Quote:
|
Originally Posted by shanghaichica
Yes he has written six books and plans on writing at least two more to conclude the saga,
|
Five books and three novellas (in the world of Westeros), but who's counting.
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by afa
I'm a member of a couple of other forums (both Fantasy-related) and I must say this is the first time I've come across so many who dislike the series. A Song of Ice and Fire is almost unanimously praised and regarded as one of the best of the genre.
|
I think you've answered your own question. This isn't a fantasy-related forum. There's a lot more cross-over readers and part-time fantasy fans here.
And like I said... I enjoy Martin's writing (when he's on point), but I've grown weary of series' (especially ones that go from cliff-hanger to cliff-hanger). The format is not a literary concept, it's a marketing concept. And any story-telling format that encourages readers to overlook a subpar work, simply because it's a "middle book" just isn't cool at all, IMO.
Entire books that exist for no other other reason but to set up events in some future book are completely unacceptable to me. The author is obligated to find a way to keep it all interesting WHILE "fleshing out plots" and getting characters into "position" for future installments. If they can't do that, they should consider narrowing the scope of their tale.
Plus (and here's where I differ from a lot of fantasy fans), I detest over-zealous world-building. World-
suggesting or world-
hinting is more my cup of tea. World-
building is an attempt to micro-manage my imagination's interpretation of your (the author's) vision. It's OK if I get some of it "wrong." I don't
need to know whose face is printed on the coin of the realm. I don't need to have every single, little socio-economic/political detail (that each character's decisions might affect) described to me in excruciating detail. Leave something for my imagination to "flesh out." My imagination enjoys a good workout... that's why I was attracted to fantasy in the first place.
Economy of prose is an art, too. I only wish more genre authors aspired to it.