Current Events > Joe Abercrombie completely outshines GRRM at his own game.

(+) Yeah! (+)

Not even flaming GRRM, but the first law trilogy and its followup books are the absolute pinnacle of grimdark, and one of the best stories told in the history of fantasy. It's a shame he gets so overlooked :(

He's also capable of finishing a novel so there's that

I still need to get around to reading Red Country and the most recent book that came out. First Law is really damn good.

I was surprised at the quality of the standalone novels too, Best Served Cold in particular.

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They're not bad, I'm about halfway through before they are hanged.

I don't find them as compelling or interesting as the first three novels by GRRM. There aren't any characters you are really rooting for, and on top of that I don't feel that pulled in to the story.

I guess I should press on, but I'm not really feeling it tbh.

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He's one of my favorite authors but he's not perfect, and I do think Martin is ultimately better.

Joe is a great writer and comes up with great characters, but his plotting is very sleepy with little intrigue.
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I love Abercrombie but I wouldn't call him overlooked. I also don't think he's better than GRRM, even if I'd rank most of his books above AFfC and ADwD. I don't think anyone in the genre is as good as GRRM when it comes to characterization.

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spanky1 posted...

but his plotting is very sleepy with little intrigue.

I was actually really impressed by the level of intrigue in The Trouble with Peace. I didn't think Abercrombie had it in him. Otherwise yeah, the plotting is not the reason I read Abercrombie.

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Martin needs to admit that he's fucking lost and incapable. Just hire a ghost writer at this point. Dude is too fat and old to finish.

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EndOfDiscOne posted...

I love Abercrombie but I wouldn't call him overlooked. I also don't think he's better than GRRM, even if I'd rank most of his books above AFfC and ADwD. I don't think anyone in the genre is as good as GRRM when it comes to characterization.

Only relatively overlooked. This is less an attack on GRRM, more me whining that one of my favorites doesn't get massive recognition >.>;

I totally get why GRRM fans would like him more, I do love his writing, he actually did one of my favorite vampire novels, and obviously ASOIAF, even at worst, is fantastic.

I need to read more Joe Abercrombie. Anger is a rare reaction for books to illicit in me, and he managed to pull that off.

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