Amazing new title...

[Richard Sutton]

I am gushing over having received my pre-release order of GRR Martin's loooong awaited The World of Ice and Fire. It was produced in collaboration with Elio Garcia and Linda Antonsson, who also operate the Westeros fan site and forums. It is probably the most beautiful hardbound volume I've ever owned. It is in the same league as if Tolkien had lived long enough to assemble his journals, the various tales and the Silmarillion into a single volume filled with artwork and maps and produced as if cost was no object. No self-respecting Westerosi with any desire to mount the steps of The Citadel will want to miss this one. Now the Winds of Winter can hold off for a while. I'll be busy learning the history of the Seven Kingdoms, the interrelations of their noble houses and possibly a key to Dragon Magic, or at least more information about the Doom... my gods, but I'm such a shameless fanboy. It's incredible to think of an author who in his lifetime has created so many legions of readers and helpers to do his marketing for him... and that doesn't even count HBO!

 

[Katie St Martin]

Richard, this looks awesome! I'm a big fan of GoT. Can I be rude and ask how much it set you back?

 

[Octopus Messiah]

Sweat not the shameless plug-- have myself been (secretly, until now) tempted to purchase the same. Problem being that this looks like a book that demands hardcover and my wife will only admit the Kindle into the boudoir. Please let us know ASAP if it's worth the effort, especially as it relates to those of us who always found the Simarillion kind of 'meh'. You know, when we were, uh, kids.

 

[Steven McC]

I'm watching Game of Thrones at the moment and I'm enjoying it. Could anyone tell me how the books compare to the TV version as I may check them out?

 

[Richard Sutton]

It cost $29.98!! I'm a prime member, so no shipping either. I don't know how long the price will hold, but check it out!

 

[Richard Sutton]

I'm watching Game of Thrones at the moment and I'm enjoying it. Could anyone tell me how the books compare to the TV version as I may check them out?

Steven; There are small differences, mostly points of nuance and less detail of course, in the TV series, butactually, the series made the reading go faster as every major character now has a recognizable face! I have read all the books, and there are serious undertones and shadow plots that can't really come over on TV as well as in print/type, but it's very, very good nonetheless.

 

[Octopus Messiah]

I'm watching Game of Thrones at the moment and I'm enjoying it. Could anyone tell me how the books compare to the TV version as I may check them out?

I wasn't all that keen on reading the books until the end of TV series 2, at which point I picked them up to see what happened next.... got hooked quickly. Many more developed side plots and many of the scenes in the book are much more compelling than on TV: two examples (spoiler alert) when Tyrion defends King's Landing is way more intricate and diabolical than just setting the bloody river on fir, as is Arya's escape from whassit called, the burned out fortress. That being said, I think GoT is that rare thing that works well in both forms-- and as Steven said, having their faces in your head does help speed along coming to grips with the ridiculously complicated lineages, allegiances etc.-- which you can kind of gloss over and still enjoy if need be (heresy!)

 

[Steven McC]

Thanks for the responses.

Added the first book to my Christmas list

 

[Richard Sutton]

MY only complaint, so far, is the lack of a fold-out map of Westeros and the neighbors across the Narrow Sea. I dug one up and printed it out in color and now it's a very biog, folded bookmark.

Re: the writing, this is narrative with personalized call-outs bringing in varying sources and discussing differing opinions. It works for me, making it more immediate and more personally the work of the Maester who is the narrator. This doesn't feel at all, like backstory that was simply eliminated from the already very verbose books. It really has a different feel, which I've seen has annoyed some of the more retentive detail mongers in reviews already in. I prefer a more fluid feel to the histories anyway, making them seem more real. That close connection to the reality of family, insecurity, devious planing, power amassing and breaking down morality is why I love this series. It reminds me of the TV News!

 

[Katie-Ellen]

'That close connection to the reality of family, insecurity, devious planing, power amassing and breaking down morality is why I love this series. It reminds me of the TV News.'

Sounds just like the Medicis, and Borgias and the Tudor court and all. I've gone and got Netflix, so maybe I'll find out what this GoT thing is.