100 Things: A Storm of Ice and Fire Series
This post is part of the 100 Things: A Blogging Challenge; please click here to learn more about the challenge and the full list of topics I've discussed.
A SONG OF ICE AND FIRE SERIES by GEORGE R.R. MARTIN
A Song of Ice and Fire is pretty much the it fantasy series at the moment, thanks to the popular adaptation that's airing on HBO. It's fantasy and contains many fantastical elements (like, you know, dragons). Yet it operates like historical fiction, with kings and major figures fighting for power; the human drama is just fantastic to read and explore.
I was first acquainted with this series some 10 years ago; I had just started reading fantasy and wanted to read other books in the genre. In the Terry Brooks forum, many readers were recommending George R.R. Martin's books. It sounded interesting so I picked up the first book, read it...and it was another 8 years before I got around to the rest of the series =P (if you read the first book or watched the first series, you know why; it was my first experience reading a fantasy novel in the gritty, realistic trend that emerged in fantasy in the last 15 - 20 years. Someone could've warned me about that then, but I digress...).
There are currently 5 books in the series with 2 to go (as of right now):
The first three books have been pretty much perfect in the build-up to the tension and struggle between Houses. GoT and ASoS are pretty much my favourite books despite of all the devastation that pretty much happens in those volumes because of its structure, those nasty surprises and the characterisations. I think that's where GRRM's brilliance lies, his ability to present characters one way depending on whose viewpoint you're reading it from, but then changing your opinion about those characters once you read things from their point of view. But more on that later.
So yes, A Song of Ice and Fire makes it on my 100 Sci-Fi & Fantasy Things for its scope and characterisation. They're massive tomes but well worth reading through.
This entry was originally posted at http://caffeinatedlife.dreamwidth.org/401692.html. Please comment there using OpenID.
A SONG OF ICE AND FIRE SERIES by GEORGE R.R. MARTIN
A Song of Ice and Fire is pretty much the it fantasy series at the moment, thanks to the popular adaptation that's airing on HBO. It's fantasy and contains many fantastical elements (like, you know, dragons). Yet it operates like historical fiction, with kings and major figures fighting for power; the human drama is just fantastic to read and explore.
I was first acquainted with this series some 10 years ago; I had just started reading fantasy and wanted to read other books in the genre. In the Terry Brooks forum, many readers were recommending George R.R. Martin's books. It sounded interesting so I picked up the first book, read it...and it was another 8 years before I got around to the rest of the series =P (if you read the first book or watched the first series, you know why; it was my first experience reading a fantasy novel in the gritty, realistic trend that emerged in fantasy in the last 15 - 20 years. Someone could've warned me about that then, but I digress...).
There are currently 5 books in the series with 2 to go (as of right now):
- A Game of Thrones (review)
- A Clash of Kings (review)
- A Storm of Swords (review)
- A Feast of Crows (review)
- A Dance with Dragons (review)
The first three books have been pretty much perfect in the build-up to the tension and struggle between Houses. GoT and ASoS are pretty much my favourite books despite of all the devastation that pretty much happens in those volumes because of its structure, those nasty surprises and the characterisations. I think that's where GRRM's brilliance lies, his ability to present characters one way depending on whose viewpoint you're reading it from, but then changing your opinion about those characters once you read things from their point of view. But more on that later.
So yes, A Song of Ice and Fire makes it on my 100 Sci-Fi & Fantasy Things for its scope and characterisation. They're massive tomes but well worth reading through.
This entry was originally posted at http://caffeinatedlife.dreamwidth.org/401692.html. Please comment there using OpenID.