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Jason_Taverner

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I am looking for a new epic saga, I love Erikson and need something to fill the gap until the new book is on sale. I hear so many good things about GRR Martin. To be honest I hate waiting for new book in a series, (I have soldiered on with Jorden!) how far into his series is he, how many books in total, and do you think its worth starting now, or should I wait until it's complete. is his publishing rate fast as well.
 
Well Martin is amazing. I have never personally found a sci-fi or Fantasy genre so immersive. While he has 4 books out now and the 5th due next spring summer, the one thing his writing will do is have you reread the books.

There is almost a feeling after your first read through, that you wish to go back and study Martin.

And Unlike many worlds created, his is so immersive, I cant see how he will finish his full story arc in 7 books.

But my suggestion would be to read the first 3, wait for A dance of Dragons to come out and read that along with a Feast for Crows, and absolutely resist coming to these boards for spoilers.

I dont think, and this is probably best to describe Martin, I have ever read an author who had me saying "Oh No He Didnt!" in a good way.

Another clear indication of how worthy of a read Martin is, is look how active this forum is even though his last book was released in 2005.

Gah! Im so passionate about my recommendation, I feel as if I am not making sense. But I recommend Martin to people who dont even like Fantasy and they are impressed.
 
Jason_Taverner said:
I am looking for a new epic saga, I love Erikson and need something to fill the gap until the new book is on sale. I hear so many good things about GRR Martin. To be honest I hate waiting for new book in a series, (I have soldiered on with Jorden!) how far into his series is he, how many books in total, and do you think its worth starting now, or should I wait until it's complete. is his publishing rate fast as well.
Click to expand...

A Song of Ice and Fire consists of seven novels:

A Game of Thrones (1996)
A Clash of Kings (1998)
A Storm of Swords (2000)
A Feast for Crows (2005)
A Dance with Dragons (2007, forthcoming)
The Winds of Winter (forthcoming)
A Dream of Spring (forthcoming)

Obviously, four books are out now and three more are to follow.
Martin's publishing rate is controversial. The first three books were released at 18-24 month intervals, so longer than Erikson but still about average. However, a number of considerable problems meant that the fourth book didn't come out until more than five years after the third. In addition, it was so big that about one-third of the book had to be cut out and moved into the fifth volume. His future publishing rate is therefore very difficult to estimate.

As for starting now or later...very difficult to judge. I'd say to hell with it and start now. There's plenty of writers around (notably Erikson) who will release books in a more timely manner to help fill the wait for the next book.

There are also two short stories: The Hedge Knight (1998) and The Sworn Sword (2003), both of which are pretty good and worth tracking down.
 
Thanks for the advice, I think I'll go for it. Sounds really good

Roy1-Erikson, is Steven Erikson who writes Malazan Book of the fallen, I would highly recommend him, there is a sub forum for him.
 
i think he meant he did not like Erikson, oh as for wanting to be able to keep on reading through the series, i'd say buy hobb, not the new trilogy, but her other 9 books wich basically make up one big story.

You can read Feist as well, but though the world in itself is great and all that, after a while his books become very repetitive and all the lads are like incredible talented and the good guys always win in the end rather easily, also i found that the enemies actions are just a bit too dumm/strange at times (a prince of blood anyone) wich is poorly explained by feist himself who probably saw the flaw himself by saying that the the enmies, the great evil is the mad god, and since his is mad, so are his plans and therefore there need not be any "logical" logic behind the enemys plan.

i have read many others as well, but i am in no mood to summarize them for you so you decide wether you'd like it or not. regardless most fantasy i'd find a bit too predictable
 
I have recommended this series to others and will to you as well:

Try the Deverry series by Katherine Kerr. It's sort of a celtic fantasy and has more than enouhg books to fill the gap until next summer.

They are:
Daggerspell
Darkspell
The Bristling Wood
The Dragon Revenant
A Time of Exile
A Time of Omens
Days of Blood and Fire
Days of Air and Darkness
The Red Wyvern
The Black Raven
The Fire Dragon
The Gold Falcon (latest released this year after a very long break - she had major health problems. 2 more books to come)
 
I've read a whole heap of fantasy stuff, and A Song of Ice and Fire is one of the best series I've ever come across- probably THE best. Start reading. You won't be able to stop.
 
While all these suggestions are great, and they are....this is the GRRM forum so yer going to get my completely unbiased and totally nuetral opinion (and Ill throw the "humble opinion" line while Im lying through my teeth.). Read A Game of Thrones....then reread it cause ya missed some stuff. Then apologize to your significant other because you 've been ignoring he/she/it....then realize theres several more books, lock yerself in a dark room with those books, a couple bags of cheetos and flashlight for a week while you devour the others....when you hear the knock on the door, its just a local sheriff delivering your divorce summons. So call yer lawyer and get a pair of sunglasses.....then come back and thank me for giving you such good advice.

And I am suprised "Shogun" hasnt been pimped yet....
 
Do yourself a favor and read the books. The Song of Ice and Fire books have totally changed the way I look at all books now.....nothing I've read since finding GRRM has compaired. For all avid readers, they are a true pleasure to read.
 
Foul! Foul! Aegon's hitting below the belt! I need a mod to slap him and redeem my honor!
 
Seriously, Katherine Kerr. The GRRM forum is probably the wrong place to say this, but she is my ultimate favourite; GRRM comes a close second. And to tell you how much I love her, Aegon posted a pretty accurate description of me with GRRM.
 
I asked what you'd read to save mentioning authors/books/series you knew.
Pullman/Tolkien/Beagle etc

These are different and well worth a try
Brunner's 'The Traveler in Black' now there's a good one.
Niven's 'The Magic Goes Away'
 
I'm quite into Trudi Canavan at the moment, but she can be a bit teenagery. That's fine for me, because I'm a teenager, but for you I recommend Ketherine Kerr (as you know), Guy Gavriel Kay and whoever it was that wrote Fool's Gold. Brilliant trilogy, can't remember the writer right now though.
 
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