|
|
Post by bob on Apr 14, 2013 22:45:31 GMT -5
|
|
|
|
Post by raybar on Apr 15, 2013 9:00:51 GMT -5
And we think coyotes are a problem.
|
|
|
|
Post by faskew on Apr 17, 2013 7:19:52 GMT -5
Republicans use elephants as their totem. Indians worship an elephant pagan god. Therefore Republicans are actually pagans. It is known. 8-D
Fred Askew
|
|
|
|
Post by raybar on Apr 17, 2013 10:16:52 GMT -5
Yes, it is known. But what's not known is when the next @#%&*ing book will be out.
|
|
|
|
Post by faskew on Apr 18, 2013 7:03:49 GMT -5
I went through this cycle with Phillip Jose Farmer's "Riverworld"Series. Read the first books, waited 10 years for the final book, then he split that into two parts and I had to wait more. And I was so disappointed at the end. Grrr.
But at least with Martin's world there's no "mystery" that requires a complex (and almost certainly stupid) explanation. He's working a non-traditional system, without a proper beginning, middle, or end. Time passes, events happen, and, at some point, we won't see that world any more. But we'll know that things are still going on, just like they were before we noticed. 8-D
Fred Askew
|
|
|
|
Post by raybar on Apr 18, 2013 9:18:52 GMT -5
I think the beginning was fine. After a few chapters of "stage setting," King Robert arrives at Winterfell and the story gets going. But the middle has now been going on for 3500 pages (more or less, depending where you draw the line) with no ending anywhere in sight, and two more 800 pages novels planned. Martin may be dead before he finishes it. Or I may be.
|
|
|
|
Post by faskew on Apr 19, 2013 11:20:09 GMT -5
I think that Martin fell into the success trap. People like the first books and so he began to add more and more details of the world to flesh it out, stuff that did not move the plot along. I found myself skimming through things like the banquet scenes, where each food item was described bite by bite, rushing forward hoping to find some plot points. And he kept introducing new, minor characters that I had no interest in. I wanted to know what was happening with the old characters. The last 2-3 books could easily have been compressed into one book, once all the fluff was removed. 8->
Fred Askew
|
|
|
|
Post by raybar on Apr 19, 2013 13:45:52 GMT -5
Agreed - too much atmosphere and set dressing and detail in general. He seems to have lost sight of the fact that the primary function of a story teller is to tell the story. A bare narrative is no good either, of course, but you've got to keep things moving along.
|
|
