A few musings on switching POV

I can put up with POV shifts so long as each shift continues to advance the overall plot. Otherland is, to me, a series that continues to move even when it shifts back and forth. Safehold, to me, is a series that fails to do this, because in later books, the majority of the actions many characters perform don't obviously advance anything other than their own subplot, which may or may not ever tie into the main plot.

 

I think more people should talk about why they don't like ASOIAF. I don't care for it and I think it's kinda overrated.

 

The sheer zeal of his fans is almost as galling as the twilight camp was back in their heyday. And I don't care for my fantasy to be brutish and nihilistic.

 

George RR Martin is one of the greatest fantasy writers of all time. If you think A Song of Ice and Fire is overrated you probably haven't even read it or you just don't like gritty fantasy. You can re-read any of his books (in ASOIAF) a dozen times and I can almost guarantee that you'll find something new in each one. His attention to detail is insane.

The characters are so realistic in A Song of Ice and Fire that I've found myself weeping with them before.

 

I couldn't keep reading his books after he left out half the world of his characters and promised the next book within a year or two (only to have it delayed interminably).

I have no faith in him as an author and view the entire book as a gigantic failure and a big eff you to his readers.

And to be fair, I read him ravenously. I tore through his stories. I loved and hated what I was seeing, but more importantly, I wanted to see what would happen next.

But he ruined the series with his "Meanwhile at the Wall" afterword for me. I may revisit the series if and when he finishes it, but I have no time to be toyed with and manipulated. After already being invested in the series, I did not need a cliffhanger that was going to take two books and apparently a decade to resolve.

 

I'm just saying it irks me when people treat Martin like the second coming of Tolkien, and crucify you for daring not to like his work. I'm sure he's a great writer, but I don't think the rabid zeal his fans display is called for and his style is not for me because it clashes with my personal values.

 

POV shifts can be interesting I think. In many ways it allows you to see characters in a way that you may not have understood yourself from just reading their point of view or from someone else looking at them.

In Harry Potter (and its been a while since I've read them so please understand if I get this wrong) you only got to see Harry's pov up until the final book. And even then a lot of the characters seemed to have a unerring faith in Harry as the second coming of Christ. (okay a little exaggerated) In that case the changes only facilitated the moving of the plot, since much of what led to the final battle, and how it was fought, depended on other characters.

However in a series I adore, Ilona Andrews's Kate Daniels, the character doesn't change pov in the books, instead they have several novella's, short stories and a book set in that world using characters that have come up in the 'main' series. With each story you get to see the main character and everybody else in that world a little differently, which adds to your enjoyment.

Another (in a single book and one people might know better) example of this is David Gemmell's Legend. Various different pov that switch but give you a richer experience as a whole. From one point of view a character could be a coward, and another he's a hero. And by seeing this you get to see more of their strengths and weaknesses and see them as a much more complex character, or even a person.

To me POV changes is a little like sitting down with a friend and a bottle of wine and talking about common people in your lives and how they bug you or endear themselves to you. We all make little judgements even when we don't mean to and sometimes talking with people lets you see another side to them. ... Sorry if that's a little rambling to make a single point

 

I think much of the hype of GOT has come from the TV series. Honestly, I hadn't heard of it before then.

 

mmm... maybe I was too interested in other books at the time then, or it's down to cross-atlantic differences. Never seen the NY Times Best-seller list, I've heard of it, but I've never seen it sold anywhere over here.

But certainly, the series has reached out to a wider audience. A number of colleagues who don't normally read fantasy are making their ways through the books because of it.