@fb2b7c61 @e0d204e8 @134318c2 @ed6dec54 
when I was a kid I loved George R. R. Martin's short stories, and I noted several good novels mentioned his writing classes in the dedication (_Frostflower and Thorn_) , the author's note, or in some other ancillary bit. But when GOT first came to my attention, I was horribly busy, 2 full times jobs AND 18 credit hours. After college, I tried it, and somehow - I couldn't finish any of the volumes, though a I read a few hundred pages of each. 

 @91b15004 @e0d204e8 @134318c2 @ed6dec54 

The style of these books worked for me. Switching to a different character for each chapter, and often ending chapters on a cliffhanger, kept my simple little mind engaged.

I liked his earlier novels, like The Dying of the Light, but I didn't think they quite matched his short stories. When he came back to novel-writing with A Game of Thrones it was like he was trying out a different style that (to me) works better in the longer format.