A Game of Thrones by George RR Martin

There is are reasons why I don't ordinarily read this sort of thing. They are unbelieveably long, have an incredible number of characters, have terrifically convoluted plots, and frequently (as in this case) have story lines which do not intersect the main plot at all. And, most annoying of all, the reader is blatantly set up to purchase the next book. That said, this is not bad of its type.

I'm sure someone has come up with a name for the sub-genre - maybe something like "massive multi-volume fantasy saga." I read quite cheerfully the first three volumes of Robert Jordan's "Wheel of Time" mmvfs, and could probably have continued - but I started thinking of all the things that I could be reading instead and gave it up. I spoke with a former student of mine today who is a voracious reader; during his tenure in my high school English class, I once loaned him a milk-crate full of books - which he read and returned in a week or two. He is waiting with bated breath for the last(?) volume of "The Wheel of Time." Come to think of it - I think he was the one who got me to read it in the first place. I trust his judgment as a reader - maybe he is willing to invest the time because he has so many years yet to be reading - and he may read faster than I do. I used to read faster than I do.

This one has not failed of any of the basic characteristics of the class. And in the end it resolved not even one of the running story lines. Point of view switches among no fewer than eight characters and most of the time each is carrying a story line that cannot be told by one of the others. The land now has three declared kings, and three of the major characters (if you count a wolf, and I do) are in limbo. Actually, that is one of my issues with this book: the wolves here have such enormous fantasy potential and although they are introduced early and carried throughout the story, they are nonentities.

One of the things that did intrigue me in this was something else that the author failed to develop - the climate of this planet. They are tied to a "year" calendar, but summer and winter last for several years each. Since the concept of year is tied to the cycle of seasons, this implies that the planetary rotation has changed/is changing. Maybe that is another thing he intends to address in later volumes.

Many plot elements were lifted straight out of Shakespeare and fantasy standards and then subjected to some rather heavy-handed resetting. I don't particularly object to the borrowing, but borrowed things should be treated with respect.

I try to read things that are recommended to me, particularly by students. I like to know what they are thinking and what motivates that thinking. I have learned a great deal by following that policy, even when I never read another book by the author. Cujo put me off Stephen King forever - not because it was bad - because it was way too plausible and persuasive. I consider it unlikely that I will return to this series, but I do know more about the young man who recommended it to me than I did before.