Anyone else NOT reading A Dance with Dragons yet?

[Michael]

This series is on my "to-read" list, but not high up on that list. I'm working through several other book series first (Travis McGee, James Bond, Matt Scudder) before I tackle this opus.

[Words]

Stan wrote: "I'll read it eventually. I've read the other books, but it's been so long since I read A Feast for Crows that I can barely remember what's going on. What I do remember is that the last book sucked so bad I thought it might have been ghost written by Robert Jordan. I liked the first three books, but that last one has left me a little hesitant to go out and plunk money down for A Dance with Dragons. Plus, it'll likely take Martin another 10 years to complete the next one, so I've got time. "

I mostly agree...I bought the book, but it's still sitting there on my table staring at me. I was so hyped up on these books in the beginning, but time and distance (so to speak) have given me a different perspective on them. At my most cynical moments, I'm afraid the story is running away from him and he's not interested in pulling it all back. I doubt all the various running threads in the overall story can be resolved in this installment, and I can't help wondering how many years it will be before the next book and the next. Maybe the HBO series will prompt the books to come out more frequently...meanwhile, I'm just a little hesitant to dive into this one right now.

[Kara]

As it was, I vaguely remember drifting off-half way through book 3... something about dirty politics and monarchs and loads of blanketty-blanks killing each other.

Or wait - I think may have been drifting off while watching HBO...

*chuckle*


I'll pick it up again later. I have a hard time reading more than a trilogy in sequence anyway.

[Marissa]

After poor Wheel of Time I have now vowed to not ready ANY serial books until the series is finished. This has so far served me well. As I am also almost obsessed by needing resolution at the end of a novel, not getting it drives me nuts. I did read the first few of this series quite a few years ago, and I remember losing interest when they seem to have killed off EVERYONE. Somewhat off-putting. I may give it another shot when it's finished, who knows?

[Phillip]

I am waiting for George R.R. Martin to finish the entire series; I understand I could be waiting a while.

[Helen]

What are his other books like?

[Kevin]

Helen wrote: "What are his other books like?"

I find his Wild Cards series to be amazing. If you like Watchman, you will love the book. It shared the Hugo with Watchman as both of them came out the same year. The only down point of Wild Cards is that most of them are out of point. At least read the new books staring with Inside Straight.

[Chris]

Kevin wrote: "Helen wrote: "What are his other books like?"

I find his Wild Cards series to be amazing. If you like Watchman, you will love the book. It shared the Hugo with Watchman as both of them came out th..."

I read Inside Straight, and loved it. We should mention that it's a shared universe and GRRM has lots of other contributors on the stories.

The first one is back in print and I think I saw that Tor is due to release the second. Hopefully they'll get them all out there.

[Benjamin]

The first Wild Cards was also reprinted last year so that one should at least be easy to find.

Fevre Dream is really good as is Dying of the Light. I didn't care that much for The Armageddon Rag.

He also has a bunch of short stories, many of which are quite good. Most are in two collections called Dreamsongs: A Retrospective: Book One and Dreamsongs: A RRetrospective: Book Two. Another good collection is Tuf Voyaging.

[Kevin]

I found Inside Straight was more or less a reality competition show up until the last part of the book.

[Helen]

I suppose with the popularity of the TV series, publishers will cash in and republish other books. I'll have a look, although, I'd prefer he concentrated on parts 6+7!

[Serena]

I have the first four, I haven't read them (and won't be reading the fifth book until it comes out in paperback)...mostly as I have too much already to be reading.

[Alan]

Have to agree with a lot of the commenters here. I may pick it up when it comes out in paperback or the ebook price drops, but, after the last one which was so full of, well, filth, and very little in the way of story moving forward, I wasn't impressed. I may be old fashioned, but I need at least some characters to root for. If anyone seems remotely heroic, Martin swats them down and drags them through the muck.

[Helen]

I haven't read part 4, you aren't selling it!

[Deanna]

Heather wrote: "I just started on Feast for Crows earlier today and have only read about 30 pages, so I won't be reading Dance with Dragons any time soon. I'll probably take a break from George RR Martin for a bit..."

LOL, I was just about to say the exact same thing! I have Feast for Crows on hand, read the series years before but wanted the refresher since it's been so long, and I've been steadily working through them, but won't read it till I finish the few I already have started.

We expect, as readers, to pick our favorites and root for them through the pages (or watch for character arcs to change them - even if they aren't our favorites) but Martin is as bad at killing off his characters as Joss Whedon is! I really am looking forward to reading Dance of Dragons though, I gotta see what happens to Tyrion. He and Ari are my favorite and they haven't been killed off yet! (Though both Tyrion and his brother seem to drop parts off as they travel through the chapters, how much of them will survive the series?)

[Laurel]

I know that many are frustrated with Martin's writing pace, but in my opinion, books 4 and 5 are well worth reading. I love the depth and realism of the characters. I appreciate that Martin is willing to kill of characters to keep the reader on their toes. It isn't predictable, which in my opinion, is what a true game of thrones would be like. There are so many devious minds fighting for the grand prize, no one can possibly steer a predictable course.

Reconsider and give the books a try. I think it's worth it!

[Chris]

Nicely said, Laurel.

[Dawn]

I actually really liked book four.. I know, I'm a minority.. But it's one of my favorites in the series. *flees*

[Chris]

Dawn wrote: "I actually really liked book four.. I know, I'm a minority.. But it's one of my favorites in the series. *flees*"

I loved it during the re-read. Before that I had been disappointed. This last time, I settled in and enjoyed the story.

[Valerie]

Dawn wrote: "I actually really liked book four.. I know, I'm a minority.. But it's one of my favorites in the series. *flees*"

I just finished re-reading this and I totally agree - if I was ranking the books, I'd actually put it above A Clash of Kings (with ASoS and AGoT above it). It also helped that I <3 Brienne and Samwell, and they got lots of POV chapters. :D

[Dawn]

My order is Thrones, Crows, Swords, Dragons, Kings. Not to say I don't like the ones ranked later, they are all 5 stars to me!

[Mach]

A Storm of Swords is by far the best book. Game of Thrones and Clash of kings are in a tie for the second place. Feast and Dance are in a tie in the third place, Dance is slightly better but not by much.

[Terry]

To me Dance is a ton better than Feast. I personally could have cared less for most of the characters covered in Feast. I know technically Feast and Dance 'are' one volume spanning basically the same time frame for the majority of the books, but to me the writing, pace, plot and characters in Dance were just so much better than Feast. To be honest, toss out Brienne, Sansa, Victarion, Aeron, Pate, Ser Arys, Areo Hotah and what have you really missed in Feast. I've read the book four times and now reading Dance for the second time and can't get over how little Feast really covered or helped resolve.

For any who watch anime, I equate Feat to one of those Naruto fillers.

[[deleted user]]

Terry wrote: "For any who watch anime, I equate Feat to one of those Naruto fillers. "

Ouch, that's cold man.

[Mach]

Without Cersei, Feast would have been boring but her pov made me like it, and atleast it had some sort of conlusion unlike Dance which ended with cliffhangers left and right.

[Terry]

I actually enjoyed the cliffhangers. However, later on I may be upset because I know how long GRRM is going to take to release the next one, but it is what it is. For the most part, I've accepted that. Between now and then there will be tons of other books for me to read.

[Jon]

I bought a copy of ADWD, but it's sitting on my dressing while I finish some other books that have been piling up.

[Marc]

Not the slightest bit of interest in the series at all.

[Michael]

I've been holding off as well.

[Jon]

Now that my assassin/fantasy trilogy is done and out the door, I think my next read will be the Night Angel books by Brent Weeks.

[Andre]

I'm not reading it. Haven't started the series at all except for reading a teaser of GoT from Amazon on my Kindle. It began pretty slow and only got to the point of starting to set up a conflict between the major families. I really couldn't see it going anywhere all that interesting at that point though. The direwolf cubs were the best part. I'm probably wrong and it gets awesome later, but the beginning has not really drawn me in.

So it gets put in my "to-read-later" pile for now as I plow through more Wheel of Time (I'm on Gathering Storm) and the latest Sword of Truth book. Plus I started but haven't finished The Way of Kings yet either. Yes, reading two gigantic unfinished series at a time is fine, but three is too many. ^.- (I'm not calling Sword of Truth unfinished at this point because Omen Machine seems to be a standalone addition.)

[Nef]

I read it. I enjoyed the series, but kind of wish I'd waited. I feel like the series is going to drag on.

[Trike]

I gave up on the series years ago, but someone gave me the damn book. I suppose I'll have to read it at some point. I will say this, though, Martin has some furious digging to do to get out of the hole he made with the last two installments. So this book has to be pure awesome for me to even grudgingly give it a half-decent review.

I know some people think that's not fair, but there it is. I just feel Martin went seriously off the rails as the series progressed and the fourth book should've been called "A Beast for Cash: I'm Faffing Off To Milk This Shit."

[Marc]

Trike wrote: "the fourth book should've been called "A Beast for Cash: I'm Faffing Off To Milk This Shit." "

LOL.

[Wastrel]

Snail in Danger (Sid) wrote: "Lara - I started the first book 7-8 years ago and didn't care for it. I gave the book away without ever finishing it. The widespread excitement makes me think that maybe I'll go back to it ... bu..."

It's worth trying again. The first book isn't as good as the second or third (it's probably the worst of the five, but I'd have to re-read the 4th to be sure), and the first half of the first book is worse than the second half. Basically, it gets continually better up to the end of book 3.

--

On the OP: I was going to leave it, as I wasn't impressed by the fourth book, and as I was re-reading the first book at the time and it was worse than I'd remembered. But I heard really good reviews of the fifth, so I gave it a try. [verdict: better than the first, certainly, and as a reading experience no major complaints, but consternation about the direction of the series]

[Snail in Danger (Sid)]

Wastrel wrote: "It's worth trying again."

My stance has shifted to "I'll try it again if he finishes the series." Though the inevitable spoiler leakage from the TV show being popular, and various friends' diminishing satisfaction with the books that are released, makes me less interested.

[Reginac1]

I loved the first 3 volumes of WOT but the rest sort of petered out. He was in the midst of a divorce by volume 5 and it really showed. But GOT is far far better written. Much more interesting action. WOT just seems to be recycling the same conflicts and plot points.

[David]

The books sound fantastic, but I haven't started the series yet. Partly because it's a big commitment and I have so many to-read books, especially since I read YA/MG books as well as adult books, and sometimes in other genres.

But my bigger issue is this: All my friends who were raving about the series 5 years ago were the same friends who raved for years about Wheel of Time before all abandoning it and telling me not to read it (after years of telling me I should). So that made me hesitant, along with the time it was taking for the next book to come out.

I'm a very forgetful reader. Have trouble remembering things I write for myself, so if I start the books now and five years passes before another book, I'll have to reread everything. I can handle a year, maybe two years for a memorable book. More than that I cannot do.

[[deleted user]]

Don't read it until it's completed.

[Mach]

Ala wrote: "Don't read it until it's completed."

Then he probably will never read it at all, how are we to now when it will be finished? it can be in ten years and Martin can even die before it's completed. I say read what's out and enjoy, instead of waiting forever for something that might get a conclusion.

[Chris]

Or we could fight about it....

[[deleted user]]

Read it all now then.


I really don't care.

[Joon]

I haven't even started the series, for the same reason. I want to wait until it's finished.

I've read the first couple chapters of A Game of Thrones, just to see if it's something I'd even like, and I'm still uncertain.

[Greyweather]

I still need to read Feast first.

[Sarebear]

Yeah, I tried the first book in Game of Thrones, and was disgusted by the incestual relationship of two characters. So I avoid anything by this author.

[Becky]

Well, if that bothers you, you're probably right not to read the rest. That's pretty normal.

Although, swearing off everything else he's ever written seems kind of extreme over disliking two characters, but whatever blows your skirt up. *shrug*

[Sarebear]

It's been my experience that authors that tend to get graphically crude, tend to do it in most of their books, unless they have several pen names. I'm not saying it's true for all, but in my experience that's how it's been.

[Becky]

I guess that depends on what your definition of "graphically crude" is. ;)

Incest isn't uncommon, and has been practiced throughout history, especially among royalty intermarrying, etc. Not that I'm saying it's not gross (I couldn't bring myself to do it, ever), but that's really one of the more tame facets of the series.

I haven't read anything else of GRRM's, so I can't speak to whether that kind of thing bleeds into his other work, but I will say that in the ASOIAF series, it fits the characters and the world, so I don't have any problem with reading about it. *shrug* To each their own, of course.

[Craig]

Becky wrote: "I guess that depends on what your definition of "graphically crude" is. ;)

Incest isn't uncommon, and has been practiced throughout history, especially among royalty intermarrying, etc. Not that I..."

I thought the same thing. Incest was so common among royalty during certain periods that it didn't seem out of place in ASOIAF. The incest in the books are important to the overall plot so it isn't gratuitous.

[Becky]

Yes, Ron! Get thyself reading! :D