[Werthead]

Sigh...

I dislike disagreeing with opinions but in this case I feel I have to put in a contrary opinion here. All the books Werthead mentions are no where near the same as Martin. And I am not talking about the quality, that nonwithstanding, the feel of the above mentioned series is completely different from what I get when I read Martin. None of the elements in any of those books (apart from the gritty realism in Bakker's stuff and the epicness of Erikson) remind me of any characteristic inherent in aSoIaF.

Hmm.

The jet black sense of humour in The Lies of Locke Lamora is pretty Martin-esque. The idea of characters being crippled either emotionally or physically and this determining part of their character is central to both Martin and in The Blade Itself. The extreme feeling of grittiness in Bakker, as well as the construction of the characters, can be compared to Martin, and Erikson's sheer epic scale and his love of immense battle sequences can also be called reminiscent of GRRM. Erikson and Bakker are probably a bit more of a stretch, but the influence on Lynch and Abercrombie is pretty plain. All of these authors bar Erikson (who hasn't read GRRM) have also voiced their appreciation and debt to GRRM for the influence he has had on their writing styles.

[DLaw3000]

Hmm thanks guys. I appreciate it; I have picked up both Assassin's Apprentice and Gardens of the Moon but may wait a bit until reading it.

I must say now that Douglass seems like more a stereotypical type of author. I may have ruined aspects of the fantasy genre by starting out with Martin. Oh well, I'll keep trying.

[Mexal]

Hmm thanks guys. I appreciate it; I have picked up both Assassin's Apprentice and Gardens of the Moon but may wait a bit until reading it.

I must say now that Douglass seems like more a stereotypical type of author. I may have ruined aspects of the fantasy genre by starting out with Martin. Oh well, I'll keep trying.

I started with Martin but I find that I have no problems reading other fantasy. I can't tell you how many series I've read right now that are completely different then Martin but still have a place on my shelves. I guess I just appreciate all fantasy, even conventional as long as it is well written with a good story.

Btw, after flying through Cry of the Newborn by James Barclay, I HIGHLY recommend that. The story is fantastic, the characters interesting and the battle sequences are some of the best written scenes I've read yet.

[Wulfa_Jones]

I've never read Martin as it does't sound like my type of fantasy novel. However, I have read the Axis series by Douglas and as far as I can guess they are pretty much to very different sides of the same genre. I like my fantasy quite fantasy like - magic, prophecies, strange names etc. However, even Douglas was a little bit too light for me. I finished the Axis Trilogy, but never went on to the next series.

The other books and authors mentioned and recomended by the other members of the board are either more in Martin realm of hardcore fantasy or in the mid-point.

I'd personally recommend: Joe Abercrombie, Scott Lynch, James Barclay, J. V Jones and if you don't mind Douglas too much try Jennifer Fallon. I think I read Fallon straight after Douglas and it hit the right note. However, if you liked Martin then maybe Erikson and Bakker are a good move.

[Nightblade]

Can anyone who is familiar with the series shed some light on whether or not the series continues along the lines it's going? (spirits, magic, mysterious prophecies, strange capitalized words) Perhaps without giving too much away? I guess I'm just deciding whether it's worth it to keep going with this series, or to maybe start something else, like the Farseer trilogy, which I have been told more closely resembles Martin.

Oh there's plenty of prophecy going round in the first three books and lots of magic going for it as well. The first three books were released as the Axis Trilogy over here and to be honest for a while I actually thought it was my favourite book until I discovered the likes of Hobb, Martin, Le Guin etc which is probably why I decided it wasn't worth the praise it was getting in the local news and quickly stashed them at the bottom of my bookshelf. Don't get me wrong, I thought it was a fun trilogy; I think Axis and Azhure were interesting characters and the Icarii - winged humans - were fascinating except for their strange habits of family se...um, yes, well moving right along. I really hated Faraday right from the beginning and now that I think about it, the melodrama was a bit off putting as well. Overall, it was okay but worth reading once. The next part of the Wayfarer Redemption (Sinner, Pilgrim and Crusader) was a bit disappointing for me, a couple of cool things happen but I thought it didn't help the story much. =/