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Any point reading the books?

Roger Hassenforder

Box set on sale in a local bookshop.
Any point?

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Jofspring

Re-read the last three books and they were way more enjoyable the second time. There was a few chapters that I hated getting to but I found the Iron Islands, Dorne, Mereen and Tyrion storylines much better when I could go back take my time and had a better grasp of the story. On first read it was tedious and at times confusing with the amount of new characters that were flooding in. Second time it was far more enjoyable as I was able to take my time.

awec

I was going to re-read the entire series but I got about 1/3 of the way through the second book and gave up.

[Deleted User]

The Simpson's pic above is an explanation as to why people have a problem with the books imo. Rushing through to get to the "good stuff" and ignoring the character and world building going on. Feast for instance I went into after SoS looking for more of the same, racing to the end of chapters without really taking them in. It is a change of pace that threw me first time I read it and i did get fatigued about halfway through. Probably had a lot to do with it being 2000 odd pages of the same story in a few weeks at that stage

On re-reading though Feast might actually be my favourite book. The new characters all have their own little things going on and it expands the scale of the story fantastically. Considering he had to scrap about half of it and start again there was going to be a certain amount of slowness as the characters began to catch up to the story but I enjoyed learning about the riverlands, Dorne, Iron Islands and beyond. Victarion is such a badass! Not everyone's cup of tea but I think it's very good after a second read.

eoinzy2000

pumpkin4life wrote: »

He's an excellent character writer but a very lackluster prose writer. The books are full of strange turns of phrase, odd, sometimes incorrect use of words and repetition that will do your fùcking head in. Characters on the other side of the world in a completely different social class will speak verbatim; utterly word for word. Words are wind. You know nothing Jon Snow. Reek rhymes with Leek. Where do whores go? I'm looking for Sansa Stark. It does your head in. Either George R.R Martin's editing team is terrible, or Martin is a holier than thou benny who can't accept editing/criticism of his work. I'd say its the latter tbh.

Also, it bothers me that any character that is a good but naive person/described as good looking tends to meet a horrible end. The greatest variable in determining how you survive in GoT is how much of a freak/outsider/non normal person you are. These flaws get more noticeable and headwrecking as the books progress.

First book is great but needs a bit of editing. It's by far the best of the lot. The second book is a snoozefest up until the last third or so. The third book's first half is dull, but the second half is fantastic and makes up for it. A Feast for Crows is one of the most painfully dull bits of nonsense I've ever read and while A Dance of Dragons is an improvement, it's still pretty poor like. You could drop half that book and you'd lose nothing.

Me reading GoT:

Which is a shame cause the good bits are really fùcking good.

That's why the T.V show is miles better than the books imo. It's far from flawless but overall, they do a pretty good job of keeping the good of the books and cutting out the nonsense from it.

I'd go for the books, but it be a tentative recommendation. It's a lot of time to sink in. Definitely read the first book anyhow.

I was thinking of writing a post here, but that is probably the best review of the book series you can get. I agree 100% with all that is said, apart from the last being an improvement on the second last. I read the second last quicker and came close on many occasions to burning the Dance of Dragons it was that fecking tedious. Defo read the first 3 though.

Roger Hassenforder

pumpkin4life wrote: »

He's an excellent character writer but a very lackluster prose writer. The books are full of strange turns of phrase, odd, sometimes incorrect use of words and repetition that will do your fùcking head in. Characters on the other side of the world in a completely different social class will speak verbatim; utterly word for word. Words are wind. You know nothing Jon Snow. Reek rhymes with Leek. Where do whores go? I'm looking for Sansa Stark. It does your head in. Either George R.R Martin's editing team is terrible, or Martin is a holier than thou benny who can't accept editing/criticism of his work. I'd say its the latter tbh.

Also, it bothers me that any character that is a good but naive person/described as good looking tends to meet a horrible end. The greatest variable in determining how you survive in GoT is how much of a freak/outsider/non normal person you are. These flaws get more noticeable and headwrecking as the books progress.

First book is great but needs a bit of editing. It's by far the best of the lot. The second book is a snoozefest up until the last third or so. The third book's first half is dull, but the second half is fantastic and makes up for it. A Feast for Crows is one of the most painfully dull bits of nonsense I've ever read and while A Dance of Dragons is an improvement, it's still pretty poor like. You could drop half that book and you'd lose nothing.

Me reading GoT:

Which is a shame cause the good bits are really fùcking good.

That's why the T.V show is miles better than the books imo. It's far from flawless but overall, they do a pretty good job of keeping the good of the books and cutting out the nonsense from it.

I'd go for the books, but it be a tentative recommendation. It's a lot of time to sink in. Definitely read the first book anyhow.

Jaysis
I'd love to read your review of something you hate!!

pumpkin4life

He's an excellent character writer but a very lackluster prose writer. The books are full of strange turns of phrase, odd, sometimes incorrect use of words and repetition that will do your fùcking head in. Characters on the other side of the world in a completely different social class will speak verbatim; utterly word for word. Words are wind. You know nothing Jon Snow. Reek rhymes with Leek. Where do whores go? I'm looking for Sansa Stark. It does your head in. Either George R.R Martin's editing team is terrible, or Martin is a holier than thou benny who can't accept editing/criticism of his work. I'd say its the latter tbh.

Also, it bothers me that any character that is a good but naive person/described as good looking tends to meet a horrible end. The greatest variable in determining how you survive in GoT is how much of a freak/outsider/non normal person you are. These flaws get more noticeable and headwrecking as the books progress.

First book is great but needs a bit of editing. It's by far the best of the lot. The second book is a snoozefest up until the last third or so. The third book's first half is dull, but the second half is fantastic and makes up for it. A Feast for Crows is one of the most painfully dull bits of nonsense I've ever read and while A Dance of Dragons is an improvement, it's still pretty poor like. You could drop half that book and you'd lose nothing.

Me reading GoT:

Which is a shame cause the good bits are really fùcking good.

That's why the T.V show is miles better than the books imo. It's far from flawless but overall, they do a pretty good job of keeping the good of the books and cutting out the nonsense from it.

I'd go for the books, but it be a tentative recommendation. It's a lot of time to sink in. Definitely read the first book anyhow.

awec

PetKing wrote: »

Turning the page and being presented with a certain character's chapter meant you were in for a right chore of a read.

The entire Iron islands story arc bored the face off me in the books.

stampydmonkey

Liam O wrote: »

The books are miles better than the TV show.

And the TV show up till last season was miles better having read the books!

[Deleted User]

The books are miles better than the TV show.

stampydmonkey

Jofspring wrote: »

I found reading the books great for breaking up the wait for the tv series to come back. Finished them about 2 years ago now and having to wait so long for the next season and having no more books to read is an absolute balls.

Fact....Read them all in about 6 months 2 years ago. Didn't know they weren't finished at the time so ploughed through them and was well pissed when I ran out of book. Back reading the first one again...sucker for punishment. They are brilliant books though...Except Sansas chapters!

Jofspring

I found reading the books great for breaking up the wait for the tv series to come back. Finished them about 2 years ago now and having to wait so long for the next season and having no more books to read is an absolute balls.

Roger Hassenforder

Temptamperu wrote: »

You understand how books work? right?

wasnt great at the start, but got the hang of them!

Killergreene

Don't bother your arse. The old geezer has no intention of finishing them and will likely die before he ever even attempts to do so. At this point it's a saving grace HBO stepped in to save him from himself and give some sort of closure in the form of the TV show. I read the first book in 1998 and only last year did I finally give up on the series being completed.

Temptamperu

Roger Hassenforder wrote: »

Are there pictures of boobies?

You understand how books work? right?

PetKing

awec wrote:

The first few books are brilliant but it goes downhill a bit. The later books are still good but they just take a bit of effort to get through, entire chapters could (and should) have been left on the cutting room floor. He gets very waffly.

Turning the page and being presented with a certain character's chapter meant you were in for a right chore of a read.

awec

The first few books are brilliant but it goes downhill a bit. The later books are still good but they just take a bit of effort to get through, entire chapters could (and should) have been left on the cutting room floor. He gets very waffly.

Roger Hassenforder

Nody wrote: »

If nothing else than to get more fleshed out characters and read a version of the sand vipers who are not bad pussy bad...

Are there pictures of boobies?

PetKing

I'd read them. Plenty of lore to flesh out the series, and you get a get understanding on the geography and layout of Westeros and further afield.

I wouldn't worry either, the series will be finished. Either at his snail's pace, or another more competent author in a more timely fashion.

Nody

If nothing else than to get more fleshed out characters and read a version of the sand vipers who are not bad pussy bad...

pinkypinky

There's a vast amount more in the books, but the writing is lacking a bit at times. I often spot unnecessary repetition of words when synonyms could have been used. The last book could have done with serious editing, and there is of course a risk that Martin will never finish them since he seems more interested in writing episodes of the show and chapters of anthologies.

Having said that, if you really like the tv show, then it is worth reading the books for the extra layering it brings to your understanding.

Dial Hard

The books are fantastic and there's a *lot* more going on than they could fit into the show, naturally. But I'm not sure I could recommend anyone to start them at this stage, simply because I don't think the series will ever be finished.

Roger Hassenforder

are they any good and is there much more than whats in the TV show?

mjsc1970

Roger Hassenforder wrote: »

Box set on sale in a local bookshop.
Any point?

Yes.