Any hardcore Game of Thrones/Song of Ice and Fire fans?

[Cruel2BKind]

Seriously on a GoT kick, with the premiere and second episode of the TV series. I only recently burned my way through the series last semester, but I'm seriously considering reading it again, to get a better perspective. There were times in the first read-through where I lost track of characters movements, and the names of auxiliary characters.

Has anyone had GoT influence their stories? I realized that I had a character named Jorah (of mormont fame) and I had to rename him to Osiah, because the characters were too similar.

 

[NaokoSmith]

I did think of a sort of reworking of a bit of the story but I've got enough on at the moment so I'm leaving it to see if it improves with age.

I got into GoT through the tv series, I liked the first better - the political intrigue was interesting. There seem to be more hot strong women wandering about in the Second Series. I'm tempted to give the books a go as well, maybe after editing the stack of stuff from here that is piled up in my netbook .

 

[Desiremakesmeweak]

A family member of mine whose opinion I regard highly is BIG into this series. I guess at some point I will start to watch it and then... who knows. Probably get stuck in it like you and all the other fans! It's a story idea I would find interesting just from watching the bits of it I have seen.

 

[Cruel2BKind]

Listen to this and you'll become a fan of the show even if you haven't seen it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ydRAb9cwHnA

 

[DirkVanDyck]

A massive GoT fan here, read all the books before the show got picked up so was a little apprehensive of how they were going to the books. Good to see they have not flinched too much though I still cannot help but go "oooh they missed that bit" or "where's so and so?".

I have yet to put pen to paper to a GoT inspired story that's whirling around my head at the moment its just trying to word it without it reading like a Sansa Chapter!!!

 

[NaokoSmith]

A massive GoT fan here, read all the books before the show got picked up so was a little apprehensive of how they were going to the books. Good to see they have not flinched too much though I still cannot help but go "oooh they missed that bit" or "where's so and so?".

I have yet to put pen to paper to a GoT inspired story that's whirling around my head at the moment its just trying to word it without it reading like a Sansa Chapter!!!

What's wrong with a Sansa chapter? Give it to us! LOL

 

[DirkVanDyck]

What's wrong with a Sansa chapter? Give it to us! LOL

Seriously!!!!! Her chapters in the first book almost made me contemplate reading book two onwards. They thankfully improved or maybe I just grew numb to them.

By the way folks apart from Tyrion anyone got a favourite character. Personally Arya in the books is a lot of fun!

 

[Cruel2BKind]

Seriously!!!!! Her chapters in the first book almost made me contemplate reading book two onwards. They thankfully improved or maybe I just grew numb to them.

By the way folks apart from Tyrion anyone got a favourite character. Personally Arya in the books is a lot of fun!

I actually really enjoy Sansa. I like all of the female characters because they are complex. They are real female characters.

As much as I hate to say it, Arya is probably the most Cliche out of all of the female characters in GoT. I love her, but the girl who wants to be a boy has been done a thousand times. I love Cersei (as a personality, her character is despicable) I love Brienne, Sansa, Danearys, Arya, Asha, Birgitte, all of the others.

The one exception is Catylin Stark. I don't know why, but even in the beginning I always just found her so fucking BORING.

My favorite characters to read are Danaerys, Arya, and Ned (sob). My least favorites are probably Bran, Catylinn, and Sam Tarly.

 

[PennLady]

I don't know about hardcore, but I've read all the books and have watched the first two seasons. I'm a big sf/f fan, and so when I saw this was in the works, I was thrilled. So many times fantasy even more than scifi gets crappy development and treatment on TV.

I don't think Arya wants to be a boy, per se; in fact, she has that in common with Cersei. Both of them are just angry that something beyond their control -- their sex -- has put them in a world where they have such limited options. Cersei fights this by playing the game and trying to manipulate more from behind the scenes; Arya is too young, I think, to understand that and so she acts more like a tomboy. Don't forget, Arya also has (had) Sansa as a sort of foil. Sansa did the girly stuff, so Arya didn't. Arya has pretended to be a boy, but for safety reasons more than anything else.

One of my favorite characters is Brienne of Tarth, who is yet another woman in a man's world. Yet Brienne doesn't have the one quality -- physical attractiveness -- that might give any woman an advantage. And although she isn't stupid, she also isn't as conniving as Cersei. So she is doing the best she can, while never denying she is a woman -- probably even more difficult than if she had pretended to be a man.

Catelyn Stark has not been given a ton to do, and is also different than she was in the books. Yet she has no real power. She is a widow, and can only offer advice to her son, who has no mandate to follow it. And as some know, and many have guessed I'm sure, Robb Stark has goofed by not listening to her.

 

[NaokoSmith]

Agh, agh, sssh! No spoilers. I have had to suspend my viewing of GoT while the Fella sneaks off to Brisbane to live it up with the lads, leaving Piglet and me to frolic about London pretending to go to educational antiquarian establishments .

Favourite character for a high femme MILF who write fantasy romance? Are you kidding? Can only be Brienne, sigh. I do like Sansa too, mainly because of the thing that appears to be happening with the Hound (don't tell me anything about it!) although he was a bit mean to her in the last episode I saw. I like her too because she tries to be all the things we admire: honest and loving and loyal but it doesn't work, and yet she retains that purity. When I think about it, the actress does her brilliantly.

Actually I like all of them.

I saw the actor Charles Dance once in one of the little streets behind Piccadilly about ten years ago. He was so graceful - even though he was just talking into his mobile while dithering about the pavement.

 

[DirkVanDyck]

I actually really enjoy Sansa. I like all of the female characters because they are complex. They are real female characters.

As much as I hate to say it, Arya is probably the most Cliche out of all of the female characters in GoT. I love her, but the girl who wants to be a boy has been done a thousand times. I love Cersei (as a personality, her character is despicable) I love Brienne, Sansa, Danearys, Arya, Asha, Birgitte, all of the others.

The one exception is Catylin Stark. I don't know why, but even in the beginning I always just found her so fucking BORING.

My favorite characters to read are Danaerys, Arya, and Ned (sob). My least favorites are probably Bran, Catylinn, and Sam Tarly.

I have to agree with Pen lady, Arts is not trying to be boy she IS mistaken as one but dies not bother to correct which early on has kept her alive. I feel she is the old fury of the Stark family, less about being noble and talking things through she is the old power that the Starks wielded in the past.

I do like the way Martin empowers all his female characters even Sansa after book one was far less a damsel in distress. Caetyln is a lost soul though no power left she cannot even be a matriarch as her oldest is bold and reckless which puts everyone into a whole load of trouble come the red wedding.

As terrible as it sounds I do hope Martin wraps it up in the next two books. I felt a feast for crows was a lot of filler especially after a storm of swords!

 

[Cruel2BKind]

I have to agree with Pen lady, Arts is not trying to be boy she IS mistaken as one but dies not bother to correct which early on has kept her alive. I feel she is the old fury of the Stark family, less about being noble and talking things through she is the old power that the Starks wielded in the past.

I do like the way Martin empowers all his female characters even Sansa after book one was far less a damsel in distress. Caetyln is a lost soul though no power left she cannot even be a matriarch as her oldest is bold and reckless which puts everyone into a whole load of trouble come the red wedding.

As terrible as it sounds I do hope Martin wraps it up in the next two books. I felt a feast for crows was a lot of filler especially after a storm of swords!

I HATED feast for crows. Probably as much as I can hate a book that I love. None of the interesting characters were in it. No Arya, No Danaerys... No Tyrion... You're right, the whole thing just felt like filler. The most interesting stuff was with Jaime and Brienne.

Dance of Dragons was WELCOME after Feast.

 

[PennLady]

I HATED feast for crows. Probably as much as I can hate a book that I love. None of the interesting characters were in it. No Arya, No Danaerys... No Tyrion... You're right, the whole thing just felt like filler. The most interesting stuff was with Jaime and Brienne.

Dance of Dragons was WELCOME after Feast.

IIRC, I read that Martin did that intentionally, because he simply had too much stuff to fit into one book. So, he followed the same time period from A to B with one group of characters, and then again with another, which that time included Tyrion, Arya, etc. So instead of one huge book, he broke it up.

Now, you could argue that perhaps if this was the case, GRRM could have used an editor to trim stuff down.

I didn't mind this, perhaps b/c I knew going in what was going to happen.

Oops, off to get PennBoy.

 

[Cruel2BKind]

IIRC, I read that Martin did that intentionally, because he simply had too much stuff to fit into one book. So, he followed the same time period from A to B with one group of characters, and then again with another, which that time included Tyrion, Arya, etc. So instead of one huge book, he broke it up.

Now, you could argue that perhaps if this was the case, GRRM could have used an editor to trim stuff down.

I didn't mind this, perhaps b/c I knew going in what was going to happen.

Oops, off to get PennBoy.

I knew WHY he did it. I still disliked it.

I've been working on a paper while listening to the opening theme.
Postpartum depression has never been this epic.

 

[soflabbwlvr]

IIRC, I read that Martin did that intentionally, because he simply had too much stuff to fit into one book. So, he followed the same time period from A to B with one group of characters, and then again with another, which that time included Tyrion, Arya, etc. So instead of one huge book, he broke it up.

Now, you could argue that perhaps if this was the case, GRRM could have used an editor to trim stuff down.

I didn't mind this, perhaps b/c I knew going in what was going to happen.

Oops, off to get PennBoy.

A Feast for Crows was also my least favorite book of the series. I had been following Martin's updates on his progress, so I knew how he got around the logistical problem he created for himself with the size and scope of the book. My disappointment was not a result of the characters and story arcs that were omitted, but rather due to the fact that it just didn't feel like a complete volume when I reached the end. It didn't build to a satisfying climax, especially after the events in A Storm of Swords (and the long interval between publication dates).

 

[Cruel2BKind]

I was lucky enough to discover it when five books were out.

 

[Ironiclaconic]

Big fan of the books and show.

I think GRRM influenced my stories, but not in an obvious way (No epic fantasy, yet). I like the way he relentlessly leverages internal character conflicts until an action that would previously have been shocking suddenly makes perfect sense. That isn't unique to him (Martin himself credits Faulkner, but the technique goes back at least to the Iliad) but his mastery of it exposed what was lacking in most modern fiction and illustrated its potential power in the type of books I wanted to write.

 

[Bramblethorn]

Seriously on a GoT kick, with the premiere and second episode of the TV series. I only recently burned my way through the series last semester, but I'm seriously considering reading it again, to get a better perspective. There were times in the first read-through where I lost track of characters movements, and the names of auxiliary characters.

Has anyone had GoT influence their stories? I realized that I had a character named Jorah (of mormont fame) and I had to rename him to Osiah, because the characters were too similar.

My partner and stepson are very much into it, and it's been growing on me, but I sometimes find the violence and cruelty a bit much. I didn't use to be so squeamish, but I seem to be getting more soft-hearted with age.

 

[PennLady]

My partner and stepson are very much into it, and it's been growing on me, but I sometimes find the violence and cruelty a bit much. I didn't use to be so squeamish, but I seem to be getting more soft-hearted with age.

I'm finding the whole violence thing a bit much on a few shows, and it's one thing that's kept me from watching "The Following" on Fox. There's just this whole circle of one-upmanship, it feels like. Fox tries to get as close to cable as they can, so AMC makes Walking Dead bloodier, then HBO/Showtime/etc. up their game as well. It's annoying.

The cruelty, if you just mean the cruelty between the characters, is probably pretty accurate for the type of people they are and are based on.

 

[PennLady]

I meant to say earlier -- my least favorite parts of the story, both on TV and in the books, have to do with Bran. I think it's mostly b/c he's a child, and I don't have a lot of patience where kids are the lead characters. However, I know Martin is going somewhere with that, so I'm just going with it.

 

[litfan10]

Here ya go:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CLCOvZOh1o

 

[Cruel2BKind]

Here ya go:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CLCOvZOh1o

That's beautiful

 

[DirkVanDyck]

I started off enjoying Bran as a character and felt atleast for the first few books he was going somewhere then he met up with Sam who took him to Frostfingers and I thought "here we go!" Then it just got boring for me it was almost like a ...hmm what to do with Bran now?

As for issues of violence, I don't think the TV series does anything different from the book I know my wife finds some of it a little extreme (clegane and his horse) maybe I'm inured to violence nowadays, I don't think shows are trying to beat other shows on violence they all see what is being allowed and go "well we can do that too then".

Anyone think of any miscasting in the TV show? I know alot of people feel Jamie has been miscast I don't agree. And I think they have done pretty well especially if you check out the Stark kids headshots outside of GoT an uncanny resemblence and good actors too.

Sort of on topic and maybe a little off how do we all feel about Ron Howard adapting The Dark Tower series....fills me with dread.

 

[Cruel2BKind]

I started off enjoying Bran as a character and felt atleast for the first few books he was going somewhere then he met up with Sam who took him to Frostfingers and I thought "here we go!" Then it just got boring for me it was almost like a ...hmm what to do with Bran now?

As for issues of violence, I don't think the TV series does anything different from the book I know my wife finds some of it a little extreme (clegane and his horse) maybe I'm inured to violence nowadays, I don't think shows are trying to beat other shows on violence they all see what is being allowed and go "well we can do that too then".

Anyone think of any miscasting in the TV show? I know alot of people feel Jamie has been miscast I don't agree. And I think they have done pretty well especially if you check out the Stark kids headshots outside of GoT an uncanny resemblence and good actors too.

Sort of on topic and maybe a little off how do we all feel about Ron Howard adapting The Dark Tower series....fills me with dread.

In recent memory, the only bits on TV that have shocked me as far as violence and sex are...

The mass (meticulously timed) murder of several imprisoned associates in Breaking bad
The C-section in Walking dead (shudder)
The scene where Joffery forces prostitutes to beat each other in GoT

And in the Books, I remember being a bit squeamish at the torture of Reek/Theon

Other than that, the violence and sex doesn't bother me too much.
Is that a problem? That's a different question.

 

[DirkVanDyck]

In recent memory, the only bits on TV that have shocked me as far as violence and sex are...

The mass (meticulously timed) murder of several imprisoned associates in Breaking bad
The C-section in Walking dead (shudder)
The scene where Joffery forces prostitutes to beat each other in GoT

And in the Books, I remember being a bit squeamish at the torture of Reek/Theon

Other than that, the violence and sex doesn't bother me too much.
Is that a problem? That's a different question.

Hey don't go ruining season 3 of Walking dead for me I have yet to make a start on that one.

Roose and Ramsey Bolton are weird characters their parts in the book are disturbing but damn it so good to read!