Because, honestly, that’s what these books are: tomes. Giant, 1,000 page-long tomes.
I refer to the A Song of Ice and Fire series by George R.R. Martin. You may know it by its perhaps more well-known TV adaption, Game of Thrones.
This post is kind of a reboot/currently reading update. Since around the end of May, I’ve been making my way through the Ice and Fire series. I read the first book in 2011 when the TV show was still new, but the longer page count of the latter books seemed daunting to me after that. This series has been in my TBR for years now, and for some reason I thought I had to wait to read it: there were other series I had to read first. Which is dumb??? Right? Years ago I was waging an internal debate about which book to read. When I posed the question to my uncle, he shrugged and told me, “Just read whichever you really want to read.” You mean I can do that? And not have to read what I feel I should read? (I know, duh.)
A Clash of Kings sat on my nightstand, mocking me as I tried to slog my way through Stephen King’s The Shining. I realized I couldn’t enjoy the book I was reading while the book I really wanted to be reading was sitting there, unread. My uncle’s words harkened back to me and that day I began the second book in the series.
Now I sit here with fewer than a hundred pages left in A Feast for Crows, the fourth book in this massive series. Now I have to say, I watched the show before I read these books, so I saw many of the huge twists coming. What I really got to appreciate in the reading, though, was the set up Martin gave for every one of these scenes. How plans were made and unmade by other characters’ plans and ambitions. What I love about this series is that there just isn’t a good guy or a bad guy – WELL SAVE FOR THAT B*TCH CERSEI – the story is just about struggle. Struggle against pretty much life itself, the human condition. The struggle against life sucks. Because this series will have you muttering that a lot in its reading, “Oh, that sucks.”
I’ve read other books since I started this series, including John Scalzi’s hilarious Redshirts (honestly any Trekker needs to read this book), the horrendously bad A Court of Thorns and Roses (I may need to devote an entire post to how much I hated this book – it was like a well-edited fan fictions), and Dana Perino’s wonderfully optimistic memoir/advice book And the Good News Is (which I happened to pick up on a whim during vacation in Florida and found out she was signing copies an hour away, so of course I took that opportunity). Yet this series has been the one I’ve kept returning to over the last couple months.
While I’m kind of disappointed I didn’t get to experience much of this story in the way it was originally presented, book form, I realize that I do get one distinct advantage: characters that I might have otherwise found boring or uninteresting before seeing the show are only that much more interesting because I’ve seen their story lines already played out. It isn’t always a direct interpretation: the show hurries along plot lines, gives some plots to other characters to keep things flush, and merges some storylines. I love getting all the symbolism in the books, and Martin’s prose is downright poetic most of the time. This series’ strength is not in its action, its grand events, or even the dragons (though all those things are freaking amazing too). It’s seeing the plot come together and watching it unfold. Sometimes it’s like a train wreck – MOST OF THE TIME IT’S LIKE A TRAIN WRECK (IN A GOOD WAY). But it’s always like watching a ballet, perfectly composed and executed. I get chills just from some of the passages in the books.
I was just saying today that I can’t wait to read normal sized books again, because I know I’ll breeze through them. My mother agreed – she said my nose has been in these books more than I’ve ever been distracted by my phone. I can only shrug. They’re that addicting. You don’t read them, you experience them.
There’s even a history book devoted to this world, that’s how expansive and rich it is.
While I look forward to finishing the books that have been published in this series, I also dread it. Because then I will join the already legions of fans that have to wait until the next one is published. At least I won’t be for lack of reading because I’ve pretty much bought every single book Martin has reviewed in preparation for this happening.
Including THIS BEAUTY ON PRE-ORDER:
Victor Milan’s “The Dinosaur Lords”
Blake Bouza, Author 