high_time wrote...
leonard267 wrote...
I have mentioned this to you in the PMs and I think I may as well mention it here. For me, it was not so much to do whether it is bland but more to do with me being completely lost with the introduction or rather the lack of it of characters and terms used. Like the Night Watch, Others, who are Gared, Will (who appeared out of nowhere) and Weymar.
Of course I had other problems with the prologue as well in terms of the style of writing. I hope I can elaborate on that as soon as possible, most likely by next week.
maybe it's most likely not my taste. don't worry 'bout it since I don't have motivation to read most of the books that's out there. except if it seems to stand out completely different or those of my preference, I won't really read it longer than a few paragraphs, sentences or even just the title. even if i liked some books it will take a really long time for me to finish on.
i think you know the reason why.
It is not so much about taste in genres for me. It is rather about how the story is presented. I am sorry to have made you suffer Out Xnining Xninebreaker. That story falls under romance and war.
d(^_^)(^_^)d wrote...
leonard267 wrote...
high_time wrote...
well at the prologue, i only like, read few sentences and skipped through the end. i don't feel the writing was all that appealing at all. it was bland to me so to say.
I have mentioned this to you in the PMs and I think I may as well mention it here. For me, it was not so much to do whether it is bland but more to do with me being completely lost with the introduction or rather the lack of it of characters and terms used. Like the Night Watch, Others, who are Gared, Will (who appeared out of nowhere) and Weymar.
I feel like I should at least try to defend GRRM since I happen to like those books. First, I'm going to qualify what you've said. There are indeed a lot names and terms thrown at the reader. You'll find that many fantasy stories suffer from a steep learning curve. It's a whole new world, and should the author stop to explain everything the story would get nowhere. Sometimes, us readers can't do anything but press on and put faith in the authors to elaborate later.
Having said that, I don't believe it's as bad as you make it out to be. Will did not appear out of nowhere, at least not any more than Gared or Royce did. He only made his appearance slightly later than the other two. While we initially know nothing about any of these characters, we are given sufficient background on them soon enough.
Until more solid definitions are given, there is plenty of information to infer from what's said in the prologue. For instance, I gather that whatever the Night's Watch is, its an enemy of the wildlings. Also, the Wall sounds very much like some kind of fortress that the Night's Watch is situated at. The Others, definitely magical in nature, are more than likely going to serve as villains though their origins and motives are unclear at this point. However, it would appear that whoever they are, these characters--and the Night's Watch by extension--are unprepared for them. There is recognition, but Will was not expecting them, and his account of there appearance sounds like it's being given by someone who is witnessing them for the first time.
In the end, the prologue can be summed up as thus: Some rangers of the Night's Watch were sent out to track down some wildlings, but it went horribly wrong when the Others showed up unexpectedly.
What does this have to do with anything? The only way to find out is to read on. The next chapter may enlighten us, or we may not find out until page 700. I can definitely see how that could throw someone off who would prefer to have a rundown of the details beforehand.
As of the end of the fifth book, we still don't know where the Others come from or what they're after.
To steal a quote from you: I hate this kind of prologue. I question whether it is a prologue at all.
I will go into detail about why I dislike the prologue of the Game of Thrones hopefully by next week. Allow me to address what you mentioned about The Others.
I was expecting at least an explanation of what The Others were. What did The Others do that made them so dangerous? I felt that other than a physical description of what they were, I did not get much from the description in the prologue. When I first came across the term, I did not know what to think of them at all! It is just thrown out of nowhere!
Same with wildling. Why can't Martin just use Wild Men like Tolkien did?!
From this dictionary, a wildling is a plant! (It is also spelled as 'wilding')
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/wilding