Why not both?

[Ranzadule]

I have not been here long and not seen it here, but on various other forums, I see a lot of people loving Jordan and hating Martin or loving Martin and hating Jordan. I love both. Am I the strange one? I also don't really see why one is pitted against the other. I don't see them as mutually exclusive. I prefer Martin but still love Jordan. My wife is the reverse. I am mostly a tabletop wargame vet, so these book forums are new to me.

[Spaceman Hobbes]

Vastly different fanbases. One wants to read bloated books that barely advance the plot. And the other wants to complain about how long the books take to write instead of reading.

[fionwe1987]

I like both too. I fail to see why someone cannot like both series. They both have different strengths, but the difference in quality is hardly great enough to justify any obvious preference for one over the other.

Of course, all series have smug fans who will tout the ultimate superiority of their favorite series over all others, and you'll find that in WoT boards and here as well. I'd say screw that and continue enjoying both...

[Grack21]

I like both Martin and Jordan AND Erikson. So I'm like some sort of heathen.

I also like Star Wars AND Star Trek!

[murphy]

:agree: Wot Fionwe said. And not only that, I enjoy the Malazan books too.

[Gormenghast]

I love Erikson & Bakker, like Martin and enjoy Jordan.

But they are different ENOUGH that it's rather obvious how readers can come to hate one and love the other. For some the quality is really different one from the other.

[KyleLitke]

Love them both.

And I know there was some sarcasm there, but the two WoT books that didn't advance the plot much are the two most WoT fans dislike. Let's not act like every WoT book barely advances anything. Most of them have a lot packed into them, and I would hardly say the fanbase "liked" reading the ones that didn't very much.

[Lyanna Stark]

I have not been here long and not seen it here, but on various other forums, I see a lot of people loving Jordan and hating Martin or loving Martin and hating Jordan. I love both. Am I the strange one? I also don't really see why one is pitted against the other. I don't see them as mutually exclusive. I prefer Martin but still love Jordan. My wife is the reverse. I am mostly a tabletop wargame vet, so these book forums are new to me.

Maybe because Jordan's plot is about a Poor Farmboy going on a Quest to save the world, his women are all exactly the same offensive fashion obsessed braidtuggers with absolutely no personality and promotes a teenage wet dream view of polygamy.

While on the other hand, Martin's story is inpredictable, toying with archetypes and includes believeable female portraits. Plus it has actual plot.

[Errant Bard]

For once, I agree with Gormenghast, different series, of course some people are going to like one and not the other.

I don't see that it really opposes them. A lot of people like Sword of truth and dislike WoT, and inversely. A lot of people like both, a lot of people dislike both. The ones voicing their dislike are always more vocal.

ETA: and to respond to the topic title: Why not both? For me, WoT annoyed me too much with its style, characters and underlying logic (renegade witches? Send at them the very girls they had tried to kidnap. Alone. It totally makes sense). ASOIAF didn't annoy me like that, but neither did Prince of Nothing, The Monarchies of God, Vellum/Ink, the Long Price, Discworld or many other stuff. I still don't see that it opposes WoT and ASOIAF anymore that it opposes ASOIAF and Malazan.

[nickg]

I like WoT well enough even though I haven't made it to the halfway point of the series yet. I still enjoy ASoIaF a good deal more, and erikson and bakker too for that matter. I would probably put Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn ahead of it, but it is one of my favorite series.

I just think they are a step above in quality, but that might change once i get through the next few books of WoT.

[Emo Jon Snow]

There will always be smug assholes out there who think their opinion or preference is superior to everything else. Without the internet, their voices wouldn't travel much past Mom's basement.

[Gargantuanjon Old Chap]

I loved WoT when I was a kid, and only up to around book 7. Stopped reading after, haven't read new books, but will do once the reactions gather up and decide for me whether it's worthy time investment. ASOIAF i'll read regardless!

[Nearly Headless Ned]

WOT's ok. Started reading it in my early 20's when my reading tastes were quite different to what they are now. If I'd picked up WOT now I probably wouldn't have got though the first book but at the time I loved it. Although I no longer rate WOT particularly highly nowadays (the last book was poor imo)but I'll be damned if I stop reading now after all these years with only one book left to go.

ASOIAF was a great page turner then and still is now.

[nickg]

WOT's ok. Started reading it in my early 20's when my reading tastes were quite different to what they are now. If I'd picked up WOT now I probably wouldn't have got though the first book but at the time I loved it. Although I no longer rate WOT particularly highly nowadays (the last book was poor imo)but I'll be damned if I stop reading now after all these years with only one book left to go.

ASOIAF was a great page turner then and still is now.

That's pretty much how I feel about it. I didn't read the first book until i was 24. I still enjoy it, but I don't like it as much as I would have 10 years ago.

[Switchback]

i never understood why these two were always compared? seem like vastly different stories to me. i love them both for what they are, though i prefer WoT. i guess because it's a more pleasant experience losing myself in that world than it is in martin's, and i am an escapist in the truest sense of the word when it comes to reading sff.

but these two stories have very little in common.

[WrathOfTinyKittens]

Meh, I'm a fan of WOT, ASOIAF, Malazan, Prince of Nothing, and many other series and authors. I think it's just dependent on taste. I will say that in general I find ASOIAF to be technically superior (pace, prose, characterization), but even in those areas WOT sometimes really shines.

[john]

Where's Mashiara and DalThor? I bet they like them both.

I like them both too although I think WoT is more flawed than ASoIaF. But the flaws are part of what makes them entertaining.

promotes a teenage wet dream view of polygamy.

Well, he is a reborn god figure, a blademaster and king of most of the known world. Plus he can do magic. Admit it, you'd be in to him too.

[wolverine]

I don't know what I would think about WoT if I started it now instead of when I did. When I started it I loved it and it got me into reading fantasy/sci fi. It still holds a special spot for me and I still enjoy reading it.

I love ASOIF and would say that I feel the series is better for me. After reading more there are parts of WoT that annoy me, but the same can be said of almost any series. I thought that AFFC suffered the same transitional "bloat" that some of the WoT books had.

I also like Abercrombie, Bakker, Erikson (to some extent), Abraham, and others.

[Lannes]

Sure you can like both....That's the beauty of everyone being different.

Now, full disclosure. I tried WoT about 10 years ago and loathed it. It was, to me, just boring and derivative. That doesn't make me right or wrong.

I love Martin, but couldn't get into Abercrombie. :fencing:

I love Moorcock, but can't stand Bakker. :stunned:

I love Scott Lynch, but didn't get Erickson. :ninja:

And yes, I'll admit, I thought the first 3 Shannara books were some of the most awesome books I'd ever read....about 25 years ago....so I am not absolved of getting into some good derivatives every once in a while. :dunno:

I love Tolkien, Lieber and Howard, but never use them in comparisons anymore because they paved the road that many now drive on. :bowdown:

I guess, I'm old enough now that the fanboy wars over authors, music, etc...are...just...stupid to me. :dunce:

Can't we all just get along? :rolleyes:

[pat5150]

I love both series and I don't care what other people say. . . :P

Patrick