oh but there are lots of others (spoiler if you don't want to hear who are good guys) at least Ned, Bran, Jon, Samwell, Old Bear, Maester Aemon, Hodor, Meera, Jojen and Davos off the top of my head.

I really like the slowly revealed depth of characters like Jaime Lannister or Sansa Stark.

Oh, but aside from Ned, I didn't find any of them to be 'free' of evil

And I absolutely LOVE the way Jaime turned out!