Who is a better author? George RR Martin or Robert Jordan

[Drizzy]

I think I'd have to pick George RR Martin myself and here is why:

*I love how in Martin's books you never know who is going to live and who is going to die - main characters are killed making it more enjoyable to read cause you want to see who will come up on top.

* I love the political wars that Martin's books have.

*Robert Jordan is great but LONG WINDED! He takes 900-1300 pages to do what 500 pages would work.

*I think they are both great character developers and they both have stories in which there is a complex web of relationships

What do you guys think? Which story do you enjoy more and why?

 

[Night201]

I haven't read any, but my GF really likes Robert Jordan.

She's read that whole series he has (like 10 volumes or something at like 1000 pages each or something crazy). I think he is coming out with a new one (or 2) right?

 

[ATLien247]

Martin, of course!

 

[Howard]

Originally posted by: Drizzy
*Robert Jordan is great but LONG WINDED! He takes 900-1300 pages to do what 300 pages could.

 

[TheAudit]

Originally posted by: ATLien247
Martin, of course!

Speaking of Martin, according to Amazon, A Feast for Crows is finally going to be released on the 24th.

 

[ATLien247]

Originally posted by: TheAudit

Originally posted by: ATLien247
Martin, of course!

Speaking of Martin, according to Amazon, A Feast for Crows is finally going to be released on the 24th.

Wishful thinking on the publisher's part. Check out what George has to say...

 

[TheAudit]

Originally posted by: ATLien247

Originally posted by: TheAudit

Originally posted by: ATLien247
Martin, of course!

Speaking of Martin, according to Amazon, A Feast for Crows is finally going to be released on the 24th.

Wishful thinking on the publisher's part. Check out what George has to say...

Awesome!

I was checking my Amazon orders and I totally forgot that I had this book on order since last spring. I had noticed that Amazon moved the date up; previously they had it as the end of August.

 

[DaveSimmons]

A few fantasy authors I like better than Robert Jordan:
Elizabeth Moon, L E Modesitt Jr, David Eddings, C J Cherryh (the Morgaine and the Dreamstone books), Dave Duncan, Steven Brust, . . . (three hours later) . . . , Piers Anthony, and George RR Matrin.

The first 2-3 of Robert Jordan's books were good (though padded) the later ones were pretty bad. I refused to keep reading after book 6, it wasn't worth my time.

 

[masterxfob]

robert jordan is getting boring... his sh!t lags, i don't even feel like finishing book 10 or any of the others. i hope martin is a better author, i've got a song of ice and fire waiting to be read.

 

[darkswordsman17]

Martin hands down.

Jordan spends too much time convoluting his tales by having chapters based from unnecessary characters. We don't need to see the story from all the angles he throws at us. His books are just overly complex for what they need to be. I like them alright, but give me A Song of Fire and Ice books over them anyday.

After book 3 of the Wheel of Time it pretty much became drawn out and boring. I am surprised that I kept reading all the way through so far. I have book 10 waiting, but it'll do just that, because I've got several other books that I am going to read before then.

The Sword of Truth book Nake Empire by Terry Goodkind
The Harry Potter books (provided I enjoy the first one enough to read the one after it)
The Talismans of Shannara (I have to finish this damn series, its taking me too long to read the others)

By then A Feast for Crows will be out so, I'll probably never get around to the Wheel of Time again, unless I reread all the others because I can't remember what is even going on anymore.

 

[Thump553]

Not even a contest, George RR Martin hands down. Venture out into his older, conventional novels-they are excellent.

Jordan, on the other hand, is notable only for the fact that started a series that was so interesting and promising at first, to turn to excruciating and boring torture of his readers far too many books later.

 

[Ameesh]

wheres the poll?




MArtin hands down, one of the finest fantasy writers IMO. i enjoyed his books much more then i did tolkiens or jordans or tad williams.

 

[biostud]

Originally posted by: ATLien247
Martin, of course!

 

[CoveX]

G.R.R. Martin, hands down.

I was a huge Jordan fan, until his series started to bog down heavily... oh, about five books ago. I still pick up the new WoT books, but out of habit more than anything else. In contrast, I'm really looking forward to A Feast for Crows-- if it ever comes out.

Another great Fantasy author in a similar vein would be Steven Erikson, with five volumes so far in his Malazan series. I understand he's finally being published in the States now.

 

[Kelvrick]

How do you even compare teh two. Jordan's earlier WoT books were good, but nowhere near the level of RR's. Merely the fact he based so much on the mere lack communications between girls and guys. Even by the end of the first book it was getting long winded. Boss calling me, be back later with more Jordan bashing.

Edit: Arrggh. I gotta write this motion for a client before I can really unwin on my hatred for Jordan. Be back later.

 

[Goth]

Originally posted by: TheAudit

Originally posted by: ATLien247

Originally posted by: TheAudit

Originally posted by: ATLien247
Martin, of course!

Speaking of Martin, according to Amazon, A Feast for Crows is finally going to be released on the 24th.

Wishful thinking on the publisher's part. Check out what George has to say...

Awesome!

I was checking my Amazon orders and I totally forgot that I had this book on order since last spring. I had noticed that Amazon moved the date up; previously they had it as the end of August.

On another message board section devoted to fantasy novels, a regular poster stated that a large bookstore's publisher connections have said that the book will not be available for at least six more months, but probably even longer. If he turned in his finalized manuscript now (which still isn't finished), the book couldn't be published until next year (hence the six months reasoning).

A Song of Ice and Fire is a great series, but it's been almost four years since book 3, A Storm of Swords, was released. I gave up on Wheel of Time long ago. Supposedly, Jordan will write the final two books of the main series next, then write two more prequels. He was originally going to finish the prequels first, then the final books in the series. So, it looks like twelve WOT books and three prequels. Of course, many feel he could have shortened the series to six books by eliminating the fluff.

 

[ElFenix]

Originally posted by: Drizzy
*I love how in Martin's books you never know who is going to live and who is going to die - main characters are killed making it more enjoyable to read cause you want to see who will come up on top.

no main character has died just. major characters have, but not any main ones.

Originally posted by: Howard

Originally posted by: Drizzy
*Robert Jordan is great but LONG WINDED! He takes 900-1300 pages to do what 100 pages could.

edited for better accuracy!

 

[Fingolfin269]

I'll take Martin AND Goodkind over Jordan. Jordan lost me as a fan with his last two releases. Awful stuff. Lots of words and nothing happens. Kind of like this post.

BTW, I'm going to have to reread the Martin books before I read the new one. There's so many names and it has been so long since I read the last one that I can't even remember how many books are already released...

 

[Kelvrick]

Originally posted by: ElFenix

Originally posted by: Drizzy
*I love how in Martin's books you never know who is going to live and who is going to die - main characters are killed making it more enjoyable to read cause you want to see who will come up on top.

no main character has died just. major characters have, but not any main ones.

Don't want to say anything...

SPOILERS!!! SPOILERS!!!SPOILERS!!!SPOILERS!!!SPOILERS!!!SPOILERS!!!SPOILERS!!!









You don't consider Edward Stark, Rob Stark, and Theon Greyjoy (not confirmed) main characters? I can see Edward and Theon no main characters though, but Rob was one up until he choked. I mean, isn't the basic fact of being a main character is having a wolf? And that is destroyed now with us seeing Jaime's point of view.

 

[Encryptic]

Geez, I can't even come to ATOT without running into another Jordan vs. Martin thread. I wonder if there's any chance of getting them slotted for a Celebrity Boxing grudge match?

My $0.02:

Jordan USED to be good, but the last few books have started to drag waaaaay too much. I'll still read the books just to finish the story since I spent so much time on it already.

Martin, on the other hand has just gotten BETTER, even after 3 massive books. Needless to say, I'm just waiting like everyone else for A Feast For Crows.

 

[Drizzy]

Encryptic - huh didnt know that this was a common topic. I did a search and it didnt come up with anything so I decided to start it. I must say I'm really shocked at the responses! Everyone that I talk to is SO loyal to Jordan that when I mention the fact that I get bored in his books they look like me like I'm crazy and should be shot for saying such blasphemous things. I made it to book 3 and quit. Martin on the other hand has me completely excited for the next book. Anyone play the board game? Its pretty fun if you like strategy games.

Kelvric - exactly who I was thinking of when I said main characters. I was shocked when he was killed and kinda bugged too cause I was thinking he was going to go far.

The only thing I would complain about Martin is the sexual stuff that he has. I'd like to recommend this book to younger kids but because of those parts I wouldnt want to.

 

[DaveSimmons]

Everyone that I talk to is SO loyal to Jordan that when I mention the fact that I get bored in his books they look like me like I'm crazy and should be shot for saying such blasphemous things.

Well, look at network tv, top 40 music, Hollywood movies, McDonalds "food," and our politicians (both parties).

The widest readership will always prefer the dumbed-down hackwork of Jordan to that of better writers like Modesitt, Moon, and Brust.

Try reading
- The Magic of Recluce, by Modesitt
- The Paksenarrion, by Moon
- The Book of Jhereg, by Brust
- The Book of Morgaine -or- The Dreamstone by Cherryh.

Jordan was imaginative in his first couple of books, came up with an interesting world and characters, and managed to create the "sense of wonder" that good fantasy and SF has. But I'd never think of him as a "great" writer, just a commercially successful one. Not that I'm biased against success either, Stephen King's early works (and later the Dark Tower series) were excellent.

 

[Wuffsunie]

Martin.

Unlike Jorden, he dosen't treat his fans like an unending source of income. Jordan is just milking his series for all the money he can right now. ("l'll end it at book 9... no 10... no, I'll do it with book 12 now.")

darkswordsman17 I managed to choke down about a quarter of Naked Empire. It does a good job of firmly solidifying Goodkind as a fantasy hack and corporate shill. The last two books (something close to 1500 pages hardcover text) have advanced the overall plot perhaps a whopping 150 pages between them. They exist for no other purpose except to extort money from his poor fans. I hope that with the Chainfire trilogy he's working on now it'll truly be the end of that universe for a while. (Yes, he has said that the war with Jagang will end with that series.)
The other books you sited are FAR far more worthy of your time. I've only read Shannara, but it's far better than Empire, and Potter can't be much worse than Shannara.

 

[imported_KirbsAw]

Martin all the way!

Its been so long though that I can't remember everything.....Are there any sites that sort of have a cliffnotes type of thing? I hate rereading books, even great ones like Martin's.

 

[Kelvrick]

Originally posted by: KirbsAw
Martin all the way!

Its been so long though that I can't remember everything.....Are there any sites that sort of have a cliffnotes type of thing? I hate rereading books, even great ones like Martin's.

http://www.westeros.org/