I recently started watching HBO's Game of Thrones and was frankly blown away by its quality. The characters are complex and interesting, the world exciting (but not over the top) and the plot is really taking off... but are the books any good?
I'm a guy that's never really been a fan of fantasy books. Videogames, yes. Spells etc. make for fun gameplay mechanics, and the setting can make for a real visual feast (see The Witcher 2). But I've always been far too aware of the flaws in most fantasy novels. Introduce magic and I have to ask "why is this guy arbitrarily restricted"?, the answer being if he wasn't the story would be over pretty damn fast. I have had other gripes as well, such as widespread use of clichés and generally lackluster writing, which have led me to pretty much devalue the genre in the area of literature.
However, I did really enjoy The Hobbit, and Lord of the Rings kept me interested until about halfway through the second book... so knowing all this, do you think it's wise for me to pick up a copy of "A Game of Thrones"? Is it well-written and loathe to rely on magical deus ex machina, or is it just another LotR clone?
I'm a guy that's never really been a fan of fantasy books. Videogames, yes. Spells etc. make for fun gameplay mechanics, and the setting can make for a real visual feast (see The Witcher 2). But I've always been far too aware of the flaws in most fantasy novels. Introduce magic and I have to ask "why is this guy arbitrarily restricted"?, the answer being if he wasn't the story would be over pretty damn fast. I have had other gripes as well, such as widespread use of clichés and generally lackluster writing, which have led me to pretty much devalue the genre in the area of literature.
However, I did really enjoy The Hobbit, and Lord of the Rings kept me interested until about halfway through the second book... so knowing all this, do you think it's wise for me to pick up a copy of "A Game of Thrones"? Is it well-written and loathe to rely on magical deus ex machina, or is it just another LotR clone?