GothicGothicness
SasqWatch
- Joined
- October 25, 2006
- Messages
- 6,292
O, on which channel? probably one I don't have
- Joined
- Oct 25, 2006
- Messages
- 6,292
RA Salvatore, Terry Brooks and Raymond e. Feist are my favorites.
Unlike Martin, they release their books in a timely fashion
As for stephen king, some of his latest stuff I have really enjoyed..under the dome was a good read and I hear his latest batch of short stories is really good.
Have you read anything by Robin Hobb ? From what I've read so far I like… and she is a much better writer than your typical fantasy author( I must reckon I did not read much fantasy for the last 10 years)
While Tolkien inspired the genre, Brooks stated at the Charlotte Literary Festival that he credits the inspiration of his style of writing to William Faulkner's works. With this inspiration, he then made his debut in 1977 with his first novel The Sword of Shannara.[5] This novel became the first fantasy book ever to appear on the New York Times bestseller list, where it stayed for five months.[5]
Because taste is extremely selective thats why I mentioned it and said that they were my favorites.
Martin is so boring and he keeps doing the same thing over and over.
Should be a fantasy soap opera serial if there was such a genre.
First fantasy book to appear on the NY Times best seller list? Out of how many before him? Come on, the guys good and has a proven track record.
Martin has received more awards. He has crapped on his fans for years promising to release that next book and keeps postponing. Procrastination is the issue not perfection.
Martin has released 4 books in a genre where you can make bank as long as you have a dark, brooding protagonist, a hot chick that impresses people with her hotness (or her dagger fighting skills) and a wisecracking, sagacious, and possibly insane member of the AARP. He could have crapped on his fans by releasing 15 re-treads of stuff that Eddings did 25 years ago, but he's not. He's writing books that, while infuriating in their release frequency, are at least not the same dreck that I see plastering the shelves at B&N.
Yes, book 4 was a disappointment. Too much meandering around, traveling through grim wilderness, etc. But I am a huge fan of these books.
I hadn't read a single fantasy or sci-fi book in probably 15-20 years, then a few years back I picked up Game of Thrones based on something I read online. Blew me away. Loved it from the start, and read them all voraciously.
Hungering for more, I started looking for other fantasy recommendations. I have been disappointed by every single one I tried. I read all three Abercrombie books, which by the end were extremely tiring. I felt he simply adored and copied Martin's style but just didn't pull off an interesting story, and the brutality and sadism in his books seems like an added on selling point versus a natural part of the book.
I tried reading Lies of Locke Lamora, and just lost interest. The opening parts were pretty good, but it didn't hold up. I tried reading Name of the Wind. I can't believe how much praise that book gets. It was competently written, but so drawn out and tedious in stupid minute details, and the main character is an unrealistic super-human who excels in every aspect of his life. I read Tad Williams Dragonbone Chair which I enjoyed a bit, but after the first book it got less and less interesting. I tried reading a couple Erickson Malazan books and thought they had some interesting ideas, but were a horrible mess of a chaotic jumble. I pretty much hated what I read of him.
I've since accepted that the fantasy genre is just not for me. Outside of GRR Martin, I haven't found a single modern fantasy author whose books I like. MArtin is a great story teller, and is excellent at moving the story along and dragging you in for a good ride, like Stephen King. Neither King nor Martin will ever be considered among the greatest authors ever, but both are extremely skilled at writing and imagination.
In fact, that's where Feast for Crows fell apart for me — the pacing. It didn't have the fun thrill ride pace as the other books with cliffhanger first person chapters making you want more. The fact that he was still introducing new characters out of nowhere that far along in the story makes me think his publishers made him fatten and pad out the books to sell more product. I don't have much faith that the series will ever end very satisfactorily, but I do have hope that it will.
The games hovewer will be a blatant license based moneymilking affair. There was never any doubt about that.
I'm also not clear on *who* you would play? One of the principal characters? The main characters are already too well defined in my mind for me to 'role play' them in a way that suited me.
Now that seems awfully dismissive. This is the first English-language coverage of the game. What are you basing "blatant license based moneymilking" on? What facts made it so that there was "never any doubt about that"?
Try J. V. Jones "Sword of Shadows" series and Greg Keyes "Kingdom of Thorn and Bone" series. Amazing stuff. The Keyes series was concluded recently and the Jones stuff is ongoing. If you like Martin you are likely to like these.