I may be the only person on earth to admit this, but I HATE "GOT". HATE...IT. In three easy steps!
1. It should be called the Gang of Rapes. Seriously, that guy isn't happy unless he's writing a rape scene. Now I understand that rape happens a lot during war time and in the culture that he's trying to emulate, but writing a rape scene requires a lot of respect and he gives it none. One of my favs, Diana Gabaldon, has two very graphic rape scenes in her Outlander series. While I don't enjoy the scenes emotionally, I can appreciate them aesthetically because she treats them with respect and explores the emotional wreckage that comes with the healing process. Those scenes are also essential to the plot line. Without those events, the whole story would collapse. The GOT rapes are not essential to the plot line and they are not treated with respect. They are just thrown in willy nilly whenever he feels like things need a little spice. They are a cheap gimmick. Which brings me to my next point: His characters.
2. Gawd I hate his characters. He kills off all the good ones in the first book! I loved Eddard. Dead. I loved the wolves. Dead or missing. Catelyn was kind of cool. Dead...and then brought back as a zombie?! OMG, really? "Hey, things are getting slow...how bout I kill off Catelyn...oh wait! I need her...I'll just bring her back as a zombie...problem solved...god I'm good." Cheap gimmick I hate most of the other characters. The little girls are just whiny brats. The little boys are worse. Most of the siblings are sleeping together. I liked Jon at first but he just ended up having a really boring adventure in the wilderness. I kept hoping for magical creatures out there beyond the wall and just got a couple books of a bunch of scared, cold men.
3. His writing style is just ok. I've read better. I've also written better. (I'm also not published...he wins on that one.)
Ok, so I've only read about 1 1/2 of the books. But I just couldn't read any more...it was too painful. I probably wouldn't feel as strongly about this if they weren't so popular. Really, they aren't THAT bad, I just mostly hate that a mediocre series would get so much love.
What I'm really curious about is the TV series. The Sookie Stackhouse series is another mediocre book series (although pretty darn entertaining) that turned into a majorly fantastic TV series. For those of you out there who have watched the GOT TV show, what do you think? Better, worse, or about the same as the books? Does it follow the books? I've read a few opinions and they have been mixed so far. Feel free to include your own opinion in the comments!
Keep reading people...but read better books, ok?
