who recommended George R.R. Martin?

[andyhappy]

I went and bought 'A Game of Thrones' and I am sucked in after a few pages...but...should I have started with something else?

is 'a storm of swords' the best one to get first?

and thanks for the tip!

I have read EVERYTHING by jordan, brooks and goodkind and was looking for a new author!

thanks whoever you were!

[DrWeird]

1. Jordan, Brooks, and Goodkind?

Jesus Christ, they're terrible.

Storm of Swords is the third (?) in the series.

God, I can't think of anything worse than Jordan, Brooks, and Goodkind. Like Sci-fi? Try L. Ron Hubbard.

[andyhappy]

3. hmph!

I love those books ...thanks for the attitude!

you hate all three authors? They are all so different...on what do you base that one?

not gory enough? Not realistic enough? Too character driven. I don't even know...

[DrWeird]

5. Hmmm. Let's see.

Robert Jordan- First couple of books in his series were OK. Some interesting characters, not bad at all. The rest of the series was total crap where he found a formula and kept working it for all the money it was worth and the whole thing never panned out or went any where. If a series of books could jump the shark, that series did it.

Brooks. Shannara series, right? Again, first one or two were OK, everything went to shit after that.

Goodkind? Good God! I've never started reading anything so horribly written and still published in my life. Horrible characters. Horrible dialogue. Horrible narration. Horrible pacing. Boring as all hell. It's literally like some D&D nerd who lived in his mom's basement on a diet of Dr. Pepper and Cheetos decided to write fan fiction and his mom happened to be banging a publisher.

By the time you finished Martin, you'll see what you've been missing.

[andyhappy]

8. ok...

thats pretty funny.

I agree about jordan. I loved the first few and I crapped out on his stuff after a while. He should have finished that series years ago but I really liked his take on it; women being such powerful characters and running the show and the guys going mad if they have magic...very cool.

Goodkind is my least favorite of the three. Kinda creeped me out with his anti-socialist stuff that started creeping into the book, and then the whole S&M chicks with their torture schtick. But I did like all his books.

but brooks is my favorite. The world he created from the get-go is wonderful. I have read all his books twice and recently started (and finished) the isle witch stuff.

can you recommend other authors then? I just started Martin and i am way into it.

but l ron hubbard? Isn't he the scientology guy?

[DrWeird]

11. L. Ron Hubbard was a joke.

He's universally regarded as terrible. I may have been the guy who recommended Martin, of the working fantasy authors I read, he's at the best for that kind of genre. If you do like sci-fi, I'll recommend Vernor Vinge's "Fire Upon the Deep." He also wrote a prequel "A Deepness in the Sky" which is also very good, but read them in FUTD first. He's sort of a sci-fi George Martin, in terms of pacing and interesting characters, IMO. As far as other working fantasy authors, my favorites are Terry Pratchett, whom you're likely already aware of, as well as Neil Gaiman, particularly "American Gods." You'll find both in the fantasy section, although they're not your traditional sword and sorcery swash-bucklers. Now, if you're looking for good, old-school sword and sorcery swash-bucklers, IMHO, the stuff that's better than any Martin or Jordan, you should check out the late, great Fritz Leiber. He's got a series of novellas regarding his two famous characters Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser. They've recently republished the first few books "The Swords of...." and you can find them at borders. The later stuff is a little trickier to find. Highly recommended, if you haven't read them yet you should.

[andyhappy]

12. right on...

thanks!

there is so much fantasy in bookstores that I never know what to get and I have gotten a lot of stinkers.

I usually know within the first few pages if I will like it and martin sucked me in right away!

I'll give ya jordan and goodkind but I love brooks. I really do!

I need some good escape books for the holidays at the folks/post election depression! ;)

[Beetwasher]

14. Robin Hobb

Do yourself a favor and read her books. Start with the Farseer Trilogy (Assassins books), then Liveship and then the Tawny Man trilogy. 9 books in all of absolutely terrific story telling.

[buddhamama]

16. agreed.

highly recommend reading Hobbs. :thumbsup:

[NewJeffCT]

10. agreed on your analysis

The first few books of Jordan's Wheel of Time series were pretty good, but it really did "jump the shark" after that. I didn't even pick up the most recent book in the series. The way it is going, I could probably skip from book 4 to book 10 and not have missed much at all...

Goodkind is a rip-off of Jordan. The first book was OK and the rest were pretty bad.

I loved the first two Shannara books way back when, but they're written for teens and near teens, I think.

[Beetwasher]

13. Re: Jordan

I agree totally, but I'm one of those sick fucks that has to finish something once started. Sad but true. I need fucking closure and that guy pisses me off like you have no idea. Grrrr. I'll still read his books but I'll be damned if I'll buy the hard covers.

For the record, his Conan books are fun if you like that sort of thing. It's a guilty pleasure of mine.

GRRM is the god of the genre right now. And if you like GRRM do yourself a favor and read Robin Hobb too.

[Beetwasher]

2. NOOOOOOOO! You HAVE To Read Them In Order!!

You'll be totally lost...A Game Of Thrones is the first one...

On edit: Good, I see you are reading AGT first...

[andyhappy]

4. I just read the prologue

and was so into it i almost missed my stop on the train!!!

good stuff!

[ET Awful]

6. It might have been me, if not, I definitely came into the thread

and agreed with whoever said it :)

And you MUST read them in order, they all hinge off of events in the previous book.

[NewJeffCT]

7. It wasn't me, but read 'A Game of Thrones' first

I'm dying for the 4th book in the series to come out - Martin seems rather testy about it on his website, as amazon.com has (several times) put a release date on a Feast For Crows.

I may have to re-read the first 3 books as there are just so many characters that I'm sure I have forgotten many of them by now.

This series blows away Jordan & Goodkind.

[Ruffhowse]

9. I've read just about ALL of the major multi volume epic fantasies out

there and George R. R. Martin's is by far the best next to Tolkien. His characters are richly drawn and believable, and they act like real adults. And he doesn't shy away from killing off a major character or two if he feels the story needs it. The plots are complex and intriguing and also very adult. And his prose style is first rate. Highly recommended.

[retread]

15. Octavia Butler-- Parable of the Sower and the sequel

Parable of the Talents.