A Game of Thrones question

I really enjoyed book 1, but 100 pages into book 2, I gave up. I was bored. I've heard it gets better. I'll eventually get back to it, but....

Back in '96 or '97, maybe even '98, I stumbled on Game of Thrones in the bookstore and bought the paperback because i wanted to find a different book by a different author. While I was in the bookstore, I read the first paragraph in the first Chapter entitled 'Bran' (skipping the prologue). I thought 'here is a visual author' just by that one paragraph. I was sold and I loved the book. I told all my reader friends that they had to read it. Only one or two listened back then, but the rest came around in recent years, and they all love it. People who read all genres love it, not just fans of fantasy. It's hard to hate these books.

I understand and am aware of the importance of catharsis. I enjoy me some cathartic books now and then, and I also appreciate a beloved character's death (even if it tears my heart to pieces) because a character's death in the world of fiction almost always has a meaning and a purpose, and it contributes to the experience and involvement of the reader.

A Game of Thrones is NOT cathartic. A Game of Thrones, while I was reading it, felt like a soap opera. And soap operas, for me personally, are not cathartic. They're just irritating.

I've read the whole series. And while there are things I didn't like that much, I was hooked by it. I love Martin's ability to both weave and tail and create a rich and detailed universe with interesting characters. Can't imagine how anyone would hate it.

I admit to not loving it at first, I only read one or two chapters a day, and even had to re-read some parts just to be sure what was going on. I enjoyed the first half, but didn't think it was anything special until (no spoilers) Cersei revealed her big secret to Eddard, after that it only took me a week to finish the last 300 or so pages.

I liked it from the beginning but I can see where it would not appeal to everyone. What I really like is that the "good guys" didn't always survive. Made it seem more like real life (as much as fantasy can be).

I hated it the first time I read it, actually. I read the whole thing and hated every page. About a year later I was utterly desperate for something to read and decided to give it another try. It was so weird - the second time I really liked it.

Not sure how helpful that is, but maybe you'd like it if you take a break? I don't know. I feel odd thinking about how much I hated it the first time and I love the series. Weird.

Not every book is for everyone, and it may strike you differently another time in your life. As a writer, I'd prefer that people who really don't like my writing to just put the book down, rather than end up hating the work.

Martin is a master writer; of that, there's no doubt. Yet the complexity of the character interactions, the plot, and the darkness of the story will not land with many readers, and that's okay. For those of us who love that world, and that darkness, we're grateful he created it.

I finished it - on audiobook....won't bother with the rest. There are too many characters that I just don't like and the whole thing is HEAVY. Have you tried the Blood Song series by Anthony Ryan? I have read the first 2 books - they're both terrific.

Yes, I hated it. I thought it was overwritten and some of the scenes were contrived.

I was disappointed because I love the TV series so much, but a writer's voice is so important in fiction and I found that George R R Martin's voice isn't to my taste.

Arya = The only reason to read it

I didn't hate it, but certainly didn't think it worth a series. I wouldn't have bothered with book 2 at all - except that I found Arya an interesting little character and wanted to find out what happened to her. I skim-read book 2 just for this reason - leaving some whole chapters out (the ones with Daenerys, as I found she was totally boring once her husband had died).

This was the first book in over a year I couldn't finish - and I will persevere with most books. I found the characters poorly realised and very cliched and the story telling amateurish. I ended up writing a very negative review on here for it (scathing in fact)

For lovers of 'dark' fantasy there are so many better books and better authors out there I don't know why anyone would waste their time on this. But that is just a personal opinion; everyone likes something different

Maybe if you try watch the fist season of the series you will get exciting, I only read teh books after wacthing the series, and I understand that in the behgening is kinda of slow and hard to get throw but I ended up ABSOLUTLY LOVING IT.

When I was reading this book, the first in the series, for the first time: I thought it was good but not great. I thought I would finish the book but would not continue with the series. The last two chapters hooked me FOR LIFE! I am not kidding, those last two chapters (which I will not describe for spoilers) made me a life long fan. I've now read books 1-4 twice and the fifth once while I have watched S1 three or four times, season 2 and 3 twice and the fourth season once. There is also the lesser known expanded universe (novellas and short stories by George) that I am trying to catch up on currently.

If you´re not in to it, how about drop it altogether? No shame in that. Why bother any more with it? Not every book is meant for everyone - that´s why there are several genres and thousands of different authors to read from and like. Reading should be enjoyable.

I loved it,all of them and how all the plots are tied and no event is random - everything has it´s reasons and consequences.

The Tv version is good but unfortunately less details, they exclude too many scenes, and i partially agree with the comments above, that in this art piece of George, he make too many characters and it's not easy to keep track their development as we head along.

The only thing I don't like about the series is that it has way too many characters to keep track of (both major and minor). I couldn't get past the first hundred pages of the second book because of this. But then again, I didn't bother with the second season either so, I can't really judge it by the show either.

It does require considerable investment, and I may have shared your views on the series if I hadn't been captivated by the TV adaptation prior to picking up the books; I think it made my assimilation with the world of George R.R. Martin a bit less bewildering.
Oh, and if you're looking for recommendations, you may find Joe Abercrombie's The First Law series more accommodating. It's less concerned with the intricacies of heraldry and feudalism, and is much more of an honest, gritty (if cliché) fantasy series -- with considerably fewer sex scenes! The first book in Abercrombie's series is called The Blade Itself , and I loved it.

I absolutely love Game of thrones (A song of ice and fire) but if you didn't like it maybe you're just not into high fantasy? It can get confusing at times with the amount of different characters, and there are times when descriptions last for pages and the plot tends to stretch.

I find that I agree with Shelby, Lwp and Eric...seems like I SHOULD have liked GofT, but I DIDN'T! I usually prefer the books to movies/tv but in this case, I prefer the TV version!
BTW I finished all 5 books and really don't care to read more...too many unlikeable characters...

Seriously, it's a series that doesn't even have a finite number of books yet! How can you declare you hate it when you haven't even finished the first of almost 10 books!

It's one book that gives you the ruthless reality, not everything is a classic that ends with a happily ever after and has characters that are basically "Lovely at heart". It gives you the true side of people; of how lust for power changes the noble and the horrible experiences changes people whom you thought were truly evil. It gives you characters that teach you to struggle through life victoriously and teaches you the vital principle of survival.

It's the Game Of Thrones!
When you play the Game Of Thrones, either you win or you die!

So, either you accept the brutal truth that's plated so plain in front of you or you stop reading, it's your choice, but it's a huge thing you've missed.

I didn't even get through the first book. Its not that it is so bad, its just that as I was reading I was aware that it wasn't so good that I would want to slog through thousands of pages of sequels to find out what happens to a bunch of folks I don't really care that much about. I have sworn off multi-volume fantasy for life. In general it is just too mediocre, and way too long.

Game of Thrones is lije a Tolkien book but what's being described isn't interesting in the slightest.

you are a fool

Am I the only one who felt disgusted? I'm not a prude by any means but this feels like a book for perverts.