Game of Thrones (spoilers)

[AdamGB]

How much of 1984 would you miss if you read it when you were 9?

A book that can be enjoyed by younger and older readers alike on different levels is masterful.

Younger people can enjoy Orwell, I first got into him through my school library. Every kid has read Animal Farm. That is a book that can be enjoyed as a fairy story for kids or a critique of Soviet Communism as an adult. 1984 emerges when you enter your teens.

As I keep repeating Tolkien can be fun, but it isn't higher literature. People don't study it on English courses for good reason. There are better books to analyze. It is correct that kids study To Kill a Mockingbird, Great Expectations and King Lear over LoTR.

But if you like it then that is COOL. I don't have an issue with you and others liking it a lot, I just don't elevate it like you do. I like it too, but it simply isn't anything I would put in my list of top 100 books to read in my final month to live or anything like that. I am not Christopher Lee.

That's exactly my point miles, Animal farm is more than a fairy tale! (unless read when you're 9).
I'm not elevating it into some higher piece of writing, simply saying that it is masterful. If you think that the heavier handed allegories of orwell are more masterful than the rich wealth of lore and history that tolkien infused his work with then that is COOL.

What you class as masterful writing is surely subjective to both the reader and intentions of the writer to a huge degree?

LOTR may not be suitable study material... But that is hardly conclusive. It's about 5 times bigger than any of the books you listed and again - written with a different purpose in a different focus and narrative.

[Gandalf]

It's a decent read.

I don't even know what we are debating here. Some books are more significant than others and some suggested by more people.

Nowt wrong with LoTR. It's alright. Chill Mofo.

[AdamGB]

I'm more chilled than a white walker! Nothing wrong with a bit of debate!

[OumaFan]

Season two starts Sunday. Do we need a new (miles-free) thread?

[killersheep]

Season two starts Sunday. Do we need a new (miles-free) thread?

We can just continue here, I did pick up the Bluray set earlier this week, the audio and video quality are excellent. Still haven't finished DwD yet.

[CFH]

Season two starts Sunday. Do we need a new (miles-free) thread?

We can just continue here, I did pick up the Bluray set earlier this week, the audio and video quality are excellent. Still haven't finished DwD yet.

I cannot fucking wait. I'm going to have to avoid hearing about the new episodes until I can download them.

[Nameless]

I finished the books like 2 weeks go, now I am ready to see the result in movies. I've also read somewhere that GRRM has 200 or 300 pages written down already for the next book, gives me faith that the whole sage will be achieved before he gives his last breath.

[OumaFan]

The books are so gigantic that even though I reread the first four (kind of, I looked at chapter summaries for a feast for crows) and then read DWD I still find myself forgetting major details and even what really happened in the second book.

This can't go past 7 books. My hope is that books four and five were stage setters for the climax which will come in 6 and 7.

[CFH]

The books are so gigantic that even though I reread the first four (kind of, I looked at chapter summaries for a feast for crows) and then read DWD I still find myself forgetting major details and even what really happened in the second book.

This can't go past 7 books. My hope is that books four and five were stage setters for the climax which will come in 6 and 7.

I don't think he'll ever finish it. His plot is so fragmented at this point that it will take a lot of writing to tie it all together.

[killersheep]

This is pretty interesting interview (there are spoilers here)

'Game of Thrones' Exclusive! George R.R. Martin Talks Season Two, 'The Winds of Winter,' and Real-World Influences for 'A Song of Ice and Fire' - SmarterTravel.com

"What lies really north [The Land of Always Winter] ... We haven't explored that yet, but we will in the last two books."

[Diane]

PLEASE......to those of you who have read the books, please don't post any spoilers in here.

Pretty please.

BTW, I cannot wait until Sunday night!!!

[killersheep]

To get back to CFH's point about the books being fragmented, Martin has stated that there will be no new POV characters aside from prologues and epilogues. I believe that book 6 will be mostly fusing storylines and bringing characters together, which in theory could finish the story by book 7.

Book 6 The Winds of Winter is predicted to be 2-3 years away still.

[superheavyrhun]

To get back to CFH's point about the books being fragmented, Martin has stated that there will be no new POV characters aside from prologues and epilogues. I believe that book 6 will be mostly fusing storylines and bringing characters together, which in theory could finish the story by book 7.

Book 6 The Winds of Winter is predicted to be 2-3 years away still.

If he does finish it then it will be one of the strangest experiences for him. I imagine that JK Rowling just bowls about her mansion being bored these days, wishing she had something to write about that wasn't Harry Potter.

[killersheep]

To get back to CFH's point about the books being fragmented, Martin has stated that there will be no new POV characters aside from prologues and epilogues. I believe that book 6 will be mostly fusing storylines and bringing characters together, which in theory could finish the story by book 7.

Book 6 The Winds of Winter is predicted to be 2-3 years away still.

If he does finish it then it will be one of the strangest experiences for him. I imagine that JK Rowling just bowls about her mansion being bored these days, wishing she had something to write about that wasn't Harry Potter.

He could always do another Prequel, there's plenty of history to draw from. I know he's already done the Dunk and Egg graphic novels.

[killersheep]

HBO is doing a season one marathon today, before season two begins.