bengraven
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A Game of Thrones, published in 1996 by Hugo award-winner George R. R. Martin, set the world of fantasy writing on fire. It changed the way fantasy novels were written and inspired a generation raised on Tolkien-clones to create new fantastic fiction for more mature readers. While a bestseller in its own right, it would take the TV show to become a cultural icon. Suddenly this author with decades of writing behind him, well regarded by critics, his peers, and his genre audience, has become a household name, appearing on late night television, talk shows, even gossip rags. Who knew he would be on Conan O'Brien or photographed by Annie Leibovitz, best known for her Vanity Fair and Rolling Stone shots of celebrity actors and actresses and rock stars?
With the fifth season ending and now beyond the point that the print books are (and rumors of the sixth and penultimate book arriving before Season Six), now would be a great time for you to step in and read the books for the first time. Or maybe you're new to the series period and want to know your Essos from your Hoares. Your Smallwoods from your Manwoodys. Or learn about clever metaphors for sexual terms that you can giggle about and post in the official threads.
UPDATES WILL BE EVERY SUNDAY STARTING JUNE 21.
Please read below for our spoiler policy for this thread.
KING ROBERT BARATHEON, the First of His Name,
his wife, QUEEN CERSEI, of House Lannister,
their children:
PRINCE JOFFREY, heir to the Iron Throne, twelve,
PRINCESS MYRCELLA, a girl of eight,
PRINCE TOMMEN, a boy of seven,
his brothers:
STANNIS BARATHEON, Lord of Dragonstone,
his wife, LADY SELYSE of House Florent,
their daughter, SHIREEN, a girl of nine,
RENLY BARATHEON, Lord of Storm's End,
his small council:
GRAND MAESTER PYCELLE,
LORD PETYR BAELISH, called LITTLEFINGER, master of coin,
LORD STANNIS BARATHEON, master of ships,
LORD RENLY BARATHEON, master of laws,
SER BARRISTAN SELMY, Lord Commander of the Kingsguard,
VARYS, a eunuch, called the Spider, master of whisperers,
his court and retainers:
SER ILYN PAYNE, the King's Justice, a headsman,
SANDOR CLEGANE, called THE HOUND, sworn shield to Prince Joffrey,
JANOS SLYNT, a commoner, commander of the City Watch of King's Landing,
JALABHAR XHO, an exile prince from the Summer Isles,
MOON BOY, a jester and fool,
LANCEL and TYREK LANNISTER, squires to the king, the queen's cousins,
SER ARON SANTAGAR, master-at-arms,
his Kingsguard:
SER BARRISTAN SELMY, Lord Commander,
SER JAIME LANNISTER, called the Kingslayer,
SER BOROS BLOUNT,
SER MERYN TRANT,
SER ARYS OAKHEART,
SER PRESTON GREENFIELD,
SER MANDON MOORE.
EDDARD STARK, Lord of Winterfell, Warden of the North,
his wife, LADY CATELYN, of House Tully,
their children:
ROBB, the heir to Winterfell, fourteen years of age,
SANSA, the eldest daughter, eleven
ARYA, the younger daughter, a girl of nine,
BRANDON, called Bran, seven,
RICKON, a boy of three,
his bastard son, JON SNOW, a boy of fourteen,
his ward, THEON GREYJOY heir to the Iron Islands,
his siblings:
{BRANDON}, his elder brother, murdered by the command of Aerys II Targaryen,
{LYANNA}, his younger sister, died in the mountains of Dorne,
BENJEN, his younger brother, a man of the Night's Watch,
his household:
MAESTER LUWIN, counselor, healer, and tutor,
VAYON POOLE, steward of Winterfell,
JEYNE, his daughter, Sansa's closest friend,
JORY CASSEL, captain of the guard,
HALLIS MOLLEN, DESMOND, JACKS, PORTHER, QUENT, ALYN, CAYN, WYL, guardsmen,
SER RODRIK CASSEL, master-at-arms, Jory's uncle,
BETH, his young daughter,
SEPTA MORDANE, tutor to Lord Eddard's daughters,
SEPTON CHAYLE, keeper of the castle sept and library,
HULLEN, master of horse,
his son, HARWIN, a guardsman,
JOSETH, a stableman and horse trainer,
FARLEN, kennelmaster,
OLD NAN, storyteller, once a wet nurse,
HODOR, her great-grandson, a simpleminded stableboy,
GAGE, the cook,
MIKKEN, smith and armorer,
his principal lords bannermen:
SER HELMAN TALLHART,
RICKARD KARSTARK, Lord of Karhold,
ROOSE BOLTON, Lord of the Dreadfort,
JON UMBER, called THE GREATJON,
GALBART and ROBETT GLOVER,
WYMAN MANDERLY, Lord of White Harbor,
MAEGE MORMONT, the Lady of Bear Island.
TYWIN LANNISTER, Lord of Casterly Rock, Warden of the West, Shield of Lannisport,
his wife, {LADY JOANNA}, a cousin, died in childbed,
their children:
SER JAIME, called the Kingslayer, heir to Casterly Rock, a twin to Cersei,
QUEEN CERSEI, wife of King Robert I Baratheon, a twin to Jaime,
TYRION, called the Imp, a dwarf,
his siblings:
SER KEVAN, his eldest brother,
his wife, DORNA of House Swyft,
their eldest son, LANCEL, squire to the king,
their twin sons, WILLEM and MARTYN,
their infant daughter, JANEI,
GENNA, his sister, wed to Ser Emmon Frey,
their son, SER CLEOS FREY,
their son, TION FREY, a squire,
{SER TYGETT}, his second brother, died of a pox,
his widow, DARLESSA, of House Marbrand,
their son, TYREK, squire to the king,
{GERION}, his youngest brother, lost at sea,
his bastard daughter, JOY, a girl of ten,
their cousin, SER STAFFORD LANNISTER, brother to the late Lady Joanna,
his daughters, CERENNA and MYRIELLE,
his son, SER DAVEN LANNISTER,
his counselor, MAESTER CREYLEN,
his chief knights and lords bannermen:
LORD LEO LEFFORD,
SER ADDAM MARBRAND,
SER GREGOR CLEGANE, the Mountain That Rides,
SER HARYS SWYFT, father by marriage to Ser Kevan,
LORD ANDROS BRAX,
SER FORLEY PRESTER,
SER AMORY LORCH,
VARGO HOAT, of the Free City of Qohor, a sellsword,
{JON ARRYN}, Lord of the Eyrie, Defender of the Vale, Warden of the East, Hand of the King, recently deceased,
his first wife, {LADY JEYNE, of House Royce}, died in childbed, her daughter stillborn,
his second wife, {LADY ROWENA, of House Arryn}, his cousin, died of a winter chill, childless,
his third wife, LADY LYSA, of House Tully,
their son:
ROBERT ARRYN, a sickly boy of six years, now Lord of Eyrie and Defender of the Vale,
their retainers and household:
MAESTER COLEMON, counselor, healer, and tutor,
SER VARDIS EGEN, captain of the guard,
SER BRYNDEN TULLY, called the Blackfish, Knight of the Gate and uncle to Lady Lysa,
LORD NESTOR ROYCE, High Steward of the Vale,
SER ALBAR ROYCE, his son,
MYA STONE, a bastard girl in his service,
LORD EON HUNTER, suitor to Lady Lysa,
SER LYN CORBRAY, suitor to Lady Lysa,
MYCHEL REDFORT, his squire,
LADY ANYA WAYNWOOD, a widow,
SER MORTON WAYNWOOD, her son, suitor to Lady Lysa,
SER DONNEL WAYNWOOD, her son,
MORD, a brutal gaoler,
HOSTER TULLY, Lord of Riverrun,
his wife, {LADY MINISA, of House Whent}, died in childbed,
their children:
CATELYN, the eldest daughter, wed to Lord Eddard Stark,
LYSA, the younger daughter, wed to Lord Jon Arryn,
SER EDMURE, heir to Riverrun,
his brother SER BRYNDEN, called the Blackfish
his household:
MAESTER VYMAN, counselor, healer, and tutor,
SER DESMOND GRELL, master-at-arms,
SER ROBIN RYGER, captain of the guard,
UTHERYDES WAYN, steward of Riverrun,
his knights and lords bannermen:
JASON MALLISTER, Lord of Seagard,
PATREK MALLISTER, his son and heir,
WALDER FREY, Lord of the Crossing,
his numerous sons, grandsons and bastards,
JONOS BRACKEN, Lord of the Stone Hedge,
TYTOS BLACKWOOD, Lord of Raventree,
SER RAYMUN DARRY,
SER KARYL VANCE,
SER MARQ PIPER,
SHELLA WHENT, Lady of Harrenhal,
SER WILLIS WODE, a knight in her service.
The Last Targaryens
{KING AERYS TARGARYEN}, the Second of His Name, slain by Jaime Lannister during the Sack of King's Landing,
his sister and wife {QUEEN RHAELLA} of House Targaryen, died in childbed on Dragonstone,
their children:
{PRINCE RHAEGAR}, heir to the Iron Throne, slain by Robert Baratheon on the Trident,
his wife, {PRINCESS ELIA} of House Martell, slain during the Sack of King's Landing,
their children:
{PRINCESS RHAENYS}, a young girl, slain during the Sack of King's Landing,
{PRINCE AEGON}, a babe, slain during the Sack of King's Landing,
PRINCE VISERYS, styling himself Viserys, the Third of His Name, Lord of the Seven Kingdoms, called the Beggar King,
PRINCESS DAENERYS, called Daenerys Stormborn, a maid of thirteen years.
WARNING: SPOILERS. There is nothing that will spoil your experience more than reading up on a character on Wikipedia. Thus, I'm not posting any wiki or character bible. If you wanted that, I'm sorry. I recommend heavily that if you want to keep track of the characters, GET the APP and set the spoiler setting appropriately.
Amazon
Amazon Kindle
Barnes and Nobles/Nook
Interactive Map of Westeros *WARNING* SPOILERS IN SOME SETTINGS
Official Pronunciation Guide
Many of you will be coming from the show. Some may not be. To respect them, please spoiler tag anything outside of that week's chapters. If you read ahead, please spoiler tag. If you talk about things that happen later, please spoiler tag. Even if it makes this thread look like an FBI UFO file, the CIA's documents on Snowden, or Jim Bob Duggar's police record.
Again: if it's in the chapters we're reading, then it's fair game. If it's beyond, tag it like you're a Shark or Jet in Time Square circa 1979.
COMPARING OUR CURRENT CHAPTERS TO THE SHOW IS OKAY. Please don't talk about the show BEYOND where we're at. We might have Ice and Fire virgins all together.
Example:
PLEASE DO NOT SPEND LONG PERIODS TALKING ABOUT THE SHOW, THE DIRECTION, ETC. At least until we get further into the books. We already have several threads to bitch about D&D's direction for the show. Let's talk about reading books here.
Week 7: The Game Begins
AGOT 61: Jon VIII - Maester Aemon tells Jon about his past.
AGOT 62: Daenerys VII - Daenerys saves a woman named Mirri who is a skilled healer.
AGOT 63: Tyrion VIII - Tyrion fights on the left flank in a battle against Roose Bolton.
AGOT 64: Catelyn X - Robb meets Jaime.
AGOT 65: Daenerys VIII - Dany goes into labor while blood is shed around her.
AGOT 66: Arya V - The Stark family suffers it's first loss.
AGOT 67: Bran VII - Maester Luwin tells Bran and Rickon about the children of the forest. A raven arrives announcing terrible news.
AGOT 68: Sansa VI - King Joffrey shows his true self.
AGOT 69: Daenerys IX - Daenerys says goodbye.
AGOT 70: Tyrion IX - Tywin orders Tyrion to go to King's Landing and rule in his place.
AGOT 71: Jon IX - Jon must choose between his morals and his vows in the first of many, many times he will be forced to.
AGOT 72: Catelyn XI - The King in the North.
AGOT 73: Daenerys X - Dany gains a family and an army.
