Game of Thrones Books (Spoilers for everything)

[Ser Scot A Ellison]

I'm wondering how I'm going to interact with the rest of the world until after I've finished reading ADWD.

VW,

I can't wait for A Dance with Dragons to come out; I'm also kind of tempted to go to the book signing in nyc on July 14th.

Go, GRRM is really great with fans. I'm going to get my copy signed in August at the Reno Worldcon.

[Shylodog]

Took me about 2 weeks to finish all 4 books. The fourth book I was just as engrossed in, however I felt cheated a bit. The lack of "main" character arcs was frustrating to me. Even some of the "secondary" characters were missing, and I was slightly displeased. What happened with Davos made me somewhat bitter because I could't validate in my head whether it was really him or not, due to lack of his character chapters.

I've already pre-ordered Dance with Dragons through the Apple Bookstore.

[magictrick]

Took me about 2 weeks to finish all 4 books. The fourth book I was just as engrossed in, however I felt cheated a bit. The lack of "main" character arcs was frustrating to me. Even some of the "secondary" characters were missing, and I was slightly displeased. What happened with Davos made me somewhat bitter because I could't validate in my head whether it was really him or not, due to lack of his character chapters.

I've already pre-ordered Dance with Dragons through the Apple Bookstore.

A Feast of Crows and A Dance with Dragons were originally supposed to be one book but he broke out into 2 separate ones. I'm sure all the main characters you missed will be present in ADWD.

[Shylodog]

A Feast of Crows and A Dance with Dragons were originally supposed to be one book but he broke out into 2 separate ones. I'm sure all the main characters you missed will be present in ADWD.

I'm wondering, given the 6 years that have passed, if that's really how he's going to play it out. I find myself less interested now in rehashing those events with the others perspective versus a continuation of the storyline.

Hopefully we'll just get flashbacks from the missing characters.

[magictrick]

I'm wondering, given the 6 years that have passed, if that's really how he's going to play it out. I find myself less interested now in rehashing those events with the others perspective versus a continuation of the storyline.

Hopefully we'll just get flashbacks from the missing characters.

I think to advance the story line we would still need to see the perspective of those characters. The main characters that were omitted in AFOC can't just be skipped over, it isn't his style.

[Cold Fuzz]

OK, I'm about 40% of the way through A Feast for Crows. At first I found the book a little tedious given the change from all the huge battles in books 2 and 3. However, I'm finding Cersei very... amusing.

Major spoilers for all the books:

Spoiler:

I was laughing quite a bit with her getting drunk (shades of Robert there!) and then her wondering whether Margaery is the one in that witch's prophecy. What wonderful irony that Cersei seems to be on her way to acting like the man she most hated.

Now this is speculation, with all the intrigues at court, it suddenly occurred to me that by the time Dany crosses the Narrow Sea with her brood of dragons, she might not have any human enemies to oppose her. I think when she finally returns, she'll probably think, "WTF happened to my homeland?!" because:

• She'll likely find all the nobles who would block her move are dead because they annihilated each other.
• The Wall finally tumbled down from the Horn of Winter and the Others have obliterated an already weakened Westeros due to the War of the Five Kings and the endless political wrangling.
• Most of the land north of the Twins is shackled in ice.
• Instead of fighting the other nobles, she'll be shocked to be fighting an army of the living dead, lead by nearly invincible creatures of ice whose only 2 vulnerabilities are obsidian and fire.

In light of all this, she'll be viewed not as an invader but as a savior. Dragonfire won't be viewed as a threat to the people but a powerful weapon against the Others.

[magictrick]

Spoiler:

I was laughing quite a bit with her getting drunk (shades of Robert there!) and then her wondering whether Margaery is the one in that witch's prophecy. What wonderful irony that Cersei seems to be on her way to acting like the man she most hated.

Now this is speculation, with all the intrigues at court, it suddenly occurred to me that by the time Dany crosses the Narrow Sea with her brood of dragons, she might not have any human enemies to oppose her. I think when she finally returns, she'll probably think, "WTF happened to my homeland?!" because:

• She'll likely find all the nobles who would block her move are dead because they annihilated each other.
• The Wall finally tumbled down from the Horn of Winter and the Others have obliterated an already weakened Westeros due to the War of the Five Kings and the endless political wrangling.
• Most of the land north of the Twins is shackled in ice.
• Instead of fighting the other nobles, she'll be shocked to be fighting an army of the living dead, lead by nearly invincible creatures of ice whose only 2 vulnerabilities are obsidian and fire.

In light of all this, she'll be viewed not as an invader but as a savior. Dragonfire won't be viewed as a threat to the people but a powerful weapon against the Others.

Regarding Dany I was thinking the same thing starting back from the 3rd book. I realize she had her own adventure but it felt like she was totally sheltered from everything. And with characters dropping like flies it wouldn't have been surprising.

Ultimately, my thinking (and others as well) is

Spoiler:

That the Others and Wildlings will eventually invade and it will be up to Jon and Dany to go into battle together to save the Seven Kingdoms.

[VampyreWraith]

Ultimately, my thinking (and others as well) is

Spoiler:

That the Others and Wildlings will eventually invade and it will be up to Jon and Dany to go into battle together to save the Seven Kingdoms.

Yep, that's how I see it too.

Spoiler:

I see Jon and Dany leading the fight, with Arya and maybe Tyrion (and possibly Bran too) helping out in a major way.

[Cold Fuzz]

Regarding Dany I was thinking the same thing starting back from the 3rd book. I realize she had her own adventure but it felt like she was totally sheltered from everything. And with characters dropping like flies it wouldn't have been surprising.

Ultimately, my thinking (and others as well) is

Spoiler:

That the Others and Wildlings will eventually invade and it will be up to Jon and Dany to go into battle together to save the Seven Kingdoms.

Spoiler:

Yep, that's what I was thinking too. It'll be downright apocalyptic and I don't see any room in this war for the likes of Littlefinger, Varys, or most of the remaining nobles. I think they'll all destroy each other or be destroyed when the invaders from beyond the Wall finally come into Westeros. I have a feeling Tyrion still has a role to play though. I think he'll be helping Jon and Dany, with Jon leading the battered remnants of the Night's Watch as infantry, Tyrion and perhaps Ser Barristan Selmy leading cavalry, and Bran and the remaining Starks using their increasing magical abilities to also help in the coming war. I know that the people of Dorne will back Dany as they want "fire and blood" (the Targaryen motto). I also think that Dorne, especially the desert, will be a battleground as it'll likely be one of the last few warm places in Westeros after winter sets in.

[starg8fans]

Sorry if I repeat anything that's been said before, but I only just started reading the books and I don't want to spoiler myself by reading the earlier posts.

I couldn't help but compare what scenes were left out/added/changed for the TV adaptation. Now, this is not a complaint at all, I think they did an amazing job of bringing the books to the screen. Still, there was one missing scene and one added scene that have me puzzled.

So Khal Drogo does live in palaces, and he does wear 'normal' clothes when he's in Pentos. They didn't show this on TV, which is a shame, because it makes his character so much more one-dimensional.

And was the scene with Tyrion whoring about before the feast really necessary? I'm at the point in the book where Jon Snow leaves for the Night's Watch, and until now Tyrion has only been portrayed as a scholar. He made one passing reference that by joining the Night's Watch he would put a whole host of whores out of business, but that was all. I wonder what the purpose was to set him up as such a leacher.

[MattSilver 3k]

Making my way through Clash of Kings now after reading through Game of Thrones. Goooood stuff. Already I'm wondering what will be trimmed or distilled or changed around for the series, and where episodes will end et cetera et cetera. For one, I think Peter Dinklage is probably going to get the top billing spot - Tyrion's getting a lot of coverage here, and is being ridiculously awesome as he does so (Getting rid of Slynt, uncovering Pycelle et cetera).

One thing that I like is how the series's new scenes are bolstering the book for me, becoming a sort-of mixed canon. I mean, the Renly stuff here is just classic when I remember the scene with him and Loras in episode five - he has a Rainbow Guard, for christ's sakes, and his wife... Just lol.

[Ser Scot A Ellison]

Guys

With regard to what's ahead:

Spoiler:

I seriously doubt it will be a simple as everyone coming together to fight the Others. The political machinations will continue throughout the series. I will not shock me to see LF come out on top at the end of the day. Don't forget Tyrion, per GRRM, is one of the most sympathic "villains" he claims he's ever written. Don't be suprised if Tyrion ends up in a very dark place.

My two cents.

[magictrick]

Guys

With regard to what's ahead:

Spoiler:

I seriously doubt it will be a simple as everyone coming together to fight the Others. The political machinations will continue throughout the series. I will not shock me to see LF come out on top at the end of the day. Don't forget Tyrion, per GRRM, is one of the most sympathic "villains" he claims he's ever written. Don't be suprised if Tyrion ends up in a very dark place.

My two cents.

Spoiler:

I think the coming together will be anything but simple. There will likely be a lot of maneuvering and scheming still to come. But GRRM has been building up the threat from beyond the wall for so long now, it has to come to an epic peak at some point. If it does, there has to be some resistance from the other side, and what they have now won't cut it.

[VampyreWraith]

Spoiler:

I think the coming together will be anything but simple. There will likely be a lot of maneuvering and scheming still to come. But GRRM has been building up the threat from beyond the wall for so long now, it has to come to an epic peak at some point. If it does, there has to be some resistance from the other side, and what they have now won't cut it.

^That. I wasn't picturing anything simple either.

[MattSilver 3k]

Stray Clash of Kings thoughts as I go through, wondering how season two will work out: One, the Battle of Blackwater Bay, with the wildfire and the boom chain, has to be shown in full. Reads as epic, will look epic. Two, Brienne is awesome, and I bet they'll do her justice in the series (Hell, probably have an attractive actress playing her somehow. Bonus). Three, Dany's storyline this book is... pretty out there, and I wonder how it'll look on screen or how they'll translate it as such. Four, I heard Robb and Jaime will be getting some expanded stuff in season two, Jaime's from Storm of Swords and Robb's just so we can see Richard Madden - I think a lot of Robb's will probably be reacting to Theon's betrayals while expositing on the battles he's fighting. I don't mind in the slightest.

[magictrick]

Stray Clash of Kings thoughts as I go through, wondering how season two will work out: One, the Battle of Blackwater Bay, with the wildfire and the boom chain, has to be shown in full. Reads as epic, will look epic. Two, Brienne is awesome, and I bet they'll do her justice in the series (Hell, probably have an attractive actress playing her somehow. Bonus). Three, Dany's storyline this book is... pretty out there, and I wonder how it'll look on screen or how they'll translate it as such. Four, I heard Robb and Jaime will be getting some expanded stuff in season two, Jaime's from Storm of Swords and Robb's just so we can see Richard Madden - I think a lot of Robb's will probably be reacting to Theon's betrayals while expositing on the battles he's fighting. I don't mind in the slightest.

I'm looking forward to seeing what they do with Robb's story line, since he's not a POV character and you only hear about his exploits through another main character.

As for the battle, I think most of us have great expectations for it. The battle is critical not only for its epic nature but also for the character actions that take place.

[MattSilver 3k]

I'm also going a little crazy wondering what scenes we'll see that are only described and restricted by the POV nature of things, and what new scenes we'll see. If they try and put Jon's or Dany's storylines over ten episodes (Or even eight of the ten), there'll be a bit of fleshing out going on, I'd think, especially for Halfhand in Jon's storyline to make it more tragic by the end. And even not, we'll still have room for more Davos or some Littlefinger or...

Long story short, a lot of people have wondered if ten episodes is too little to show everything from this book. I say it'll do just fine - off the top of my head, the only storyline that might get cut down a little is Bran's and his wolf dreams, but I hope not. Ugh, next year's season is too far away... and I haven't even started the third book yet!

[Lahela]

Brienne is awesome.

*nod nod* She very quickly became one of my favourite characters. Awesome indeed

[magictrick]

Long story short, a lot of people have wondered if ten episodes is too little to show everything from this book. I say it'll do just fine - off the top of my head, the only storyline that might get cut down a little is Bran's and his wolf dreams, but I hope not. Ugh, next year's season is too far away... and I haven't even started the third book yet!

That's nothing to complain about, you've still got 3 books of greatness to keep you busy

[Ser Scot A Ellison]

Matt,

Stray Clash of Kings thoughts as I go through, wondering how season two will work out: One, the Battle of Blackwater Bay, with the wildfire and the boom chain, has to be shown in full. Reads as epic, will look epic. Two, Brienne is awesome, and I bet they'll do her justice in the series (Hell, probably have an attractive actress playing her somehow. Bonus). Three, Dany's storyline this book is... pretty out there, and I wonder how it'll look on screen or how they'll translate it as such. Four, I heard Robb and Jaime will be getting some expanded stuff in season two, Jaime's from Storm of Swords and Robb's just so we can see Richard Madden - I think a lot of Robb's will probably be reacting to Theon's betrayals while expositing on the battles he's fighting. I don't mind in the slightest.

I forgot that Robb is barely in ACOK. You see him in the begining and then he disappears until the start of ASOS.