ASOI&F Going Downhill?

[davidnw23]

Hi! everybody,
First off I really love this series. FEast for Crows not excepted as it has a lot of development in it. That being said, it took GRRM six years to put out AFFC and it turns out it's half a novel. Just wondering if anyone is concerned that the quality may drop or he's losing control of the story.

david

 

[Brys]

I don't think it's really going downhill - a slowdown of pace was inevitable, and I doubt Martin could have matched the masterpiece of A Storm of Swords. I don't really think he's losing control of the story - there was admittedly too much on the Iron Islands and on Dorne, but only a little too much - we needed to see them so that the plot threads can come together properly for the end, and IMO A Feast for Crows really enhanced GRRM's worldbuilding, which was his weakest aspect (not implying that its poor, just that it's not up to the same quality as his characters). I am concerned that A Dance with Dragons won't be as good, because it'll be lacking the most interesting plotlines of Kings Landing.

 

[red_temple]

I think that any work of this magnitude is going to have high and low points. And even If you consider AFFC to be a low point for GRRM, it's still pretty darn good, and, IMHO, better than most of the fantasy out there today. Heck, the contents of George's chamber pot are better than anything Terry Goodkind ever put to paper.

Put simply, he had a case of writers block with this one - something that all writers great and small suffer from at least once in their life. To me, the real question is this - is GRRM over his writer's block, or is he still struggling to get the story out? We shall see soon enough (hopefully) in ADWD.

 

[Adasunshine]

I read this series during the past year (how lucky was I to miss out on that wait?? ).

I personally, couldn't wait for the next books and wasn't atall disappointed in any of them. The only one I was a little put out with was AFFC simply because it didn't include Jon or Bran but then that was explained and GRRM was forgiven!!!

Roll on ADWD (and no more talk of writer's block please, it's making me anxious!!!)

xx

 

[davidnw23]

Don't get me wrong I loved AFFC too, I'm just wondering because it took so long and he had to cut it in half.

 

[direghost]

I felt like A Clash of Kings was amongst the best fantasy books ever written, and that the series began to worsen as of A Storm of Swords. It's still good, very good, but it would be quite difficult for any book in the series to be as good as Clash....

 

[Trey Greyjoy]

What will be interesting is to read reviews and commentary on the series by individuals who were able to sit down and read through the entire series without the breaks in between.
The "letdown" for me is simply not having them all in my greedy little hands!

 

[AryaUnderfoot]

I wonder if, had GRRM not so kindly warned us about what we could expect from AFFC, there would be such a disappointed audience? It seems to me that many people had their opinions a bit soured from his first announcement and could have been looking for something to complain about.

 

[Rahl Windsong]

Ok for me AFFC was just not complete and that was only because of the way it has been published. To leave out half the characters is a huge mistake but that mistake, once the series is complete, will not stand out so much because all of the books will be available. The writing is as good as any of the other books but the POV's left out were probably most of his fans favorite POV's thus the feelings of AFFC being, at least for me, incomplete are completely correct.

I really do feel that GRRM felt he had to publish something because it had been too long between books, probably a lot of preasure from his publisher or maybe he felt preasure from us, his fans. I think, he was not even ready to publish AFFC with a "to be continued" at the end and still having all POV's included up until then. So they decided to publish the parts that I consider to be 'A Game of Thrones' leaving out the best part of his wonderful song.

Its a shame but I think once all the books are available this mistake won't seem so obvious.

Rahl

 

[sawtooth]

I could care less about the splitting of the storyline based on geography and POV characters. I don't understand why there are so many complaints about it. It's a moot point at this juncture. Will you complain when GRRM is done with ASOF&I and writes about something other than Westeros?

I also don't understand the "I hate Catelyn" and "Please don't hate Catelyn" threads. These seem to me to be nothing but expressions of personal preference, and, as such, cannot be resolved when differences of opinion emerge. One of the many things I appreciate about of GRRM's writing is that he provides a heavy dollop of reality in character creation, such that each character has both desirable and undesirable qualities.

No, what I thought was weak about AFFC was the level of detail of characters, events, and locations. Sure some chapters sang (viz., The Captain of the Guard and The Soiled Knight"), but for most of AFFC, the writing was substandard when compared to AGOT, ACOK, or ASOS, and the best way I can describe it is "thin".

I also believe that one instance does not make a trend. So, I don't believe ASOI&F is "going downhill" just yet. I will be eager to read ADWD, and see if GRRM is able to capture the redolent and fertile writing that drew me to his work to begin with.

 

[Knight of the Day]

First time I read AFFC I have to admit to being slightly disappointed.... I felt that it did not answer a lot of the questions I had from the previous book and some sections were a little drawn out.
But when I re-read I realised I'd missed a lot of subtle clues, hidden plots and character secrets...I had been reading in haste the first time so i could find out what was happening quickly...
I have now read it three times ( once while starting from scratch -AGAIN- with AGOT )and I love the way it fits into the series its the lull in pace after the War, its the calm before the storm (no pun intended) of ADWD, its full to the brim of characters ( important and not ) and it opens up new avenues of possibilities for future growth in plotlines.....
I think it cant be judged as a single book but as a part of the series I think its damn good!!!!!!!!!!! 2 thums up, a gold Star and A Smily Face drawn next to it!!

 

[the smiling weirwood]

I also don't understand the "I hate Catelyn" and "Please don't hate Catelyn" threads. These seem to me to be nothing but expressions of personal preference, and, as such, cannot be resolved when differences of opinion emerge. One of the many things I appreciate about of GRRM's writing is that he provides a heavy dollop of reality in character creation, such that each character has both desirable and undesirable qualities.

AMEN!

 

[Boaz]

tsw, I wish I was in the land of cotton.

AU, interesting point. I had not seen it in that light.

 

[Brian G Turner]

I've had a varied attitude to ASoFaI, but it's more on issues of technical construction - I've felt really frustrated that certain main POV characters really weren't doing anything.

While I did miss the absent POV's in AFFC, and was initially dismissive of it, I finished reading it with a sense that it was really going somewhere - the opening out of POV showed a glimpse of the wider game and how it relates to what we know already.

 

[foxtrot023]

I belief that AFFC was like the calm before the storm, a lull in the otherwise roller-coaster of events that a ASOIAF is. There is much to look forward to, too many plots and unknown to say that the series is slipping or winding down. Per example- Wahat will become of Bran, what did Brienne yell? where is Tyrion? Who will help Danys? How about the others? are they really going to fight Rhal AKA lord of light? What will be the starks revenge? what will happen with Cersei or the Boltons? Will UnCat get her revenge against the freys? dont forget the dragons, and that magic is returning to the world....

too many questions and unknowns, too many interesting options.

 

[Morreion]

The first 3 books of ASoIaF are amazing writing. I've recommended the series to many people, have bought copies for people as presents. A Feast for Crows was a disappointment. There was no overarching thematic feel to the book like the others had. There were a few very good passages, but a lot of meandering as well. The gratuitous mutilations almost became banal by the end of the book. It felt a bit like Martin was writing to his audience, and that he had lost the core of inspiration that made the previous 3 books so good. I'm hoping he can recover for book 5.