📖 What are people reading?

[Bong0_clive]

Don't you mean 'Song of Ice and Fire'? pointless trash by a former semi-okay writer

Them's fighting words!!

I consider ASOIAF as the greatest fantasy series ever written.

I'm fascinated to hear a dissenting voice. Are you perhaps mistaken? You misread the sentence?

 

[Eric]

Don't you mean 'Song of Ice and Fire'? pointless trash by a former semi-okay writer

I suppose I did since i meant the whole series to date rather than the first book. You'll have to forgive me it's been a good number years since I last read them. I remember really liking the first four books (counting physical books here), was a bit more meh on the fifth I think and eventually listened to the sixth as an audiobook. The first ones however I even re-read (several times) prior to the "release" of the next book ... didn't take me too long to realise the expected release dates didn't quite line up with reality.

I found the more gritty fantasy world very appealing. Whilst there was magic it wasn't "fireballs flying everywhere", more historic and woven into the fabric of the land. It was only once we started getting into the whole Catelyn Stark coming back to life and living shadow magical bits that I felt we'd drifted too far from what I'd enjoyed about the series. I seem to remember finding them quite the page turners and I liked the character per chapter format.

I watched a little of the TV series when it first aired, but didn't stay with it (although I still think the title credits scene was well done), I don't quite remember why. I think probably because I'd fallen out of love with it all a bit by then, soured by the: "I'm going to release the next book this fall", "Whoops will be done by Spring", "Certainly Summer", "Decided to rewrite it ...". I expect in some years I might re-read the first books again and would expect to really love them once again. I'm now starting to wonder if I just have my infamous rose-tints on!

So assuming we're working to the same or a similar definition of trash for books - something along the lines of a book that is poorly written, unrealistic plot, badly developed characters. That kind of thing? I'm not sure they fair that badly, I certainly remember liking the interplay of the characters, but as I say it's been a good number of years and maybe in (slightly more) youth I got swept up and didn't notice? I'm no elite reader I've enjoyed some pretty trashy "Marines & Bolters" 40k fiction in my time so I might not really be best placed to offer any critical judgement!