Friday, November 16, 2012
This Is Microphone Three...
Went to see Free Style Love Supreme last night. Pretty decent show, even though I only understand a quarter of what they say. I can't think as fast as they do!
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
A Feast For Crows
The Fourth book on the Song of Ice and Fire series has been finished. I can't say I enjoyed this one as much as the previous three. The first two so far remain my favorites.
A shorter book than its predecessor, A Feast For Crows moves slowly. It concentrates on the characters on King's Landing and much other minor characters, in my opinion. There's a lot of Brienne, a lot of Jaime and Cersei, a lot of Samwell, a smattering of Arya and Alayna (Sansa) and lots of learning of what happens to others through these characters. Most definitely not enough Arya for my liking, and then the bit of Arya there was left her BLIND in the middle of the book, never to appear again.
It's my understanding that A Feast for Crows and A Dance with Dragons were meant to be one very long novel, that was simply to long to publish. Martin chose to separate the novels "thematically" rather than cronologically. That'll be interesting when reading A Dance with Dragons.
I don't know why so much emphasis on Brienne of Tarth. I feel that she is inconsequential to the series. I'm not sure I care what happens to Cersei. Or to Jaime, at this point.
You see, I think Martin finally started to suffer from "big BOOK syndrome." Let me explain: big BOOK Syndrome happens when an author gets free range as to what to write. The fandom likes and loves the big BOOKS and so the author is encouraged to provide as much detail as possible.
Even when that detail is not relevant to the story. Coming up with a shorter book is a disappointment to the fandom and the author. J.K. Rowling shortly suffered from this syndrome, but was able to get back to her senses somewhat after Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix.
Don't get me wrong, I love me the big BOOKS too - when what I'm reading is relevant and awesome. When I'm able to skip swatches of description and still be able to follow the story, and still am able to guess where things are going, well... then you need a good editor.
This book gets three stars instead of the previous 3, which all got four, mostly for the stated above reasons. If I don't feel the NEED to read every line, then I'm just reading for plot, and then, well, I might as well wait for the movie. (or TV Show.)
A shorter book than its predecessor, A Feast For Crows moves slowly. It concentrates on the characters on King's Landing and much other minor characters, in my opinion. There's a lot of Brienne, a lot of Jaime and Cersei, a lot of Samwell, a smattering of Arya and Alayna (Sansa) and lots of learning of what happens to others through these characters. Most definitely not enough Arya for my liking, and then the bit of Arya there was left her BLIND in the middle of the book, never to appear again.
It's my understanding that A Feast for Crows and A Dance with Dragons were meant to be one very long novel, that was simply to long to publish. Martin chose to separate the novels "thematically" rather than cronologically. That'll be interesting when reading A Dance with Dragons.
I don't know why so much emphasis on Brienne of Tarth. I feel that she is inconsequential to the series. I'm not sure I care what happens to Cersei. Or to Jaime, at this point.
You see, I think Martin finally started to suffer from "big BOOK syndrome." Let me explain: big BOOK Syndrome happens when an author gets free range as to what to write. The fandom likes and loves the big BOOKS and so the author is encouraged to provide as much detail as possible.
Even when that detail is not relevant to the story. Coming up with a shorter book is a disappointment to the fandom and the author. J.K. Rowling shortly suffered from this syndrome, but was able to get back to her senses somewhat after Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix.
Don't get me wrong, I love me the big BOOKS too - when what I'm reading is relevant and awesome. When I'm able to skip swatches of description and still be able to follow the story, and still am able to guess where things are going, well... then you need a good editor.
This book gets three stars instead of the previous 3, which all got four, mostly for the stated above reasons. If I don't feel the NEED to read every line, then I'm just reading for plot, and then, well, I might as well wait for the movie. (or TV Show.)
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