George R. R. Martin's "A Song of Ice and Fire"

[syrianrue]

Let me being by giving a quick introduction about myself. I'm not an avid reader by any means; most of the books I have read in the past were either due to necessity or because they were required as part of my past education.

However, one day I stumbled across a book on amazon called "A Game of Thrones", which is the first book of a fantasy series by George R. R. Martin. Now, what captivated me was the customer review left by the first commentator. As we all know, the fantasy genre, regardless if it's in book form or in televised program, can be often time, very predictable in nature. But, that's not the case here, the book is full of surprises and very well written.

But, here lies the problem: This book is honestly the first fantasy novel I've read, and I have been truly spoiled to have discovered such a gem, but now I'm left with the question of what else to read?!?!

Has anyone read this series by any chance? If so, what's your thoughts on the series? What do you think of Martin's writing style?

Finally,what other fantasy novels would you recommend? (but please no Lord of the Rings or The Silmarillion by Tolkien) for some reason, I could never find myself to read a book after having already know story)

cheers,
rue

[froglipz]

The Silmarillion is like reading Genesis from the bible, not an exciting read unless you are really into genealogy.. You really should look at David and Leigh Eddings, The series is the Belgariad and the first book is "Pawn of Prophesy"... Also Tad Williams wrote the "Otherworld" series that starts with "City of Golden Shadow" and he also did "Memory Sorrow and Thorn" which begins with "The Dragonbone Chair" L. E. Modesitt wrote "The Magic of Recluse" and about 10 books that followed it. AND One more would be Terry Goodkind who wrote about the Seeker the first book of that series is "Wizard's First Rule"

I LOVED George R. R. Martin's books, but it seriously took him a very very very long time in between books, to the point where I needed a refresher by the time the next one came out. So I haven't finished them yet because I didn't have time to geo back through the first two or three when the next one came out, I bought them though because I do very much want to get back into them someday.

[Ibid]

I'm not really much of a fantasy reader either (although I've been learning over the last year or so...) I read the Martin books, love them, and well, pretty much can't find anything else with their mix of everything that he offers. I hate magic, however I was pleasantly surprised by Patrick Rothfuss' Name of the Wind.

[Theomanic]

Hey Rue,

I second the Tad Williams recommendation, and would also suggest you look at books by Robin Hobb and maybe try out the Dark tower series by Stephen King (though the first book is not much like the rest - you have to read the second book before you judge it ). All of these people's series are finished, which is also nice. No worrying about if the last book will ever come.......

[froglipz]

I was pretty upset with the last book in the Dark Tower series...for reasons I will not divulge, lest we ruin it for anyone. I was not happy with a lot of things about it, and the ending literally made me angry (I don't think that was what King was going for),

I agree that these days I like series that have ended before i have begun them, I don't rule out a new series in any way, but I I am happy to discover a "new" series that is already finished...

[poettess]

Rue,

I have some great news for you! I too have been searching like mad for another series like George R R Martin's Song of Ice and Fire, especially since he seems particularly loathe to finish it

I found a new author and a new series that is very good. In the same style even...with twists and turns that you just never expect. The series is called "Acacia" and the author is David Anthony Durham. I picked it up from the library only because there was a quote on the back of the book referencing George R R Martin...and they were right...he is a very good author. There are two books in the series out right now, the War with the Mein and The Other Lands. I highly recommend that you pick them up and try them out.

Rachel

[Lynn Hardy]

The Silmarillion is like reading Genesis from the bible, not an exciting read unless you are really into genealogy.. You really should look at ... L. E. Modesitt wrote "The Magic of Recluse" and about 10 books that followed it. AND One more would be Terry Goodkind who wrote about the Seeker the first book of that series is "Wizard's First Rule"
.

I totally agree. The Recluce series from Modesitt is one of my favorites.

[heledd]

I have the George R R Martin series on Kindle, but haven't started reading them yet. i was wondering if they are supposed to be read in any particular order?

[johnson1010]

I picked up game of thrones after seeing the HBO series. Agree, totally good book.

If you are looking for more try the wheel of time series by Robert Jordan. Great epic fantasy series. That's my top pick.

Second the dark tower series by Stephen King. You may want to skip to the second book, as it is far superior, then go back to the first after you are invested. The gunslinger is no place to pick up Stephen King. That was his first book, and it shows. Just wiki the first book to catch up on the plot points. After the first book it really takes off!

Then, to a lesser degree the sword of truth books by Terry Goodkind.

You might try The Eye of Eurydice, if you want your fantasy to be based more on "real" mythology.

here's my review of that:

http://www.booktalk.org/book-review-the ... 11863.html

[geo]

I started GAME OF THRONES a couple of months back. I got about 100 pages into it and then bailed. Martin shifts POV quite a bit and he has a lot of characters which made it hard for me to stay interested. Granted, I haven't read much fantasy.

I really liked King's first Dark Tower book. The writing is excellent and sparse, unlike King's usual style of sprawl.