What do you think of these?

What do you think of these?
Do they have some merit in the fantasy genre?

They're mediocre. Which of means they're better than 99% of fantasy books

>fantasy genre
>merit

A solid 7/10 but given that they got a tv series and are now wildly popular it is our duty as 4channers to hate it and say it's shit even though things like Shannara and Eragon exist.

>merit in the fantasy genre
Yeah there's tons of rape and incest and child-fucking

>A solid 7/10

I couldn't even imagine reading one cover to cover.

"No."

>something something each stool was fouler then the last

seems like the only way to raise stake is to create situations that are escaped only by dei ex machina. and any twist/notable negative event is son of a "diabolus" ex machina.
the plot is not furthered organically but by plot devices like the above or just human idiocy.
this regarding the show, I cant bother to read thousands of pages of fantasy

8.5/10 as a whole

>you guys just hate it cuz it's popular

>this regarding the show
Every fucking time. I am yet to see some criticism of ASOIAF by a person who actually read it on this board.

>implying contrarianism isn't real
I guess we'll have wait until the show is over and forgotten before we can start discussing ASOIAF on Veeky Forums.

One of the things I like about ASOIAF is that character motivations actually make sense and can even be deduced if you're paying attention. If you're into convoluted plots you can participate in unraveling, the series basically infinitely rewards careful reading. You can figure out a lot, both things that eventually will be told to you by the narration and things that will be left implicit forever.

From a literary standpoint my favorite aspect of it is how heavily point of view influences the narration. There are blatant tells of unreliable narration or emotive diction that clearly tell you 'this is in the character's voice!' but then there are more subtle things. Some characters have a constant internal monologue, others are more externally focused, some perform mental gymnastics to justify their actions, others are straightforward, and this is all done in a way that a careless reader might miss it. The characters are good at influencing the audience to think like they do from the way they present events. There is even a bit of genre shift between characters -- the younger characters have a kind of young adult adventurous feel to them, while the older ones are less linear.

I think epic fantasy generally is difficult to judge before it's completed.

Not only are they exceptional for the fantasy genre, they are the best "purely for enjoyment" fiction published in the last 20 years. This is a fact. GRRM is more talented than anyone in this shitty board

>Reading through the critique threads

l m a o

The books are better than the show though, which is left nearly incomprehensible becuase of the ultra-fast rate that they have to advance the plot

Oh fuck me this guys reply is absolute autism. The books is a solid 8/10. There's a plethora of small hidden foreshadowing that you might not notice on your first or second reread of the book. An absolutely insane amount of minor and major characters with near enough all of them having a back story or history. My problems with it would be pretty terrible prose all in all and one of the books (AFFC) is painfully slow but worth the read. GRRM writing can also feel formulated and once you notice that he can't write about a single character but needs them to forever be in pairs so they can reflect off one another it can become quite bothersome.

As for this fucking retards spurting Ex Machina, feel free to give an example when you're critiquing something. The closest I can think of off the top of my head would be Danny in the fighting pits and even that still isn't Ex Machina.

>1-3
Hey these are pretty good books, high adventure and all that
>4
what the fuck
>5
I aint reading that shit after 4.

>they are the best "purely for enjoyment" fiction published in the last 20 years
>This is a fact.

wew lad, sounds like you dont read much

>Eragon
user, calling Eragon shit would be like telling a retarded kid his fingerpainting is shit.

>An absolutely insane amount of minor and major characters with near enough all of them having a back story or history.
>It's good because it's complex

First post best post.

Agree with that last sentence 100%.

Artemis Fowl and Neal Asher's stuff are better for "pure enjoyment," but they have a different/less mature target audience. I would agree that ASOIAF is the best fantasy for adults written in the last twenty years, because it doesn't have any real competition.