The HBO series has been great so far, and I'm glad that the series is getting so much exposure as not everyone will read the novels. On a side note, last Sunday's season opener was tough to stomach for me at the end when the king's men were killing all the children; I always have a tough time with that kind of stuff.
I was talking to some friends of mine who do a lot of reading the other day and we reiterated a point about these books.
They're awesome, but they're dark and cynical and more than a little bit Machiavellian.
You're always afraid to turn the page, but at the same time you know you can't put it off. Whether the next thing that happens is awesome or mortifying, you're compelled to keep going.
After
I was sitting on the back porch, head buried in my hands. I've never been so damn angry from reading a book before. I looked at my wife and said 'I don't know how they come back from this. What else is there to do now? What else can the Starks do?'
Melissa said to me 'Have you enjoyed the books so far?' She knows theyr'e pretty much my favorite books ever. They've eclipsed everything else I've ever read for personal favorite.
I said 'Yeah, you know I love what I've read until now.'
She said 'Then you have to trust the author and keep reading.'
I have not regretted pressing on. There are defeats but there are also victories.
But I don't think I can read another series with this kind of tension. It's just way too stressful because I actually care about the events and get very emotionally wrapped up in books. I don't read them with a sterile passiveness or observe them from some scientific mindset. I need to
feel the story and characters to give a damn.
Martin's works actually helped me go back and appreciate some more pedestrian fare a bit more, like say, R.A. Salvatore. By comparison, Salvatore writes very safe books but sometimes, you need that too. It's wierd when a writer can make me appreciate other subgenres of the same fiction because of how awesome he is.