WhippingBoy: ObscureNameHere: Depends. If George RR Martin is the architect, then the house will have:

- have very long, meandering hallways that ultimately lead nowhere,
- stairs that circle on themselves and lead back to basically the same place you were 5,200 stairs ago
- lots of noise and hurry from the construction workers that does not actually progress the work on the house at all
- then the random killing of the construction workers
- old lecherous men have graphic sex with underage women
- endless arguments from the zoning board over what the heck the house is actually supposed to be

Heh. Can't argue with you there...

The sad part is, having invested the time to slog trough the damn things, I guess I kinda have to stick with it. Fortunately, I just borrowed the books from a friend so I am not out money to read them.

I will grant that Martin writes character traits very well (Sandor Clegane, Brianna of Tarth, for example). I just hate the way he does 'gotcha' bullshiate with the "plot" (if a plot ever forms I'll let everyone know) and pushes the characters through large amounts of actions and incidents that are ultimately meaningless for advancing a "plot" (if there was one).

The other thing I do like is that each chapter has a character name as the title so I know when to skim ("Sansa") and when to pay more attention ("Jon", "Ayra").

Depends. If George RR Martin is the architect, then the house will have:

- have very long, meandering hallways that ultimately lead nowhere,
- stairs that circle on themselves and lead back to basically the same place you were 5,200 stairs ago
- lots of noise and hurry from the construction workers that does not actually progress the work on the house at all
- then the random killing of the construction workers
- old lecherous men have graphic sex with underage women
- endless arguments from the zoning board over what the heck the house is actually supposed to be

I hate things that aren't funny.