Is it just me or...

[markdeniz]

Has anyone suffered the same with Mr. R. R. Martin?

I read his first three books in the Song of Ice and Fire series in 2006 and loved them, having all three in my top five books of that year, with A Storm of Swords at number one.

I eventually got around to starting book four: A Feast for Crows, a couple of weeks ago and I am bored stupid.

Comments

[lurvelille]

I felt the same way you did at first. But then I reread 1-3 and the number four just exploded:)

and the "characters that I'm not interested in" is just due to the fact that the others are easier to like at first. But after the reread I just loved them all!

oh and the finnishing chapters of this one is worth it, ten times over.

[lurvelille]

oh and the reread made the three first even better! All the suble hints I missed the first time; OMG!

[generalbullet]

100% agreed. Sure I can't wait to red what is going on with the favourite characters, the fourth was still a very good read, once you got into it :D

[markdeniz]

Am sticking with it, am hoping I agree.

[wolflady26]

I think everyone in the whole world had that problem with that book. Martin basically wrapped up and shipped out half of the book he was writing, because it was getting too long and taking too long. He's still working on the other half of what Feast for Crows should have been. While writing and editing other books in the middle. He keeps promising he'll finish it, eventually.

I'm hoping that when the series is done, they'll make an "editor's cut" and recreate the book as it should have been.

I'm also hoping that it isn't taking so long because he's totally lost interest, killing the rest of the series.

[lurvelille]

I don't agree at all really. Song is a very small part of his writings, and just because we love is so much, it is not the biggest thing ever for him I think.
And besides, I loved #4 after a reread and I like the suspence as it demands more of me as a reader.

We would all love to have the entire series out in one go, but we allso want world peace:)

[wolflady26]

I'd just like his books to follow the format he set up for his series, and it would be a nice added bonus if he would be even close to schedule for them. That's not quite on the same level as wishing for world peace. He's free to do whatever he wants with his time, of course; but I'm free not to like it. ;)

While admittedly I used hyperbole in my comment, I have yet to hear a single Ice & Fire fan read A Feast For Crows and say, wow, that was exactly what I was hoping for out of this book.

[markdeniz]

I think you both bring up interesting points here, as in one way I think it's cool that he decides to go off and start other threads in the same world with characters we know and those we don't (and building a very detailed world at the same time) but on the other hand as one who was on tenterhooks at the end of book three, I was waiting for much of the same.

[calendula_witch]

So, maybe I shouldn't start book 1 until the series is done? (not like I don't already have enough else to read...)

[markdeniz]

It's an idea, I would wait for all seven and then look out for LJers like myself having a good old whine (or jumping up and down)!

[athenais]

I was hugely disappointed with Book 4, but I think maybe I'll try rereading the other three all in a row and then tackling it again. I trust him to be doing right be me as a reader, but there simply was too much time between 3 and 4 to sustain the momentum of love.

[markdeniz]

I only realised that there was a five year gap between 3 and 4 the other day.

I didn't have that big a gap but felt that I had missed much.

Aw well, am plodding along.

[threemonkeys]

I can't even start book 4 - knowing that it only covers half the threads. That and the extreme thickness of the trade edition I have just makes me bypass it every time I'm looking for the next book. Perhaps when (if) the other half is available.

[markdeniz]

Wait for the whole seven, wait until you hear what we say and then decide if it's worth a tackle.

Books one to three are superb though!