Just finished reading A Storm of Swords. I've have to say, ASoIaF in my opinion is by far the best fantasy series ever written. Better than Tolkien. It's one of the rare series of books where each one is progressively better, simultaneously epic and gripping. And realistic - the heroes aren't invincible, the 'villains' aren't purely evil like in other fantasy. Robert Jordan doesn't even compare.

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What once was...

Certainly. It's absolutely fantastic. Characters that I actually *like*, characters that I used to hate but now like, massive shocks (like the one two thirds through the way of "A Game Of Thrones", the first book, which I won't spoil), an interesting story where you don't know what will happen in the end (compared to a story like LotR where everything is set up right at the beginning and the only point of reading is to see how Sauron is stopped) and some really great quotes (After a guy's love has just died, when asked if he has anyone new)
"When the sun has set, no candle can replace it").

Sure, it gets a bit crude in places, but it reads far more like a historical novel than most fantasies with their bare-chested barbarians striking down hordes of enemies and chaste women in towers.

To call it the best fantasy series of all time is certainly no overstatement...

I have "A Game Of Thrones" coming in the mail, and after I finish "Naked Empire" and "Debt Of Bones" (which is also in the mail), I'll be reading it. I really enjoyed The Wheel of Time and The Sword of Truth series' and if A Song of Ice and Fire is better than these, it must truly be great. I can't wait to read it.

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Tried a Wheel in Time, got SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO boring. Sword of Truth is > *. Terry Brooks started me into the genre, and I highly reccommend the Shannara series for those who haven't read it, but Goodkind's books were just overall...enthralling. Also, Magic Kingdom For Sale series by Brooks is excellent as well.

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Hmm, I'll have to check this out. I love fantasy - my favorite by far is the Dark Elf series by R.A. Salvatore. Definitly worth checking out if you haven't read it already.

..Was Loras talking about Renly in that part?


Anyway, I highly recommend ASoIaF to everyone. It's by far better than Sword of Truth, which was my favorite up until I read Ice and Fire.

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What once was...

Agreed. I especially like they way none of the characters (few?) are invincible. Ok, it's sad when people fall like flies to the newspaper, but it shows that not everyone can survive the war. It just has a much broader display of nuances than most other stories. I like it better than WoT because of this and because it flows much better, with less "downtime" between the interesting events. Martin also hides the darker/taboo sides of the story less than Jordan, which I like (torture, intimacy etc.) It makes for a more realistic story.

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[This message has been edited by Gandalv the Gray (edited May 26, 2004).]

SoT pwns all

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"A tiger? In Africa?!"

"True as toasted toads!"

I reckon so. There was also that line where someone (Jaime?) said that he'd stick his sword "so far up [Loras's] [behind] that even Renly couldn't find it." That Jaime is a bit of a charmer, really ("The things I do for love" was a pretty great quote from him...).