Pick your LEAST favorite book

[The Imp]

and why. Comments appreciated.

anyone can vote, but it makes more sense for people who have read all 5 to participate. People who haven't read all 5 might want to "qualify" their vote with a comment

 

[soulsinging]

AFFC. A ton of new and uninteresting POVs, glacially slow and minimal plot advancement, and above all, the specter of Robert Jordan creeping in. It was my comeuppance for getting sucked into another unfinished series after swearing I'd never let it happen again. To me, AFFC makes crystal clear that GRRM has lost control of his narrative.

The reviews I've read on ADWD seem to reinforce the notion. I haven't read it and won't unless the series is done. I fully expect it never will be.

 

[Needle]

This one was an easy choice.

Too many new POV's which I feel would have been better received and much more appreciated mixed in with older favorites as other new views have been. This would have given us the chance to add them to the story rather than feeling as if it were a totally different story.

 

[Onlythepine]

ACOK. It is bleak and dull... A friend was reading it beacuse I recommended it and he hated it, I had to keep telling him to stick with it because ASOS will make it worth his time.

 

[Brian G Turner]

AFFC. A ton of new and uninteresting POVs, glacially slow and minimal plot advancement, and above all, the specter of Robert Jordan creeping in. It was my comeuppance for getting sucked into another unfinished series after swearing I'd never let it happen again. To me, AFFC makes crystal clear that GRRM has lost control of his narrative.

Quite agree, but ...

The reviews I've read on ADWD seem to reinforce the notion. I haven't read it and won't unless the series is done. I fully expect it never will be.

... I think ADWD makes a real effort to start bringing everything together, and it focuses on main character POVs with minor ones for context.

To me ADWD shows a lot more discipline and real sense of the overall story - A Song of Fire and Ice - moving forward to an eventual conclusion.

 

[HareBrain]

aDWD. It was a toss-up between that and aFFC, but I went with aDWD because it made me bored of some of my favourite characters.

Part of the problem was that too much of it was set in Essos. It just doesn't have the sense of absolute reality that Westeros (largely) does; it's pretty much a stock fantasy "exotic" setting with a tacked-on backstory, a complete contrast with the unique depth of history, family rivalry etc the Seven Kingdoms possesses.

 

[viZion]

AFFC. A ton of new and uninteresting POVs, glacially slow and minimal plot advancement, and above all, the specter of Robert Jordan creeping in. It was my comeuppance for getting sucked into another unfinished series after swearing I'd never let it happen again. To me, AFFC makes crystal clear that GRRM has lost control of his narrative.

No reason for me to repeat what's already been said.

 

[soulsinging]

... I think ADWD makes a real effort to start bringing everything together, and it focuses on main character POVs with minor ones for context.

To me ADWD shows a lot more discipline and real sense of the overall story - A Song of Fire and Ice - moving forward to an eventual conclusion.

I'm not interested in effort, I want results. And most of the reviews seem to lean towards ADWD making some progress (AFFC did too) but generally being more of the same. I hope I'm wrong, but I'll believe it when it's done and I'm not reading any more until that happens.

 

[X'Nedra]

Can't really vote till I've read ADWD - can't get to it yet because my partner got there first and he's taking ages to read it!

 

[Trey Greyjoy]

It was a tough call. I liked ADWD more than AFFC on my first reading for both, but my re-read of AFFC made me appreciate it more. ADWD is my least favorite by a small margin, primarily because I felt there was too much "filler". I like a little background and spice, but I dont need to know the name and eye color of every person whenever there are more than 4 people around. There was also WAY too much of people just moving around, getting from one point to another.

That being said, a bad ASOIAF book is still better than 95% of anything else out there right now

 

[Lady of Winterfell]

On my first read of ADWD, I picked that as my least favorite. Too many people traveling and not getting where they were going as well as too much filler and fluff. Perhaps upon a reread I may change my opinion.

 

[Rhaegal]

ADWD fo me, but it is actually really close to AFFC. I'm not a huge fan of the parts of the story across the narrow sea. It's broad but lacks the depth. I still think they are good books, but am not as enamored as i was in the earlier series.

 

[Thadlerian]

ADWD by a good margin. Disliked AFFC a bit too, but a rereading helped. ADWD feels 10 times longer than it should be. Substantial parts of the story consist of conflict between people I don't like, about matters I don't care about (like House Bolton vs Stannis).

HBO is going to have a really tough time adapting AFFC/ADWD. There is no basis for a proper story to be contained within a season. The favourite characters are there, all right, but Tyrion is the only one who sees proper character intrigue, and he achieves nothing. Jon does paperwork, while across the Narrow sea, all the action happens off-screen. That leaves Theon, and I doubt he'll fare well with the viewers after SOS.

 

[chongjasmine]

Contrary to popular opinions, AFFC is one of my favourite martin book. I like the new characters and change in perspective and the different direction which the book is undergoing.

 

[JagLover]

AFFC. A ton of new and uninteresting POVs, glacially slow and minimal plot advancement, and above all, the specter of Robert Jordan creeping in. It was my comeuppance for getting sucked into another unfinished series after swearing I'd never let it happen again. To me, AFFC makes crystal clear that GRRM has lost control of his narrative.

This

But ADWD is better.

 

[Tragedy]

DWD. Oh God DWD was bad. I hate Dany and Bran and am not a fan of Jon and I was pounded on the head over and over and over about their boring stories in which nothing, NOTHING happens.

It also made me dislike Tyrion. Why are Tyrion's chapters so frightfully boring?

 

[Blekinge]

AFFC. Nothing really exciting happened. And Brienne chapters put me to sleep especially her loooong walks to find nothing.

 

[Tragedy]

AFFC. Nothing really exciting happened. And Brienne chapters put me to sleep especially her loooong walks to find nothing.

One can deduce from your reasoning that you have not read DWD. Be prepared for every single chapter being one long big nothing.

 

[Blekinge]

One can deduce from your reasoning that you have not read DWD. Be prepared for every single chapter being one long big nothing.

Haha, no, actually I have read ADWD. There was less nothing there than in AFFC, imho. Meereen nothing was the most annoying nothing of them all but better nothing than Brienne's nothing.

 

[vanslyke]

AFFC for me. I felt it just dragged on, I had to force myself to keep reading. Skimmed quickly through a lot of chapters also.