Game of Thrones [SPOILERS]

[Tale]

[Arthur_Parker]

I think Feist's Magician series goes on longer than the 2 I read (didn't care for it).

The first book was good, but I liked his work more when he wrote with Janny Wurts,  Daughter of the Empire is the first of Empire Trilogy

[Threash]

I liked Memory Sorrow and Thorn a heck of a lot more than Otherland, and his third series Shadowmarch was worse than those two.

[Tale]

[Rasix]

Can you post that upside down? I'm having trouble grasping your meaning.

[Teleku]

I think he's trying to say that Australia deeply desires to be just like the US.   

Interesting opinions on Williams.  The only stuff of his that I've read is Otherland, which I thought was fantastic from start to finish.  Since some of you seem to think his other stuff is worthwhile, maybe I'll give it a shot (I've always been warned away from his non-Otherland stuff by other people before).

[JWIV]

I think he's trying to say that Australia deeply desires to be just like the US.   

Interesting opinions on Williams.  The only stuff of his that I've read is Otherland, which I thought was fantastic from start to finish.  Since some of you seem to think his other stuff is worthwhile, maybe I'll give it a shot (I've always been warned away from his non-Otherland stuff by other people before).

Shadowmarch starts well, but ends poorly.  I like Memory, Sorrow, Thorn, but god is it long.

[shiznitz]

I couldn't get through Memory, Sorrow and Thorn either, despite loving Williams' Otherland series to death. L. E. Modesitt's Recluse saga is pretty good fantasy, although each book is sort of stand alone set at different places/times in the same universe rather than a linear narrative.

My feeling about those two series is the exact opposite; liked MS&T quite a lot, but Otherland was a boring slog.

Agree.  I just had problems liking the main character which was an important part of enjoying the books, I think.  I don't recall why exactly so don't ask.  I read it when it first came out.

[Morat20]

I think he's trying to say that Australia deeply desires to be just like the US.   

Interesting opinions on Williams.  The only stuff of his that I've read is Otherland, which I thought was fantastic from start to finish.  Since some of you seem to think his other stuff is worthwhile, maybe I'll give it a shot (I've always been warned away from his non-Otherland stuff by other people before).

I liked MS&T -- it was a bit different sort of fantasy to me when i first read it, lo these many years ago. Their fae folk are a bit more old fashioned (immortal, incredibly bitchy and hair-trigger, and absolutely alien to humans at best). I mean still had a fairly stock Cambell-esque story, but I enjoyed the setup and world.

The magic was fairly low-key and more in the "Knows things" varient than in the fireball stuff. The story was good enough, the characters were decent, and it was a solid if somewhat unwieldy trilogy.

Took me two or three times to get into it, but I blame being a teenager at the time. (I think I was a teenager at the time. Early 90s, right?). Otherland was okay, and I never got past book one of Shadowmarch.

As to Game of Thrones -- totally happy with what I'm paying for HBO just for that. :)

[Lucas]

Mance Rayder, in all his HD glory:


Smaller pic:

More official images:

http://winteriscoming.net/2013/01/first-season-three-photos-released/

[Tale]

I like them all. Meera Reed isn't how I imagined her, but she'll probably be awesome anyway, and every other casting choice is outstanding.

[Merusk]

I never caught what Tyrion looked like with his scar as I don't watch the show regularly, but that's not a bad compromise.  Not like they could have actually done the "lost half his nose" thing.

[schpain]

Mance doesn't look "charming bard" enough.  He looks closer to Stannis' character - I always got a more rogueish vibe from Mance.

I like that actor though; assuming he is the villian from Tomb Raider 2...

[Merusk]

Yeah, I can't see him sitting around strumming a lute convincing others he's a harmless buffoon.

[Cyrrex]

I never caught what Tyrion looked like with his scar as I don't watch the show regularly, but that's not a bad compromise.  Not like they could have actually done the "lost half his nose" thing.

Tyrion is kind of like two different people for me.  The book version and the tv show version.  Appearance is a big part of it...in the book version he is supposed to be extremely ugly (and extremely scarred after the accident, obviously), and far more repulsive in general.  What charisma he has only a few people seem to recognize and appreciate.  In the TV version, he is generally very charming, witty and likeable (and not repulsive looking).  Other than being a dwarf, and whatever stigmas go along with that, you never really understand why people don't like him more than they do - at least in the books, you know that people are judging him negatively for his appearance alone. 

That said, they didn't need to scar the tv version too badly, because being fugly is not important to this version of the character.

I could go on, but I won't.  I like both versions...easily my favorite character in both.  But yeah, I have to separate them in my head.

[eldaec]

They also brought out his prejudices and weaknesses more in the book.

Tyrion, like a few of the 'good' characters, tends to dismiss 'idiots' and think of them in the same one dimensional way the reader is encouraged to. Or when he does see that others can hurt him there is some neat stuff about being unable to turn away from provoking people - all his significant enemies are people he antagonises as much as they go after him.

His refusal to believe in 'snarks and grumpkins' also seemed more important and gave him actual character flaws.


I don't really see it as a fault of the TV show though, it is all there if you look closely enough, and the TV show can't/doesn't take you in anyone's head.

[Cyrrex]

I might be mixing TV and book, but I came away with the impression that Tyrion actually does believe in "snarks and grumpkins"...or rather, whatever it is that might be happening beyond the Wall.  Didn't he ultimately allow the Crows to raid his dungeons for more able bodies whilst he was Hand?  I seem to remember thinking that he was just publicly ridiculing the idea, because that was what nobility in the south is supposed to do, but in his own mind he thought there must have been something to it.  I think he respects the Wall, and surely there is a reason for that, other than the majesty of the Wall itself and the character of the men guarding it.

Whatever.  Not terribly important.  Except, maybe it will be once he comes back to Westeros and claims his birthright.

[eldaec]

He respects the watch (not least because if his fondness for cripples, bastards, and broken things), but sees it as a defence against wildlings and believes the only difference between them and people of westeros was being born on the wrong side of the wall.

He pointedly ignores the wight hand that Thorne brought south and even made fun of Mormont for mentioning white walkers.

He refuses to believe in any form of magic, his PoV narrative is pretty firm on that.

Given how underestimating or failing to respect enemies is one of two things in SoIaF that generally get you killed (the only other consistent harbinger of death is oath breaking) I doubt this will end well for him.

[Cyrrex]

He pointedly ignores the wight hand that Thorne brought south and even made fun of Mormont for mentioning white walkers.

It is exactly this scene that I was thinking of.  Can't remember if it was the book or the tv show, but I remember him explaining to somebody (probably Bronn) after Thorne and the court were dismissed, something to the effect of "yeah, I made fun of him and treated him with contempt in front of the nobles...but I also gave him exactly what he requested.  Had to keep up appearances, and stuff, but it is clear there is a threat that needs dealing with.  Win-win."  I think he did that because he probably either believed Thorne, or believed enough that something (other than Wildlings) was fucked up enough that he had better give him some men.  He is so far the only one since Robert died that has given any sort of aid of that kind (I guess Stannis kind of did, too, but with giant strings attached).

As far as not believing in magic...I mean, not many do at this point, do they?  It is only just coming back into the world with the birth of the dragons.

[Threash]

He pointedly ignores the wight hand that Thorne brought south and even made fun of Mormont for mentioning white walkers.

It is exactly this scene that I was thinking of.  Can't remember if it was the book or the tv show, but I remember him explaining to somebody (probably Bronn) after Thorne and the court were dismissed, something to the effect of "yeah, I made fun of him and treated him with contempt in front of the nobles...but I also gave him exactly what he requested.  Had to keep up appearances, and stuff, but it is clear there is a threat that needs dealing with.  Win-win."  I think he did that because he probably either believed Thorne, or believed enough that something (other than Wildlings) was fucked up enough that he had better give him some men.  He is so far the only one since Robert died that has given any sort of aid of that kind (I guess Stannis kind of did, too, but with giant strings attached).

As far as not believing in magic...I mean, not many do at this point, do they?  It is only just coming back into the world with the birth of the dragons.

He gave him what he asked for because he had promised Mormont he would do what he could, by the time anyone even saw Thorne the hand had rotted away.  If he had actually seen something "supernatural" he would have been a lot more interested in the issue.

[Draegan]

I couldn't get through Memory, Sorrow and Thorn either, despite loving Williams' Otherland series to death. L. E. Modesitt's Recluse saga is pretty good fantasy, although each book is sort of stand alone set at different places/times in the same universe rather than a linear narrative.

My feeling about those two series is the exact opposite; liked MS&T quite a lot, but Otherland was a boring slog.

This is my opinion as well.  I think I've reread MST a few times.  Otherland I couldn't finish.

I liked Memory Sorrow and Thorn a heck of a lot more than Otherland, and his third series Shadowmarch was worse than those two.

Shadowmarch was dreadful, but I did finish it.  It just wasn't good at all.  As far as MST and magic, I think originally Simon (I think that was the main char) was supposed to do magic.  You can seem him alluding to it at the end of Dragonbone but they never went back to it.

[Mrbloodworth]

This back on yet?

[apocrypha]

1st of April next season starts.

[eldaec]

31/3/13 in America.

That's 3/31/13 for adherents to middle-most-significant-bit first terminology.

[apocrypha]

Oh, yeah, it's just the TV Calendar showing the US air time in my local timezone :)

[Teleku]

31/3/13 in America.

That's 3/13/13 for adherents to middle-most-significant-bit first terminology.

I've really never understood you crazy foreigners hatred for the way we do dates.  We match it along the same way everybody talks!  It flows logically!

[Zetor]

Pfff, the only logical date format is yyyymmddThhmmssZ.


fake edit: 1st of april? Interesting date... if I were them, I'd open with a fake episode!

[Tale]

I've really never understood you crazy foreigners hatred for the way we do dates.  We match it along the same way everybody talks!  It flows logically!

But we say the first of march. You say march first, which is an instruction to do a military style walk before anything else.

[Teleku]

No no no, when I talk to non Americans they'll still react to "Whens your birthday" with "March 31st" most of the time.   

People only tend to say it the other way around when being very formal it seems.

[apocrypha]

I've adjusted to yyyy-mm-dd because when naming job directories they automatically sort by date that way.

[Merusk]

Amen to that.

Have to retrain the coops every 6 months when they swap out.  They all start mm/dd/yy so shit gets lost.

[eldaec]

Personally, I would say "31st of March", but saying "March 31st" is perfectly legitimate MSB first behaviour. It only gets all weirded up if you then add a year at the end and say "March 31st 2013", because what the fuck is that?


Also Merusk, Apoc, I feel your pain. Further, it amazes me how many IT professionals are unable to grasp the concept.

[Tale]

Trailer OMG

[Mosesandstick]

Was that a song by Florence?

[Merusk]

Sounds like it, but no.  Article I found on the trailer says its "Bones" by MS MR.

Can't let Florence have TWO trailers, after all.  Seven Devils was in the S2 trailer.