Name your biggest criticism of the series

[Vastet]

My biggest problem with the series is the Ironborn saga that effectively begins in book 4, out of the blue. Euron and others are mentioned here and there, yes. But it really didn't grab me and felt like it was a whole different series within the same world. I think there was too many characters introduced too quickly too late in the story. It should have started in book 2 at the latest. That there was two whole books with the Ironborn having really no impact at all only to suddenly be a force to be reckoned with even to the (arguably) strongest house in all of Westeros streches credulity. The Boltons and random Northenners make mincemeat out of them left and right, and then one man with one ship shows up and it's enough they can wreak havoc in the South? wtf

[DMC]

Narratively - the food descriptions.  Can't help but skip over them on rereads.  Also most of the sex scenes are cringe worthy - not why I'm reading these books.  In particular, Sam drinking (or at least tasting) Gilly's breastmilk is just gross.

 

World building - the fact there are only five cities in all of Westeros.  Makes no sense.

 

Plot nitpick - Robb just expecting Edmure to divine his plans, and that it seems the reader is supposed to think poorly of Edmure because of this, bothers me on every reread.

[HexMachina]

Narratively - the food descriptions.  Can't help but skip over them on rereads.  Also most of the sex scenes are cringe worthy - not why I'm reading these books.  In particular, Sam drinking (or at least tasting) Gilly's breastmilk is just gross.
 
World building - the fact there are only five cities in all of Westeros.  Makes no sense.
 
Plot nitpick - Robb just expecting Edmure to divine his plans, and that it seems the reader is supposed to think poorly of Edmure because of this, bothers me on every reread.

In regards to your last point, that may not be the case. A lot of readers, myself included, believe that is Robb blaming Edmure to save face for himself, and also so he can guilt trip Edmure into marrying a Frey.

[The Dragons Hand]

 

B)

 

 

:rofl:
 

Just the best descriptions.

They're no "Her cunt became the world" but they're cloe.

[DMC]

In regards to your last point, that may not be the case. A lot of readers, myself included, believe that is Robb blaming Edmure to save face for himself, and also so he can guilt trip Edmure into marrying a Frey.

 

I've seen that, and I agree that interpretation is valid if you look at the theme of the chapter (Robb playing Cat).  But (1) it's basically all interpretation with nothing in the text to indicate it and (2) even if, Blackfish lays the guilt on a little think.

[falcotron]

Other than the books taking forever, the two things that bother me the most are both ultimately pretty inconsequential.

First, I really hate that every time GRRM discovers a new archaic-sounding phrase that he likes, the next book overuses the hell out of it. We have all these people who've spent their entire lives--and 4 gigantic books--having no problem saying "much" or "plenty" or "a lot" or "many" or "a good deal", but now, suddenly, some spell has been cast over the entire world so they can only say "much and more", even if they have to twist their syntax into awkward forms or convey less information in order to do so.

Second, it annoys me that GRRM's world building is so detailed and realistic in some areas, and so lacking in others. I understand that he's trying to finish these books in only half a decade apiece. I understand that he didn't really start thinking about the world building as a separate task from the story until he realized how much he'd built in the first two books. I realize that he's tried to give himself in-universe excuses to justify the lapses (everything we hear is based on the Maesters, whose history and geography aren't as good as they try to pretend, etc.). And in a lesser work, I'd just say, "Meh, whatever". But when a series goes out of its way to point out that bastard Valyrian has realistically evolved into mutually-unintelligible languages in just a few centuries, it's a lot hard to ignore the fact that the same series has a continent-spanning language that has not evolved at all in millennia.

[Queen Sansa Stark]

This basically sums up my issue with ASOIAF. Plus lack of diversity. 

[Makk]

The wall is too high and behaves unrealistically in battle.

 

The Stark kids are too young.

 

That's about it , can't wait for the next book.

[Clegane'sPup]

no continuity and way to much filler starting from ASOS and lasting into ADWD

[Raving Stark the Mad]

My biggest complaint: complaints.

[alienarea]

In no particular order:

 

Why would Robert Baratheon keep Varys alive and in the same position? (there goes the plot).

Apparently all of Westeros knows that Lyanna was kidnapped by Rhaegar for more than a year and when Eddard Stark returns from war with a baby and his sister's bones nobody is suspicious? (there goes the plot, again).

Viserys and Daenerys have been unharmed in Essos for as long as Daenerys lives, but when Daenerys mariies Khal Drogo Robert wants her dead. With his Targaryen hatred he should have taken care of this earlier (there goes the plot, again).

Robert Baratheon fucks any woman and has 16 (?) bastards but doesn't realize Cersei's children aren't his own? (there goes the plot, again).

Leaving Winterfell more or less undefended, plus Rodrick Cassell's military skills. (there goes the plot, again).

Distances don't add up.

Ned Stark leaving Winterfell while Bran is still in a coma.

Realistically, Mance should have kept Jon Snow as a prisoner with him and the Wildlings should have taken Castle Black. (there goes the plot, again).

Nobody loves a traitor: Joffrey, or Cersei, should have sent someone to take care of Roose Bolton.

 

Don't get me started on Daenerys.

[Caspoi]

Things like the Starks having survived for eight thousand years and retained their statuses as Kings in the North for six thousand years. The westerosi don't even believe in divine right.

[Ser Arthur Hightower]

I wish Martin was better with numbers, and maybe had someone to help him with some of the worldbuilding/had a more developed internet at the start of the writing process.

 

The size of the internet in 1996 and in 2015 is probably the biggest factor in unsatisfactory worldbuilding, if I didn't have access to the huge proportion of the internet made in the 2000s and 2010s then I would likely not think too much of the numbers/worldbuilding of the series, however with the ability I have now to easily research topics related to ASOIAF some of the research and understanding that went into parts of it originally seem terrible.

[Dorian Martell]

Admit it, as great as the books are, we all have a couple things we don't like about this series, whether it's in the story itself, the writing style, the setup of Planetos, so what aspect of ASOIAF do you like least?

For me, it's the inconsistency with relatives and descendants, and just how obviously plot driven it can be. Houses are realistically portrayed as having many living descendants as they would have after thousands of years, while others seem to survive on one branch throughout the years and are just waiting around long enough to die out at the right time. Even when they'd realistically have lots of relatives by this point. Ie the Lannisters, Tyrells, and Freys as opposed to the Baratheons, Tullys, and almost all the Northern houses.

the biggest complaints is that there is too much time between books so in order to talk about it on the forums we have to wade through piles and piles of poorly thought out baseless theories with no evidence other than a "feeling."

[Clegane'sPup]

In no particular order:

 

Why would Robert Baratheon keep Varys alive and in the same position? (there goes the plot).

Apparently all of Westeros knows that Lyanna was kidnapped by Rhaegar for more than a year and when Eddard Stark returns from war with a baby and his sister's bones nobody is suspicious? (there goes the plot, again).

Viserys and Daenerys have been unharmed in Essos for as long as Daenerys lives, but when Daenerys mariies Khal Drogo Robert wants her dead. With his Targaryen hatred he should have taken care of this earlier (there goes the plot, again).

Robert Baratheon fucks any woman and has 16 (?) bastards but doesn't realize Cersei's children aren't his own? (there goes the plot, again).

Leaving Winterfell more or less undefended, plus Rodrick Cassell's military skills. (there goes the plot, again).

Distances don't add up.

Ned Stark leaving Winterfell while Bran is still in a coma.

Realistically, Mance should have kept Jon Snow as a prisoner with him and the Wildlings should have taken Castle Black. (there goes the plot, again).

Nobody loves a traitor: Joffrey, or Cersei, should have sent someone to take care of Roose Bolton.

 

Don't get me started on Daenerys.

 

 

chuckle. laughing. I really like this. thanks.

[Nuncle Karstark]

Just the sheer amount of sexual violence against women and no that's not how it was back then.

I don't recall any records of blood magic, or an entire nation following gender blind primogeniture. Just because something doesn't mesh with medieval history doesn't make it a bad aspect of the story.

I also don't expect George to be an always correct robot. He can't be an expert on everything, and timing of puberty through the ages isn't exactly common knowledge.

[Nuncle Karstark]

In no particular order:
 
Why would Robert Baratheon keep Varys alive and in the same position? (there goes the plot).
Apparently all of Westeros knows that Lyanna was kidnapped by Rhaegar for more than a year and when Eddard Stark returns from war with a baby and his sister's bones nobody is suspicious? (there goes the plot, again).
Viserys and Daenerys have been unharmed in Essos for as long as Daenerys lives, but when Daenerys mariies Khal Drogo Robert wants her dead. With his Targaryen hatred he should have taken care of this earlier (there goes the plot, again).
Robert Baratheon fucks any woman and has 16 (?) bastards but doesn't realize Cersei's children aren't his own? (there goes the plot, again).
Leaving Winterfell more or less undefended, plus Rodrick Cassell's military skills. (there goes the plot, again).
Distances don't add up.
Ned Stark leaving Winterfell while Bran is still in a coma.
Realistically, Mance should have kept Jon Snow as a prisoner with him and the Wildlings should have taken Castle Black. (there goes the plot, again).
Nobody loves a traitor: Joffrey, or Cersei, should have sent someone to take care of Roose Bolton.
 
Don't get me started on Daenerys.

The distances both the hell out of me.

According to Jaime's recollection, two armies somehow traveled between KL and the Trident in a mere fourteen days. That's 75 miles per hour.

[Sigella]

Grease running down peoples chins and the teat-suckeling. Both are overused and gross.  :frown5:

 

Briennes chapters are pointless and boring, I skip them completely after the first read. I can sum them up real easy: We find out that someone is posing as the hound and that LS might hang her. Too little substance in too many chapters imo.

[Nuncle Karstark]

Oh, and the confusion on army composition.

Half the text suggests untrained peasant levies, and the other half supports proffesional soldiers.

The latter is far more likely, and supported by history, but the dozen or so quotes against it are irksome.

[falcotron]

I don't recall any records of blood magic, or an entire nation following gender blind primogeniture.

Navarre followed equal primogeniture for at least two centuries, possibly a lot more, until their titles got too intermixed with Occitan/French titles. (And the other Basque or partly-Basque lands to the west may have done so as well, until they intermarried too much with the Castillians, but there's less solid history there.)

And of course Sweden and a few other countries have presently been following it for as long as 35 years, but that's a little less impressive and a little less setting-relevant. :)