George R.R. Martin - A Song of Fire and Ice

So in my free moments lately, on the bus traveling to and from meetings, or waiting for my computer to reboot, or water to boil to cook dinner, I've started re-reading George R.R. Martin's "A Song of Fire and Ice" series.

To put it simply, truly epic fantasy. I mean... Wow. War, love, mysteries, treachery and betrayal, feuds between families, etc. Truly truly complex and amazingly well written series of books.

The series starts in A Game of Thrones, continues with A Clash of Kings, into a A Storm of Swords, and just last month (I think last month) A Feast for Crows which I haven't read yet.

The series is very good, very complex, but because of both of those and that it has a truly huge cast of characters it at times can be very frustrating. Each chapter is from the perspective of one character, and no two chapters in a row are from the same characters perspective. So there will be times when a character you really like ( and you will find yourself, if you like the series at all, identifying closely with one or more of the characters ) won't have a chapter or even a mention for several hundred pages.

Oh and a warning so that if any of you read this because of my mention you don't hate me for it later, the author is a complete and total bastard. In the Joss Wheedon sense of the word. Really and truly, he completely fucks with each and every character to some degree at some point.

He'll spend a long time introducing a character to you that you'll really like, someone who you are certain is going to be a pivotal figure throughout the series, and then casually in a paragraph kill them off, kill everyone around them, end their chapter, and never mention them again.

Next thing you know you'll come across a chapter from the point of view of the villainous ass you've been loathing the entire time, the one that has you frothing at the mouth just hoping someone will stick them with a long sharp pointy piece of metal, and he'll let you inside their head and see the world from their point of view and you realize that they have good motivations and are a decent person too and suddenly you find yourself liking a character you really wish you could despise.

I wish I could say that I recommend the series to everyone, but I really can't. My friends in the past seem to be split just about evenly on the series. Some of them truly love it and gnash their teeth waiting for the next book to be released, others of my friends try the first book out and get bored and disgusted partway through because it is paced a bit more slowly then a 'normal' sword & sorcery sort of fantasy novel.

Myself, I had a hard time with it the first time through because there is one character ( small spoiler, but I want to be clear who: Daenerys ) whose chapters I just absolutely despise. The character does not interest me much at all, but is one of the long-term pivotal ones that has chapters again and again, but she is so far removed geographically, and to a sense stylistically, from the rest of the cast that her chapters are ones I just have to force myself through in order to get back to the other characters that, to me, are actually doing something interesting.

So borrow or check out a copy of the first book A Game of Thrones ( though the most recent paperback edition sells for only $3.99, I think part of the drive to get readers into the series after the fourth book hit #1 on the Times Bestseller List ) and give it a try. Hopefully you'll like it. Try at least to get 190 pages in ( the first book in paperback is 870 long ) as that puts you past the first couple Daenerys chapters, gives you the first few Jon Snow ones, and pretty well introduces most of the early cast of characters, setting up the sorts of political tensions that exist in the series.

If, at that point, you are still bored out of your mind or just can't figure out why people like it, then it isn't for you and you might as well find something else to read.

If you get that far and find yourself flipping ahead, looking for the chapter title pages with the names of the characters you like in big bold print there, then you are well and hooked and enjoy and try not to hate me too much if your favorite character gets screwed with too badly.