A Song of Ice and Fire (no HBO GOT spoilers post-season 5, please)

[TasteTheRainbow 8,726]

I have not. After a quick google I will definitely add that to my to-do list.

[Dagonet 7,246]

I have not. After a quick google I will definitely add that to my to-do list.

It's not as easy to get into as something more mainstream such as GoT or WoT, but it is very rewarding. It's mostly the magic system that works very differently.

[WarriorPoet 352]

I don't think Stannis has a problem with women.  He's just too rigid and that's his problem.  If he was liked, then he would have more people flock to his banner.

 Check out the prologue to A Clash of Kings; the Maester who's the POV for it is quite clear that Stannis "did his duty in the marriage bed once or twice a year," but definitely dislikes it. Also, "rigid" might not have been the best word choice here.

 

Just finished GRRM's novella The Princess and the Queen. It's about the dance of the dragons and it has some fantastic dragon-war info. Dragon kills by people are so diverse that I'm worried he is going to kill off one of Dany's dragons now.

I've got that on my list; glad to hear it's so good. And worried about dragon deaths now...

[heychadwick 11,357]

 

I don't think Stannis has a problem with women.  He's just too rigid and that's his problem.  If he was liked, then he would have more people flock to his banner.

 Check out the prologue to A Clash of Kings; the Maester who's the POV for it is quite clear that Stannis "did his duty in the marriage bed once or twice a year," but definitely dislikes it. Also, "rigid" might not have been the best word choice here.

 

OK....it has been a while since I re-read it. 

 

Has there been any updates as to when he will be done?  Man....he said before this tv season started....and it just ended.

Edited July 5, 2016 by heychadwick

[Timathius 2,152]

Not that I have seen, and I check his website a couple times a week. I am fearing that the book won't even be done when the TV series ends at this point. 

[TasteTheRainbow 8,726]

Based on his blog I think con crud will kill him long before he really gets into finishing the last book. But hopefully the 6th will be out by Christmas. He said he was only months away like 18 months ago.

[Dagonet 7,246]

I'm relistening to the first book now and a few thoughts. 

 

Robert told Ned to get Sansa a dog when Lady is sentenced to die, she'll be the happier for it. Eventually she is happy with a dog, Sandor.

Lady and Nymeria's separation from their owners coincides with the complete separation of the two girls from their family.

 

Much is made of Arya's resemblance to both Jon and Lyanna and the other children being very strong in the Tully blood. Are we sure they're all Starks? The seed is strong, after all. 

 

The Dune vibe is getting stronger with me, the more I reread. Mentats and Maesters are interchangeable in function, including even Piter de Vries / Qyburn analogues.  

Rob has shades of Paul in that he is willing and able to lead, but he also has to deal with a capable mother who is not afraid to make her own hard decisions.

Ned / Duke Leto have their Jory / Duncan (or Gurney?) and Jon only slightly veered away from gaining a Fremen army, but only because Daenaris has one of her own. 

 

 

 

Then again, Vaes Dothrak is described in Bran's first vision as 'under its mountain'. That is very reminiscent, almost to the letter, of how in the Fionavar Tapestry the Dalrei are described. And they are both nomadic horse people.

[Dagonet 7,246]

There is, by the way, a very special circle of Hell for those who insist on calling Daenaris 'khaleesi'. 

It's a title, not a name.

 

/petpeeve

[WarriorPoet 352]

I'm relistening to the first book now and a few thoughts. 

 

Robert told Ned to get Sansa a dog when Lady is sentenced to die, she'll be the happier for it. Eventually she is happy with a dog, Sandor.

Lady and Nymeria's separation from their owners coincides with the complete separation of the two girls from their family.

 

Much is made of Arya's resemblance to both Jon and Lyanna and the other children being very strong in the Tully blood. Are we sure they're all Starks? The seed is strong, after all. 

[i haven't read Dune, so I cut that part of your post, and will leave it to others to discuss.]

 

I think the direwolf-separation idea is tenuous, at best - it happens as they travel south, so it's foreshadowing, not coinciding. That being said, I think it's definitely foreshadowing.

 

I think your idea about Sansa "being happier" with a dog is a great observation! The Sansa-Sandor relationship arc is a favourite.

 

I've wondered about those comments about Arya's and Jon's shared appearances, but have dismissed the coincidence as a red herring. One bastard is one too many for the righteous Eddard Stark, lol.

 

Listening to Davos and Theon chapters from A Clash of Kings the other night, I felt like an idiot for not having previously seen the parallels between Stannis' and Balon's claims: both are sea-lords with hardly any resources in their realms, and they are on opposite sides of the mainland...

Edited July 16, 2016 by WarriorPoet

[Dagonet 7,246]

When you're done relistening, go listen to Dune.

Then possibly Children of Dune and Dune Messiah. Then, if you are really in the mood for weirdness, the next three books. Books by the son should be left for when you have absolutely nothing to do. When you hit that point, let me know, there are tons of other books.

[daxxglax 25]

Has anyone else read the transcript of The Forsaken chapter from Winds of Winter that was read at Balticon? Because I have not stopped freaking out about it since it came out. 

 

“The bleeding star bespoke the end... These are the last days, when the world shall be broken and remade. A new god shall be born from the graves and charnel pits.”

[WarriorPoet 352]

[invoke: Necromancy]

 

Dagonet, my buddy who introduced me to ASoIaF also tells me to read Dune...

 

Daxxglaxx, I have not - link?

 

Finally, my only new observation from the audioboook that bears mentioning is that Stannis and Balon each have someone who drowned and came back to life in their courts (Patchface and Damphair, respectively).

[TasteTheRainbow 8,726]

Has anyone else read the transcript of The Forsaken chapter from Winds of Winter that was read at Balticon? Because I have not stopped freaking out about it since it came out. 

 

“The bleeding star bespoke the end... These are the last days, when the world shall be broken and remade. A new god shall be born from the graves and charnel pits.”

Yea. It's heavy. I want to know who that bride is.

[heychadwick 11,357]

[invoke: Necromancy]

 

Dagonet, my buddy who introduced me to ASoIaF also tells me to read Dune...

 

 

 

You haven't read Dune?!?!?!  I highly encourage it.  It's one of the original epic masterpieces.  It's awesome.  I'm listening to the audio book with my son.  It's a bit much at first for an 11 yr old, but once things start happening, he's getting more hooked.  He's also been watching the movie, which helps him.  I've explained the differences between movie and book.  

 

The first 3 books for Dune is really good.  I would stop there.  Maybe read/listen to the prequel ones.  They go into   Just don't read 4.  I started it and I'm sorry I did.  

 

 

Has anyone else read the transcript of The Forsaken chapter from Winds of Winter that was read at Balticon? Because I have not stopped freaking out about it since it came out. 

 

“The bleeding star bespoke the end... These are the last days, when the world shall be broken and remade. A new god shall be born from the graves and charnel pits.”

Yea. It's heavy. I want to know who that bride is.

 

 

Ummm....is there a link for this?  I don't think I've seen it.

[Sithborg 11,644]

I enjoyed God Emperor. But maybe that is just because I enjoy Leto II. 

 

I would recommend the Butlerian Jihad trilogy over the direct prequel trilogy. 

[McFoy 672]

I didn't really start reading books until I was 10 and after Lord of the Rings, Dune was the first series I read. I ended up getting stuck on God Emperor, bit too weird for my young mind at the time I guess. I thoroughly enjoyed both the Butlerian Jihad and prequel series when they were released though. 

[McFoy 672]

Dune gets real **** wacky after messiah.

[WarriorPoet 352]

R+L=J spoilers below

 

Again, listening to the books has brought something to my attention I'd missed before.

Am I just that dense, or has no one else caught this?

 

In Daenerys' vision in the House of the Undying (when she's in the room with the Undying), she sees a winter rose blooming in a ***** in a wall of ice. A couple chapters later, Jon captures Ygritte, who tells him the tale of Bael the Bard, who stole the "rose" of Winterfell (fathering a baby on her) when the Stark in Winterfell thought he'd wanted a winter rose as compensation.

We know Lyana's favourite flower was the winter rose, and Jon is in the Night's Watch...

 

And as I understand it, the show has revealed Lord Snow's parentage; I'm not concerned about that - I just saw this as such an obvious clue GRRM had planted that I was astounded I'd missed it on my first read.

 

Okay, back to the world of grading 130+ high school English essays. See y'all in a month.

[NotBatman 706]

R+L=J spoilers below

 

Again, listening to the books has brought something to my attention I'd missed before.

Am I just that dense, or has no one else caught this?

 

In Daenerys' vision in the House of the Undying (when she's in the room with the Undying), she sees a winter rose blooming in a ***** in a wall of ice. A couple chapters later, Jon captures Ygritte, who tells him the tale of Bael the Bard, who stole the "rose" of Winterfell (fathering a baby on her) when the Stark in Winterfell thought he'd wanted a winter rose as compensation.

We know Lyana's favourite flower was the winter rose, and Jon is in the Night's Watch...

 

And as I understand it, the show has revealed Lord Snow's parentage; I'm not concerned about that - I just saw this as such an obvious clue GRRM had planted that I was astounded I'd missed it on my first read.

 

Okay, back to the world of grading 130+ high school English essays. See y'all in a month.

 

Yeah, it's the kind of thing that's easy to miss, your first time through, but the second time you read them it jumps out at you because you have all the other context already.

 

I really like that about the books - they were almost better the second time through because there was a lot of things that jump back out.

[heychadwick 11,357]

I've found things like that the third time, as well.

[WarriorPoet 352]

 

[...]

 

Okay, back to the world of grading 130+ high school English essays. See y'all in a month.

 

Yeah, it's the kind of thing that's easy to miss, your first time through, but the second time you read them it jumps out at you because you have all the other context already.

 

I really like that about the books - they were almost better the second time through because there was a lot of things that jump back out.

 

(Man, was that an eerily accurate prediction, or what? A month and 3 days later...)

 

True story - hermeneutics, man. Now if I can convince the other AP Lit teacher that this is how we should do a mini-lesson on hermeneutics....

 

I've finished ACoK, and have just started ASoS. Anybody know if there's been any solid developments with book six' publication?

[heychadwick 11,357]

I've heard nothing.  In fact, I got a little excited when I saw this thread revived as I thought it meant there was news...or a new chapter leaked...or something.   

 

Maybe he should leak them chapter at a time like Dickens did?  

[Timathius 2,152]

There was actually some hullabaloo about this a couple days ago. Some people were reporting that his deadlines had been postponed indefinitely, and others saying thats simply so he doesn't have a deadline hanging over his head. 

 

Personally, since the show is already passed the books by this much. I think that it is just time to stop caring when it comes out. It will not be out in time to precede this season and, regardless, by midseason of it we are probably into ADoS territory. 

[Forresto 2,200]

I feel like I know what he's doing. 

 

He's going to wait until the show ends to continue writing. That's what i'd do. While I imagine the endings may be similar the devil's in the details and he probably wants to let the show's story play out first. Then from there he can see what they did and how people react.

 

Think about it. People will react to the show's ending. For a writer that many people have expectations of, this is gift. He can see what people will respond to with the show and if it doesn't work he can go down a different path in the books. So I would not expect to hear anything about GoT books until after the series finale. 

[heychadwick 11,357]

Where's the dang DISLIKE button.....