Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Location: Lakewood NJ/Murrells Inlet SC/ N. Naples FL/Swainton NJ
4,031 posts, read 6,552,545 times
Reputation: 3536
Advertisements
Quote:
Originally Posted by astrohip
Different.
The GoT books are fictional novels. I thought the first ones were superb, but each one proceeded to become more of a slog. By the fifth one, it became work to read it. GRRM has never met a word he didn't like to use. Over and over.
"Fire and Blood" is written as a history book, with a slight fictional flair. So it's drier, but at the same time, that makes it less of a labor to read. It doesn't grab you and make you want to read for hours like a pure fictional novel, but at least it moves. Sorta.
I read it because I find my enjoyment of these types of shows are enhanced when I know the "history" behind the story. I understand them better.
Hope this helps!
Thanks for the reply. I think I will use one of my Audible credits to grab and listen to it before I watch the series.
The GoT books are fictional novels. I thought the first ones were superb, but each one proceeded to become more of a slog. By the fifth one, it became work to read it. GRRM has never met a word he didn't like to use. Over and over.
"Fire and Blood" is written as a history book, with a slight fictional flair. So it's drier, but at the same time, that makes it less of a labor to read. It doesn't grab you and make you want to read for hours like a pure fictional novel, but at least it moves. Sorta.
I read it because I find my enjoyment of these types of shows are enhanced when I know the "history" behind the story. I understand them better.
Hope this helps!
Yeah, people complain about how fast the series moved and how characters were cut out (and some cuts made me scratch my head) but, if they've never read the books they have absolutely no idea what a slog the story became.
Page after page of minutiae, thousands upon thousands of words about Brienne of Tarth's travels through the Fingers with her companion Yellow Dick, as an example.
Thousands of words describing meals or clothing or furniture.
A side story about a King's Guard in Dorne and his despoiling by one of Quentyn's daughters. Along with a fairly detailed description of her physical................charms.
Having said that, I may not like some of the deviations from the books but I understand why they had to be done. If that hadn't happened we'd still be watching the show.
Yeah, people complain about how fast the series moved and how characters were cut out (and some cuts made me scratch my head) but, if they've never read the books they have absolutely no idea what a slog the story became.
Page after page of minutiae, thousands upon thousands of words about Brienne of Tarth's travels through the Fingers with her companion Yellow Dick, as an example.
Thousands of words describing meals or clothing or furniture.
A side story about a King's Guard in Dorne and his despoiling by one of Quentyn's daughters. Along with a fairly detailed description of her physical................charms.
Having said that, I may not like some of the deviations from the books but I understand why they had to be done. If that hadn't happened we'd still be watching the show.
I have only read the first 3 books, but yes, even in them I got very tired of reading 3-4 pages of heraldry descriptions and entire paragraphs describing the food.
And even though I do think Martin is letting himself go in terms of introducing new characters and plot lines, I will say that Martin excels at characterization where the TV show fell flat. Just one glaring, obvious example:
The wedding of Daenerys and Drogo. I have heard some critics of the TV show criticize the show for having Daenerys fall in love with her rapist. I don't know if I would go so far as to say that Drogo "raped" Dany on their wedding night, but it was definitely creepy and uncomfortable.
Contrast that with the scene in the book. It is SOOOOOOOOO much better. It not only develops both the characters of Daenerys and Drogo, but it is the first sign that Dany is a dragon after all. It's not "rapey" at all. Drogo shows that despite his fearsome exterior, he can also be gentle and caring, and Dany shows that she isn't as meek and mild as everyone believes.
The TV show really fumbled that scene, where the novel scored a touchdown.
I started reading Fire and Blood last week without even knowing about the premiere of the new HBO series--but after 30 pages I've given up. You guys are right--it's not a novel, but a fictional history, and I was bored to tears. If I'm going to read a chronicle of events, it will be in order to learn something new and factual. I read novels for the character development, the dialogue, and the problem solving/the action. I've read all the GOT books twice, because they've got plenty of that--but a history of the fictional universe is just not my thing. I'll give the new series a chance-I'm sure I can figure out who's who without having read F&B!
I started reading Fire and Blood last week without even knowing about the premiere of the new HBO series--but after 30 pages I've given up. You guys are right--it's not a novel, but a fictional history, and I was bored to tears. If I'm going to read a chronicle of events, it will be in order to learn something new and factual. I read novels for the character development, the dialogue, and the problem solving/the action. I've read all the GOT books twice, because they've got plenty of that--but a history of the fictional universe is just not my thing. I'll give the new series a chance-I'm sure I can figure out who's who without having read F&B!
I can only add that it gets slightly better, but probably not enough to draw you back. I started it several times over the course of a few months, and kept putting it down. Finally decided to buckle down and read it, and it did get better after a couple chapters.
If you want more GAME OF THRONES and FIRE AND BLOOD isn't doing it for you, check this out:
It's quite good! Each novella has the same recurring heroes, but each is its own stand-alone story. It has a very 1970s TV show format feel where the heroes wander into a new area and have a new adventure. And unlike a lot of characters in GAME OF THRONES, Sir Duncan is an unabashed old-fashioned hero. He doesn't just give lip service to chivalry's oaths of honor, bravery, and defending the weak. He lives it.
If you want more GAME OF THRONES and FIRE AND BLOOD isn't doing it for you, check this out:
It's quite good! Each novella has the same recurring heroes, but each is its own stand-alone story. It has a very 1970s TV show format feel where the heroes wander into a new area and have a new adventure. And unlike a lot of characters in GAME OF THRONES, Sir Duncan is an unabashed old-fashioned hero. He doesn't just give lip service to chivalry's oaths of honor, bravery, and defending the weak. He lives it.
The audiobook version is quite well done.
But he did cut off that one woman's waist length pony tail as a trophy.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
