myhousigilisthehousecat Posted February 5, 2015 Share Posted February 5, 2015 I'm on the fence about this. I liked ASOIAF for the action and drama and got bored whenever they talked about dead characters or genealogy. History's not my style- this book sounds to me like only the parts of ASOIAF that I don't like. On the other hand, it's going to be another 2-3 years until tWoW (officially placing my bet now) and what else am I going to do with myself? Read other books? Study for school? Look for a better job? Start a family (besides just cats)? Certainly not. Is it worth a read for me? Or am I totally off-base and it's not just history? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Watcher_On_The_Walls Posted February 5, 2015 Share Posted February 5, 2015 If you're enough of a fan to get in here, you need that book. If for nothing else, the artwork is worth the price alone. EDIT: It IS a lot about history, but it's unread thrones man, get amongst it. Don't forget it's fictional history, so it reads a lot like a series of short stories for the most part. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
myhousigilisthehousecat Posted February 5, 2015 Author Share Posted February 5, 2015 If you're enough of a fan to get in here, you need that book. If for nothing else, the artwork is worth the price alone. Uh-oh, I am a total sucker for nice artwork. Guess I won't get the kindle edition either (made the mistake of doing that with Dunk and Egg) Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ramsay's Penguins Posted February 5, 2015 Share Posted February 5, 2015 The artwork is available online, but it's better in the book. Although some is cramped and hard to see, so balancing the book art and the online art is recommended by me. It's not terrificly written, but the new information is pretty interesting, although hard to interpret at times. Ambiguous. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Watcher_On_The_Walls Posted February 5, 2015 Share Posted February 5, 2015 The artwork is available online, but it's better in the book. Although some is cramped and hard to see, so balancing the book art and the online art is recommended by me.It's not terrificly written, but the new information is pretty interesting, although hard to interpret at times. Ambiguous.Agree about the writing being ambiguous. It's almost teasing us at times. I was reading about Winterfell last night and on two separate occasions on the same page the book made mention of the possibility of a dragon/dragon eggs in/under Winterfell, then both times went on to say something to the effect of "but there's no need to believe that". Like why bring it up then mate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Watcher_On_The_Walls Posted February 5, 2015 Share Posted February 5, 2015 Uh-oh, I am a total sucker for nice artwork. Guess I won't get the kindle edition either (made the mistake of doing that with Dunk and Egg) Thanks! Think about the glossy art paper it's printed on too.... It even smells good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pod The Impaler Posted February 5, 2015 Share Posted February 5, 2015 One thing to note about it:It is written from the perspective of certain maesters, so in its tone, it's partly like an academic treatise, but partly also like propaganda. "Author bias" is all over it (the fictional authors, not the actual ones). And you may have a chuckle or two where it actually contradicts some of the things stated by characters in the main books. Those are not errors - more like differences of opinion that cannot be reconciled. It's worth one read, at least. And as far as the art goes, some of it is very good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ramsay's Penguins Posted February 5, 2015 Share Posted February 5, 2015 If you didn't like the pieces about dead characters or genealogy, it's a miss. Things like ancient races dueling it out and stuff like that are left ambiguous, and there isn't a way that the people of these boards have come to a solid conclusion. It builds upon the world sure, but then again, not really. The idea of world building is such,if it's far away from Westeros, they don't know squat. And if it's far back in time, then don't know squat. The history of the regions is essentially just listing some kings and what they did. Not much on geography or new info about the castles. In regards to the castles, there is no new info. Sections that shine include the Targ reigns (interesting stuff makes me hype for Fire and Blood), Beyond the Second Kingdoms (the Free Cities have little history, but make an interesting setting) and Beyond the Bones, yet these good sections are tarnished by skipping over Slavers Bay and Lhazar, and the Targ section is diminished by the writing easily being able to be written in dot point form. The Maester POV is an easy way to brush over errors or contradictions, and the bias is jarring, and muddys the water of the main series. It has it's little jokes which are funny (one is redundant!) and it's great characters from history, but too often is it said that "this tale is too well known to bear repeating" which is understandable since obviously they're being saved for later books, but this could have been avoided by publishing it after the series (too early better then never I suppose). TLDR: Wait until it comes on special. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Watcher_On_The_Walls Posted February 5, 2015 Share Posted February 5, 2015 Overall, I'd say skip it. Should you and I take this outside and settle it like gentlemen? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reynestorm Posted February 5, 2015 Share Posted February 5, 2015 I recommend it, but not at full price. Wait until it comes on sale. But it was an excellent read for me personally. I think you will highly enjoy it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mladen Posted February 5, 2015 Share Posted February 5, 2015 Generally, I don't understand the hype. I mean, I understand that people are/were hungry for the new material, but WOIAF is simply not my cup of tea. With all the respect to the authors, it is the worst piece I have read from ASOIAF Universe. I do however think that artwork is making it far more interesting than the text. Overall, I am mostly interested in main story, and even Dunk and Egg novellas, so this wasn't something I was dying to read. I have read it, it is nicely done, but far from the brilliance of ASOIAF. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robb-TheYoungWolf Posted February 5, 2015 Share Posted February 5, 2015 I personally loved it but then again I am a history major, I'm all for that kind of stuff. The artwork is quite gorgeous imho, especially the front and back inside pieces (Dragonstone is my favourite piece from the entire book), so if you want to read it don't get the Kindle edition.It also helped me a lot in hammering out timelines and understanding the Targaryen family line (which has always confused the HELL out of me).I'd say if you're on the fence read a little of it before you buy it. If you don't like the format after reading a section then I would say don't bother, the whole book is similar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whitering Posted February 5, 2015 Share Posted February 5, 2015 It's a good book even if you aren't interested in the history, it fills out the world more generally, except for Asshai... The artwork is great. So, if you care at all about Essos and all the places we haven't visited in the books, then this is a great book for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mithras Posted February 5, 2015 Share Posted February 5, 2015 Yes you should. The question is, how you should read TWOIAF. If you want to know what is really going on, you cannot trust Yandel. You need a lot of imagination/speculation to figure things out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woofless Posted February 5, 2015 Share Posted February 5, 2015 Think about the glossy art paper it's printed on too.... It even smells good. Glossy art paper? Are there different versions of this book? The fact that the pictures (in my book) aren't on glossy was a big disappointment for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muggle Posted February 5, 2015 Share Posted February 5, 2015 The biggest thing TWOIAF has done for me is making the possibility that Tyrion is a secret Targ very real. Before I was on the " uh no way ship" Its a neat read but its nothing compared to the main series or Dunk and Egg. I suggest you read it just to pass the time. I found reading some parts of it a bit tedious tho more like a chore then anything else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SacredOrderOfGreenMen Posted February 5, 2015 Share Posted February 5, 2015 The writing is really cliche and stilted in a lot of places, and even some of the artwork, especially for the Singers, is also cliche. Unless you really don't need the 40-50$, it's not worth an ASOIAF fan's time. All of the cool history will be on the Wiki eventually anyways. Besides, I think it further paints ASOIAF as a historical/factual work rather than what it is: a story about characters and themes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhaegar Targaryen's Ghost Posted February 5, 2015 Share Posted February 5, 2015 If you're a big enough fan to have 400+ posts on this forum, you're a big enough fan that you need to read AWOIAF. It is a lot of history, but it's really interesting to learn about places like the Vale and the Free Cities that we don't hear too much about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Snark of Winterfell Posted February 5, 2015 Share Posted February 5, 2015 I agree with pretty much everyone posting on here. If your posting you may as well read it. It's not just a history, there are a lot of opinions in the writing that leave you thinking everything that is written is suspect and not to be trusted. But there is a ton of useful information and stuff you would find humerous if your a fan of the series. Also a ton of mysterious stuff that will lend to theories. With that said, if you haven't read the novellas yet, read them first. I think they would be more up your alley and I personally think they help in the reading of TWOIAF. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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