A Game of Crap

[jchrisobrien]

I spent the majority of yesterday drawn into A Game of Thorns, and then it happened.  Two of my favorite characters killed in one chapter (I later found that one of them wasn't killed, but they weren't mentioned for the rest of the book).  A Game of Thrones started out like a taut intrigue or thriller, and halfway through it became Requiem for a Dream:  "Let's have really horrible things happen over and over to all the characters you like.  Let's see them make major sacrifices in everything they do, and nothing go right for them anyway."  I started hoping more characters would die, just to put them out of their misery.  The last quarter of the book I just skimmed, I didn't care about the details or imagery, I just wanted to see how badly people got screwed over.

Today I checked wikidpedia to get some ideas of what is coming in the future:  more of the characters I liked die, more of the ones I hated lived, or screwed over the characters I liked more.  Some of them just get ignored and do random stupid things for the rest of the series. 

Thanks for all the crap, George.  Maybe I'll get around to finishing the series some decade, or I'll just read all the capsule reviews and get my anger out in one day, rather than wasting the next few weeks.

I hope Kushiel's Dart is a step up from this.

Comments

[sinspired.livejournal.com]

For when you're out of other things to read, yes. I like that the characters grow and change in the series, and that good and bad are not absolute, and even the good can do things that lead to their own downfall. Perhaps it is the good use of symbolism that leads me to like it.
Of course, I think the story in Wheel of Time blows it out of the water, but I don't know if it's a fair comparison, and, for a wonderful thanks, Mr. Martin manages to actually tell stories within the scope of a single book to SOME sort of an end. Of course, that is debateable. (I did see most of the end of Book 3 coming...)
I would save it to when you're in a lighter mood, if you're down from real life, it's not going to save you. I finished the most recent book between answering you this morning and now, and I must say I'll be reading the next one, but probably not buying it until it hits paperback.
That's actually pretty low praise from me, I buy Harry Potter, Wheel of Time, and Discworld books hardcover. But I still think it's worth reading. Just not worth making a priority to read.

[silas7.livejournal.com]

I'll have to see how things go. Now that I know what's in store, I can be better prepared.