Fire & Blood - George R. R. Martin - Crap

Ok, so I just had to discuss the epic waste of time I inflicted upon myself in the reading of Fire & Blood by George R. R. Martin.

I really made a mistake in choosing this tomb of a novel as my entry into the world of Mr. Martin.

This is not a novel it is a history book and a complete bore at that.

I really need someone to explain to me why I should read anything more from this Author. Please!

[DyslexicGod]

Great video, laughed a bit at some of your reactions 😄

Since you love the TV series, you should've started with the GoT book, it would've been quite familiar to you and help easing you smoothly into the Song of Fire and Ice books.

With that said, what you did is like going into The Silmarillion first where you should start with The Hobbit, I mean taking it step by step. My rule is, these historical/companion/guide type of books should be read last, and only to the hardcore fans IMO.

[gudlaugurrobertsson]

I think people hate the last 2 seasons of GOT due to the fact that the whole thing is watered down and the script for season 7 and 8 is just so bad.
All the dialog is shit, the characters don't feel like in previous seasons especially Cersei's dialog in the last season was just a joke.
The episode 'the long night' was a joke, too dark and just crap all around, that episode should have been the last episode of the series, killing the night King...
And two of the most interesting characters were basically removed, Little finger and Varys.. in the books they have their own plans and not discounting that they added most of the behind the scenes plotting in the whole show and not just walking around with their hands in their sleeves getting caught with a piece of paper in his pocket, great spymaster indeed.
Yes and also the writer just doesn't seem to give crap about finishing the story, which is angering his fans who have waited decades... decades...for him to get off his butt, he supposedly was assisting the dudes making the show and he lets it end like that... Turning Danneris into some kind of Hitler figure at the end, I almost turned off the Tv at that point.... I could go on and on. but sorry for the rant, , I will take your advise and skip reading 'Fire and Blood' thank you :) good channel Btw, :)

[obijuan-kenobi]

Hello Tad! I'm a little late to responding here but wanted to provide what insight I'm able to, particularly because I don't want you to be led astray even more. I found your videos about your favorite classic and newer fantasy books and really enjoyed your thoughts on a number of books I haven't read yet, so thanks for that!

On reading order, I saw it suggested that you read A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms next and I wanted to point out a few things in regards to that so you know what you're getting into:

1) If you were to do this and continue reading chronologically (Knigh of 7 Kingdoms takes place after Fire and Blood, and about 90 years before GoT's main storyline) you would probably be the only person ever to read it in that order and it would be quite interesting to hear your opinions and insight on it. I suppose this could be good for your channel on one hand - I know I'd make a point to check out your reviews, though I likely would anyway.

2) These are 3 short stories merged into a book, but it's an unfinished story. GRRM has stated there are at least a few more short stories he'd like to write, but he wants to finish Winds of Winter before going back to them.

3) I love these short stories. They are very good. But they are not essential reads. These are typically relegated to being read by super fans like myself who love the world and want more while waiting a long time for book 6 of the main series.

4) Even though it's smaller in scale, A Knight of the 7 Kingdoms makes an assumption that you have a base level of understanding of the world, unlike A Game of Thrones which introduces you bit by bit to the larger realm. There's a strong chance you have this knowledge layer already due to watching the show and reading F&B.

5) In the main series you hear stories and hints about how the short stories of Dunk and Egg will eventually end - But it's shrouded in mysery. So the theory is that these short stories will lead to those hinted at events and provide some greater context and understanding to other mysteries happening in the world (I'll let you make your own theories as to what those are as you read them 🙂)

6) The typical recommended first book to read is, without question, A Game of Thrones. You're in an interesting position having already deviated from that.

I also wanted to say don't let anyone's dislike for the later seasons dissuade you from liking them. Personally, I began taking issue with certain cteative choices in season 5 when they smushed books 4 and 5 into a single season after book 3 was two seasons, as a few of my favorite plots got chopped and I think the show would've benefitted from taking its time - But I also understand the actors had time restraints on how long they could do it. I also would never want someone else to not enjoy something simply because I had complaints about it. Even though the series isn't finished I would highly recommend giving it a go. Don't let the slow denseness of F&B turn you away, as it's very different from the rest of the series. You'll have a unique perspective after powering through it too. This is an amazing, rich, dark, and gritty fantasy world with some of the best character work I've read. There is still lots of murder, but those portions of F&B had a lot of murder over an extended timeframe condensed so it's particularly repetetive. If you enjoyed the show, you will likely love the books because you'll get tons of extra insight into characters you already enjoy. Bigger battles, more heartache, more heroics, more scheming - Plus a bunch of new awesome plotlines that were left out of the show.

[donjas]

ohh yea man, you jumped into the deep end first lol. i personally love Fire and Blood. it's ridiculously dense but it also has it's perks. if you do end up reading A Song Of Ice And Fire i'm sure you'd enjoy it... hopefully lol. when and if you do end up reading them you'd get the picture on why so many hate the final season. the show runners were just making things up by that point lol. what made it worse is they even admitted to making things up lol.

anyway, besides all that, my personal recommendation would be to read his book "A Knight Of The Seven Kingdoms". it's 3 stories compiled into one book so no need to buy them separately. overall panned as a phenomenal read and under 400 pages in hardback!!!

[FictionIgnition]

Read "The Armageddon Rag", it's one of his first novels and totally different from GOT. It was a financial failure and almost wrecked his career, but it's a very good novel.

[thepapertraveler]

I tried listening to Fire & Blood on audiobook and was SO bored! After hearing it pretty much read like a history book, I DNFed. I’ve only read the first book in The Game of Thrones and really enjoyed it but stopped due to the fact the series wasn’t finished yet. I really need to continue anyway.
I guess it’s like anything else painful in life, after a while the memory fades a bit. Maybe Game of Thrones can be in your 2023 reads??

[SteveTalksBooks]

New to the channel. I haven't read ASOIAF either, but Fire and Blood sounds like it would be a chore without reading the other ones first. I'm reading The Expanse now and really enjoying it and while I didn't love If It Bleeds as a whole I did really love The Life of Chuck.

[Ramzblood]

The writing fir fire and blood was so bad, the imagery so child like, that i am wondering if he actually wrote any of the previous books. Is he a clone, did he plagiarize, or just lose his talent.
Like theres literally no comparison to his other books abd this trash