Is it really worth it?
I shared my opinion on the ending of Game of
Thrones, but now I hear occasional remarks about how Martin’s vision for
the books will surpass the show and fix all the mistakes that left so many of
the fans disappointed. I am not so convinced. While A Song of Ice and Fire
has its good points, on the whole, there are much better books that offer all
of the things that Martin’s bloated saga claims to have. So, I thought it would
be appropriate to list 7 books that one could read instead of waiting for
Martin to complete his 7-volume fantasy series.
1. Lyonesse
by Jack Vance
I figured I’d start with the obvious
and recommend a fantasy series. I’m cheating a little bit here, since this is
actually a trilogy of novels, but I read the single volume that contains all
three books, and since this entire trilogy is about the length of a single
volume from SOIAF, I’m counting it as one. The Lord of the Rings,
is the first fantasy series that comes to everyone’s mind when comparing
Martin’s epic to its inspirations, but, though this series is less commented
on, its author, Jack Vance, was another huge inspiration for Martin. Reading
this trilogy, you can definitely see what Martin was trying to do.
Unfortunately for Martin, Vance is able to write a story that, not only isn’t
as ethically cut and dry as typical fantasy fare, but that is also much more
economical, and still leads to a satisfying but believable conclusion.
2. A
Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century
by Barbara Tuchmann
Next, we have a history book. Alison
Weir’s The Wars of the Roses is known to have inspired Martin, and I
must confess I have not read that book. I have, however, read the excellent Distant
Mirror, which uses the life of French knight Enguerrand de Coucy as a focal
point from which to detail everything from The Hundred Years War to the Black
Plague to the Crusades. It’s an invaluable portrait of life in the Middle Ages,
and one just as full of violence and intrigue as Martin’s novels.
3. War
and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
Now we’re going to bridge the gap
between the last two entries with a work of historical fiction. This is the
most daunting of the books on this list, clocking in at around 1,200 pages, but
if you’re intimidated by the book’s length, consider this: The five volumes of
Martin’s still uncompleted series add up to over 5,000 pages! Why wait for
about 2,000 more, only to be disappointed yet again, when you could read a
story set in the middle of one of the most infamous military campaigns in
history—Napoleon’s misguided Russian invasion—and end with some of the most insightful
passages on the nature of war and of the lives that get caught up in it that
have ever been written?
4. The
War of Dreams by Angela Carter
Now we return to the fantasy genre,
but this time to a much more idiosyncratic example of it. The War of Dreams—or
The Infernal Desire Machines of Dr. Hoffman, is a picaresque novel that
follows the sexual misadventures of a young man named Desiderio while in
pursuit of his lady love, Albertina. So much of the allure surrounding SOIAF
is its supposedly mature and unflinching portrayal of sex. Compared to War
of Dreams, Martin’s novels come across as both tame and juvenile by
comparison. Carter doesn’t flinch, not only from the violent but from the
bizarre as well. Though it is shocking to read, the payoff in the end is
immense. It’s an incredible book, not just about sex for sex’s sake, but about
how it has the ability to manipulate our perceptions of ourselves, of other
people, and the world at large.
5. King
Henry IV, Part 1 by William Shakespeare
Let’s return to the realm of
historical fiction, this time from the pen of another of the all-time greats.
If War and Peace’s 1,200 pages seems a little daunting, then why not
breeze through some Elizabethan verse instead? Believe it or not, this was the
equivalent of a prestige blockbuster back in the day. This is the work that introduced
one of Shakespeare’s most popular character’s: the drunken knight, Falstaff,
whom Shakespeare brought back for a sequel and a spin-off! This is a play that
has it all. In addition to Falstaff’s comedic misadventures, there is also the
drama and intrigue of young prince Hal, who is the real hero of the story, for
all that the play is actually named for his father, King Henry. This is one of
the best coming-of-age stories I have ever read, and under-read by many in
comparison to Shakespeare’s more widely-known plays.
6. Jonathan
Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke
This is the last fantasy novel on
this list, and also my personal favorite of the three. The magic in this book
is so delightfully mysterious and off-kilter. I’ve never read a writer who
juxtaposes the dry, occasionally pedantic manner of a historian with the
fantastical content of their story so well. I’ve recommended a few other
lengthy books on this list, but of them all, these are the pages that always
seem to pass the quickest. I always read this book looking forward to the next
time I get to revisit the delightful characters in this novel.
7. The
Oresteia by Aeschylus
Compared to the other books on this
list, this one is a very quick read, but it still manages to say so much. I
mentioned Aeschylus’s masterpiece in my last blog post on the subject of Game
of Thrones, so it only made sense to bring it back here. The battle of good
and evil that takes place in every human heart has rarely been so elegantly told.
These plays are perfect, and you can well understand after having read them why
Aeschylus was considered such a titan in his own lifetime.
