Thoughts on A Song of Fire and Ice series>?
No spoilers please
near finished game of thrones book and have finished second tv season.
Excellent book, requires patience though.
I like how he introduces alot of realism you don't find in fantasy books i.e Tolkien.
He brings into play the dynamics and conflicts between honour, duty and compassion.
He does a good job of highlighting the power struggles in the series and the different Houses, which is very reminiscent of medieveal politics see the English War of the Roses.
It's good because he gives a nuanced account of human emotion that there isnt monolithic good or evil and that most people have a dark side too and vice versa.
Like with Ned Stark who is universally viewed as the most honourable yet he has a bastard child, or with Sandor Clegane and Sansa.
Although LOTR was better (im not trying to compare) RR Martin gives more realism of the human spirit and of power struggles whereas in LOTR it is more but not completely, between "Good" and "Evil" as monolithic, unmalleable entities and concepts.
The concept of The Wall is one of the most compelling dynamics i have seen in any work of art, with the lands above uncharted, and the concept of the difference between the First Men and The Andals, the Wildlings and the Children of The Forest
