Game of Thrones (Song of Ice and Fire) The Fantasy Thread

[Thom Yorke]

Originally Posted by LoathsomePete

This question is for people who have read A Dance With Dragons so if you don't want aspects of the story to be ruined, refrain from clicking this spoiler tag.

Spoiler for A Dance With Dragons Spoiler:

I still haven't gotten around to watching the show but I agree that that was a really effective approach in the books. The whole point GRRM was going for was to provide a stark contrast between the brash and cocky Theon and the beaten down and pathetic Reek, and it was so powerful because of the way that it was just kind of thrown at you for you to piece together yourself. GRRM was able to evoke a lot of different feelings and emotions from the reader by doing it this way, from the initial shock and realization of seeing what he'd become, to disgust and pity when you saw how pathetic he'd really become, to sympathy and understanding as more of the back-story comes through, to hoping he can get back to the way he was before or at least get his life back on track in some way, even if you didn't like him before. I feel a lot of that would be lost by seeing how he transitioned into Reek.

[Circe]

Theon must have heard about Roose Bolton and the Dreadfort at some point during his time as a ward, right? I know he's not exactly in a great state to be making too many educated guesses right now but come on, how hard could it be?

[ZiggyStardust]

Wow. What Littlefinger did with Ros...

[PoorOldPo]

Originally Posted by Circe

Theon must have heard about Roose Bolton and the Dreadfort at some point during his time as a ward, right? I know he's not exactly in a great state to be making too many educated guesses right now but come on, how hard could it be?

I think he is going to guess it right next episode, and then something will happen.


SNIP SNIP.....ahem...



Also I take back everything I said about Joffrey, he is a ****. And deserves to die.

[Exo]

This week on Game of Thrones. Theon: "AAUUUUUGGGHHHHHHGHAHAGGHHHHHH"

Next week on Game of Thrones. Theon: "GAAAAAAAAUUUUUUGHHHHAAAUUUGGGH"

[Scarlett O'Hara]

Originally Posted by Exoskeletal

This week on Game of Thrones. Theon: "AAUUUUUGGGHHHHHHGHAHAGGHHHHHH"

Next week on Game of Thrones. Theon: "GAAAAAAAAUUUUUUGHHHHAAAUUUGGGH"

I enjoyed that part so much, I've got a strange pleasure from seeing him suffer after what he did to Winterfell. I'm starting the first book tonight, it may take me a while to read however.

How long does it take everyone to get through each book? I'd be keen to know, because I know there are so many characters that can make it overwhelming to remember everybody.

[Circe]

It took me around two months to get through book 1, two weeks to get through book 2, less than a week to get through book 3.0 and about a month to get through book 3.1 so I'm probably not the most reliable source. They're very long books but they aren't difficult to read so if you're a fast reader it shouldn't take you that long.

[Thom Yorke]

It took me about 10 months to get through all 5, but that was reading it very sporadically. I remember on the third book in particular I took a couple huge breaks (ie. I went a few weeks without reading it). Despite all those breaks, I didn't find any real trouble keeping up with the story. It might seem hectic at first, but you'll start putting names to faces and it'll all fall into place.

The only real issue I had is trying to keep up with some of the back-story at times. There are a lot of references regarding things that happened in the past with characters that are long dead, and I found myself a bit confused at times and flipping back through the books.

[PoorOldPo]

I really enjoyed Littlefinger in the latest episode. What he said gave me chills, and made me realise how much of a threat he really is. Cringed a bit at the romantic scene at the end. But I guess they need to build up an emotional response to their relationship.

Originally Posted by Thom Yorke

It took me about 10 months to get through all 5, but that was reading it very sporadically. I remember on the third book in particular I took a couple huge breaks (ie. I went a few weeks without reading it). Despite all those breaks, I didn't find any real trouble keeping up with the story. It might seem hectic at first, but you'll start putting names to faces and it'll all fall into place.

The only real issue I had is trying to keep up with some of the back-story at times. There are a lot of references regarding things that happened in the past with characters that are long dead, and I found myself a bit confused at times and flipping back through the books.

I am a slow enough reader, I read at a leisurely pace. I took my time with all five books and spread out the reading for about a year or more. I find that you absorb more when you read slowly, in any book I have read, whether it be on architecture, German mythology or fantasy.

[LoathsomePete]

Originally Posted by Vanilla

I enjoyed that part so much, I've got a strange pleasure from seeing him suffer after what he did to Winterfell. I'm starting the first book tonight, it may take me a while to read however.

How long does it take everyone to get through each book? I'd be keen to know, because I know there are so many characters that can make it overwhelming to remember everybody.

I was pretty absorbed when I first started reading them. I read A Game of Thrones in a week, A Clash of Kings in another week, A Storm of Swords in about 4 weeks (I was on vacation for 2 of those weeks and was busy with other stuff), A Feast For Crows in about a week, and A Dance with Dragons in about 3 weeks. So in total, about 2 months to fully read the series. I wouldn't stress trying to remember every character, just the major ones and their relationship to one and other. It gets especially hard in the 3rd and 5th book when the eastern continent opens up and you're introduced to a whole bunch of new characters with very weird names. If you ever get lost though, this website is your friend... and enemy, but you will get to see PoorOldPo's cool paintings on some of the articles.