George R. R. Martin v. Robert Jordan

[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.

[Memnoch]

There is seriously no contest, Jordan books, even the early ones are slow, over elaborate, bores. I can't believe I wasted my time reading as many as I did, I seemed to feel I was missing something and thought if I read more I may finally find passion for these tomes of doom. Yet they just got worse, characters were frustrating and predictable arrrghhhh!! The repetition of character trait's and stupid unecessary detail just compound my utter dislike for the series.

George R. R. Martin, I came to later (thanks to advice from the Martin fanatics on Chronic, who are so into it, I had to see what I'd been missing) I devoured everything, what an amazing series. Shame I'm now frustrated at the length of time he's taking to bring the next portion out. I'm beginning to wonder, has he lost his way, or dare I say interest in his books now he's done so well and possible big/small screen outings maybe occurring!!

BUT PLEASE GET THE GRRM BOOKS AND IGNORE THE BOOKSHELF FULL OF PRETTY NUMERICALLY ORDERED DRONEY, DRIVEL OF JORDAN'S (RIP)

[citri]

Originally Posted by The Curious Orange

How new to fantasy are you? Have you read a lot of fantasy already?

I have read a lot of fantasy stuff, not that much of the big and popular stuff but I am familiar with fantasy. (if the quote screws up, it is because I am really new here and have never quoted anything before)

[crimclov]

No contest here: ASoIaF is so far superior as to be a closed to debate subject. But as most have noted, it's far from complete. I've read the first three and will now wait until they're all done before going back and re-reading them all straight through. Hopefully, I'll live that long (but if I don't, I'll do it in my next lifetime)!!

[Boaz]

citri, Werthead's post is very informative and on the money.

I used to think that the three to five year gap in between Martin's books was a bad thing. Since I've found this site, I've been able to discuss, guess, postulate theories, and generally have a lot of fun hashing and rehashing ASOIAF. The lengthy time between books gives us plenty of time to engross ourselves deeper into the story. I'm already sad thinking that there will be an end to this series. Will I be able to find another epic series that is this well thought out and this solidly written? Will I be able to find another group of people willing to discuss it ad nauseum?

I'm going to give you a brief synopsis of a book... see if you recognize it.

A young man in a remote village flees, along with his three best friends, from dark creatures seeking to kill him. A wizard tells the young man that he needs to get to a safer place. The four companions barely outrun the fiends to a ferry, where they make good their escape. At a town the young man foolishly exposes himself to agents of the Dark Lord. A ranger, who secretly happens to be the lost heir of an ancient kingdom, helps the four friends escape. The ranger and the wizard lead the growing fellowship to an abandoned lost city in an attempt to throw off pursuit. In the ruins, the dumbest of the four friends accidentally awakens a demon who chases the fellowship out of the ruins.

What book have I described so far? If you said The Fellowship of the Ring, you'd be right. If you said The Eye of the World (the first book in The Wheel of Time series), then you'd also be correct. In my opinion, if you've alread read Tolkien, then save your time and money.

My two favorite complete epic works of fiction are Shogun by James Clavell and Illium and Olympos by Dan Simmons. Clavell writes historical fiction and Simmons writes sci-fi, mythology, horror, and fantasy all together.

[Tysha]

Well, GRRM killed all other fantasy books for me (like Rome killed all other series and Video killed the radio star... )

[pan naranus]

Actually, you can find some good fantasy work on martins page at "what I'm reading", Bernard cornwell historical novels “winter king”, “enemy of the gods and” “Excalibur” about the Arthurian period for instance…

[viZion]

If you have any interest at all in dresses and taking baths then I highly recommend The Wheel of Time. By the time you finish reading WoT you'll be a minor expert in both subjects. Because nothing says detail like 3 pages at a time dedicated to describing the dress of every female character in the current scene. Or 3 chapters devoted to one character preparing for and then taking a bath.

You'll also learn that females have exactly *one* emotional response to any stressful situation... ANGER. You'll find that the best way for females to display their ANGER is to smooth the skirt of their dress. This technique is effective in almost any situation. It would be a crime to have a messy dress after so many words have been devoted to describing every its every thread.

[Khale]

It was probably a bad idea to post this question in the George Martin section. I personally prefer WoT, although I still think ASoIaF is fantastic. It would be interesting to see what responses you would get in the Robert Jordan section asking the same question.

[pan naranus]

Non, they can't read...

[citri]

Originally Posted by Khale

It was probably a bad idea to post this question in the George Martin section. I personally prefer WoT, although I still think ASoIaF is fantastic. It would be interesting to see what responses you would get in the Robert Jordan section asking the same question.

Yeah, that's actually a really good idea, so far all I have gotten for WoT is negative, I think I'll try it on the Robert Jordan section. Thanks for the suggestion.