Song of Ice and Fire question

[Celtavian]

re

I just picked up the first book in this series. It has been widely recommended as one of the best fantasy series out there. I hope it lives up to the hype.

I do prefer that good characters are present in my fantasy books, but I don't mind watching characters evolve or act human as well.

 

[LuYangShih]

The books are very well written, but after finishing the first two, I simply did not want to read anymore. I prefer a world where there are clearly defined heroes, who fight the good fight, defeat the dragon, rescue the damsel in distress, and at the end of the day nobly triumph over the villians in black, and then ride off into the sunset. And that goes for fiction of any kind. If I want to read about the Dark Ages, I will pick up a history book.

 

[Morbidity]

Broke one of my long standing rules with this series ... starting to read a series before the author had finished writing it. Now I like everyone else am desperately waiting for the next book to be released.

Everyone else has said it ... but the red wedding was truly disturbing: brilliantly written and a courageous move by the author.

I loved the way the books challenge your preconceptions. You start out with the Starks being so good and the Lannisters being so bad. And then Jaime's basic humanity is revealed more and more, Tyrion becomes the ultimate 'little battler' ... whilst Rob sacrifices honour and good sense for love and Arya's goodness seems to be slowly eroding under the pressure of trying to survive.

 

[JoeBlank]

I think I need to go online and see what I can find about websites devoted to this series or the author. Anyone know of any good ones?

The best I have seen is Westeros.org, and I believe they have a link from there to this message board

The site and boards will answer many of the questions mentioned in this thread.

The author has a site as well, GeorgeRRMartin.com, where he is posted updates on the progress of A Feast for Crows. I believe he has confirmed the rumor that this book was intended to be a brief intro to the the second trilogy, and instead grew into an entire book detailing the five years between the two trilogies.

Can anyone tell me how much time has passed so far in the series? I would love to see a timeline of events, even before the start of A Game of Thrones.

 

[DanMcS]

Oh Cyric. I just ordered this from FRP games last week. Please tell me that there exists some good things in Dragon's attempts to convert this world?

Well, the poster map was pretty good, much better than the tiny maps inside the covers of the paperbacks, but still didn't have a scale on it I believe.

The conversions left a lot to be desired. They weren't "this is how the characters act in the book, and could be statted", they were "this is how the characters would be statted if the book were set in the FR and written by a bad D&D author". Danaerys as a sorceror, stannis as a paladin, I think Bran was a druid, Gregor Clegane was a fighter 16.

 

[KnowTheToe]

I just started the 3rd book. Enjoying it alot. The Imp is my favorite character. He is not strong, or good looking, but boy is he smart and resorceful.

You should not be reading this thread

 

[KenM]

You should not be reading this thread

I know I should not. I'm trusting people not to post spoilers.

 

[JoeBlank]

I know I should not. I'm trusting people not to post spoilers.

Stop that.

Now.

Virtually everything that happens in these books is unexpected. Any vague reference to events can contain a significant spoiler. Reading the books with the idea that anything can happen is part of the joy. Don't spoil it for yourself.

You should not even be reading this paragraph. Do not read any further.







I said stop it.





Now.

 

[Sirius_Black]

Thanks for the links JoeBlank. I was able to view them and some other websites and found some incredible artwork as well as scans of the CCG of the series.

Can anyone tell me how much time has passed so far in the series? I would love to see a timeline of events, even before the start of A Game of Thrones.

I want to say in my Martin hunt of sites, I found some mention that each book is to represent one year. I didn't buy it when I read it as it just seems to pat an answer.

DanMcs said:

Well, the poster map was pretty good, much better than the tiny maps inside the covers of the paperbacks, but still didn't have a scale on it I believe.

Well, a map will be enjoyable, definitely hang it up near my treasured shelf of books I love.

The conversions left a lot to be desired. They weren't "this is how the characters act in the book, and could be statted", they were "this is how the characters would be statted if the book were set in the FR and written by a bad D&D author".

Oh, so like most of WOTC products. Okay, at least I'll be prepared for the badness.

 

[jdavis]

My understanding was it was going to be a 6 book series with 3 books with the children young and three with them older. He has decided there was just too much story to tell between the two sets thus the next book is the "bridge" between the two series (making it a 7 book series). I am very excited about how the books are going and am very excited about the character portrayal, if I wanted a book with clearly defined good and evil characters then there is nearly every other fatasy book ever written to choose from, this kind of realism in characters is rare in fantasy books. As far as who is good I'd have to go with Jon Snow for one (look what he has sacrificed in order to try to save the wall and all the people who turned their back on him), Tyrion may end up good before it's all said and done, Ned was good, Davos is good and several minor characters have shown good tendancies. Of course Jamie started out as one of the most wicked people in the book and he may end up good by the end of the story. Characters change and grow through the books.

If you haven't read Martin's "The Hedge Knight" in the short story collection Legends then it is a must read too. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/t..._sbs_b_3/103-7472235-3031011?v=glance&s=books