U.A.'s opinion on ... A Song of Ice and Fire

Hello everyone,

To kick off the series I'm going to be writing about the novels by George R.R. Martin called A Song of Ice and Fire which you've no doubt heard of or even seen on HBO under the name A Game of Thrones, the title of the first book in the series. I'm not going to spoil any story, but if you are looking for it you could deduce more information then you would likely want to have. So be warned if you plan on watching or reading this series in the future.

Important for you as a reader to know is that I have watched season 1 of A Game of Thrones fully before even knowing about A Song of Ice and Fire. I actually gave up on the show at the start of season 2 because the story started to bore me. After finishing The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit (the movies and the books) I decided I needed more books to devour which led me to this series. That's when I became a huge fan. As of yet I still have not seen more of the TV show than seasons 1 and 2 (of which I still need to watch the finale).

I have to admit that I'm not quite finished with the currently available books either (which are as of June 2013; A Game of Thrones, A Clash of Kings, A Storm of Swords, A Feast for Crows and A Dance with Dragons) as I still have roughly 300 pages to go in A Dance with Dragons.

- On a side note: I'm reading all the books in the, original, English language. -

Now you'll probably say: "Hey U.A., how can you write about a series that you have not finished yet?" And that is where the essence of this series comes to the surface; I want to write about subjects that are on my mind now while they're fresh, alive and not fully within my grasp yet. Sure, if I finish the series first I'll have a much clearer picture of the series but it will leave less room for me to speculate and suggest. I'm hoping this will result in stories infused with my passion and at the same time giving me an outlet I can use to channel my thoughts and give them a place.

Now to move on to the actual subject. If I had to sum up the series in one sentence and describe the writer at the same time I would have to give you the following line: George R. R. Martin is as cruel to his readers as much as he's a genius at writing. After reading about The Red Wedding (wink wink) I was actually contemplating to stop reading even though I had purchased all volumes in a boxset. All the while I was cursing Martin for his choices (and did so throughout the second half of Book 3 and the entirety of Book 4) and didn't stop doing so until I reached his final note at the end of Book 4. By then I felt fooled and toyed with but in a good way.

I have to admit that I cared less for the characters in Book 4, aside from Arya, than the characters I had come to love like Jon Snow and Tyrion Lannister. But it forced me to look for something I could relate to in Brienne, Cersei and Jaime. I appreciate the different views Book 4 gives the reader through the eyes of the previously mentioned characters. But I found the book less action packed than Book 3 which was a bit of a let down. Especially after being filled with 'reader adrenaline' by the battle on and under the Wall.

As I'm reading Book 5 I feel like I've been reunited with the characters I was missing so much throughout Book 4. But at the same time I'm dreading the countdown of pages leading me to the back of Book 5. I realize two more volumes will be published in the series but not even Martin knows when that will be. It could be years before we see volume 6 "The Winds of Winter" and volume 7 "A Dream of Spring". Since A Dance with Dragons was published in 2011 and it took Martin five years to write this volume (1) we probably will not be reading anything new for the next few years.

A special place in my heart has been reserved for Arya "Horseface" Stark. I have always liked her as a character in the book (in the TV show not so much). She reminds me of characters in other books that go out in the open world and experience adventures. The whole survival aspect is what draws me to her storylines as I love to read about the traveling, gathering food and battling the weather (my love for this is one of the reasons I started The Skyrim Experiment-series). I also appreciate where Martin is headed with her as a character. The same goes for Jon Snow and Tyrion Lannister; they are damaged in their own ways (or altered by their experience like Jon by Ygritte), but in return have a strength to them which makes them fascinating as characters and gives their storylines a realistic touch.

I'm very much looking forward to the next two volumes, but in the mean time I can feel the end of Book 5 looming over me. I'm not so much afraid of a cliffhanger as I am of having nothing to read during my breaks and before bed. Luckily I happened to stumble upon the Malazan Book of the Fallen series by Steven Erikson and going by it's reviews it should keep me busy for at least 6 to 12 months. I decided to start off easy though so I only purchased Volume I and II, for now.

Thank you for reading and I'll see you... next time.

U.A.