Nihilist SF: "A Clash of Kings" by George R. R. Martin
It shows how far fantasy has fallen as a genre if people think GOT is the high water mark, but in truth, the "rot" started with Tolkien and his world building, now everybody thinks that a few maps, a few dragons, and providing the nominal GDP of every region in your world, is enough to constitute a 'fantasy' book. I blame Tolkien for making it sound so easy...In its defense, “A Clash of Kings” is one redeeming mark is that it's not Robert Jordan's God awful “Wheel of Time” series, but that's not much of an endorsement, is it? As for “A Clash of Kings”, what do we have? A Medieval soap opera with some fantasy elements tacked on, war of the roses with dragons thrown in for good measure... There is little of metaphor, landscape, or humor. Nihilism is the keyword here, nasty brutish and short, to say nothing of the rampant misogyny that pervades this book at every turn...
If you're into stuff like this, you can read the full review.
1
