Wanna hear a dirty secret?
(Well, it’s not exactly a secret, but you know, let me play out this little charade for you)
Wanna hear a dirty, shocking secret about yours truly? Well, do you?
Me, the fantasy reader. Me, the self-assumed mini-authority on the subject of the fantastical. Me, the smart-ass who’s been telling you What To Think in Blog Sized Portions since the first time you read A Slight Apocalypse.
Yes, I bet you do. And here it comes:
I’ve never read “A Song of Ice & Fire” by George R. R. Martin. Now, depending on your level of fanboyishness, I have either engendered a severe lack of outrage, or (most likely) a sever case of I-knew-that-already-from-reading-your-title,-silly.
Anyhoo. This rather large flaw in my fantasy bibliography has now been rectified, and I am currently as up-to-date on the series as anyone else. This means that I’ve strapped on my proverbial boots and worked my way through the soggy fields of four giant, epic, continent-sprawling tomes of what I am sure is the best on-going fantasy series out there since John Ronald Reuel Tolkien took a deep, hearty sigh and pushed the manuscript for the Lord of the Rings into the mail-box.
Yes, it’s that good. I’m not even joking, and if you find the lack of sickening hyperbole (and we all know how I looove me some sickening hyperbole) in this “review” to be a little worrying, it’s only because Martin is so much fucking better than anything comparable that it’s a bit sobering even for me.
So, on the off chance that you’re an unlucky reader who’ve by a trick of the Gods managed to stumble on to this post and come this far before giving up, I’m going to do a little re-cap of what “a Song of Ice & Fire” is, what it’s about and so on.
“A Song of Ice Fire” is a fantasy series in seven parts set in a different world, much like Lord of the Rings is set on Middle Earth. But here’s the twist: Where Tolkien’s playground is basically Europe in Dark Ages/Middle Ages with an added, albeit dwindling, amount of magic , Martin’s chose a different tack. His world (for funsies, let’s pretend it’s called Westeros, even if that’s not completey correct) is Europe during the 14th-15th century (cue the Loki edit), and the amount of magic is steadily growing, all though it yet to take an especially prominet part in the series to this point.
The four books that are published so far, are called: “a Game of Thrones”, “a Clash of Kings”, “a Storm of Swords” & lastly, “a Feast for Crows”, and the plot(s) that go on in them is supposed to be based on the War of the Roses. This of course means that the books are full of characters that really want to be king or queen of Westeros, and since – like the Highlander said – there can only be one(!), they must fight it out for the honours. Now, this “fighting” can be the your run-of-the-mill battle on a hill or what-have-you, but in Martin’s world it’s far more likely to be a knife in the dark or a scheme gone awry.
I don’t want to call it a gritty series, because that word seems to have lost all its meaning nowadays, but it’s certainly an ironically realistic take on the fantasy genre. The characters and their motivations are all as believable as they’re undeniably flawed, and the world they live in is properly fucked up enough to be mistaken for our very own Earth. It’s actually so realistic and brutal and grimy that if you’re used to gentler fare (and let me tell you, most people probably are), these books can prove to be devastatingly brutal. Nobody’s safe; everyone and anyone can die at any time, and as the tensions between the houses build and battles are fought, everyone knows that summer is ending…
… and winter is coming.
(…………….PARTS MISSING…………)*
(……..par..ts……………………………………)**
(……………….m………………….issing….)***
If you love fantasy as much as me, then I can’t see any good reason why you shouldn’t love a Song of Ice & Fire. Not to rip of LotR or any other works in the genre, but this series is most likely the closest its been to High Literature since its inception. It’s an instant classic in the truest sense of the word, and I give it my highest recommendation.
10/10
*As things currently stand, aSoIaF is not a complete work, and insofar as criticisms of it goes, they’re hardly relevant until after a Dance with Dragons is published.
**aFfC is the only book I can find any fault with, and aFfC is only half a book, which is probably why I can find any fault with it to begin with.
***That being said, I don’t see why Martin didn’t just wait to publish aFfC until he could make it a more satisfying read****
****Editor’s Note: Oh, shut up will you?
6 Comments
The unavoidable question – in all this immense praise, you seem to hold it up above all else. Now, while I personally prefer ASoIaF a hand’s breadth to Malazan, I didn’t figure you’d think so, or at least that if you did, it’d be a very, very close race. But since you don’t even seem to have the slightest hesitation here, should I take that to mean you think he bests even Erikson that thoroughly?
Great review, by the way. As for the finding flaws, if you absolutely have to, I’d hazard a nervous comment that GoT might be a tad slow for the first 200 pages or so, and that FfC’s many pseudo-boring Brienne-chapters didn’t seem to contain anything of relevance that couldn’t have been covered in a single, more efficient and thus more interesting chapter. But then again, why would you have to? Definitely my favourites in the genre as well – though admittedly, you’ve probably read three times as much of it.
Why did I add “in the genre” when it is my favourite genre?
Hereby retcon’ing to “Definitely my favourites as well.”, with the period at the end being the important bit.
That’s a toughie… but yeah, I’d have to set Martin a fair bit over Erikson.
I guess I’d be a bit more hesitant if Erikson hadn’t put out Toll the Hounds last year. That book was so off-putting to me that I haven’t even cracked open Dust of Dreams yet. The fact that it’s essentially the aFfC of the Malazan series doesn’t help (it’s mostly all set-up for the last book), but I’d normally be on a Erikson book like white on rice.
Comparing Malazan to aSoIaF, I’d have to say that Erikson only comes close to Martin with DG & MoI. The Bonehunters & House of Chains comes close, perhaps on par aFfC, but GotM, TtH & MT are quite far behind. On the other hand, I’d probably take Erikson’s Malazan novellas over the Hedge Knight. Well, maybe not Blood Follows, but the other two are great.
I’m also a big fan of the fact that aSoIaF actually has a bigger, over-arching plot, whereas Erikson has forsaken that too increase the “realism” of a multi-layered narrative without no clear thrust. That’s of course a personal preference and bears little weight at the end of the day, but then again, personal preferences are what we’re here for, right?
But it’s tough call, no doubt about, and if Martin fucks aSoIaF up, I’ll be the first one crying bloody murder
The way you mention Hedge Knight, I take it you haven’t read Sworn Sword? (Not that I really remember which one is which
) I quite like both, but I agree Erikson’s novellas are better.
I also agree on the over-arching-plot bit, and I find your listing of the books I’ve read so far a fair estimate. I’d compare the very best of Erikson to GoT, his other great hitters with FfC, and dare postulate that none of even these really matches SoS or CoK. Memories of Ice is the only one I’d put above GoT, and even that is hesitantly.
Thanks for a very nice reply! Though you’ve made my Will to continue onwards with Malazan the second I have the time in December diminish a little. (I finished Bonehunters this spring and am still stuck between books)
No, I don’t think I’ve read the Sworn Sword. Perhaps they’ll put out a collection of his Westeros novellas when it’s all said & done.
As for your Will to Continue, I’d say that there’s no rush, and that considering your relatively slow pace, you’d be better off with somewhat shorter books… like Joe Abercrombie’s books. Which are done.
Which is nice.
My slow pace only goes to amount of reading sessions, not really to speed of reading. I find that with Erikson’s books, I tend to spend three months on the first half, and two weeks on the second. ‘Cause suddenly there are more reading sessions…