A Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire, #1) A Game of Thrones discussion


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Is this too long for me to read?

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message 1: by Lucas (new) - added it

Lucas Guy Okay so this is sort of embarrassing...the longest book i have read was about 700 maybe 800 pages i didn't struggle reading it but the font wasn't as small as it is in Game Of Thrones. I really want to read this series, at least the first book, but the size and length of the book is really putting me off?


Jeni Don't look at it in page numbers-look at it as a chance to adventure with ghosts and dragons and knights and damsels in distress. A chance to participate in Political intrigue and adventure and betrayal and revenge.

You can't put a limit on the amazing adventures within the covers awaiting you.


Taughnee Golubović Yes. Find a smaller book with a bigger font. Just kidding, go for it. :) I felt the same way about it, not to mention in the beginning there's a lot to keep track of, but I think this series is worth the effort.


message 4: by Massimo (last edited Feb 20, 2013 03:58AM) (new) - rated it 5 stars

Massimo Fermo I think you should just start it (if you think you might waste money buying it just lend it from a library), then you'll realise on your own if it is too long for you. If the story doesn't "get" you just leave it. I will think it's a pity, but honestly, why would you care about what I think? :-)

P.S.
I am pretty sure you'll want to read all of the books...


Viktoriya It's like asking "should I get married because a lifetime is a long time to spend with someone". Don't think about how long it will take. Instead, enjoy the journey it will take you on.


message 6: by Lucas (new) - added it

Lucas Guy now I think I'm gonna read it!


message 7: by Bud (new) - rated it 4 stars

Bud Cobb It is one of those books that once you begin reading you have to find a chapter you can leave off with. I kept saying..... "Damn it! One more chapter."


Sarah totaly agree with bud, there were times I had to tell myself you need to sleep, go to bed. will re-read before next one comes out.


Noah I recommend the audio version for the first one. It is a great way to get into it and then reading the rest is easier.


message 10: by MJ (new) - rated it 5 stars

MJ L.S wrote: "now I think I'm gonna read it!"

I don't think you'll be sorry! It really is an excellent series and, as somebody stated, if you find you really don't like it, then don't finish it.


Marcelo It is a fun book, but if the length is a bit daunting you can for sure make sure you don't read it exclusively during that period of time (nobody says you can't read two books at once). Tackling something else, maybe shorter and light and completely different in tone, will help you both feel a sense of achievement and clear your head when you need a change...


Mitali Bud wrote: "It is one of those books that once you begin reading you have to find a chapter you can leave off with. I kept saying..... "Damn it! One more chapter.""

Exactly! It looks daunting at first - the whole series even more so, as the other books are even longer. But once you start reading, the story carries you along, so that you reach the end before you know it, and then all you can do is get your hands on the next book!


message 13: by Amy (last edited Feb 20, 2013 02:18PM) (new) - rated it 5 stars

Amy Agree with everyone saying it was hard to put down, I hadn't had time to read anything other than text books in months so I thought it would take me a while but I finished it so quickly it was ridiculous, I just kept going 'but I want to find out what happens next to x!' and reading on, only to find something else that made me want to read more. It doesn't feel that long at all once you get started. Some of the newer ones in the series do start to drag a little as the pace is slower, but the first few fly by.


Katyna If you think this book is too long to read, you might have to come to the conclusion that there are supposed to be 2 more books yet to be published, in addition to all the pages that have already been printed. So, it's not 800 pages or even 4,000 pages, it's going to be more like 6,000 pages.

So if you like it, then you have a lot of reading ahead of you.

Now a bit of awesomeness to go with the long reading; as long as you don't mind surprises (good and bad), you will be rewarded greatly.


message 15: by Diane (new)

Diane Marcelo wrote: "It is a fun book, but if the length is a bit daunting you can for sure make sure you don't read it exclusively during that period of time (nobody says you can't read two books at once). Tackling so..."

I've been stuck on the half-way point for the past month. Its a long-long read. So, I took a break and read a bunch of sci-fi to clear the mind. This strategy works pretty well for me, especially for long series.


Marcelo I agree Diane, I tend to read 2-3 books at the same time for that reason. I am not necessarily in the mood every day for the same topic, but I am always up for reading... Especially when reading long books, no matter how good, it helps make it feel less like an appointment ("i must finish!") and more of a pleasure


message 17: by Bud (new) - rated it 4 stars

Bud Cobb Diane wrote: "Marcelo wrote: "It is a fun book, but if the length is a bit daunting you can for sure make sure you don't read it exclusively during that period of time (nobody says you can't read two books at on..."

I did the same things after Storm of Swords. Those who have read knows there is so much to digest so I switched gears and read the Maze Runner series before starting Feast for Crows.

This also helped me appreciate Martin's writing skills... Dashner's MAZE series was a bit weak for me.


message 18: by Lori (new) - added it

Lori Let me tell you what I do, I listen to the audiobook, I honestly have no idea how big the book is really, but I listen to it when I am going for walks, or working in the kitchen, and it goes by so fast!
The audio books for this series has to be the best by far!!


message 19: by Evan (new) - rated it 5 stars

Evan No its not too long, it took me under six months to do all of them plus I took various breaks reading other books such as The Name of the Wind and various small stories by Michael Morpurgo!!


message 20: by Jody (new) - rated it 5 stars

Jody Austin The nice thing about this book is that it is broken up by the POVs from different characters. Each character has a few pages of his/her POV then it goes to another character. This made it seem like a fast read even though it is a long book.


message 21: by Bill (new) - rated it 5 stars

Bill Patton Jody wrote: "The nice thing about this book is that it is broken up by the POVs from different characters. Each character has a few pages of his/her POV then it goes to another character. This made it seem li..."

L.S wrote: "Okay so this is sort of embarrassing...the longest book i have read was about 700 maybe 800 pages i didn't struggle reading it but the font wasn't as small as it is in Game Of Thrones. I really wan..."


message 22: by Bill (new) - rated it 5 stars

Bill Patton Try large print or your e-reader. Large print will be like a brick to carry, but the font will be bigger.


message 23: by Jovz (new) - rated it 4 stars

Jovz yeah..this is quite a long read..but certainly worth it!^_^


Malina It's worth it! You will be eager to read the complete series after you finish this one,just take your time, it does get complicated


message 25: by Bill (new) - rated it 5 stars

Bill Patton Keep a piece of paper and a pen handy, write notes, whatever it takes to keep stuff straight. I still have notes from "The Lord of the Rings" from when I first read it in college -----many years ago.


Mitali Bill wrote: "Keep a piece of paper and a pen handy, write notes, whatever it takes to keep stuff straight. I still have notes from "The Lord of the Rings" from when I first read it in college -----many years ago."

Just out of curiosity, what kind of notes did LoTR require? There are lots of characters, but not enough that one can't keep track of them. (The Silmarillion is where the number of characters explodes exponentially.) Everything else of importance is mentioned in the appendices.

For A Song of Ice and Fire books, I find A Wiki of Ice and Fire (http://awoiaf.westeros.org/index.php/...) a good resource for keeping track of all the characters and places, and catching up on some backstory. Just be careful - there are a lot of unmarked spoilers on that site. I was spoiled about the death of certain important characters because of the way their names were marked in a family tree I was looking up.


message 27: by Sparrowlicious (new)

Sparrowlicious So I heard from various people that this tome is a page turner.

Genereally, the thing about really every book is that some are fast and/or easy to read and therefore it doesn't feel like you take long reading them. Then there are books that are hard to read and you can't get over 5 pages before taking a break. Or at least that's what happened with me when I read 'At Swim-Two-Birds' (and the font was quite big too!). That one only has 240 pages and it took me two weeks to read. The second Lord of the Rings took me one week and is longer and had smaller print. (Also, I didn't need to take any notes or anything.) Then there's The Count of Monte Christo, which took me, I think, about a month for 1474 pages in small print even though it's also a page turner.

Also, like Mitali already pointed out with their link: There's a wiki for everything if you should get confused with the characters. :)


message 28: by Bill (new) - rated it 5 stars

Bill Patton Sparrowlicious wrote: "So I heard from various people that this tome is a page turner.

Genereally, the thing about really every book is that some are fast and/or easy to read and therefore it doesn't feel like you take..."



message 29: by Bill (new) - rated it 5 stars

Bill Patton 50 years or so ago, we didn't have all that stuff. My professors acually lectured and I took actual notes. I'm just old fashioned that way I guess.

I first read "The Hobbit" in HS and then I moved up to the other in college. When I was a senior and looking for just any class to take to graduate...I took a 'Kiddie Lit' class (it also got me a second minor in English) and I was not just the only man in the class, but the only person who'd ever heard of The Rings. Automatic A for old Bill.


message 30: by L.S. (new) - rated it 5 stars

L.S. Dubbleyew Hi All...new to Goodreads and looking through some discussion threads. This is a good one. I too am a big GOT and LOTR fans and love talking about the "logistics," of reading larger works. I find the fantasy reader is a more forgiving reader in that they allow the world to build a bit without trying to get bogged down with knowing every character's traits. The important ones rise above.
I'm on the third GOT book and at this point I'm flying through it. I came late to the game(after seeing the show) and it really is a wonderful read. And if anyone is a writer of fantasy, it also offers some good techniques.


Shamma8 Believe me you won't even notice , don't let the number of pages scare you , it is literally a page turner , you won't regret it , trust me .. It takes you from one adventure to another always wanting to know what happens to everyone


message 32: by Ezgi (new) - rated it 4 stars

Ezgi it's long but you can always read 2 or 3 books at a time so it really is worth a shot.


Michael I can only say, go for it! It looks big but it reads like a train, and I guarantee you that if you like this one, you'll want to read the all!


message 34: by [deleted user] (new)

My opinion is that if you're asking, then it's because the answer is yes...


Tracey what's to be scared of? GoT is a wonderful roller coaster of a book it takes you along for the ride,, I loved it was a pleasure to read not a chore :)


Psagen I'm always amused by comments from people who consider the length of a book instead of the quality of writing. If the book is well written I don't care how many pages it is. Actually, if it's well written I want it to be 1,000's of pages so I can enjoy it (I'm looking at you Robert Caro!). However, a book that is poorly written or not very interesting can be short but will take me forever to get through.

I think people who ask if they should read a specific book and point out how many pages it is are looking for a reason NOT to read it.


Dionna Psagen wrote: "I'm always amused by comments from people who consider the length of a book instead of the quality of writing. If the book is well written I don't care how many pages it is. Actually, if it's wel..."

Cheers!


Malina Psagen wrote: "I'm always amused by comments from people who consider the length of a book instead of the quality of writing. If the book is well written I don't care how many pages it is. Actually, if it's wel..."


I agree 100%!
I would love it if his books were longer


message 39: by Isac (new) - rated it 4 stars

Isac Svensson Am I late to the party? I'm not a reader but I might try this one. Any tips for not losing interest?


Litter box I think this book is long enough.


message 41: by James (last edited May 28, 2015 03:25PM) (new)

James Isac wrote: "Am I late to the party? I'm not a reader but I might try this one. Any tips for not losing interest?"

Some tips that I have for Isac when it comes to reading this book series in general is to read multiple books that are different from this book. Also, the final advice I have for you is take a break from this book series when you need to. Finally, I hope this advice helps you out Isac.


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