R.R. Martin - Ice & Fire.

Sup /book/. This is my first time here, so I wouldn't know whether or not you can hold a fairly decent discussion in here, or if this board, like almost all other 4chan boards, is just a means of holding a shitstorm. Hell, let's give it a shot.

So I just started reading the first book in R.R. Martin's Ice & Fire series after a ton of people recommended it to me.

I don't know how many pages I've read, as I use an electronic dictionary to read it.

Is it just me, or is the book total shit? Does he really expect us to remember 500 names of people and places that are given such a poor introduction and are often introduced far too fast?

I thought I was about to read a fantasy book, but it seems I am really reading a trivia of how well you can remember useless and uninteresting information. I wonder if there's a question sheet in the back to confirm my suspicions.

I have to say this is my favourite fantasy series, the only other fantasy I've enjoyed as an adult being tolkien. But; I kind of agree with the OP, or I know I did on my first read at least. It didn't detract that much from the reading experience though, and I stopped caring about trying to remember minor character/namedroppings halfway through A Game of Thrones.

If it does bother you alot it could be a problem though, since the heraldry gets mroe intricate and the minor houses get more of these minor character further into the series. But as I said, keeping track of all characters wasn't necessary for me to enjoy the books.

It does add alot to rereading the books though, since Martin's intricate plot-lines and foreshadowing of characters and events several books before the events happen can give you new mind-fuck moments on a reread.

This is obviously fanboy-biased, but meh, so what?