The Sword and Laser discussion

I am almost finished with A Storm of Swords (WHY IS EVERYONE DYING!??!) and was looking online and saw this guy had proposed a combined reading schedule for the two books.

http://boiledleather.com/post/2454321...

Has anyone else done this?

NO SPOILERS PLEASE!

Hello.
Having read both, I think that A Feast for Crows can be read along with A Dance with Dragons.

Book four having only half the characters can be a bit frustrating to read, but it will depend on how much you miss the characters absent from this book. So it's up to you.
Although having only half the characters allows you to invest more in the new characters and learn to love them. (There's a lot new characters in book four)

My opinion is that you should read the books in the order intended by the author, but the combined reading schedule can work well too.

Hmm, I read them as they came out, but I was also waiting several years for the last one. Maybe it will be better to read together, but I didn't have trouble with them as is and that sounds tiresome.

I think it "could" be done, but the books were written (eventually) in such a way that they are meant to be read sequentially...I'd read them the way they were written. If I remember correctly, while they are mostly parallel, there is some disjointedness in the timing, so it might not be 100% easy...

That said, I would love if one day, after the series is done, Martin could re-write them "together," like he originally intended.

Yes! I think it's a great idea, I wish I knew of that list when I first picked up A Feast for Crows then A Dance with Dragons.

I looked at the list, and the way it was decided which chapters to read first is perfect such that no spoilers will be given.


And who really cares what Martin intended .. the series was initially intended to be a trilogy with A Game of Thrones, A Storm of Swords and The Winds of Winter. But obviously it's not and we still love it.

Rainer wrote: "And who really cares what Martin intended .. "

almost everybody. almost everybody cares.

Alex wrote: "It's like watching the Star Wars prequel movies without knowing that Anakin turns into Darth Vader"

Would this really be so bad? Probably a much darker ending than if you watch III last, as most of us have. Not as good as Empire, but near it in tone.

Micah wrote: "Rainer wrote: "And who really cares what Martin intended .. "

almost everybody. almost everybody cares."

But when you start caring, that's when he gets you.




Anyway, GRRM intended books 4 and 5 to be one book and that's how he meant them to be read. It wasn't even his idea to split the books based on POV locations; he wanted to publish them as one book in two parts.

Therefore, yes to OP's question. Sean T. Collins (Rolling Stone) knows what he's talking about. He explains everything in that link.

BTW, this is the link for new readers: http://boiledleather.com/post/2590255...

The link in the OP is for re-readers.

Yeah, I wouldn't read them out of order, even if you're following a guide. Not worth it, and GRR separated them for a reason.

From a practical standpoint, it can only really be done for the first half or so. A Dance With Dragons begins with several chapters that take place concordantly with the events of A Feast For Crows, but then moves on to material that only really makes sense if you've already finished Crows.

Besides, the twists that make Crows decent (in my opinion) are what set up Dragons. You can't start reading both books together, or you'll get all mixed up on the revelations and twists. So personally, I'd recommend you read them in the order they were written and let the surprises unfold.

GRR's reason was they wouldn't fit into a single book. He didn't want cliff hangers although they did end like that. He tried to figure out how to divide the book and it was someone else who came up with the idea of locations. He had to work to pull the sections apart. The list as given would be a great way to read them.

I tentatively agree with @Jen and @Paul, although I did not read them that way myself ( I read the books when they were originally released ) I think you could read them according to the list and it would be fine. Whatever you do, take your sweet time and don't finish quickly or you have to suffer for years waiting for the next book, that's all I know. ;)

I made this post 8 months ago so I already read Feast and am halfway into Dance. I did not read them concurrently. These books are so good.