Dear Readers,
Two book reviews for
you today. I hope you find them helpful.
1. A Storm of Swords
(Book #3) by George R.R. Martin:
Mayhem, treachery,
betrayal, and death, lots of death, dead dead dead….everywhere! End of review.
One more book to go and I will have finished the boxed set I so foolishly
bought. It's been excruciating.
2. A Feast for Crows
(Book #4) by George R. R. Martin:
Finally I’ve slogged through
nearly 4000 pages of mayhem, treachery, betrayal, and death. Thank goodness it’s
over…but wait, there’s more. Book five? I don’t think so, I bought the first
four in a boxed set, and I persevered until I finished the last page.
When I set the book down I
reflected on the series as a whole, and I realized I couldn’t think of one
incident in the entire four book set where the author made me feel good about
anything. I don’t want to beat this donkey to death, but there is no one to
like, and there is not one character I can latch onto as a hero or heroine. I
don’t want to be part of their fellowship; I don’t want to get involved in
their lives on any level, and there doesn’t seem to be any goal beyond
surviving another horrifying twenty-four hour period.
Every time I find a character I
might be able to like, or pity or care about. They die, or get maimed or turn
out to have a poisonous side, one which makes them no better than anyone of the
dozens of disreputable, treacherous, disloyal, villainous, heinous….characters
that populate every volume.
Man’s inhumanity to his fellow man
and woman, is front and center at all times. Not only do these characters kill
and maim, they feel thoroughly entitled to do so, and without any compunction.
So why did I read all four
books? Why would I subject myself to 4000 pages of misery? Since I can’t answer
those questions, I can only assume I need professional help. Was I hoping at
some point Mr. Martin would bring me some joy, that the last stale cookie in
the box would be sweet and fresh?
Fool me once, twice, three,
four and no more. Thank you very much, I appreciate that you put a lot into
these books Mr. Martin, but I’m so depressed now that I don’t think I could
endure another. Besides how can there be enough people left in the ravaged
kingdoms, to plant, harvest and produce food. Seems to me, winter is coming and
there are only killers, connivers and villains left.
I’m headed out to find a good comedy
to cleanse my palate, bring back my joy and remind me that the sun will come up
tomorrow.
Thanks for reading, tomorrow chapter four
in my fiction story with Coren, Ramsey and Able.
Take
care,
Shelley
Riley
www.shelleyriley.com where you can find
information on Casual Lies – A Triple Crown Adventure
1 comment:
I'm glad to know I'm not the only one who isn't enthralled by these books. Other writers have created complex worlds with intricate histories. Other writers have delved into cruelty, war, greed, and scheming. Other writers have put their characters through trials and even killed them off. So, Martin isn't really serving up anything new here. Nor, in my opinion, is he the best one doing it. Joe Abercrombie's First Law trilogy was far more enjoyable than this, with characters I genuinely liked, even though "gritty fantasy" isn't my genre. I hesitate even to classify Martin's work as fantasy, even though there are dragons. The books read more like historical fiction than anything else. I've grown so bored with this series that I looked up the synopsis of book 5 on Wikipedia to spare myself the tedium of reading needless and drawn-out descriptions of places and events that should have been abbreviated. -Tuckerby
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