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A Game of Thrones

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So I started book 1 in the series after hearing so many people on this forum rave about it. It's a fluke that I know about it at all as a friend lent me a bagful of books because he knows I like sci-fi/fantasy. Actually I'm more into sci-fi than fantasy so I was skeptical whether or not I would enjoy this series but I must say the story dragged me in right away. I have only scratched the surface (started last night!) but the first few chapters are really engaging and I like how he's introduced the first batch of characters. The writing style seems much less boring than some other fantasy novels I've attempted in the past so I'm encouraged by this one so far.

How many books is this series supposed to have anyway?
 
Just started reading this myself. Awesome fucking book. Its like Deadwood with a fantasy setting. :D Gonna have to go buy A Clash of Kings this weekend cuz I am tearing through this one.
 
For people who haven't, pick up The Hedge Knight comic book. It's a short story prequel, and the quality is up there with the main series. It was originally in the Legends anthology (in text form) but the comic is amazingly illustrated. The sequel (The Sword Sword) is in Legends 2, and isn't as good, but still worth it.
 
Damn you lucky fuckers only starting the series NOW! Grrrrr... by the time you finish the 3rd book the 4th book will likely finally be out. :D

The rest of us who've been raving about the series have been waiting fror YEARS though. T_T
 
Raoul Duke said:
NO HOT PIE NO SELL
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hotpie.jpg


FnordChan
 
Sansa is one of the best characters. A Feast For Crows can't come soon enough :(

And Malazan is OK, but nowhere near as good as A Song of Fire and Ice. Except for Kruppe. Kruppe rocks.
 
I just read a review of the first book and the reviewer mentions this series is low on magic use. Is that true? Everything else sounded interesting til I got to that point... I'm big on good and evil magic users...

EDIT: Thanks Raoul I'll pick up the first book at lunch time then...
 
DarienA said:
I just read a review of the first book and the reviewer mentions this series is low on magic use. Is that true? Everything else sounded interesting til I got to that point... I'm big on good and evil magic users...
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It's not a central part of the series, but there definitely are some mystical people. They're not traditional "Level 37 Archmage OMG!" d&d types, but interesting nonetheless. As the series has progressed, we've seen more magic.
 
Raoul Duke said:
It's not a central part of the series, but there definitely are some mystical people. They're not traditional "Level 37 Archmage OMG!" d&d types, but interesting nonetheless. As the series has progressed, we've seen more magic.
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Precisely, every book has revealed more magic and I believe I read a comment a long time ago from Martin that this would continue.

Mainly because (DON'T READ THIS PEOPLE WHO HAVEN'T READ THE BOOKS YOU FUCKERS!!)
dragons are back in the world.
 
I also picked up the book on a fluke. I was at Borders and thought that the cover looked interesting. Hadn't read anything about the series at all. I was hooked. The characterization has to be the best I've ever read and you genuinely feel for the characters and they're plights. It can be depressing though as a story, but I think that it just makes the world more real. Game of Thrones is one of the greatest works of fiction that I've ever read.
 
Jibber Hack said:
I also picked up the book on a fluke. I was at Borders and thought that the cover looked interesting. Hadn't read anything about the series at all. I was hooked. The characterization has to be the best I've ever read and you genuinely feel for the characters and they're plights. It can be depressing though as a story, but I think that it just makes the world more real. Game of Thrones is one of the greatest works of fiction that I've ever read.
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I just told someone pretty much the same exact thing on another forum when asked about the series.
 
Sansa's a bit annoying as a character, but her chapters are right in the thick of the politics so they're still great. Plus the Hound is possibly the coolest character, and he's mostly in her's too.
 
snaildog said:
Plus the Hound is possibly the coolest character, and he's mostly in her's too.
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I have a feeling there is more to this guy than we(I) have seen so far. I'm only a chapter into A Clash of Kings so far.
 
Yeah, there's more to everything than you think. In same ways the books are the cleverest work of literature I've ever come across; the whole story has been meticulously planned from the outset, and little throw-away lines in the first books foreshadow major events in the next books. There's hardly a wasted line in the book. This is not to mention the amazing characterisation and dialogue of course.
 
3 out so far, with 7 planned.


Storm of Swords (book 3) was possibly the most exciting novel I have ever read.
 
while I absolutely love the series, I don't understand the love for book 3. Its been a while so events have blurred in my mind but I remember liking book 2 more.

and I also remember my favorite fight was
that merc guy fighting in defense of Tyrion's life at... what was the place's name... Arryn Peak or something? When Cat's sister was being a dumb bitch

which I think was either in book 1 or 2.
 
I believe it's
the Eyrie. Arynn is the surname of Lords Jon and Robert and Lady Lysa, who lived/live there.

The way the last book ends is so fucking awesone, with all the cliffhangers. It's just made the 5+ year wait that much harder, but it's going to be sooooo sweet come October 17th (for us UKers, November 8th in the US :p).
 
It was the Eyrie, and it was Bronn that fought for him I think

The epilogue of book 3 was perfect, as was the end of the proper book.

I can't wait to see what
Undead Catelyn
does in book 4.

You know nothing, Jon Snow
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Arya's chapters are my favorite. But the whole series is fucking amazing.

In book 3,
when the shit hits the fan at the wedding
, I had to put the book down for a day or two just to get over it and continue the book. I have never been affected by a book so strongly before.

A FEAST FOR CROWS! ME AM EXCITED!
 
ah yes, thats right, its all coming back to me now. You guys are right about who/where. I only read these like a year ago and I've already forgotten everything. How the hell do you people that read these like 5 years ago remember anythign at all? >_<
 
slayn said:
ah yes, thats right, its all coming back to me now. You guys are right about who/where. I only read these like a year ago and I've already forgotten everything. How the hell do you people that read these like 5 years ago remember anythign at all? >_<
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I'm a latecomer to the series. I just finished book 3 last month. Actually, I read all three books for the first time in the last year. So I guess it's still pretty fresh on my mind.
 
The only thing that Martin did in the series that bothers me was... (Book 3 Spoiler)...
resurrecting Catelyn. Martin hadn't "cheated" in any part of the series until then, and by bringing her back I think he cheapened the deaths of many of the other important characters. I just hope this is the only instance where he pulls this and we don't see it again.
 
Limedust said:
The only thing that Martin did in the series that bothers me was... (Book 3 Spoiler)...
resurrecting Catelyn. Martin hadn't "cheated" in any part of the series until then, and by bringing her back I think he cheapened the deaths of many of the other important characters. I just hope this is the only instance where he pulls this and we don't see it again.
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The thing is...
she's not quite 'all' there. What's-his-name (damned if I can remember names in this series after 2-3 years) who does the resurrecting hasn't quite got it down perfectly, and Catelyn was getting pretty ripe when he brought her up, so she's more zombie than human (or at least it seemed to me). Beric's group seems to be using her more as a symbol/tool than a full-fledged member.
 
Limedust said:
The only thing that Martin did in the series that bothers me was... (Book 3 Spoiler)...
resurrecting Catelyn. Martin hadn't "cheated" in any part of the series until then, and by bringing her back I think he cheapened the deaths of many of the other important characters. I just hope this is the only instance where he pulls this and we don't see it again.
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I suspect it has something to do with the red priest who keeps bringing that one lord back to life over and over (the lightning lord, can't remember his name now).
 
Thoros.

The following is a smallish spoiler about the future books, not so much a story one, more a sort of...structure thing. Well, you've been warned.

While I've tried to avoid all spoilers, I came across this one some time ago and I don't know if it's still true but I suspect it is. At the time at least, Martin had no intention of giving us a Catelyn POV again, despite the "resurrection". So maybe that'll make it seem less cheap for people.
 
I'm starting to really like all the characterization in these books; you get to see changes happen to people and they start becoming amenable to situations that occur. Like Jaime's
hand cut off (i was actually shocked at how well martin wrote this)
and him slowly changing his character to be a nicer guy. I hope the Hound has a chapter or two
if hes alive
really like his character too.

I'm re-reading the entire series, and it's still a shock when you realize Cersei and Jaime were committing incest, and Bran saw them do it. :lol I think magic is soon to become a bigger part in these books, considering Dany and Jon both are faced with a lot of magical beings (lol).
 
Martin has said in interviews that he doesn't like to cheapen death, and that the few characters brought back to life are just shells of their former selves. Remember Drogo? He just walked around like an animal, until Dany gave up and smothered him. Catelyn is half-crazed and hell-bent on revenge against the Freys; I'm getting she's gonna kick their arses and then die properly.

Beric Dondarrion (the leader of the outlaws who keeps getting killed) is the most alive out of them, but he can't remember the castle he used to be the Lord of or any of his life prior to starting the Brotherhood. He's got one awesome piece of dialogue where he's looking into the fire and says something like "Fire burns and consumes everything, leaving nothing....nothing" (it's some sort of fire god that the priest calls on to bring him back). God I love these books.
 
Must..... RESIST.......SPOILERS!

I already screwed myself once by reading the back of A Clash of Kings before I was finished with A Game of Thrones. Not that I wasnt expecting what it spoiled anyway but it still would have had more punch if I hadnt confirmed it first.
 
It seems to me that
Catelyn's ressurection
kinda falls in-line with the curse of
murder in the safety of ones home.
. So in that way I don't think death was cheapened.
 
Good points.

Just to add a point that I also hope the use of magic in the series remains the same as it always has, as Martin doesn’t use any part of the fantasy setting as a crutch. There is no all-powerful magic-using character, and the way that Martin presents the story, sometimes it even seems like “magic” is just in the perception of a particular character.

The reason I got worried about
Catelyn’s resurrection probably had something to do with getting burned on Robert Jordan. That man has “all powerful” magic users left and right, and who the hell has any idea who’s dead or alive any more because there’s never any penalty for dying. The story and characters have all gone down the toilet because he got himself too caught up in out-trumping characters’ magic ability, and in killing and resurrecting characters, that nothing makes sense anymore and only got more aggravating as the series continued. I quit reading after book 8, so maybe it’s gotten better… but I doubt it.
 
Just finished A Clash of Kings. Man that was a depressing ending. Kinda got me teary eyed. Which is something a book has never been able to do before. I was gonna go pick up a Storm of Swords today and start it but my damn alarm didnt go off and now I have to wait a day. Damn the man.
 
This series isn't like wheel of time, is it?

The first five books in WoT is awesome, but then it goes into the crapper starting with book 6. So much talking and NOTHING going on. Jordan filling the book with a ton of filler crap to extend the series. Such a hot start but I'm so bored with it now. I stopped reading after book 7....I don't need 5 pages dedicated to Rand getting up in the morning, debating if he needs to take a morning crap now or after his meeting.
 
So far I think A Clash of Kings is the best, mostly because the last 200 pages or so are a relentless emotional rush. Masterfully done.

You'll like A Storm of Swords just as much as the others. It is longer and meanders more than the other two books, but holy shit when it is moving it is MOVING. There are several chapters that will hit HARD.
 
Duck of Death said:
So far I think A Clash of Kings is the best, mostly because the last 200 pages or so are a relentless emotional rush. Masterfully done.

You'll like A Storm of Swords just as much as the others. It is longer and meanders more than the other two books, but holy shit when it is moving it is MOVING. There are several chapters that will hit HARD.
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A Storm of Swords if the first book to ever force me to put it down and walk away for awhile. I just couldn't believe the shit that happened in there. Absolutely insane (in a good way).
 
Schafer said:
A Storm of Swords if the first book to ever force me to put it down and walk away for awhile. I just couldn't believe the shit that happened in there. Absolutely insane (in a good way).
Click to expand...

Yeah, I couldn't believe the
wedding banquet scene. HO. LY. FUCK
 
A Storm of Swords sucks. Seriously. Especially when
not really, I'm just anti-hyping it so the guy can hopefully enjoy it fully rather than go in with too big expectations.

So there!
 
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