Am considering....

[pegkerr]

starting Game of Thrones. I am a total neophyte to the series.

Good idea/bad idea? (Alas, I do not get HBO and so cannot feast my eyes on Sean Bean.) But I saw some initial promotional material which certainly intrigues me. Especially given a cursory check with Googlefu, which notes the influence of the history of the War of the Roses on the series.

Comments

[flourish]

Good idea! Just expect to get totally sucked in, if you're anything like me. There are serious problems, but nonetheless: totally engrossing.

[stinaleigh]

My friend Leigh Butler is reading them over at Tor.com (http://www.tor.com/features/series/a-read-of-ice-and-fire).

Myself, A Game of Thrones was one of the few books that I never managed to finish, but I am reading her blog with enjoyment, even if I am not actually reading along with the books. Many, many of my friends are avid fans of the series.

[castiron]

I'm not planning to read the series; while they're apparently very interesting books, they're also very grim, and my tolerance for hopelessness in my fiction is near-zero. A friend's blog post (http://www.patricesarath.com/patrice-sarath/sinners-in-the-hands-of-an-angry-george/) hasn't done anything to change my mind.

Whether it's a good idea or bad idea for you, I'd say, depends on how reading really dark and hopeless fiction affects you -- does it act as a catharsis and make you better able to cope with the (hopefully!) less grim problems of day-to-day life, or does it only feed your depression? If the former, dive in! If the latter, gather some more opinions and see whether it sounds like it's worth the risk anyway.

[cyllan]

For the books, it depends upon your tolerance for Grim and Horrible. The books are beautifully written, filled with interesting and complex characters in a lovely and rich world, and they are utterly squalid and awful in terms of What Happens.

For the series? I'm curious and will be checking them out on Netflix when they're available.

[mamculuna]

Oh, very good idea. I've read it twice (second time last winter while laid up with crutches and cast--it was perfect). The last two books are not as strong as the earlier ones, and it's been a long wait for the next one, but we all have hopes. Great characters, wonderful world. Lots of unpleasant violence, but the fantastic parts are very well done indeed.

[mamculuna]

And I don't find them hopeless, at all (aside from the possibility of the series not getting finished--I can foresee a very fine ending, if it ever gets there--and also aside from the bad things that happen to good people).