After years of seeing "Game of Thrones" by George R.R. Martin on the shelf, I broke down and bought it a couple of weeks ago and all I have to say is,
WOW
Great book. Probably around 800 or so pages, one of those epic fantasies. Finished the book in 3 days, ran back to the book store and bought the second book.
ANd then the betrayals began--the killing of main characters.
In the first book, I let it go that he killed the Father, Lord of Winterfell. At that point there were 8 main characters and probably another 8 semi-main characters and his death propelled the story and conflict forward, so that made sense.
The second book killed of a couple of more main characters and then the third book killed of two more of my favorites along with about 6 of the semi-major characters that I liked.
Now, i'm on the fourth book, and not only are most of my favorite characters dead, but then he has shifted onto other characters I really don't care about and shifted away from the other characters that I bonded with. Despite the writing and master story telling, I do not feel the need or interest to read and am finding that I'm forcing myself to read through this book.
Needless to say, i don't think i will buy the next book.
SO i've been thinking lately about this. How sacred are the bonds between the reader, story, and main characters? What are some of the things George R.R. Martin did right and wrong?
What are your thoughts on this?
Similarly, what other books kill off main characters and shift to other characters mid story-arc? How did it make you feel?
Let the discussion begin
Mel...
WOW
Great book. Probably around 800 or so pages, one of those epic fantasies. Finished the book in 3 days, ran back to the book store and bought the second book.
ANd then the betrayals began--the killing of main characters.
In the first book, I let it go that he killed the Father, Lord of Winterfell. At that point there were 8 main characters and probably another 8 semi-main characters and his death propelled the story and conflict forward, so that made sense.
The second book killed of a couple of more main characters and then the third book killed of two more of my favorites along with about 6 of the semi-major characters that I liked.
Now, i'm on the fourth book, and not only are most of my favorite characters dead, but then he has shifted onto other characters I really don't care about and shifted away from the other characters that I bonded with. Despite the writing and master story telling, I do not feel the need or interest to read and am finding that I'm forcing myself to read through this book.
Needless to say, i don't think i will buy the next book.
SO i've been thinking lately about this. How sacred are the bonds between the reader, story, and main characters? What are some of the things George R.R. Martin did right and wrong?
What are your thoughts on this?
Similarly, what other books kill off main characters and shift to other characters mid story-arc? How did it make you feel?
Let the discussion begin
Mel...