George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire

[Megalixir]

Hands down the best fantasy series ever,and yes I've read Robert Jordan and Tolkien,among many others.Any other fans here?

[Link21]

No I have not read it, but if your confident that he is a better litterary writer than Tolkien, then I'll trust your judgement. Sounds interesting. What is it about? I suppose I can look it up online, but I'm trying to keep the thread going.

[Megalixir]

Well,it's set in the Seven Kingdoms,where Summer can last years and the harsh Winter even longer.The story begins as Summer is coming to an end,thus the mantra "Winter is Coming."Intrigue,deception,wheels within wheels,rulers fighting for power,ancient magic,a growing and unknown threat from the far north from across the Wall,just to off the top of my head.There are only 4 books so far in the series,A Game of Thrones,A Clash of Kings,A Crown of Swords,and A Feast for Crows.Upcoming in the Spring(maybe)is A Dance with Dragons.If you're looking for mature high fantasy,look no further,my friend.Read the first one and I know you'll be hooked.Let me know!

[Lord_Jaroh]

I agree, A Song of Ice and Fire is the single best fantasy series ever, although I truthfully place Tolkein very high on my list anyway. I highly recommend GRRM's creation.

[Megalixir]

It's great to meet another fan,Jaroh!I take it you've heard the HBO news?Excited?Who's your fav character?Mine's Tyrion.Can't wait til Dance of Dragons!

[Sidmyster]

i absolutely love this series....the best stuff ive read in a while

especially a storm of swords

[V_Translanka]

Yeah, this is a great series...anyone read the prequel stuff (takes place about 100 years prior to the series)? The Hedge Knight & The Sworn Sword? Aside from the short stories, they've both also been made into comics. Apparently there's going to be another called The Mystery Knight in an anthology to be released in 2009 (damn, we're not even gonna get THAT part of this series for a while...V_V)...

If he actually manages to finish the damned series, it'll probably take my top spot over Stephen King's Dark Tower epic...Personally, I'm not a big fan of LotR...The Hobbit, on the other hand, kicked some serious ass...

But anyways...I like the way that A Song of Ice & Fire shifts perspective through various characters in the books. So it makes you kind of close to each character, even the douchebags...or at least better understand them...and it makes the impact of certain deaths a bit more dramatic as well...made me always anticipate seeing my favorite characters names at the start of the next lil chapter...

My favorite character is definitely Arya Stark...I can't believe Martin left her how he did in A Feast For Crows!!! WTF!?!? That PLUS we're to be left on the edge of our seats for however long it takes to get back to her story...I've heard him say that A Dance with Dragons actually just takes place at the same time as A Feast For Crows only focusing on other characters...so we may not know Arya's fate until The Winds of Winter!!

Tyrion Lannister is also one of my favs. He's a great character...I can't believe the crap his family pulled on him though...that's one psycho family I'm glad not to be a part of. lol...though I also started to like Jaime Lannister more after

Spoiler!

he lost his hand.

Brienne of Tarth became a quick fav of as well...I hope w/e it is she says at the end of A Feast for Crows is the miracle word she needs

Spoiler!

to save her ass

...V_V

I also love Dunk & Egg from the prequel short stories that I mentioned...great characters. I love that they sort of mentioned Dunk in the White Book (I believe it's called)! I love little details in this series like that. Verra cool.

[Scrutator]

Not read the prequels but I look upon the entire series as the best work of fiction ever.

I love the series for it's outstanding story where Martin often turns it on it's head. He's not afraid to kill off the main characters/heroes which does keep you guessing.

Also the characters are generally fantastic as well with Jon Snow and Tyrion and Jaime Lannister as my favourites in the series so far.

Yeah a Dance of Dragons takes place at the same time as A Feast for Crows to show you what happened to the other characters (it was meant to be one book but was too big for that). Martin has said that he may continue some of the stories that were left in the last book so hopefully we'll find out what happened to Brienne even though I think she'll be fine.

[Sir Kenneth]

I know this thread is ancient, but I figured it would be better to revive it rather than make a new one about the exact same subject

I love the series, and George R.R Martin is one of my favourite fantasy writers. I wouldn't call the series an unconditional masterpiece though. The first 3 books were fantastic, but the series took a series dive with A Feast For Crows. Don't get me wrong, it's still a decent enough book. It's just nowhere near the quality of the 3 first. Cersei as a PoW character was refreshing, but Brienne as a PoW character was utterly pointless. She spends all of her chapters chasing after something the reader already knows where is, taking all the suspense out of it. That Brienne seems to be the character with the most chapters only make matters worse. Another complaint is that Martin seems to have saved the most interesting, plot moving characters for A Dance With Dragons. I reckon this book would have been a lot more interesting if they'd given us Daenerys, Tyrion or Jon Snow instead of Brienne.

[Sha'de]

I really love the series, although I am only half way through A Clash of Kings.
My favorite characters have to be Bran and Arya Stark, as well as Jon Snow. I have found Daenerys and Tyrion highly entertaining though.