fight me

  • Chomsky [comrade/them]
    ·
    4 years ago

    The books are actually really medicore. Not bad exactly, but basically fantasy slopfests

    • hexaflexagonbear [he/him]
      ·
      4 years ago

      I just think it could've been much tighter if he kept the cast of characters smaller. Like it feels almost like a step back in storytelling, we used to be able to tell stories about the rise and fall of empires through relatively simple allegories, now we have this interconnecting intricate web that is so complex the author isn't sure how to end it, and it's there to communicate the minor interpersonal drama of the ruling class. Well, I guess it's more realistic.

    • thoro [none/use name]
      ·
      4 years ago

      They're pretty good until the last two, which are frankly tedious.

      But they never were the lofty achievements their biggest fans made them out to be. Maybe could've been if they remained consistent and you know actually ended

      • hahafuck [they/them]
        ·
        4 years ago

        Respectfully disagree, I think the first one is outright bad and they climb to being just mediocre as they proceed

        • thoro [none/use name]
          ·
          4 years ago

          I haven't read them in about a decade, so I could possibly have the same opinion now. I remember being weirded out by their ages and everything then. I thought the plotting was pretty good and overall thought put into it. But that all unraveled following the third entry.

          Don't have any problem with people not liking them, though! The fandom around the books can be a bit insufferable.

          • hahafuck [they/them]
            ·
            4 years ago

            You're right that the plotting was good and it had that sense of a rich and deeply considered world, which kept me with it, I really respect GRR as a worldbuilder (weird old pervert element aside), but I just mean the prose, it starts off pretty poor and slowly gets better but never becomes really good

            • thoro [none/use name]
              ·
              4 years ago

              Oh yeah. No disagreements about the prose at all! Definitely one of the weaker aspects of his writing.

      • Barabas [he/him]
        ·
        4 years ago

        Going to do what I always do when fantasy comes up and reccomend Joe Abercrombie. And he actually writes books unlike a lot of people that get reccomended.

      • redthebaron [he/him]
        ·
        4 years ago

        could i sugest "The name of the wind" and "A Wise Man's Fear" they are really good fantasy books, the main gimmick is that the incredible things have already happened and the main character the great hero is an older sad man that owns a inn and he tells a writter about his story from the point where things can't be changed it is just a real good book not too high fantasy, like i would suggest actually reading the prologue which is what actually got me to read it, it is just short, sweet and sets the tone very well

      • Chomsky [comrade/them]
        ·
        4 years ago

        It's not higher calibre than game of thrones, but I actually really liked the Drizzt prequel books. Homeland, Exile and Sojourn. I wasn't so hot on the other books in the series. They are ok. I also really liked the Erevis Cale trilogy by Paul S. Kemp. Both trilogies are set in the forgotten realms, which is a Dungeons and Dragons thing.

        I am actually a super big fan of LoTR, I have read them several times as well as the silmarilion and the hobbit.

      • Biggay [he/him, comrade/them]
        ·
        4 years ago

        Read killsixbilliondemons.com

        Absolutely fantastic art and writing, writer is a leftist and the philosophy throughout is very good.