Anyone read Martin's Dance with Dragons yet?

[raisindot]

Interested in starting a discussion of George R.R. Martin's latest entry in the now decades old A Song of Fire and Ice series?

I just finished this thing. Anyone else wish to comment on this or any of the other books in the series?

For the record, I thought the second and third books were great (still am waiting for the first from the library), the fourth book was complete pants and the newest one is mostly pants.

[Sjoerd3000]

I have read the first 3 books, don't have 4 and 5 yet. But I know Willem has read Dance With Dragons

[pip]

I'm getting there . I have it but have to get through book four frist

[Quatermass]

Fantasy isn't usually my thing (Discworld aside, obviously), but I have read George RR Martin before, in the Wild Cards series. Is the Song of Ice and Fire series any good? Is it, say, at the level of Dune (the first one, anyway)?

[raisindot]

Fantasy isn't usually my thing (Discworld aside, obviously), but I have read George RR Martin before, in the Wild Cards series. Is the Song of Ice and Fire series any good? Is it, say, at the level of Dune (the first one, anyway)?

Fantasy isn't my thing either, but I was hooked on the HBO series so I went back to the books.

I'd say what the series shares in common with Dune is a huge amount of exposition, background information, and early 70's progressive rock band pseudo-Tolkien ponderousness. And, like Dune, the quality of the writing declines with each succeeding book. (Actually, I think the third book in the SFI series is best of all of them).

The two things that the SFI series has that Dune doesn't have is humor and believable characters.

[Quatermass]

Fantasy isn't usually my thing (Discworld aside, obviously), but I have read George RR Martin before, in the Wild Cards series. Is the Song of Ice and Fire series any good? Is it, say, at the level of Dune (the first one, anyway)?

Fantasy isn't my thing either, but I was hooked on the HBO series so I went back to the books.

I'd say what the series shares in common with Dune is a huge amount of exposition, background information, and early 70's progressive rock band pseudo-Tolkien ponderousness. And, like Dune, the quality of the writing declines with each succeeding book. (Actually, I think the third book in the SFI series is best of all of them).

The two things that the SFI series has that Dune doesn't have is humor and believable characters.

Uhhh, it has (mildly) believable characters, but I agree with you on the humour.

Well, I've put A Game of Thrones on hold at my library. I'm 96th in line.

[Quatermass]

Welp, I just bought A Game of Thrones today. Just going out on a limb, for once, because what Raisindot said about it and Dune intrigues me.

[Willem]

I've read them all, book three and one remain the best but I quite enjoyed book five too. I re-read two to four before five came out and four is indeed pretty bad, or rather pretty boring. Both four and five dragged along a bit without getting much done in the bigger narrative picture, but in book five at least loads of stuff is happening while not really getting anywhere . My ranking currently is 3-1-5-2-4
I'm planning to re-read it soonish, currently 2/3s into Dreamsongs and afterwards it should be time for Snuff first


Quatermass: I couldn't get through Dune when I was about 14, and never tried again so I can't really compare. I hope you enjoy this first though, don't really know anyone who didn't

[raisindot]

My ranking currently is 3-1-5-2-4

I haven't read 1 yet (still waiting over a month for it to come to the library), so I'd say my ranking is 3-(1*)-2-5-4

*I'm going to assume that I really like the first one, given that I loved the HBO series which is based on it.

[Quatermass]

I'm nearly halfway through A Game of Thrones, and I have to admit to being impressed.

[raisindot]

I'm nearly halfway through A Game of Thrones, and I have to admit to being impressed.

Enjoy it. It only goes downhill from there (actually, not really--he keeps up the level for the first three books (the third is probably my favorite), and then it goes rapidly downhill in 4 and 5. This ain't a spoiler; you'll see it for yourself when you get there.

[stripy_tie]

Got into it from the HBO series and bought all the books soon after, They're all pretty amazing but a feast for crows does lag a bit and could probably have been tightened up in editing.

Dance of dragons pretty much restores the standard. Lord knows how long we'll be waiting for the next one though and i'm beginning to wonder if he'll live long enough to finish the series.

[raisindot]

Lord knows how long we'll be waiting for the next one though and i'm beginning to wonder if he'll live long enough to finish the series.

Yeah, if you've ever seen photos of Martin you gotta wonder how much sand is left in his time dial.

[stripy_tie]

Lord knows how long we'll be waiting for the next one though and i'm beginning to wonder if he'll live long enough to finish the series.

Yeah, if you've ever seen photos of Martin you gotta wonder how much sand is left in his time dial.

Maybe the next discworld fan to pass beyond the veil could have a quiet word with DEATH and see if he can't pop a few extra grains in there. Worth a try lol.

[MoonJewel]

I've read all of the books, but can't really rank them. I like his prose, and find his plots to be interesting (although there are times it is slow). Often his excellent characterization and prose can make the slower parts enjoyable, but there are spots as others have mentioned. I'm almost (almost almost) done with DwD, and I'm finding this one to be an excellent continuation of the series.

From what I've read online, Martin wasn't really happy with book 4 since he felt he had to rush to get it out. After that, he decided to take his time so he'll be happier with the outcome. Thus the really long wait between books 4 and 5, and the improved quality of book 5. I think there's only supposed to be one or two more books in the series, and he's looking forward to finishing it. So, the end of the series is in sight, and it's unlikely that it won't be completed.