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« on: December 28, 2007, 04:37:37 PM »
Sorry for the delay in responding. I've been on vacation and sick, so I've been a bit under-the-radar.
This is basically to respond to Insomnius. Sorry for not replying sooner. I usually respond better. In fact, the only reason I am responding right now is because Im all hopped up on cold medicine...
Anyways, with regards to the vulgarity in Martin's work. I actually had this same problem until a little ways back. Scott Lynch does the same thing in his fantasy novel. After thinking about it for a good while, however, I changed my mind. You see, if this book were actually on our earth, in that time period, then maybe I would still have that problem - disregarding the fact that most of what they said (vulgarities included) was different from how we say things now (In fact, if every fantasy novel was written using grammar from that time period, I doubt it would sell at all due to how tiresome it would be to read.).
But these novels are written in a fantasy world. Not ours.
How can you prove an inconsistancy of swear words in a world you've never been to? Errent made some very good points about those words exisiting back in an older time, but really, none of that matters (no offense man, those WERE good points though!). Martin created the 'Fire and Ice' world, so he makes the rules. If the people swear like that in HIS world, then that's how it goes. The mistake that many of us are guilty of (myself included) is comparing author's works to our own real world that we live in. However, after stopping this comparison, I myself began to be less bothered by it. That's just how people talk in that FANTASY world. Also, you can't prove an inconsistacy between that and the use of the word Ser in a world you've never lived in. Martin made this world, and that's how they talk in his made-up world. That's why this doesnt bother me anymore.
The undead thing kinda catches you by surprise, no doubt about it. However, the question I ask myself is, In a world where the magic is subtle and unexpected and not even the characters understand it - how can we completely understand it? Now, I would like there to have been more foreshadowing and such, but like Errent said, thats what draws a lot of people to this series - the unexpectedness of everything.
I agree with religions, I would like them to be a bit more fleshed out. Personally (and no offense intended), I think that the issue with telling someone to "go to hell" and there not being mentions of heaven or hell in the religious area is kinda nit-picking. I could very well argue that since in this particular fantasy world a person tells another to "go to hell", that this implies a belief that there is a hell to go to, and thus there is no need to fully elaborate. But like i said, I pretty much agree that a bit more fleshing out of religions would be great in his stuff.
So there you have it. Errent basically said why I like Martin's stuff for me, so I wont go there. This was just responding to Insomnius' points. Hopefully my points made some sense amid my cold medicine.