I love listening to audio books on long drives (and during presidential primary season) and I tend to do a lot of long drives in the Summer. This year I finally got back to A Song of Ice and Fire. And now I remember why I took a break. Don’t get me wrong, I have loved books 1 – 3, but they are brutal. Brutally brutal. Creepily inventively brutal. Not necessarily inappropriately brutal, I get that this is a brutal, violent world, but by Culthu, these books are brutal.
I am in awe of the way Martin has been able to keep so many balls (or severed body parts) in the air. As he jumps from story line to story line I never feel like I have to get a refresher on what’s happening. I never get the characters confused with one another, and I attribute that to excellent writing. I have complicated feelings about almost all of the characters, again a product of great writing.
I am really looking forward to Book 4, but I’m saving it for next summer. I need another break.
Cannonball Read V 