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January 16, 2008
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Oliver
gave  to:
Blue Like Jazz: Nonreligious Thoughts on Christian Spirituality (Paperback)
by
Donald Miller
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my rating:
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Oliver
gave to:
Gone with the Wind (Paperback)
by
Margaret Mitchell
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my rating:
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November 02, 2007
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October 30, 2007
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Oliver
gave to:
A Feast for Crows (A Song of Ice and Fire, #4)
by
George R.R. Martin
read in October, 2007
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my rating:
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Oliver said:
"Though the fates of many of the characters from the previous book are left out (Tyrion, Bran, Daenerys, etc.), unfortunately some of them more interesting than their counterparts featured here, there is still more than enough in this installment to c...more
Though the fates of many of the characters from the previous book are left out (Tyrion, Bran, Daenerys, etc.), unfortunately some of them more interesting than their counterparts featured here, there is still more than enough in this installment to chew on. It is no easy feat to tackle a story of the complexity author George R.R. Martin has conjured up. But Martin faithfully and tirelessly follows the arcs of a variety of players - great and small - scattered throughout the fictitious Seven Kingdoms and beyond.
There is much investment in each character, and with so many characters, the plot drags at times, while at other times, the investment pays off quite smartly, as each encounters new friends, foes, and revelations. It is by now, quite clear too, that virtually no one gets what he wants from the "game of thrones", and the amount of suffering contained in Martin's writing, though perhaps off-putting to the casual reader, enforces the reality of the game. It's being played for keeps, and anyone who ever presumes to think himself on top of everything usually finds his illusions quickly disabused.
That's not to say that the spread of focus doesn't sometimes take its toll. Some characters still feel a bit underdeveloped, or at odds with themselves. In particular, the attempt to humanize a certain "Kingslayer" through his point-of-view storyline falls somewhat flat. From trying to murder a defenseless child to saving a girl from a bear pit to alienating himself from the rest of his family, this character seems to be all over the board.
All in all, though, Martin does not disappoint in this novel, and maintains the high quality of writing he established since the first book. Here's to the speedy writing of the next one, A Dance with Dragons.(less)
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October 16, 2007
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Oliver
is currently reading:
Holding Nothing Back: Embracing the Mystery of God (Paperback)
by
Tim Hughes
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my rating:
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Oliver
gave to:
A Storm of Swords (A Song of Ice and Fire, #3)
by
George R.R. Martin
read in October, 2007
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my rating:
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Oliver said:
"Chronologically speaking, the series' best so far. Although it feels like the characters' misery is your entertainment. Does anything ever go well for the main characters? Maybe they all need to sit around a campfire and sing "Bad Day" toge...more
Chronologically speaking, the series' best so far. Although it feels like the characters' misery is your entertainment. Does anything ever go well for the main characters? Maybe they all need to sit around a campfire and sing "Bad Day" together.(less)
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Oliver
gave to:
A Clash of Kings (A Song of Ice and Fire, #2)
by
George R.R. Martin
read in September, 2007
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my rating:
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Oliver said:
"A solid continuation to a strong series. This time, no slow start needed in the exposition to get things going; there's a party going on in this book's mouth and everyone is... at war.
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September 20, 2007
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September 11, 2007
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Oliver
gave to:
A Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire, #1)
by
George R.R. Martin
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my rating:
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Oliver said:
"I wanted to give this 3.5 stars instead of 4, but alas, either goodreads doesn't allow such fine distinction (or such indecisive splitting of hairs), or I am too much of a goodreads newbie.
This fantasy offering from George RR Martin was a...more
I wanted to give this 3.5 stars instead of 4, but alas, either goodreads doesn't allow such fine distinction (or such indecisive splitting of hairs), or I am too much of a goodreads newbie.
This fantasy offering from George RR Martin was a pretty solid book, both in terms of its 800+ pages of prose as well as its characters, plot, and development. Though it has a slow start, which I dutifully plowed through on the strength of a friend's recommendation, it does gather momentum, and soon becomes a massive ball of intrigue, twining sub-plots, and epic-scale action hurtling towards a disastrous (for some), inevitable, yet still-not-without-surprises end. And this is just the first in a series of seven.
The characters are hit and miss. The ones that hit the mark really hit the mark - they feel like complex, well developed people who change and are changed by the whirlwind of events surrounding them. This makes it all the more disappointing when some characters fall flat because they, well, are flat, singing a single tune throughout the lengthy journey. The fact that characters die just as easily as in real life, er real fantasy life - realistic fantastic life? anyhow - is a welcome device, and helps keep in check "the hero and his merry party" idea that has become so tired in the already-easy-to-poke-fun-of fantasy genre.
Thematically, the novel mostly makes its home in relatively shallow waters, sometimes hinting at the deep unknown, but never fully plunging into the depths.
If this book were a movie, on a scale of Shameless But Fun Popcorn Blockbuster to The Thinking Man's Drama, this would probably fall somewhere in the middle, perhaps skewing towards the TTMD side. It's not quite Lord of the Rings Lite, but more like Lord of the Rings' brooding adolescent brother - dark, but not quite fully realized.
(less)
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