3rd thousand page book in the series, liked it well enough, although at the 3k page mark, feeling a little fatigued. The OCD part of my personality compelled me to get the 4th book downloaded to my Kindle, but not really feeling it.
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Storm of Swords is the best in the series. You have to get to page 700 before everything really starts hitting the fan. The 4th book — which I'm reading right now — is slow going. Nothing significant has really happened and I'm through about 700 pages in that book thus far.
I'm just so sick of George Martin, I can't remember how old I was when I read the first in this series, but it was a long time ago. He is taking an extra couple of years each time now to produce a new book in this series and like Robert Jordan, is unlikely to ever finish it. For this reason I refuse to read anything else he produces, surely it isn't too much to ask for a writer to write a beginning, a middle and an end. Like Jordan, he just wants to milk it for all it is worth and couldn't care whether he ever finishes. Take it from me, his first book is great; well written obviously with a tight plot. Now he is trying to tie in about 3 other civilizations so unfortunately it has become far too difficult and complex for him to string together and so he can't be bothered finishing it.
There is no reason why he couldn't write about these other civilizations and myriad of plots and so on – but write it another time in another series! Focus on the Starks and their place in the story, there is more than enough fodder here to write a series. Last book I skipped every chapter that was written about characters that had nothing to do with Westeros, it was a reasonably short book and a decent read. George would be finished by now but for his unashamed milking.
Anyway, I've waited too long and deserve this rant. I might write to George next and send him my email in 8 parts and add various paragraphs that have nothing to do with what I want to tell him – that ought to make me feel better. There are too many good series out there that are finished – Donaldson (Gap Series), Hobb (Farseer triology) for a start.
And another thing – who in hell kills off the best character? Ed Stark…
bp … right on! The biggest difference between Jordan and GRRM is that Jordan is dead. I, too, am sick of authors who string us along for years waiting fo the next volume of their “saga.”
SJB