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On January 16 2012 18:14 Inori wrote:
I enjoy the books, but I agree with OP. Even as a non-native English speaker I can feel the lack of writing style skills. Compared to LOTR or even Harry Potter books, G.R.R Martin's style feels like something high-schooler would write.
But, the story itself is very interesting and as someone mentioned above, characters actually die. Most of the characters have two sides to their characters, no black/white crap.
Whole story feels like something that could've happened. Most other fantasy books, while easy to dive into, still have that "yeah, just a fantasy" feel to them.
Martin uses simple prose and tells a good story.
Tolkein definitely had better writing, whereas Rowling definitely did not.
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I like this series because it reminds me of grinding in WoW for hours upon hours and feeling like you are barely making any progress while doing it (because you aren't) I feel like the story is good, but the way it's written can be a bit of a pain to deal with sometimes. I don't think it needs to be as long as it is, there seems to be a lot of silly useless filler things that have no baring on the overall story. idk. I'm only 2/3 of the way through book 1 and it just seems like I might not finish the series... But maybe I find it boring because I've seen the show on TV already... hmm.
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On January 16 2012 19:53 Cambium wrote:Show nested quote +On January 16 2012 18:14 Inori wrote:
I enjoy the books, but I agree with OP. Even as a non-native English speaker I can feel the lack of writing style skills. Compared to LOTR or even Harry Potter books, G.R.R Martin's style feels like something high-schooler would write.
But, the story itself is very interesting and as someone mentioned above, characters actually die. Most of the characters have two sides to their characters, no black/white crap.
Whole story feels like something that could've happened. Most other fantasy books, while easy to dive into, still have that "yeah, just a fantasy" feel to them. Martin uses simple prose and tells a good story. Tolkein definitely had better writing, whereas Rowling definitely did not.
People always shortsell Rowling's writing talent.
She wrote her first Harry Potter book for kids. After that she seamlessly lets the story grow to match the age of her audience.
I really like the ASOIF series but i will be honest, his writing style is not impressive.
GRRM's story is impressive because of how complex it is, but not convoluted. One can still grasp all the hundreds of characters and their motivations.
He has a gift for writing convincing characters and can make characters grow with an ease that makes any author jealous.
He never writes a very clever spin on words, you won't often read something that makes you go "ooh that is so clever." His talent is suffecient to tell the impressive story that he created.
His strength is in his story, not his writing style.
You can complain about his writing style but the worst insult you can make is that it's suffecient. To suggest that it is horrible to the degree that it is unreadable is simply not true. Some people consider themselves a little to much of a literature critic.
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I agree with you 100%. I always have huge problems starting with his books because his writing is honestly quite bad, but at some point the story drags me in and I don't notice it anymore. One thing I remember especially is:
He said:
She said:
He said:
etc. That is so incredibly bad for someone who lives off being an author ><
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Netherlands45349 Posts
Pros:
Everyone dies
Cons:
Everyone dies
no really, its both a curse and a blessing.
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I'm currently reading The Book of the New Sun right now.
To those who read both Book of the New Sun and Song of Ice and Fire, which did you like better?
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I had the Same Problem you have. Started Reading Reading the First Book years ago, havent Finished it (yet?). Some Storylines were simply too boring and as you Said its Slow Overall. I read about 1/2 to 2/3.
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I feel like this with Lovecraft. Everyone loves Lovecraft, but when he describes every horror in 40 pages as being "cosmic and unexplainable", I feel like I'm reading the same odd page over and over again.
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At the end of the day it's just fantasy, so you kind of have to accept it's probably not going to have much in the way of literary merit. The first three books were great when I was 17, the last two were average fantasy. His prose is weak, and the only time he puts any effort into descriptive writing is when it's about food.
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I love the characters and the way he goes around all fanatsy clichés, well written, very good storyline, ... 
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I like the books because they make me hungry, horny and make me wonder if I had the courage and wit to play the game of thrones.
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I liked Shogun, but James Clavell was a little too fixated on cock for my liking.
I love the HBO series Game of Thrones, but I'm scared to read the books cause I don't want to spoiler myself!
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EPT
