# George RR Martin: A Song of Ice and Fire series



## MamaProfCrash (Dec 16, 2008)

I went looking for a topic to discuss these books and the lack of the books and could not find one using the search engine.

So far four of the seven books have been completed.



A Clash of Kings (bundled with A Game of Thrones in the link above)



The Fourth book, A Feast for Crows, did not appear in the link maker.

The Fifth book, A Dance With Dragons, is two years delayed.


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## MamaProfCrash (Dec 16, 2008)

I am contemplating a re-read of these books but would prefer to do so if there were folks to talk about them with. The first three were excellent. 

I have not read a Feast For Crows. I have been told by many folks that it is not all that good. That it focuses on characters that are less important and it does little to advance the plot. I have been waiting for A Dance With Dragons to be published. It was suppose to be nearly completed in 2006 when A Feast for Crows was published. Apparently, A Feast for Crows was too long, so Martin cut out half of the stories and placed them in a Dance for Dragons. 

Any way, I guess I am wondering if anyone is interested in a group read? Or what people think about the fact that it is taking 3-4 years to get the next book in the series published.


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## Neekeebee (Jan 10, 2009)

I am a big fan of the first 3 books. I have read Book 4 (pre-ordered and read it as soon as it was released), and would have to agree that it was not up to the standards of the first 3. That being said, I think maybe 4 and 5 ought to be judged together, as it seems they are intended to be 2 parts of what was supposed to be one book. I _used_ to recommend these books to people quite often, but have not done so recently, as it's been a _really long_ wait for Book 4 and now for 5.

I'd love to do a group re-read! 

N


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## bkworm8it (Nov 17, 2008)

I really enjoyed Feast for Crows. But then again I really like some of the lessor characters. I just wish he'd finish the series as I miss all the characters.  I love the fact that I've had to change my opionion a couple of times on some of the characters and am looking forward to see how the others do.

theresam


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## jason10mm (Apr 7, 2009)

"A Feast for Crows" is a good book, but you are corect in saying that the storylines for some of the characters are entirely absent as they were intented to be placed in a companion book that was the be released shortly thereafter.

Alas, it appears that Martin has, almost literally, written himself into a corner. It seems that he intended for a 5 year jump after the 3rd book, didn't do it for the 4th, and now has spent YEARS writing the 5th book to try to reconcile what he wanted with what he has published. I have grave doubts that the series will ever be completed to anyones satisfaction, especially as Martin seems to be very distracted with numerous other projects, to include the HBO series based on his works.

So, on the one hand, the series remains a pretty focused, relatively short entry in the "epic fantasy" category and has not had the exhaustive drain other epic fantasies experience, but on the other hand I think Martin had a grasp on character and story that few of the others can reach. His world, like Middle-Earth, feels REAL, while so many other places seem like a paper thin shell.


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## Chad Winters (Oct 28, 2008)

I like epic fantasy...but for some reason this one never clicked with me and I gave up after book 2


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## Ty Johnston (Jun 19, 2009)

You folks are getting me antsy! 
I've got Thrones in my TBR pile and haven't got to it yet. I'm thinking as soon as I finish my current read (Mark Twain's "Roughing It") I'll be turning to Martin.


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## Krink (Jun 18, 2009)

If i remember right books 4 and 5 run pretty much concurrently and a lot of the missing characters and their parts of the story are to be taking place while you read book 4.

I keep checking his site for updates and to see if he's changed the sample chapters from the upcoming book. http://www.georgerrmartin.com/

Tho a bit off direct topic there has also been a role playing game that was designed around the world that's in this book series and the author actually suggests reading those if you need or want more information about the history and houses of the lands.

There are also 2 other books directly related to this series Hedge Knight and Sworn Sword more a young adult read from my understanding but none the less its part of the history that's hinted at in the series.


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## bkworm8it (Nov 17, 2008)

Krink said:


> There are also 2 other books directly related to this series Hedge Knight and Sworn Sword more a young adult read from my understanding but none the less its part of the history that's hinted at in the series.


I didn't realize those were related. I'll have to pick them up. At least I will have something until he finally comes out with another book. I did miss half the characters and still wonder what has happend to them. More than likely, I will have to read the series again just to make sure I remember it all correctly. Though even after 5 years I still remember lots of what happend. I think it's one of the few series that I can remember so well even after a million books read afterwards 

theresam


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## Jeansaint (May 29, 2009)

I love this series and its one of my top 5 all time reads. I am planning to reread them soon but I just started to reread the Stand by Stephen King and that's a long book so it might be awhile. 

George R R Martin's short stories are worth reading as well if you guys haven't done so already. Sandkings was very different than Song of Ice and Fire but still a good read and Hedge Knight by him is what got me hooked on all his other stuff. 
I love reading a short story by an author I have never read before, falling in love with the story and discovering a whole new world of novels by them.


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## Forster (Mar 9, 2009)

I'm getting in the mood to reread it again.  Maybe by the time I get caught up the new book might be out?  One can hope.


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## nathan19 (Jul 10, 2009)

A Clash of Kings is an awesome book


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## jrector (May 24, 2009)

Game of Thrones was on the top of my 'To Be Read' pile, but then I bought a Kindle and now I don't really want to go back and read a paper book. I've heard nothing but good things about this series, so I'm sure I'll get to it someday.


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## bkworm8it (Nov 17, 2008)

The first two are out in one book on kindle. So youd only be paying for the 2nd book 



theresam


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## MamaProfCrash (Dec 16, 2008)

jrector said:


> Game of Thrones was on the top of my 'To Be Read' pile, but then I bought a Kindle and now I don't really want to go back and read a paper book. I've heard nothing but good things about this series, so I'm sure I'll get to it someday.


The three books I have read a re very good. I have not read the fourth. Fans seem to have had a mixed reaction based on the number of characters in it who were deemed "minor" characters. The fourth book was several years delayed. The fifth book is about to enter its third year of delayed publication.

So they are a good read but the author is not in a rush to publish the remainder of the series.


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## Erik Williams (Jun 13, 2009)

First three books were outstanding.  I'm reserving judgment on the fourth until the fifth comes out.  Just too many loose ends to fairly judge.  However, I will say it read as if "padded" to make a separate book.  Overall, though, Martin is creating a helluva fantasy series.  If only he could write them faster.


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## FSkornia (Feb 22, 2009)

jason10mm said:


> "A Feast for Crows" is a good book, but you are corect in saying that the storylines for some of the characters are entirely absent as they were intented to be placed in a companion book that was the be released shortly thereafter.
> 
> Alas, it appears that Martin has, almost literally, written himself into a corner. It seems that he intended for a 5 year jump after the 3rd book, didn't do it for the 4th, and now has spent YEARS writing the 5th book to try to reconcile what he wanted with what he has published. I have grave doubts that the series will ever be completed to anyones satisfaction, especially as Martin seems to be very distracted with numerous other projects, to include the HBO series based on his works.
> 
> So, on the one hand, the series remains a pretty focused, relatively short entry in the "epic fantasy" category and has not had the exhaustive drain other epic fantasies experience, but on the other hand I think Martin had a grasp on character and story that few of the others can reach. His world, like Middle-Earth, feels REAL, while so many other places seem like a paper thin shell.


Of course the HBO series is expected to run 7 seasons - 1 season for each book - so that would sort of require that Martin finish the series at some point, or else HBO is going to run out of material - and we know how bad it can get on adaptations when movie/tv writers decide to try their own hand at it. Now that I think about it, I wonder how they're going to reconcile the 4th and 5th books since they're supposed to be concurrent and the 4th book was a trifle dull. Maybe they'll make the 4th and 5th seasons a combination of the 2.


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## MamaProfCrash (Dec 16, 2008)

I was wondering about the book total myself. Books four and five started off as one book. The publisher said that it was too long to be one book. So Martin split the different character arcs and apparently is expanding on what he separated? So the fourth and fifth books are going to be a lot longer then the original book four. Does this mean that there will be an eighth book? 

Not that I think we are going to see the series concluded and if we do we are going to be down to two living characters from the first book with the way people are killed off in the series.


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## Neekeebee (Jan 10, 2009)

I agree that we may never see the end of the series, but not for the same reason.  I'm wondering if GRRM will ever finish writing Book 5.

What makes the waiting for Book 5 especially frustrating is that after the long wait for Book 4, we were told that the reason for the delay was b/c of how long Book 4 was getting, but following the decision to split it into 2 books, Book 5 was almost done!  That was what, 3-1/2 years ago?  

N


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## MamaProfCrash (Dec 16, 2008)

Exactly my problem with the delay. It has taken longer to get book 5 out then it did to get book 4 out. Talk about silly.


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## cjpatrick (Jan 4, 2009)

I bought these books on Kindle and am currently about half way through Clash of Kings. It's a terrific series so far. It's not action packed and I've had to put it down for a couple of days at a time to read a smaller more exciting book in the meantime, but I love the world GRRM has created with these novels and would be more than willing to join in on any book discussions concerning this series. I better speed up my reading so I won't be subject to spoilers...


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## Francis (Jun 23, 2009)

I enjoyed this series quite a bit. Hopefully Dance of Dragons will be out soon.


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## mom133d (aka Liz) (Nov 25, 2008)

I bought all four for my Kindle when I first got it. Of course, i was under the mistaken thought that DoD would be out in February.


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## MamaProfCrash (Dec 16, 2008)

Feb 2011 maybe...


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## Forster (Mar 9, 2009)

ProfCrash said:


> Feb 2011 maybe...


Sounds optimistic to me.


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## MamaProfCrash (Dec 16, 2008)

My god, HBO has bought the rights and is shooting a series based on the books. Apparently one book per season. Don't they know that they are never going to get 7 seasons in a row with the way the books are being released?


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## bkworm8it (Nov 17, 2008)

I wonder if that will actually push him to get them finished. I miss my Song of ice and fire characters. LOL, I miss all of them, even the bad evil ones, ok not all there is one I don't miss.....can you guess who 

theresam


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## Keith Melton (Jul 22, 2009)

I love this series in so many ways. It really got me excited about epic fantasy again after I'd read a few too many copy, cut and paste fantasy series/worlds in a row. I love the complexity, the politics, the shades of gray to the characters.

Of course, waiting for the next book is like water torture...but that's just because it's one of my favorites. I can't wait for the HBO series either.


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## Neekeebee (Jan 10, 2009)

I'm looking forward to the TV series too!  There is so much going on in each book, they could probably stretch a book into more than one season if they had to.  Although I'm not sure how far HBO will go if it doesn't look like GRRM is going to finish the series.  

N


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