Reading ASOIAF

[oanja]

I have been reading actual books again! \0/ It's pretty sad how rarely I do anymore... Fandom and fanfic in particular have really ruined my reading habits.

Well anyway, I've had the Song of Ice and Fire boxset for about a year(?) but I never really started reading them, because by then I had been kind of spoiled by the TV show and fandom in general. Everyone kept saying how everyone dies and I don't really like that. (also the first few episodes I watched didn't really convince me it would be worth my while. [too much random female nakedness and fucking for my taste] I'm looking forwards to rewatching it and seeing if I change my mind)

But finally I got over myself and read the first book (finished it on Tuesday) and I really liked it. I'm now about one third through the third book (a Storm of Swords) and yeah I'm going to finish all of them...

When I first saw the first book in my local library I just passed by it (this was in the early 2000) and for some reason I never read them. (I think because at some point someone said they were like the rivals for the Wheel of Time series and that one is my baby) So it took the HBO series to come out for me to get my ass into gear. (I don't want to see it before I've read the books. I like being that annoying brat who points out how much better the books were... Well except for the Lord of the Rings. I was really surprised when I started reading the first book by how much younger everyone is compared to the show)

I think it really shows what a great writer GRRM is that I keep reading these, as most of the characters are highly problematic, or just flawed. (and not in fandom approved ways where you woobiefie them and think they'd be fixed by a hug) Even the characters you think are okay and who you root for keep making these really stupid mistakes and make me go 'NOOOOOO! You idiot, stop! You should listen to X who is telling you you are making a mistake!' Or "NOOOOO! Don't trust X, they will stab you in the back!!!!' and they never listen. *le sigh*

But I think I'm rather let down by the body count to be honest... Only one (main pov) character has died. I'm hoping that will change, because a lot of the people in this world should kick the bucket imo.

It's also kind of annoying that I keep thinking that this series is called a Game of Thrones when it's not! /0\ But a Song of Ice and Fire is so long and hard to type *whine*

Also this kind of boggles the mind:

If you are curious, here some samples. The numbers are approximate and should omit indexes, appendices and stuff not directly belonging to the text itself.
Discrepancies are often due to the fact that Microsoft Word consider “it’s” like one word, instead my data is measured considering it as “it is”, so two words. This can usually add a +5-10k compared to “official” wordcounts.

A Song of Ice And Fire - George R. R. Martin
A Game of Thrones: 298k
A Clash of kings: 326k
A Storm of Swords: 424k
A Feast for Crows: 300k
A Dance with Dragons: 422k
Total: 1M 770k
≈ 1,770,000.

But found in a forum post (http://fantasy-faction.com/forum...
A Song of Ice And Fire - George R. R. Martin
A Game of Thrones: 284k
A Clash of kings: 326k
A Storm of Swords: 404k
A Feast for Crows: 300k
Total: 1M 314k
≈ 1,314,000 + 422,000 (ADwD from loopingworld) ≈ 1,736,000.

I have already read more than 600,000 words...

Comments

[arilyn9.livejournal.com]

Nice to hear that your reading is going well! And I found it kind of funny when you said that you're dissappointed because of the low body count so far :D Hopefully there'll be more ^^

[oanja.livejournal.com]

It's really interesting (I wanted to write fun, but yeah, these are not really books where you can add the adjective fun and be done with it) There were more bodies, and only one of them was a person I actually wanted to see die, so I was pretty upset. >_< but yeah if a book can't make you cry it's not a very good book imo. :D