Board 8 > Vincent reads A Song of Ice and Fire *anti-purge edition* *spoilers*

(+) Yeah! (+)

Hello.

I am currently reading A Game of Thrones and am about halfway through, I made this topic 2 weeks ago but then I put it on hold because I was on vacation.

But now I'm BACK.

Short recap:
- I have watched the HBO series and loved it, so I know the big things that happen in A Game of Thrones
- I only have the first two books for now, but will obviously get the third/fourth and fifth one when it comes out if I like the second one.

No spoilers past where I am thanks.

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tag

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Reading more today, possibly finishing the first book so I can finally get to the stuff I don't know yet!

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tag. I got the 4-box set and am going to start reading them soon, so it'd be nice to come back to this topic and read more impressions of it.

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I'll get in a huge amount of trouble for saying this, but Clash of Kings is actually my least favorite of the first four books.
Of course that's kind of a silly thing to say when I absolutely love all four books -- it's like naming a least favorite Metal Gear Solid, when I think they're all aces. The general consensus is that the first or the fourth book is the worst, though, and I guess I differ from that.

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3>2>1>>>>4

5 is probably going to end up in 3rd or 4th for me depending on how the last 250 pages play out.

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I'd go 1 > 3 >> 4 > 2, personally.
(I know I'm in the minority. But it's worth noting again that I love all four titles, so the rankings are rather unimportant.)

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tag again

3>2>1>4 imo

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/ssbsb/

3>2>1>>>4 is pretty right.

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first time through: 3 > 1 > 2 > 4

recent re-read: 3 >> 4 >= 2 > 1

a feast for crows is a totally different type of book but it probably has the best writing of the whole series

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And if you don't know, now you know.

I'm 500 pages into A Game of Thrones now, I'm going slowcat I know

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VincentLauw posted...
I'm 500 pages into A Game of Thrones now, I'm going slowcat I know

That should be the point where it really picks up. It didn't seem to pick up that much in the show, but I thought the book got exponentially better at that point.

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Eh, I don't mind the buildup that much because I've seen the show, I really like the more descriptive feeling the book has too.

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Almost finished now.

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Who's Ned?

Ned's dead, baby.

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game of thrones is easily the worst book of the bunch. if you liked it, you're going to love the next few.


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ICON:
the raindrops the raindrops the raindrops the raindrops the raindrops the raindrops the raindrops the raindrops

i'd cautiously agree, but it's not dissimilar to season one of the wire in that regard - it's a pretty great beginning in any case, and putting it last is a relatively minority opinion.

it certainly lacks the scope of the rest (some see this as a positive, but i don't tend to) and it has probably the weakest writing and the most inconsistent pacing too.

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And if you don't know, now you know.

Reading the last few chapters as we speak, will probably start A Clash Of Kings right after. Don't know how many chapters I'll still read today though!

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50 pages in

- I liked the prologue, Stannis mad. What the hell that red lady
- Joffrey is still a douche
- Tyrion is still awesome and him as the Hand seems amazing. I will do... justice.

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Giggsalot posted...
i'd cautiously agree, but it's not dissimilar to season one of the wire in that regard - it's a pretty great beginning in any case, and putting it last is a relatively minority opinion.

it certainly lacks the scope of the rest (some see this as a positive, but i don't tend to) and it has probably the weakest writing and the most inconsistent pacing too.

I can't wait until he finishes Clash of Kings and I can write a post summarizing why it's my least favorite

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120 pages in. I just finished Davos Seaworth's chapter

- I'm looking forward to seeing how everyone will react to Cersei and Jaime's secret
- I'm growing more fond of Stannis, he seems like a pretty cool dude. Not fit to be a king, but a great character so far judging from what little I have seen of him.
- I'm starting to dislike Robb. It seems a crown really brings down a character in this series! That said, I don't really hate him or anything, but I hope he doesn't turn into a smug douche. If he really rides Grey Wind in battle that is AWESOME though.
- I hope Arya gets reunited with Nymeria. Direwolves are awesome and a big part of why my favourite family is still the Starks (including Jon Snow).

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bumpo


might read some more before I go to bed, who knows

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220 pages in now. I already like this book more than A Game of Thrones and I believe I have yet to hit the 'good' part. So many great story arcs here, like Tyrion tricking Varys and Littlefinger into doing his bidding. The only thing Tyrion has done wrong so far is turn down what Ser Allister Thorne had to say about the undead. Or better yet, not speak to him at all. Understandable, yes, but it'll surely come back to bite him (and the realm) in the ass.

Arya's story arc so far is great too and I'm even starting to like where Sansa's is going!

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Looking even more forward to telling you why I disagree >.>

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Looking even more forward to laughing at you because of how wrong your opinions are!

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tcaz2 posted...
Looking even more forward to laughing at you because of how wrong your opinions are!

Pshhh my opinions are awesome.

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Awesomely wrong!

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Oh god that chapter with Theon flirting with his sister without knowing it was hilarious.

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Indeed.

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VincentLauw posted...
Oh god that chapter with Theon flirting with his sister without knowing it was hilarious.

Theon POVs have some of my favorite moments in Clash of Kings, and that's definitely one of them.

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Holy ****. **** just went down. Stannis murdered Renly as a shadow WHAT

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:)

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It's iubaris, not Lubaris.

I'm 400 pages in now, and I think I'll finish this book either today or tomorrow. I don't have the next book yet though, and I'll probably be gone from monday to wednesday. There's a chance I'll only be getting it next weekend SO YEAH.

That said, I still have about 300 pages to go so HYPE

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I haven't read anything today. And I had nothing to do. Damn I'm lazy >_>

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Theon's chapters have some of the best characterization in the series.

Tyrion still owns that book though. And the main reason I love ACoK is because of all the buildup that starts once Renly dies. And I love reading about war strategies and King's Landing politics.

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536 pages in now. I'm hooked and will probably finish this book right now. Bran, Rickon, Osha, Hodor and that boy and girl just escaped from Theon and Theon is pissed.

And Asha is the only Greyjoy I'd call one of my favorite characters for now, by the way

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Woah, I'm glad Bran and Rickon seem to be still alive. Theon is still a douche for killing other children and putting their heads on pikes though!

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Never have I gone from liking to laughing at to despising to pitying a character faster than I did with Theon.
To George R.R. Martin's credit, everything about Theon's many transformations felt perfectly in line with his characterization.

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So I finished it. Won't be starting book three until next week probably.

Short thoughts (I'm tired so I'll do a more extensive write up later if I feel like it):
- Jon Snow with the wildlings seems interesting enough. Sad to see Qhoren go, he was a great character.
- Poor Tyrion. I hope he gets revenge on Cersei or whoever tried to off him
- Theon dead yahoo. Kinda saw that one coming and he deserved it.

edit: Oh, and of course I thoroughly enjoyed it. 2 > 1 so far

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It's going to be impossible for HBO to do that battle justice.

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I don't view it as impossible. It's big, yeah, but the wildfire wrecks everything quickly enough. Not that longlasting.

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It would be hard for the wildifre to look good...normal fire is supposedly already hard for sfx people to do. And the wildfire hangs around for a while. I've always viewed the battle as very cinematic, like this:



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I guess. We'll see.


I'm probably gone in a few hours until thursday. If someone would keep this bumped I'd be grateful.

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change of plans, I'm leaving tomorrow yay

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last bump before I leave

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That's my only problem with the HBO series, they spent so much money on background and costumes and casting that they can't seem to afford the battles. It's really sad, but unavoidable. It just takes so much away from Tyrion and Robb in some ways.

Other than that, I just finished book 4 yesterday, and it was awesome, though I feel like so much was held back for book 5.

3>>1>>2>4

And I agree about Theon. I don't know who my "favorite" characters are, but Theon and The Hound are some of the most intriguing for me.

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From: Redtooth | #046
It just takes so much away from Tyrion and Robb in some ways.

They really didn't cut much of Robb's battle. It was barely covered in the book.

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They needed all the budget to go into that type of stuff, considering the battles are about 1/100th of the show/books...

It will be better next year though, since you have to assume they'll have a bigger budget because of it's popularity, plus most of the sets are already built.

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Things I liked in Book Two -- and I might as well remind you that I really do like every book in the series an awful lot, even my 'least favorite' -- included everything Theon, as Theon had some of the better surprise moments, starting of course with his sister and ending with his family abandoning him and a tiny force at Winterfall. The Tyrion chapters also included some quality foreshadowing of book three developments, but on its own merits and stripped of context in the series, the scenes sort of fall flat.

It's just my opinion, mind you.

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Now that you've finished Clash...

(Spoilers up to Book Two.)

Of the five books, I found Clash of Kings by far the most predictable. I have a bit of a habit of predicting major upcoming plot developments and twists as I read along, and I basically nailed most of what Martin intended to do with Clash, which made it my least favorite of the titles.

I knew that Stannis and Melisandre would deal with Renly first, and I knew Renly didn't stand a chance.

I knew that the Royal forces in King's Landing were going to win the battle against Stannis before it happened. Davos only had something like three POV chapters in the entire book, Stannis was woefully undeveloped, Tyrion was outsmarting everybody, Melisandre was sent back to Dragonstone.

I knew the Greyjoys would attack the North because everything bad that can happen to the Starks must happen to the Starks. The tragedies occurring to the protagonists were unpredictable in Book One, when it truly seemed to thwart all conventional expectations, by Book Two you knew going in that there would be no Stark reunions, no moments of happiness for them, just a bunch of meandering around and plot contrivances to separate them (admittingly the worst of these contrivances, involving Arya, doesn't happen until Book Three, but still.)
I was actually a huge fan of a certain Book Three twist because that caught me off guard, but nothing in Book Two had a similar effect.

Catelyn's chapters read like a horrifying descent into misery. I'll concede her chapter when she interacted in a three-way meeting with Renly and Stannis was one of my favorites.

Tryion's chapters, on the other hand, read like the coming of the Hallowed Lord Marty Stu. Let me get this straight, I like Tryion, but I like him most when I feel he's relatable and flawed. Book Three does a great job of sending Tyrion crashing back to Earth, which is why I loved it, but too much of Book Two's Tyrion chapters read like he was a demigod of human wit and strategy. I get contrasting Tyrion with Ned Stark -- Tyrion's clearly the better choice between those two -- but several moments with Tyrion just irritated me to the point where I was actually sort of hoping Tyrion would actually lose for a change, and it sucks when an author actually writes a character you really like in such a way that you're worried you may begin to dislike him.

Beyond that, Davos got shafted -- he or someone else close to Stannis needed more POV chapters. Renly's faction sort of got shafted too, and I almost wish Martin had started Brienne POV chapters in Book Two so we got a better look at him. One of the most important developments for the Starks [redacted because it's not technically spoiled until Book Three, but let's just say a certain character really needed his own POV sequence there.]

(I guess what I'm saying there is that I actually agree more with Martin's current approach of handing out more frequent 'guest POV' moments to other characters.)

Also, I found Daenerys' Chapters in Clash the worst out of all four books in which she appears (note that I have not finished Dragons, so I guess that might change.) I think that's one thing the first book did far better than the second, the Daenerys chapters really captivated me in the first book and became a slight letdown thereafter. (Admittingly Drogo being alive and the Dragons twist helped a fair deal.)

Same with Jon Snow, actually. Liked his training sequences in Book One, liked the Wildling sequences in Book Three, but in-between Book Two is simply this long journey to get Snow from point A to point B, and not much of interest happens aside from Snow killing Qhorin.

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