A Game of Thrones
Yes, it's the famous book, in a series called a Song of Ice and Fire, by George R.R. Martin and now made into a tv series too. No, I haven't been following the series.
A friend is so keen on me watching and/or reading it that he bought the book for me to read. I faithfully read past halfway. On this rare occasion, I skipped ahead to unravel the suspense of a particular plot line and I didn't like it. Later, that friend, with my encouragement, told me more about the story and that further solidified my resolve to discontinue reading the series.
Why? That's because there is frequent shifting of sand. Characters, and sometimes their entire families, assassinated so often that it would leave the assassin guild breathless and envious. This makes it hard to root for anyone. I don't mind this per se and I acknowledge that characters can die, even major ones, but I understand that this is a recurring theme throughout the series at the rate similar to how often my 2-year old nephew changes his attention. "Hmmm I'm bored with this character. Let's kill him." "Oh, don't like this family. Massacre them. Oh, let's just throw in all their retinue as well".
Some say that the series is great because the characters and environment are realistic. They are all shades of gray, with sides changing frequently like grass bending with the wind. If I want to read about things close or similar to reality, I rather read non-fiction books. In fact, I much prefer reading history. Recently, I was caught up reading about history of modern China.
The series has interesting stories, no doubt, but I already have my quota of realism and so no thank you.
A friend is so keen on me watching and/or reading it that he bought the book for me to read. I faithfully read past halfway. On this rare occasion, I skipped ahead to unravel the suspense of a particular plot line and I didn't like it. Later, that friend, with my encouragement, told me more about the story and that further solidified my resolve to discontinue reading the series.
Why? That's because there is frequent shifting of sand. Characters, and sometimes their entire families, assassinated so often that it would leave the assassin guild breathless and envious. This makes it hard to root for anyone. I don't mind this per se and I acknowledge that characters can die, even major ones, but I understand that this is a recurring theme throughout the series at the rate similar to how often my 2-year old nephew changes his attention. "Hmmm I'm bored with this character. Let's kill him." "Oh, don't like this family. Massacre them. Oh, let's just throw in all their retinue as well".
Some say that the series is great because the characters and environment are realistic. They are all shades of gray, with sides changing frequently like grass bending with the wind. If I want to read about things close or similar to reality, I rather read non-fiction books. In fact, I much prefer reading history. Recently, I was caught up reading about history of modern China.
The series has interesting stories, no doubt, but I already have my quota of realism and so no thank you.
Comments
The book or the tv series?