Will we ever get another series like ASOIAF?

[Happy Ent]

2 hours ago, Roose Boltons Pet Leech said:

Will there be fertiliser porn?

The magic system is largely fertiliser-based. Various schools of magic-users differ in which conceptualisation of fertilisation they take as a mental model for “growth” (organic, inorganic, feces, …). Most of the spells are constructive, there is very little pyrotechnics such as fireballs. Since (to a plant) the borderline between fertilisation and recreational mating is very fluid, a certain pornographic aspect to this part of the world-building cannot be denied.

[baxus]

On 8/18/2017 at 5:48 PM, mormont said:

It truly doesn't. That's not how fantasy actually works.

Either I need to get better at being sarcastic online or you need to get better at detecting sarcasm online.  

[LongRider]

On ‎8‎/‎18‎/‎2017 at 0:34 AM, polishgenius said:

I was just gonna say that OP seems to be describing Dagger and Coin: it's not quite as epic as aSoIaF but other than that it hits every point. Long Price is a better series- personally I like that one quite a lot more than aSoIaF- but it's not quite as GRRM-like.

Both series are worth a read and for it's a toss up which one is 'better' in my view.  LPQ has an interesting idea at it's core and D&C is a bit more conventional, although, female bankers in fantasy was a new idea to me.  Abraham made it work tho.  Both have good characters and writing, and are complete series, no waiting.

 

[Rhom]

10 hours ago, Nasty LongRider said:

Both series are worth a read and for it's a toss up which one is 'better' in my view.  LPQ has an interesting idea at it's core and D&C is a bit more conventional, although, female bankers in fantasy was a new idea to me.  Abraham made it work tho.  Both have good characters and writing, and are complete series, no waiting.

 

Number one selling point right there.

[HexMachina]

OP (quite strangely, imo, but whatever) said the focus should be on humans not fantasy races, for whatever reason. I've only read the first book (not because I didn't enjoy it, just haven't got round to the rest yet) but doesn't Dagger and Coin focus on quite a variety of races?

[polishgenius]

1 hour ago, HelenaExMachina said:

OP (quite strangely, imo, but whatever) said the focus should be on humans not fantasy races, for whatever reason. I've only read the first book (not because I didn't enjoy it, just haven't got round to the rest yet) but doesn't Dagger and Coin focus on quite a variety of races?

They're humans with, ahem, irregular traits, but they're all human.

[Jo498]

I think the trend to multi-volume endless epics that was not set off but "cemented" by SoIaF is a rather mixed blessing. Too many books get blown out of any proportion and the authors hardly manage to get some closure into their epics. So I am not wishing for another similar series, rather for something original and different. (Of its predecessors, Tad Williams' MSaT was too long already, although mainly towards the end and not too such an extent.)

As for magic, I'd say "rare magic" is a better description than "low magic". The mainstream culture of Westeros, including the Maesters as  apparently does not believe that magic (still) exists. They also think that the "Others" are gone and Dragons extinct. They are wrong but the overall scenario is still very different from comparable settings where there is a "Magician's Guild", "Tower of Wizardry", "Dragontamer's Aerie" or whatever around every corner.

And despite having a degree in physics, I missed that part with the sun setting earlier (as did the scientists in the Vanity Fair article) and still think that the worse fault of the magical seasons is that they do not suficciently shape the Westeros culture(s) and especiaally that it takes 4 long books until they begin to matter a little after we have been told "Winter is coming" ad nauseam. It is basically Cekhov's gun mentioned in every other chapter but never being fired, just a gimmick the author was fond of but later forgot about.

[mandred torgridson]

For myself I can answer the question with "probably not".

Although having just (or already - depending who you ask) turned 37 I do not believe there will be another saga matching my personal taste so perfectly like ASoIaF.

Starting with the Setting (I prefer Standard European medieval to anything else), the characterization, the right Balance of realism and fantastic elements etc.

The world feels huge but real. The size of the world is defined by the Events Happening and not just some characters or the author telling how big the kingdom/forest/city etc. is.

There is enough Magic and suspense to feel the fantastical nature but not too much so that it feels just gimmicky. Thinking about the wall and the world North of it there are enough Details for the Reader to get a clear Picture but it stays a mystic place that feels "real".

Martin has created a fantastic atmosphere and he is a master of connecting the different Points of view to one big Event.

 

Somehow this is similar with the Video game Dark Souls. This game (or games as there are more than one part - unfortunately there won`t be any more) has everything that wanted. Crawling through dark places, Feeling the danger of the dark world in each Situation and overcoming the most dangerous bosses.

 

The Problem with ASoIaF and Dark Souls for me is that although I can enjoy other books and games as well they just are a bit shallow in comparison.

 

 

[LongRider]

On ‎8‎/‎20‎/‎2017 at 6:16 PM, Rhom said:

Number one selling point right there.

Really, a finished series does make a difference now to me as well.  That said, I'm waiting on the next volume of The Expanse!     

[Krishtotter]

 

Nah, better a single book with a plot that actually reaches a satisfying conclusion than a Neverending Saga.

I love ASOIAF but I don't want to be put through that wringer again.

I'm 24 right now in 2017 and a qualified solicitor (lawyer).

I was 18 when ADWD came out in 2011 and barely out of high-school. I was 12 when AFFC came out in 2005, barely out of primary school. I was 5 years old when ACOK came out in 1998, barely out of nursery. I had barely learned to walk and stopped sucking a dummy when GOT came out in 1996.

I dread to think what age I'll be if/when ADOS is published.

Seriously, how much time does this guy need?

I can't even begin to imagine what it must be like for those who were teens or adults in 1996 and have been following this series ever since.

[Rhom]

3 hours ago, Krishtotter said:

 

Nah, better a single book with a plot that actually reaches a satisfying conclusion than a Neverending Saga.

I love ASOIAF but I don't want to be put through that wringer again.

I'm 24 right now in 2017 and a qualified solicitor (lawyer).

I was 18 when ADWD came out in 2011 and barely out of high-school. I was 12 when AFFC came out in 2005, barely out of primary school. I was 5 years old when ACOK came out in 1998, barely out of nursery. I had barely learned to walk and stopped sucking a dummy when GOT came out in 1996.

I dread to think what age I'll be if/when ADOS is published.

Seriously, how much time does this guy need?

I can't even begin to imagine what it must be like for those who were teens or adults in 1996 and have been following this series ever since.

Yeap.... its hell.

[Corvinus85]

1 hour ago, Rhom said:

Yeap.... its hell.

More like purgatory, salvation being in the form of the series getting finished. 

[kuenjato]

6 hours ago, Krishtotter said:

 

Nah, better a single book with a plot that actually reaches a satisfying conclusion than a Neverending Saga.

I love ASOIAF but I don't want to be put through that wringer again.

I'm 24 right now in 2017 and a qualified solicitor (lawyer).

I was 18 when ADWD came out in 2011 and barely out of high-school. I was 12 when AFFC came out in 2005, barely out of primary school. I was 5 years old when ACOK came out in 1998, barely out of nursery. I had barely learned to walk and stopped sucking a dummy when GOT came out in 1996.

I dread to think what age I'll be if/when ADOS is published.

Seriously, how much time does this guy need?

I can't even begin to imagine what it must be like for those who were teens or adults in 1996 and have been following this series ever since.

Having started the series in 1998, it's more of a "oh well, moving on" sort of deal. The fact that the show is giving an abbreviated conclusion is enough. I'm 41, so evolved reading taste & etc. has influenced this decision. I almost don't care, by this point. Bakker has a better, more thought-out world and generally much more depth, in any case, even if I found myself disappointed with the conclusion of his second series.

[Michael Seswatha Jordan]

Well, as I've read both, and enjoyed both, Malazan is certainly nothing at all like ASOIAF. I don't even know how you could begin to think so.

[LongRider]

2 hours ago, kuenjato said:

Bakker has a better, more thought-out world and generally much more depth, in any case, even if I found myself disappointed with the conclusion of his second series.

I read Bakker and liked him until he went with the grim dark (I was new to that type of writing, huh, not my cup of tea) and then the next to last book I found so hard read I lost interest.  Doubt I'll finish the series. 

After reading ASOIAF and other series I've found I like to read a lot of standalones these days.  Fantasy series will always be there if I get an itch for one again. 

[Darth Richard II]

8 minutes ago, Nasty LongRider said:

I read Bakker and liked him until he went with the grim dark (I was new to that type of writing, huh, not my cup of tea) and then the next to last book I found so hard read I lost interest.  Doubt I'll finish the series. 

After reading ASOIAF and other series I've found I like to read a lot of standalones these days.  Fantasy series will always be there if I get an itch for one again. 

So...you stopped liking him at page 1? I mean the series opens with child rape.

[LongRider]

1 hour ago, Darth Richard II said:

So...you stopped liking him at page 1? I mean the series opens with child rape.

No, I started in not liking him when he spent so much time underground in, some book where the darkness never seemed to end.  Violence and dark I can take, grim dark, just not my cuppa. 

[End of Disc One]

I believe that's the Mines of Moria in The Judging Eye. 

[LongRider]

Everyone knows the mines of Moria were in Children of Dune.  D'uh 

[Happy Ent]

12 hours ago, Rhom said:

Yeap.... its hell.

But not eternal. I know very few readers who haven’t emotionally moved on after, say, 10–15 years or checking notablog every day.

There’s plenty of great stuff around. Just in the space spanned by Abraham and Bakker you can find ASOIAF-like quality, ambition, and immersion.