Book Log: A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin

[grammargirl]

I've been thinking about reading Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series for a while now. I gave up buying books back when it became clear that my crappy temp pay was unequal to supporting my reading habit, and, with four books clocking in at well over 800 pages apiece, I figured the series would at least keep me busy for a while. mary_wroth loaned me the first two books in the series a couple weeks ago, and their condition alone--beaten up, dog-eared, and clearly well-loved--spoke well for their contents.

I was a little dubious at first--I haven't read high fantasy since high school, and the political intrigue between ancient Houses is every bit as complex as that of Frank Herbert's Dune series, the various members of the various feuding royal families difficult (at least for me) to tell apart. But the writing behind the intrigue was good enough to suck me in, and the history and politics became clearer before long. This book had a sneaky way of gaining momentum and dragging me along in its wake. At first I just read it in fits and starts on the train to and from work; then I started reading it during lunch instead of eating at my desk like I usually do; finally it took me hostage and demanded my every free moment. I devoured the last 300 pages or so this weekend in a marathon that kept me housebound from Saturday morning until I finally went out scavenging for food late this afternoon--and even then I brought the book along with me to read as I ate.

This book has everything: lords and ladies and warfare and all that nonsense, sure, but also incest and psychopathic thirteen-year-olds and desert warrior queens and bastards and an acid-toungued dwarf and wolves. Best of all, and unusual for this genre, the writing is actually good. Not just good, but almost eerily addictive. I'm glad I had the second book, A Clash of Kings, to begin as soon as I finished the first; if I'd been reading them as they came out and had to wait for the next one, I'd be going nuts right now. Luckily the dealer of this particular crack lives all of six blocks away, and I have three more books and probably 2500 more pages of said crack to consume before my supply runs out. Oh yeah, and an upcoming HBO miniseries, apparently, which could be a triumph or a complete disaster, though I suppose I'll watch it either way.

Comments

[innocenteexpres.livejournal.com]

i'm reading this. if it's even half as good as you say i'll love it. and i have a b&n gift card burning a hole in my wallet.

[grammargirl.livejournal.com]

I think you'll adore it. And I also just realized that the series isn't even done yet; there are another 3 books coming after the 4 that have already been published. RAWK!

Let's have a reading/knitting party soon, yes?

[innocenteexpres.livejournal.com]

i would be wholly in favor of this. unfortunately, our schedules are relatively opposite at the moment; i read/knit during the day, when you're working, and have class and other engagements at night, when you're free. as tacky as it might be to say so, this week is a mess, but maybe next week? say next monday? knitting and/or dinner and/or reading or all three?

[grammargirl.livejournal.com]

Monday sounds perfect!

Also, don't forget about Camera Obscura on Wednesday. It's sold out; you don't want to miss it. :)

[innocenteexpres.livejournal.com]

oh, i haven't forgotten! when you're back on IM tonight/on google chat sometime today we should talk logistics, as i think i'll need to meet you there: i'm going to come from class. i'm looking forward to it, and to seeing you!

[grammargirl.livejournal.com]

I'm on googlechat now, and will be throughout the workday. We should probably figure out some way to get you your ticket in advance (you and Haley are hanging out tonight, right?) so we can get into the show independently of each other if need be. So excited to see both the show and you!

[spectralbovine.livejournal.com]

I've been intrigued by these books too. People keep saying they're good, but I'm not a high fantasy person. But they say that people who hate fantasy still love them because the writing is so good. But they're SO FUCKING LONG. And I just started Perdido Street Station, which is 600 pages long anyway. So maybe later.

[grammargirl.livejournal.com]

I'm not a high fantasy person either, trust me. And actually, according to wikipedia this particular series only shares a few characteristics of high fantasy; among other things, there's not some kind of Manichean Big Bad Evil to be vanquished--all the fighting is on a very human level. Which is cool because it leaves room for all kinds of grey areas--there are protagonists and antagonists, sure, but no one who is either all good or all bad, which I really like.

I dig the length because I'm a fast reader on a budget, but I can see that that aspect could be intimidating for some people. But trust me, it's TOTALLY WORTH the effort.

[spectralbovine.livejournal.com]

It does sound very cool! Thanks!

[fshk.livejournal.com]

Off-topic and a little random: penmage referred me to you as a participant in the NYC Teaching Fellowship, which I'm currently considering applying for. If you're willing to take some time to tell me your impressions of the program, I'd be really grateful. (My email address should be in my LJ profile.) I also friended you because I get the impression from your last few entries that we are on similar career trajectories (I'm an editor). Hope that's okay. Thanks!

[grammargirl.livejournal.com]

No problem, and welcome to the madness. I'm mostly friends only, so once I've added you back you'll be able to see a lot more of my entries.

I'm happy to talk about my year as a Teaching Fellow, but I will warn you in advance that I had a pretty traumatic experience with them and have very few nice things to say on the subject.

Where are you an editor? I'd be interested in talking about your experiences in the publishing industry, where I'm currently trying desperately to get out of the purgatory of temping and into something involving benefits and job responsibilities that couldn't just as easily be done by a trained monkey.

That was phrased terribly, but it's been a bad day. You get the idea.

[fshk.livejournal.com]

Email me at erinfshk at gmail.com and I'll share about my job, although we're not currently hiring and I'm actually leaving at the end of February. I would be interested to hear about your negative experience... still trying to weigh all the options. Thanks!