Should I read Game of Thrones?

[StrawberryBlondie]

I'm going back and forth. I hate the book I'm currently reading and thinking about stopping it. I was going to start "The Poisonwood Bible" but the hatred in the book thread is giving me pause.

DH (who loves fantasy) hated it so much that mention of it starts a tirade. But, we almost never like the same books so I'm thinking it might be a positive for me.

So, what says CEP? Should I read Game of Thrones?

[copzgirl1171]

YES!

[niemand88f]

Definitely!

[stephiehun]

Yes. Just be prepared to devote a pretty large chunk of your life to them.

[basilosaurus]

Meh. I did enjoy the first one, but I did have a large amount of time with nothing else filling it. I had no desire to pick up any of the others.

And I loved poisonwood bible, so I'd still recommend it

[kcb]

definitely.

[ttt]

No unless you enjoy stories with no conclusions. I really enjoyed book 1, slogged through book 2, enjoyed book 3 and have finally given up halfway through book 4 since it appears the author is just writing filler to milk his cash cow.

[taratru]

Do it!!!

[StrawberryBlondie]

Jun 23, 2012 19:22:41 GMT -5 ttt said:

No unless you enjoy stories with no conclusions. I really enjoyed book 1, slogged through book 2, enjoyed book 3 and have finally given up halfway through book 4 since it appears the author is just writing filler to milk his cash cow.

This was DH's main problem with it.

According to DH, I like books that lack a real plot (ex - A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, anything by Michael Cunningham). Would that fall into this category?

[MrsAxilla]

Jun 23, 2012 22:57:41 GMT -5 @bunnybean said:

No, it doesn't lack plot. It's just very complicated and convoluted. I'm working through book 4. three was the best, but 4 is good too.

I started to re-read them and they are much better and easier to follow the second time around. That's a big time investment, though.

[ECB]

My DH has read them and overall likes them, but he HATES the the author keeps adding more characters and storylines. There are supposedly only 2 more books - but it ws supposed to be only one, but it got SO LONG because the guy can't finish anything up - now it's 2. And he's still writing and writing and writing.

The lack of focus has frustrated DH.

And a side note- I liked the Poisonwood Bible too.

[ttt]

I just got tired of characters trying to do the same thing for 4000+ pages and counting. CROSS THE SEA ALREADY!!

Also, hey love this character that I've developed and given an interesting story to? You won't be hearing from her for at least 1000 pages. But this other character that isn't half as interesting and that I just suddenly introduced? Here's 75 chapters about him and his entire ancestry and all of his inlaws!

[niemand88f]

But if you become a fan you can get lots of cool merch, like this life-size replica of the iron throne for only $30k! store.hbo.com/detail.php?p=373634&ecid=AFF-7973318&PID=4838133&pa=affcj

[emilyj]

Another yes vote. Yes, they are a big time investment, and the plot and characters can be overwhelming at times, but I think they are wonderful. So far book 3 has been my favorite, but I'm liking book 5 a lot.

[doctorwho]

I don't know what everyone is complaining about. I got through books 1 - 3 in 3 weeks. There's no conclusion because ...yanno..it hasn't ended yet. Just sayin'. You don't have to remember entire family histories, there's a handy cheat sheet for each one in the back. It's like not reading LOTR because of the elvish poetry. Just skip ahead to the whoring and drinking.

[LoveTrains]

I loved books 1-3. I thought book 4 was eh, and book 5 made me want to hurl my kindle across the room.

So read them, but prepared to be frustrated/annoyed with the lack of plot progression by the end.

[MrsAxilla]

Jun 24, 2012 21:15:05 GMT -5 doctorwho said:

Just skip ahead to the whoring and drinking.

Ha! I did that the first time through and was kinda confused at the end.

[ttt]

Jun 24, 2012 21:15:05 GMT -5 doctorwho said:

I don't know what everyone is complaining about. I got through books 1 - 3 in 3 weeks. There's no conclusion because ...yanno..it hasn't ended yet. Just sayin'. You don't have to remember entire family histories, there's a handy cheat sheet for each one in the back. It's like not reading LOTR because of the elvish poetry. Just skip ahead to the whoring and drinking.

But there's no conclusion at all to anything. People just keep wandering around for thousands of pages and nothing really happens to them. There's one interesting event about every 400 pages and the rest is just boring filler and descriptions of what everyone is wearing. That's why I finally quit reading them.

[llama]

Jun 23, 2012 19:22:41 GMT -5 ttt said:

No unless you enjoy stories with no conclusions. I really enjoyed book 1, slogged through book 2, enjoyed book 3 and have finally given up halfway through book 4 since it appears the author is just writing filler to milk his cash cow.

This is my progression exactly. I still have not finished book 4 and I have no plans to even though I will probably read close to 200 books this year. Why read something so frustrating when there are so many other books out there? I am a huge fantasy nerd and I thought the premise and the world-building was good, but the plot in general dragged IMO and I can't stand books where every.single.freaking.character seems to die or just get forgotten about and there are no chapters about them for hundreds of pages.