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I didn't love this book as much as many people on my flist and elsewhere did, in part because I don't really find reading about warfare, battle strategy, and battle scenes all that interesting. And you sort of have to be into it - to love these books - because that's what the author/writer is interested in. He's done a lot of research in this field and is fascinated by battles.
My brother and my mother asked if they should read the Song of Ice and Fire Series.
My response?
( non-spoilery explanation of the series' narrative style and whether I'd recommend )
Now on to the spoilery review of A Dance with Dragons, which you should read at your own risk, although I don't really know how much it will spoil tv viewers, since the writers of the tv series may veer away from some of the plot lines.
Reading this book, at times, felt like watching Peter Jackson's The Hobbit. Too many pointless fight scenes and navel gazing. Not enough forward momentum on the plot. That said various characters remain fascinating and compelling - and well worth the effort.
I may have issues with the writing style and plot mechanics, but I adore his characterization. Also, he does manage to pull of something that is really hard to pull off well - which is multiple points of view. He tells the book in third person close or first person distant, however you wish to describe it, but the pov person changes each chapter. And there are over 20 changes. Also it's not really told chronologically, events happen out of order. For example - in one chapter, we're told dragons have been released. Then the next chapter we get the actual releasing. At least these two chapters were back to back, otherwise it would have been confusing.
Not a lot happens the first half of the book, most of the big stuff happens in the last quarter of the novel - so you have to plow through about 400 pages to get there. Also a lot of big things happen off-page, and are referred to in other chapters.
The book ends with approximately ten cliffhangers. This one was published July 2011 and the next book ...may not be published until 2016 or 2017...although he averages a book every 5-6 years, so I'm betting end of 2015, or 2016.
I have to admit I spent a good portion of the book worrying about the dragons.
( spoilers )
My brother and my mother asked if they should read the Song of Ice and Fire Series.
My response?
( non-spoilery explanation of the series' narrative style and whether I'd recommend )
Now on to the spoilery review of A Dance with Dragons, which you should read at your own risk, although I don't really know how much it will spoil tv viewers, since the writers of the tv series may veer away from some of the plot lines.
Reading this book, at times, felt like watching Peter Jackson's The Hobbit. Too many pointless fight scenes and navel gazing. Not enough forward momentum on the plot. That said various characters remain fascinating and compelling - and well worth the effort.
I may have issues with the writing style and plot mechanics, but I adore his characterization. Also, he does manage to pull of something that is really hard to pull off well - which is multiple points of view. He tells the book in third person close or first person distant, however you wish to describe it, but the pov person changes each chapter. And there are over 20 changes. Also it's not really told chronologically, events happen out of order. For example - in one chapter, we're told dragons have been released. Then the next chapter we get the actual releasing. At least these two chapters were back to back, otherwise it would have been confusing.
Not a lot happens the first half of the book, most of the big stuff happens in the last quarter of the novel - so you have to plow through about 400 pages to get there. Also a lot of big things happen off-page, and are referred to in other chapters.
The book ends with approximately ten cliffhangers. This one was published July 2011 and the next book ...may not be published until 2016 or 2017...although he averages a book every 5-6 years, so I'm betting end of 2015, or 2016.
I have to admit I spent a good portion of the book worrying about the dragons.
( spoilers )