Negative Positive
Title: Come on, what a disappointment
Review: Why do the authors in the fantasy have this new 'cool trend' of writing huge 'epic' series filled basically with subplots and only a nebulous main theme?All the so-called 'fantasy kings'- Jordan, Terry Goodkind and now GRR Martin have disappointed me greatly. The 'epic' style is very unsatisfactory, more like a soap opera than an epic. Tolkien wrote epic and grand stories, but were they neverending, rambling creations? I had more hopes for this particular series but the author appears to be squandering it away with another Jordan-like fiasco. If you want tightly woven, well-written fantasy, don't expect to be satisfied here. Look at Pullman's provocative and beautiful His Dark Materials, or Ursula K Leguin's thoughtful trilogy. Or go back to the major figure in the genre, Tolkien, and see why these authors are worth reading. These books are more like Swords-and-sorcery Grisham then fantasy. The genre really is going downhill.
Is the review positive or negative? 