81 replies to this topic

[DragonAge93]

Well, since there isn't any thread here, I guess I'll start one. Here we just talk about the first book in "A Song of Ice And Fire", what we've read, what we liked, what we disliked, etc.

I just got done with the Arya chapter where

Spoiler

Eddard gets beheaded. It made me really sad whilst reading this chapter, since Ned is my favorite character, and seeing how in his last moments, everyone looked at him as a traitor, and not the honorable man he is. And also my disliking of Joffrey was at an all-time high. And poor Arya, all the pain and trouble she had to suffer through throughout that whole chapter. Yoren gets her at the end, and I suppose he's going to take her away from King's Landing.

I can't wait to see how they portray this scene in "Game Of Thrones". Should be the pinnacle of the season.

Edited by DragonAge93, 15 April 2011 - 11:31 AM.

[Ran]

Thanks for starting off posting, DragonAge93!

I found a detail in your spoiler for that chapter interesting, so here's a question:

Spoiler

I remember, way back when, that quite a few people fresh off of reading AGoT had no idea who had grabbed Arya. And I admit, I believe I was one of them until Linda (who had read the book before me) set me straight.

Did you realize it right off, and what tipped you off?

[neutronicus]

Spoiler

I remember looking forward to the wonderful father/son adventures awaiting Ned at the Wall.  Totally blindsided me when Martin just killed him instead.

[snickerers]

Spoiler

When I first read the execution passage I wasn't even sure what happened and had to go back over it. I just finished rereading AGOT for the first time since ASOS was released and I was still apprehensive when I reached to Arya and Sansa chapters.

[elfish_warrior]

DragonAge93, on 12 April 2011 - 08:42 PM, said:

also my disliking of Joffrey was at an all-time high.

Just wait until later books lol

I remember this scene when I first read it, totally blind sided me!

Also Ran wheres the FFC board, thats where im at atm lol

[DragonAge93]

My pleasure, Ran!

Spoiler

I honestly didn't know it was Yoren until Arya found out it was him. I thought it might have just been a scraggly man on the street who grabbed her, but then I remembered Yoren came to find recruits at King's Landing.

Yeah, Joffrey seems like the type I'm just gonna want to beat the shit out of whenever I see his name from now on....  

I'll be reading some more tonight, I believe it's Bran's POV this chapter, so I'll come on here and post whatever I found really interesting (which is usually the whole chapter... haha)

Edited by DragonAge93, 13 April 2011 - 03:28 PM.

[DragonAge93]

Just got done with Bran's POV. My thoughts:

Spoiler

A very interesting chapter. First off, I like that Osha has changed a lot. I liked seeing her helping Bran into the Stark tombs. I hope to see some more interaction between the two. Secondly, this chapter made me even more angry that Ned's dead. Bran and Rickon having the dream he was down there waiting, and when that raven brought the letter and Maester Luwin said they needed to find a stonecarver who could remember his likeness.... And Shaggydog attacking Luwin, that got me. First I thought it was some dark magic hidden in the tomb that attacked him. Rickon is one brave little kid, sitting down there all by himself. Lastly, I liked hearing about the past Starks, especially Ned's father, Rickard, getting beheaded by Aerys is a nice comparison to what happened to Ned.

Well, next is Sansa. I'll post what I thought of that POV tomorrow!

[Areo]

It's really great to be able to read comments from people who are still reading the books (guess after the show starts airing these threads will be more active). I am a novice to the series, so it's still all fresh in my mind, but I didn't share opinions until I had read through all the books. Here I can remember how I felt during specific episodes which is cool

I started hating Joffrey long before that moment you refer to. Damn, not sure where should I put a spoiler tag, so here it goes.

Spoiler

Because he was portrayed mainly through Sansa POVs he seemed like a true prince for a short while, even knowing that it was all seen from behind pink glasses. I think the scene where he confronts Micah showed once and for all how cruel and spoiled he truly is. I wished him dead from then on. And yes, this is reinforced as the plot progresses, so if you think you hate him now...

[Marie Elise]

You guys are killing me here!  I so want to participate in this discussion, as I'm on page 225, and am just LOVING the book!  But I took a chance and clicked on the first spoiler link in this thread and *REALLY* blew a pretty big event for myself.  Maybe people could refer to how far along in the book their spoiler refers to?  

I'm getting the impression that I should buy a roll of butcher paper and start mapping out all the relationships.  It's hard to know who's a minor character, and who might come up again later.  Thankfully there are vast databases of info on the web... Just type in a characters name and you're at the wiki page for them - but I run into the same problem I have here, of spoiling myself, when I'm just trying to figure out who Shmendrick is and then I go to his page and it's like "Shmendrick was a cool guy who is BRUTALLY MURDERED on page 400", and I'm like "AAAAH TOO MUCH INFO!!!"

[Asha—Not Yara!]

Aw. That's to bad Marie Elise, but if you makes you feel better, there's even more great twists up ahead in this series, so plenty of other surprises to look forward to. Maybe you can start your own discussion thread in this forum? Just make it clear when you do where you're at in the books, so people can know what spoilers to stay mum about.

The appendix in the back of the book is usually spoiler free, though the Targaryen one gives away a spoiler in the my copy of AGoT, so you might want to avoid that one. I don't recall any other appendix entries being particularly spoilery, but maybe someone else can chime in.

When my mom was reading the book series the first time, she found the chapter summaries in the Tower of the Hand website useful as they just post summaries of what happens in that chapter, and don't seem to reveal spoilers coming up in later ones.

Edited by Mellisandra, 14 April 2011 - 02:09 PM.

[DragonAge93]

Sorry about that Marie. I have only about 100 or less pages to go before I finish, and can start A Clash of Kings. I kinda wanna finish it before Game Of Thrones starts this weekend.

[The Bastard King]

Areo, on 14 April 2011 - 09:16 AM, said:

It's really great to be able to read comments from people who are still reading the books (guess after the show starts airing these threads will be more active). I am a novice to the series, so it's still all fresh in my mind, but I didn't share opinions until I had read through all the books. Here I can remember how I felt during specific episodes which is cool

I started hating Joffrey long before that moment you refer to. Damn, not sure where should I put a spoiler tag, so here it goes.

Spoiler

Because he was portrayed mainly through Sansa POVs he seemed like a true prince for a short while, even knowing that it was all seen from behind pink glasses. I think the scene where he confronts Micah showed once and for all how cruel and spoiled he truly is. I wished him dead from then on. And yes, this is reinforced as the plot progresses, so if you think you hate him now...

I already started disliking Joffrey when he was at Winterfell. When he turns Robb down for a sparring match and starts taunting him and acting like a prick even though he's the coward.

Edited by The Bastard King, 14 April 2011 - 07:13 PM.

[Whatever]

ok, i have a proposal. Why don't we just create a thread for each chapter? The problem is, if there is only a general topic for the whole book people don't know when it's safe to read. I've seen something like then on a WOT forum, and it worked very well.
Like "Prologue". "Bran I". "catelyn I". "Daenerys I". and so on.
Maybe a a thread for each chapter is too much and it'd be better to open a thread for each group of three of four chapters, IDN, but i think it would be better to avoid spoilers and to finalize the discussions.

[Ran]

One per chapter would be a LOT of threads. Maybe grouping into sections of, I don't know, 10 chapters might make more sense. Feel free to try the experiment. I'd suggest clearly describing the chapters in the section in the initial post -- maybe using the first line (if not too spoilerish) to describe it, so people can quickly get oriented.

[DragonAge93]

Well my thoughts on Sansa's chapter: WARNING: SPOILERS

Spoiler

I really felt sorry for Sansa in the beginning of this chapter. And then Joffrey comes in even more of a little bastard. When he showed Sansa Eddard's head, pissed me off. I don't know, but when Sansa said it didn't look like Ned, maybe he did survive and really did go to the Night's Watch. I mean, they could have found a double that looked like him. Maybe Cersei smuggled him out? I don't know, just wishful fanboy thinking. But it seems that Sandor Clegane isn't that much of a "Hound". It seems he's trying to help Sansa after Joffrey has his knights abuse her. Can't wait to see where this is going.

Edited by DragonAge93, 15 April 2011 - 09:18 AM.

[lanceschaubert]

Ran, on 12 April 2011 - 08:47 PM, said:

Thanks for starting off posting, DragonAge93!

I found a detail in your spoiler for that chapter interesting, so here's a question:

Spoiler

I remember, way back when, that quite a few people fresh off of reading AGoT had no idea who had grabbed Arya. And I admit, I believe I was one of them until Linda (who had read the book before me) set me straight.

Did you realize it right off, and what tipped you off?

Yeah, I did

Spoiler

It was Yorren, right? What's that mean to you?

[snickerers]

DragonAge93, on 15 April 2011 - 09:18 AM, said:

Well my thoughts on Sansa's chapter: WARNING: SPOILERS

Spoiler

I really felt sorry for Sansa in the beginning of this chapter. And then Joffrey comes in even more of a little bastard. When he showed Sansa Eddard's head, pissed me off. I don't know, but when Sansa said it didn't look like Ned, maybe he did survive and really did go to the Night's Watch. I mean, they could have found a double that looked like him. Maybe Cersei smuggled him out? I don't know, just wishful fanboy thinking. But it seems that Sandor Clegane isn't that much of a "Hound". It seems he's trying to help Sansa after Joffrey has his knights abuse her. Can't wait to see where this is going.

Spoiler

Having just reread AGOT for the first time since just after ASOS came out, I've found that I am much more sympathetic to Sansa than I was after my first 4 or 5 rereads. I guess that means I've matured a little in the last decade or so.

As for Ned's head, I figured that was Sansa commenting on how deteriorated it was even though they dipped it in tar. I don't think Cersei had a chance to smuggle him out since she appeared truly surprised, as were most of the other people there, when Ned was beheaded. She had already made a deal with Ned and assumed that Joffrey and everyone else would go along with it.

[DragonAge93]

Yeah, true. It's just my sense of wanting him to come back that gives me these hopeful thoughts.  

Hey Ran, you mind putting in the thread title MAJOR SPOILERS? Just so that I don't have to keep putting all my posts in spoiler format?  

Edited by DragonAge93, 15 April 2011 - 11:32 AM.

[Basel Gill]

Prologue (Will) and Chapter 1 (Bran I)

Well, such as it is. I finally finished off The Fires of Heaven in Wheel of Time and began AGOT tonight. I could have read farther, but I wanted to get my thoughts down while they are still fresh in my mind.

Spoiler

"We should start back," Gared urged as the woods began to grow dark around them. "The wildlings are dead." Not a bad first line, but not a great one either.

I found Ser Waymar Royce to be an arrogant bastard if there ever was one. He doesn't know everything, but thinks he does just because he holds the authority at the moment. I've worked with jerks like this. I wasn't sorry to see him killed so early. Will I found much more likable, and was hoping he would become an important POV character down the road. His death disappointed me. I don't know what to think of these "Others". Westeros seems to have its own version of a zombie plague. First they killed Royce, and then he becomes one of them and kills Will. I don't recall ever hearing of this epic series as being a zombie saga.

Then I began the first actual chapter. Except these chapters aren't numbered. No big deal, unless you're blogging your reading experience, in which case it would make things easier to organize by number. I'm guessing the man being executed is Gared from the prologue. I'm a bit lost as to what would have made him desert after 40 years of loyal service. If he saw the Others, or saw the bodies of Royce and Will, he should have been scared enough to get back to civilization as soon as he could. If that sort of thing is creeping around the woods, I wouldn't want to stay. And when he was being put to death, he seemed to still be himself (as in not bitten by the Others zombie plague).

I liked the direwolf pups. I have a feeling they will become prominent pets. Although the mention of direwolves put me in mind of this. I'm betting it will be running through my head all day tomorrow.

A couple of nitpicks that annoyed me: Chapter 1 mentions several times that it is summertime, albeit the beginning of the end of summer. So why is there snow all over the place? If this land is meant to be based on England, or at least northern Europe. While I've never been to that part of the world, I'm guessing there aren't waist-high snow drifts in late summer. I think in a world where summer lasts for ten years or so, the transition to wintertime would be a lot slower than in our world. And shouldn't a ten-year summer mean a ten-year autumn before winter sets in?

Secondly, I found it really hard to believe that a season would last several "years" from the characters' POV. Bran specifically thinks that it is the ninth year of summer and the seventh year of his life. Why does a year as we know it exist in this world at all? Humans in real life conceived a year to be the period when the seasons had made a full cycle. What we think of as one year has no reason to have been devised in Westeros, since it is only a small fraction of a single season. If anything, what they think of as one year should be equal to 40-50 Earth years.

Just my $0.02.

Edited by Basel Gill, 19 April 2011 - 06:22 PM.

[The Scabbard Of the Morning]

Actually, calendars on earth are mostly based on the position of celestial objects, not seasons.

It just so happens in a world without magic, the celestial objects an the earth's position in relation to them are the sole cause of seasonal changes, so the cycle of seasons and the cycle of celestial objects in the sky match up perfectly.

In Westeros, the calendar is similar to earth, but the seasons are different because the seasons have a supernatural element to them.