A Song of Ice and Fire/Game of Thrones Spoiler-Filled Discussion

Thats just a few paragraphs before Brienne screams one word. I think if there is one word she can scream that will save her, its "sword", or something along the lines of making the choice to go get Jaime. I'm still early on in ADWD and I'm resisting the urge to page ahead and find out :P

 

page ahead all you like, you'll have to wait until GRRM gets to the next book for any resolution. All Jamie and Brienne get are a cameo at the end.

 

I get that the guy at the end is the killer at the beginning, but how did you get that he's a Faceless Man, more specificly Jaqen H'ghar? (no book 5 spoilers please)

 

Jaqen changed his face in front of Arya and the guy with this exact appearance was the one who killed Pate.

 

^^^
Yeah, and then he must have changed his face to look just like Pate.

 

BAH!

 

Bit of trivia: Natalie Tena revealed in an interview that when Hodor went the full monty prosthetic genitals were used over the real ones.

 

I think that goes without saying.

 

Gee that must have been an interesting job for the sulpter.
"So what did you do at work today"
"Oh, nothing. I just sculpted some male genitals for Game of Thrones."

 

It'd make for a killer line in your c.v., that's for sure!

 

Oh I either flew by the killers description, or I didn't remember Jaqen's.

Next question: why would anyone think that Jaqen = Syrio? (Apart from the fact that we didn't see any body for Syrio)

 

Jaqen=Syrio theory is based on fandom's love for Syrio and a lot of wishful thinking.
We didn't see Syrio's body and Jaqen was picked from KL dungeons shortly afterwards. Personally, I find it hard to believe that the Kingsguard guy who fought him, spared him after Syrio killed or maimed several Lannister guardsmen. Syrio is dead as a result of a very noble sacrifice.

 

Anthony Morris has been cast as Tickler and Andy Beckwith as Rorge. GRRM's clues point to Gerard Jordan playing Biter.

 

Do you guys consider those books to be 'great novels' or think they are well written?

 

I think of them as a great fantasy epic. They are well written, but IMO would have been better if the saga were a bit more streamlined. Just my .02

 

Much of the books are well-written (there are specific scenes and chapters I'm thinking of - not sure if I should spoil them, because a lot of the examples are from ADWD.) I'm withholding judgment on whether it's a "great fantasy epic" until I see how the final two books conclude - the first three are certainly tremendous, but a great build-up doesn't mean anything if you can't provide a satisfying ending.

 

They're very good reads, and go quite quickly for their size. Even the weakest of them is the sort of novel you can find yourself plunging through over a dozen chapters in an afternoon.

As literature they have a few standard fantasy ticks - Martin must dutifully spend a great deal of time explaining heraldry, or what so-and-so is eating - and the strength of their plotting loosens as the series progresses, but it's the best non-Pratchett fantasy I've read in a long time.

 

The last two books could've definitely gotten some more editing/fat-trimming out of them, I think.

(Speaking of which, is it just me, or are almost all of the Lords This-and-That fat and/or huge beyond belief? Especially in ADWD, it seemed like every non-POV/non-major male character was a porker!)

But yes, all in all... pretty good reads.

Cheers,
-CM-

 

I consider them to be great novels, no doubt about it.

 

I just read "The Eye of the World" by Robert Jordan... I don't read a lot of fantasy, but if that's what we're comparing GRRM to, then A Song of Ice and Fire is a goddamn masterpiece.