Why Do You Read the Song of Ice and Fire, and What Could Get You to Stop?

[Cadiva]

Cool. Can you tell us historical period that is? I ask because there seems to be a lot of overlap and interesting contrasts in what people think.

It's a broad spectrum covering the conflicts of Europe during the Hundred Years War, as written about by Barbara Tuchman in her A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century, but also the feuding houses of York and Lancaster during the 30 year period of the War of the Roses in English history from 1455 to 1485. The War of the Roses being a direct consequence and result of the actions of the previous century's King Edward III and his many children and their dynastic struggles.

[ServantOnIce]

It's a broad spectrum covering the conflicts of Europe during the Hundred Years War, as written about by Barbara Tuchman in her A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century, but also the feuding houses of York and Lancaster during the 30 year period of the War of the Roses in English history from 1455 to 1485. The War of the Roses being a direct consequence and result of the actions of the previous century's King Edward III and his many children and their dynastic struggles.

I just want to know who the "Henry Tudor" of Westeros will be. Danaerys? Trystane Martell? Samwell Tarly???

[Cadiva]

I just want to know who the "Henry Tudor" of Westeros will be. Danaerys? Trystane Martell? Samwell Tarly???

Ahh now there's a question, as a Yorkshire girl and a Ricardian, I would first have to lay my abject hatred of Henry VII on the table before saying I think that GRRM hasn't quite revealed his (sneaky, conniving, descending from a bastard line which had been barred from the throne :blushing: ) Henry Tudor

There's a few characters who meet the criteron on the surface, Dany definitely being one, Jon Snow another, perhaps Aegon, but I don't think there's an out and out HT unless Margaery suddenly decides she's going to rule herself and seizes the throne :)

Edited for spelling.

[Alric Stark]

My best friend reccomended it to me, and it is probably the best of the genre.

I made it throught 4 books of Perrin looking for Faile, and Egewene, Elayne, and Nyneve sniffing and tugging on braids and still have a book to go to finish The Wheel of Time. As slow as some of thiose books got I kept going.

So I cannot think what would get me to stop reading ASoIaF. I may not enjoy it after a time, (if the Starks were eliminated for example) but I will have to know how it ends.

[Sweet April]

In the comments section of a movie review a poster made a comparison between Hunger Games and ASOIAF (I don’t see it… I think it was GRRM plugging his books) and mentioned that ASOIAF was the best series of books ever written. I love to read and definitely wanted to read the 'best' series of books ever written! I almost didn’t purchase AGOT after finding out that it was fantasy and reading the prologue, especially after the dubious recommendation, but I am glad I did. There are individual parts of the story I don’t like, but overall I think it’s fabulous.

I’ll finish the series. I may not like where the story ultimately goes, but I’ll see it through to the end.

[courser]

Got hooked through the show and a few friends said 'read it... you'll like it'... so I read it and I obsessed over it and read all 5 books in a month.

The only thing that could get me to stop reading is if the writing declines. I don't have a lot of patience for books that seem to lose their way or the quality of writing drops off.

That and dying!

edit: grammar

[My_Arya_Spirit]

I know that there are some purists who hate that there are those of us who found the books via the show. I hate it because there are so many books that I have read before they are popular, and I hate that I missed this series until it was a show. I secretly want to be a purist. One of my favorite books is the Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley, and I read The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo on my honeymoon before it was even on the NYTimes list. I personally gave out 10 copies of The Help and Little Bee to my friends.

I. Love. ASOIAF. Each character, and all the twists of plot, and ironies and foreshadowing evident only later. But mostly, I love GRRM's writing -- each word, each syllable, is significant. His imagination and vision is as if he lived in Westeros and is only reporting what happened, despite its POV approach.

I would only stop reading if he stopped writing.

Honestly, it is one of my worries in life that he may not finish. And each of us want to write the endings, and thus far, none of us can imagine the story in the way he seems to report it. So please GRRM, WRITE!

[mythsandstuff]

I started reading them after I found out Jane Espenson was going to be doing some writing for the TV show. I think I might have read a reference to the books as "LOTR meets the Sopranos" and decided GRRM was my kind of people. Also, I kind of soured on fantasy after my Wheel of Time experience, so it took some soul searching to decide if I really wanted to commit to an unfinished series. The thing that sold me (don't laugh) was that the cover art did not suck.

I got the paperbacks of the first four books, kindle for the fifth, and now have all of it on kindle for reference.

If Jon stays dead, I'm out. I think an in-POV rape (Theon was the one I worried about this happening to the most through the last book, to the point that I skimmed a lot of his chapters the first time through) would also do it. I also want Sansa to be alive at the end, and I would like Sarella to be as awesome as I imagine (I suspect she will be better than I imagine, though).

[bent branch]

I read the first four books after the first season of the TV show and ADWD when it came out 12 days later (I empathize with those who waited years). I read the books because my daughters implied that the answer as to who was Jon's mother would be in the books (it is, just not revealed yet).

What I love best about the series is the POV structure. When I got to the end of AFFC, it was becoming obvious just how unwieldy this structure was becoming. I told my husband that I had to keep reading just to see GRRM land this behemoth. (I should say that it appears I am in the minority on these forums when I say I really enjoyed AFFC.)

As to what would make me stop reading, there are only three things that an author can do that gets my dander up. The first is underestimate my ability to understand the story and start explaining what is going on in a very simplistic manner (I don't think there is any danger of this with GRRM). I also don't like it when an author violates their own "rules" in their story world. I am an easy going reader and will accept pretty much any wild scenario an author chooses (After all fiction is about being able to explore issues from the real world without having to abide by real world rules.) as long as it is internally consistent. Internal inconsistencies throw me out of the story and lessens my enjoyment of a book. The third thing I hate is when an author grafts a franken-ending onto a story to "surprise" me. I can be at peace with pretty much any ending to a story (even if it is not the one I wanted) as long as the ending flows naturally from the story that was told. Of course, if this series gets a franken-ending I would stop reading, but that really only means I'd stop re-reading the books.

[PatrickStormborn]

I just want to know who the "Henry Tudor" of Westeros will be. Danaerys? Trystane Martell? Samwell Tarly???

Daenerys, Jon Snow and Aegon (if he's a Blackfyre) are the most likely, although I think Aegon will take on the role of Perkin Warbeck, and Jon the role of Elizabeth of York.

[Summer Storm]

This is an awesome thread :)

I was introduced to the show first, some friends were having a BBQ and we just ended up watching it on TV whilst we were eating (which seems pretty fitting when you see all the food scenes!). I wasn't super interested in it so I forgot about it for a few months. Then I went into a bookshop one day to look for something and ended up seeing that they had all the GOT books as a buy 2 get the 3rd free or something, so I picked a few up.

It actually took me about a year to read the first book because I kept putting it down for extended periods of time, I'm not even sure why because I really enjoyed the book! I think it was because I was at Uni actually. Anyway I ended up getting hooked about half way through the first book and couldn't stop reading after that. I had a pretty big break in the middle of ADWD Pt 1 as well but I finally finished it this past week and am now half way through Pt 2 (definitely my favourite half).

I'm not sure anything could get me to stop reading at this point due to the fact that the series is so far in and doesn't have that much left to go till the end (comparative to how much we've already read I mean), I'm too invested to stop!

[Spiderweaves]

The thing that sold me (don't laugh) was that the cover art did not suck.

It's a little different now in the digital age, but back when I was doing a lot of browsing in bookstores (and working in one), many, many, many a cover decided whether or not I made a purchase!

Another thing that keeps me reading is GRRM's gift for aphorism. I'll be plowing through whatever feast or description of someone's jerkin when the author gives me a gem of thought. such as..."no matter how the spider weaves, he is not loved."

To me, it seems like the quality of GRRM's writing and the HBO show have elevated the reputation of the fantasy genre in the mainstream. Would you guys agree with that? Do you think it makes more genre crossover possible, or is this just a one-off?

[Spiderweaves]

It's a little different now in the digital age, but back when I was doing a lot of browsing in bookstores (and working in one), many, many, many a cover decided whether or not I made a purchase!

Another thing that keeps me reading is GRRM's gift for aphorism. I'll be plowing through whatever feast or description of someone's jerkin when the author gives me a gem of thought, such as..."no matter how the spider weaves, he is not loved."

To me, it seems like the quality of GRRM's writing and the HBO show have elevated the reputation of the fantasy genre in the mainstream. Would you guys agree with that? Do you think it makes more genre crossover possible, or is this just a one-off?

[Spiderweaves]

Wow, I knew I was egotistical, but quoting myself????

Sorry for the double post. :bang:

[FanTasy]

So I’m interested to know: why do you read the Song of Ice and Fire, and what could get you to stop?

Keep in mind this is a slightly different question than, “What makes you an Ice and Fire fan?” or “Why are these books so great?” I guess I’m interested in some reader autobiography.

Great thread Spiderweaves, thanks for this.

Why do I read ASOIAF?

I guess the header about above my avatar tells it all: I consider discovering ASOIAF a gift.

I am totally not into fantasy, I'll have to admit. Most of my friends are not. That's why I sought out this forum, to ask questions, to learn from other readers.

I discovered the books by accident, I was looking for another HBO series, saw a picture of Sean Bean, which I liked in some movies, and saw some videos of Season 1 at the site.

Googled Martin and read some reviews ... and went to my book store.

Luckily they had all four novels (it was a month or so before ADWD was published)

In the store I sat down and read the first lines of the first chapters of AGOT and ASOS - and immediately bought the lot.

Read all four books, rushed to the store when ADWD was availabe.

After this I started a couple of re-reads.

Why do I keep reading the books?

Well, there is still stuff to discover.

I like the depth of the characters, the parallels and connections in their arcs.

The world building is so great, there are passages in which the writing makes me feel the cold, hear the sounds, see landscapes, smell the stink.

And of course participating on this forum raises questions, makes me want to learn and comprehend more.

[mythsandstuff]

To me, it seems like the quality of GRRM's writing and the HBO show have elevated the reputation of the fantasy genre in the mainstream. Would you guys agree with that? Do you think it makes more genre crossover possible, or is this just a one-off?

I hope so. It fits with what I see as a broader cultural effort to break down "genre ghettoes" (Lev Grossman and China Mieville have both written about this recently), which I see as a good thing.

Edited to add links.

[FanTasy]

To me, it seems like the quality of GRRM's writing and the HBO show have elevated the reputation of the fantasy genre in the mainstream. Would you guys agree with that? Do you think it makes more genre crossover possible, or is this just a one-off?

When my also-not-into-fantasy-reading-friends ask me what I am reading I find that it is not easy to communicate that these novels are not about why they are suspicious about fantasy.

You say it's about the politics of a region, but there are dragons in it?, they ask. Yes, but ...

It is about character development and moral issues but there are zombies in it, dead people lusting for blood? Well, yes, but ...

Is it about a princeling that was lost, doesn't know his heritage and grew up in dire circumstances but he is expected to save the realm? No, but ...

I gave up :frown5:

[Spiderweaves]

Among my true book snob friends, I still don't often bring up ASOIAF unless I can somehow get HBO involved. Because HBO is not TV.

It's weird. The first book I read was Clash of Kings, and I remember thinking it was awfully boring for what I assumed a fantasy book was. "When's the clashing going to start?" I wondered. "Isn't there supposed to be smiting in here?"

[The Wolves]

I was recommended the series at the library. I asked for something different and fntasy type I was pointed to ASOIAF so I have loved it since than. I think the the only thing to make me stop reading is if the Starks suffer any more. Since the beginning they have suffered and it's been one book after another. Ned dying was earth shattering, Robb and Cat was heart breaking, I don't think I could handle Jon, Sansa, Arya, Bran, or Rickon dying or drifting further apart, I can't handle anymore bad stuff for my Starks.

[FanTasy]

Among my true book snob friends, I still don't often bring up ASOIAF unless I can somehow get HBO involved. Because HBO is not TV.

I guess they are not snobbish, they have been put off by (ETA) what they consider the cliché's of the genre.

Referring them to HBO worked for one, but he (though everything but being prude) was put off by 'unnecessary sexposition'.

Another switched off when Clegane decapitated that poor horse.