George R. R. Martin v. Robert Jordan

[citri]

I am trying to choose which one to read first. The wheel of time series or a song of ice and fire. Both have been well received and I am trying to pick which to read first. I am leaning towards A Song of Ice and Fire because it is shorter and I don't currently have that much time to dedicate to finishing the whole wheel of time series. Also, though this is off topic, any good warhammer 40,000 books? My friend likes them a lot so I thought I would try them out.

 

[Iorek444]

Personally, I'd go for Martin first, simply because WoT starts out fine but starts to get a little... not so great. It really fizzles out around book 7-ish.

 

[viZion]

I am leaning towards A Song of Ice and Fire because it is shorter

Keep in mind that at its current pace ASoIaF is also about 10 years away from being complete.

 

[The Ace]

I wouldn't give either of them house room.

 

[citri]

Jeez, I am now feeling like not even reading either series until they are done. The twelfth book of WoT is coming out in around a year (I think) and the fifth book in ASoIaF is coming out in a couple of months, but WoT is ending with the twelfth. God, I am so confused with this. I think I am probably just going to go and read something else now. Is ASoIaF ending with A Dance With Dragons? I think I'll just wait till 2009 and then start reading the two because they are both projected to be done by then. The Ace, why wouldn't you read them? viZion, where did you get that number?

 

[Quokka]

As far as I know ASoIaF is planned to be a 7 book series and with the 5th book out in a few months 10 years might be a little long but it is likely to be at least 3-5 years. As much as I liked the begining of WoT it really lost it's way after a few books. ASoIaF isn't one of my favourites but if you don't mind waiting on the last couple it is a very good read but there's also a lot of finished series that are well worth reading, rather then throw some suggestions in here have a look at some of the threads in the General Book Discussion area and get a whole heap of opinons .

But if you're going to read one of those two I'd definitely go with ASoIaF.

 

[clairepickle]

If your short of time Id definately go for Martin, its a real page turner, and I got through the first five in a fortnight, they are really hard to put down once you get started.

 

[TK-421]

Is this even a fair competition. Jordan is way out of his league here.

 

[viZion]

It was 5 years between A Storm of Swords and A Feast for Crows. It's been 3 years since AFFC was released and *maybe* we'll see A Dance with Dragons at the end of this year (don't hold your breath). It just takes GRRM a long time to put out books (not trying to start a flame war with that statement; just stating a fact). So my estimate is that the 7th book will be out ten years from now. Hopefully, it's more like six years. I'll be waiting patiently no matter how long it takes. To me, A Song of Ice and Fire is the greatest fantasy series ever created.

 

[Werthead]

There are various options here. Wheel of Time is longer - 12 volumes - but it is nearly complete. Brandon Sanderson is about a third of the way through writing Book 12 as we speak, and it is projected to be out in September-October 2009. It will also take you a fair way to work your way through the proceeding 11 books.

OTOH, Wheel of Time is widely criticised for going off the boil around Book 7 or so, and Books 8-10 are pretty dull and boring (10 especially), although things pick up a lot in Book 11. You also have to appreciate that the author died whilst the last book was incomplete, and it is being finished by someone with a notably different writing style to Jordan. The story will end and may end well (Sanderson is a decent writer, although not outstanding) but the late-series dip in quality and the shift in writing style for the final volume means it isn't a very consistent series. That said, I'd rank Books 1-7 as being very enjoyable and entertaining with some excellent concepts and ideas, and one of the best takes on magic I've ever encountered (essentially, magic treated as just another form of physics).

A Song of Ice and Fire is better on many levels, and widely praised as the best epic fantasy series around at the moment. However, it is further from completion. Book 5 comes out either at the end of this year or the start of next, and it will likely be 3 years apiece for Books 6 and 7.

However, there is a compromise with ASoIaF. The series was originally designed as two trilogies separated by a five-year gap, but that was abandoned and the fourth volume (and elements of the fifth) was introduced to bridge that gap. However, although the gap is dead the first three books can still be read as a somewhat self-contained series. Book 3 ends with the characters 'plateaued' or left in interesting new situations but not on cliffhangers (as Book 4 ends). It is possible to read up to Book 3 and then go off and read something else. Whether you can do that or not is up to you: a lot of people find it impossible to resist moving straight onto Book 4, although it has a lot less closure than Book 3 (and I suspect Book 5 will have less still).

Or you could table both for now and go and read one of the many excellent completed series around (may I recommend Joe Abercrombie's excellent First Law trilogy?), or check out Steven Erikson's Malazan series, which is similarly huge (ten volumes) but a lot closer to completion (Book 8 out in about three weeks, the writer's already halfway through writing Book 9).

As for W40K, the books are largely supposed to be pretty bad apart from those written by Dan Abnett. The Gaunt's Ghosts series is supposed to be very good.

 

[Qhorin Halfhand]

As for W40K, the books are largely supposed to be pretty bad apart from those written by Dan Abnett. The Gaunt's Ghosts series is supposed to be very good.

The new Horus Heresy series is okay, particularly the ones written by Dan Abnett. I think Legion by Dan Abnett was the first GW book I would actually list as a good book and not "good for a GW book."

 

[citri]

For W40k, I've heard that eisenhorn, the horus heresy series, and Gaunt's Ghosts are good. I think I'll probably read those three series and then if I like them continue or just stop there as I expect I probably will. I usually prefer fantasy over scifi anyways. After hearing all of this criticism for WoT and ASoIaF, is there actually anything that would really compel me to read them right now? All I hear is negatives, it's so weird. For WoT, the first thing I hear is Robert Jordan dying and the 7-10'th books sucking like hell. For ASoIaF, I hear huge amounts of time between books and George R. R. Martin continuously pushing back release dates (like a lot of video games these days). Is there anything good!?! Right now, I am leaning towards ASoIaF and am developing what is becoming an aversion to WoT, except ASoIaF is not even finished and won't be for a while. Should I even read them during this year? I think I'll wait until 2009 and see how the last WoT book is received by its audiences and see if George R. R. Martin will actually release A Dance With Dragons.

 

[Qhorin Halfhand]

For W40k, I've heard that eisenhorn, the horus heresy series, and Gaunt's Ghosts are good. I think I'll probably read those three series and then if I like them continue or just stop there as I expect I probably will. I usually prefer fantasy over scifi anyways. After hearing all of this criticism for WoT and ASoIaF, is there actually anything that would really compel me to read them right now? All I hear is negatives, it's so weird. For WoT, the first thing I hear is Robert Jordan dying and the 7-10'th books sucking like hell. For ASoIaF, I hear huge amounts of time between books and George R. R. Martin continuously pushing back release dates (like a lot of video games these days). Is there anything good!?! Right now, I am leaning towards ASoIaF and am developing what is becoming an aversion to WoT, except ASoIaF is not even finished and won't be for a while. Should I even read them during this year? I think I'll wait until 2009 and see how the last WoT book is received by its audiences and see if George R. R. Martin will actually release A Dance With Dragons.

The reason ASOIAF having annoyingly long release dates is commented on so much (by people like me at least) is because the books are so good that you want more right away and you can't get it. So that's a positive!

 

[Weasel Soup]

My two cents.... I couldn't even make it through the Eye of the World the first time, and i have probably read every Martin book at least 4 times. I would have to say Jordan's writing to me is very paint by numbers, I never got a sense of suspense and he seemed rather predictable. Martin on the other hand has had me throw the book across the room with the "you did what?!!" feeling. While I do read science fiction/fantasy it is not the mainstay of my reading diet, and Martin actually brought me back to reading this genre after about 15 years. I recommend Martin to people who never read science fiction and they enjoy it, largely because the writing is epic, suspenseful and frankly a large amount of unexpected twists. I have compared his writing to Zola and Clavell, I don't know who I would compare Jordan to, because I have probably only found 5-6 books in my lifetime unfinishable.

 

[purple_kathryn]

Personally speaking I prefer Martin.

I find them easier to read and the pace is much quicker.

It's also a lot more earthy. So if you're a bit on the prudish side he won't be for you.

 

[Lady of Winterfell]

I would also say Martin. But I think once you have read Martin, you will find Jordan hard to read. And the length between books doesn't bother me, like Qhorin said, they are so good you want the next book right now. If it takes Martin a little longer than other authors, so what? The books are much superior to other authors because of it.

 

[starshptroopr]

Two of my roommates have read both ASOIAF and WoT and they both strongly prefer Martin. I have not read Jordan, and I dislike the fantasy genre, but I have read the as-yet-to-be-completed ASOIF and it is awesome. Politically driven plot, great character development, believable interactions, minimal magic, and battle scenes galore. I love it.

 

[JDP]

The two series have very different feels to them; WoT is essentially 'Farm boy comes good', a staple of the fantasy genre; ASoIaF is essentially 'Nothing ever comes good. And then you die' which seems to be to be an increasingly common tone for fantasy these days.

I enjoyed them both, but preferred ASoIaF.

 

[Rhaegal]

If I were currently starting off on one series or the other, I would go with Jordan. What they said about TWOT starting to lag at around book 7 is pretty much spot on, but it only really annoyed me because by the time I got that far, I was in waiting mode. Nothing is more annoying than waiting for a book for a year or so and then having barely anything happen in it. Then it's a couple more years of waiting. if I could have just moved on to the next one at the time, I would not have stopped that series.

Also, as others have mentioned, Martin's series looks right now like it is going to turn out to be one of the best when completed though that will not be soon. No real reason to rush the start, and you won't grow out of it if you are young(I've had some authors I would not be able to read today that I enjoyed in high school). Lastly, For me, it would have decreased my enjoyment of the TWOT books I read, to have tried out Martin first. The series are somewhat similar in scope and the depth of the world they create. If you read Martin first, it will take that novelty away from the Jordan series, and it requires it more than I think Martin will.

 

[The Curious Orange]

Agree with what Rhaegal says, for the reasons he states.

ASOIAF is by far the superior series. I love Yorkshire puddings (almost impossible to explain what they are for those of you outside the UK!) and whenever I have a roast dinner I always save them for last - you may wish to do the same.

How new to fantasy are you? Have you read a lot of fantasy already? If not, then you might not want to dive in to the genre with Martin. I'd suggest Jordan might be a better start for someone fairly new to fantasy, his first 3 books at least. Then read a few other fantasies - Robin Hobb, JV Jones, Tad Williams, Pratchett, whatever you can get your hands on (NOT Goodkind!) and then approach once you are already familiar with the demands of the genre. ASOIAF is so good it will spoil your pallette for other fantasy series.