Introductions

[brashcandy]

I read a lot of fantasy but little has the depth, humanity and scope of this......clearly GRRM has rejected old fashioned heroes, villains, good and bad. One thing that came to me was that although he can do a great battle scene there does appear to be an anti-war thread though the books. War distorts, tears families apart, ends badly and solves little. Conversely some people come through changes for the better after the annihilation they've witnessed.

Agreed, but war also cleanses, and can be extremely transformative especially for the weaker groups in society, i.e. bastards, cripples and and broken things (read women) :) So, this is why we see bastards like Jon Snow actually getting a chance to command, along with the yet unknown for Robert's bastards like Gendry, Edric and Mya, and Tyrion is poised for great things too. But, i'm most excited for what it means for women now that all the old patriarchs are dead/dying. They have a real chance to make inroads and not be restricted to mere marriage pawns!

[Garlan Tyrell]

Hi

A newbie and probable lurker saying hello.

My position is initially horrendously behind the times in that I discovered GRRM through HBO's GOT. Not at all hardcore! Then I started reading GOT in July and finished ADWD last week......couldn't put them down (or the Kindle to be precise). Now bereft as I consider the length of time I have to wait until it is resolved. Even my wife noticed I was a tad morose at the prospect of being without new product. I shall of course re-read them all in 2012 to fill the void.

I came to the site last week and I'm blown away by some of the insights.....awesome stuff. I have had to re-think lots of what I had thought I'd taken from the books already.

Keep up the good work folks....it is appreciated by those who might be less sure of their own theories!

Cheers

A Blue Bear

Blue Bear, have you read the Dunk & Egg Stories? They're relatively short, but that's some additional stories on the World of Ice and Fire.

[modron]

Hi,

I'm Susie :) I'm from England, and am currently a little way into the first book in asoiaf. My friend had been harassing me for years to read the books, but I was prompted by the TV series starting. I watched a few episodes, and decided that I wanted a more in depth view and the world and the characters (now my friend won't shut up about how he'd told me to read the books).

I'm going to finish the current books before I even think of watching the series – which, is very well done, but I've found I much prefer the fiction to the series. I hope to meet people I can have debates with about it! Although I'm not particularly good at arguing my point...nothing I ever say makes any discernible sense.

[Stubby]

Welcome ens362, Valyrian Doom, Cerys, Mrs Stark, Snow Storm, WW, TLoV and modron. :)

Hope you all have fun and enjoy the forums!

Cerys, there are some threads in the ‘Help’ forum that might assist.

modron – which type? :P

[MarianneSnow]

Hi

A newbie and probable lurker saying hello.

My position is initially horrendously behind the times in that I discovered GRRM through HBO's GOT. Not at all hardcore! Then I started reading GOT in July and finished ADWD last week......couldn't put them down (or the Kindle to be precise). Now bereft as I consider the length of time I have to wait until it is resolved. Even my wife noticed I was a tad morose at the prospect of being without new product. I shall of course re-read them all in 2012 to fill the void.

I came to the site last week and I'm blown away by some of the insights.....awesome stuff. I have had to re-think lots of what I had thought I'd taken from the books already.

Keep up the good work folks....it is appreciated by those who might be less sure of their own theories!

Cheers

A Blue Bear

Welcome Blue Bear!!! I also started reading the books this year right after the TV showed began. I am on my first re-read and I am a firm believer that this site makes me feel stupid but I LOVE it!! I am always finding some cool insight or I love when people argue over some theory! I just started reading the Dunk and Egg stories too and so far they are awesome!!! Enjoy!!!

[Spearwife262]

Hello! This is my first post, I'm a totally new here ^^ I've been reading threads and posts, hope I'll be able to catch up with you guys :D Truth be told, I've read the books only because of the HBO TV series. Always been a fan of epic fantasy novels, but I always prefered(at least until now ^_^ ) writters like Maria Semionovna and such. :) Any advice?

[Umberto]

Hello.

[juliovn]

Hello!

My name is Julio, I live in Vancouver, but I'm originally from Brazil. I just finished ADWD and I was chatting with my friend and he had this amazing theories and I was like ''Holy shit, did this guy thought all of this on his own?''. Turns out that no, he didn't. He actually read it in this amazing forum board which he recommended to me. So here I am.

I've been reading the A Song of Ice and Fire series for quite some time, and it was this series that introduced me to the fantasy genre (yeah, it was not Lord of the Rings), currently my favorite genre of literature. Also, I loved the TV adaption, how can you not? It's brilliant, much as the books are.

Anyway, that's my introduction. Thanks for having me here, and see you guys around. Also, corrections regarding my English are very welcome =)

[Nas!]

Hello! This is my first post, I'm a totally new here ^^ I've been reading threads and posts, hope I'll be able to catch up with you guys :D Truth be told, I've read the books only because of the HBO TV series. Always been a fan of epic fantasy novels, but I always prefered(at least until now ^_^ ) writters like Maria Semionovna and such. :) Any advice?

Welcome, Spearwife262.

All the fantasy recs you could ever hope for you will find in the Literature part of the Misc. forum.

Hello.

Hello.

Hello!

My name is Julio, I live in Vancouver, but I'm originally from Brazil. I just finished ADWD and I was chatting with my friend and he had this amazing theories and I was like ''Holy shit, did this guy thought all of this on his own?''. Turns out that no, he didn't. He actually read it in this amazing forum board which he recommended to me. So here I am.

I've been reading the A Song of Ice and Fire series for quite some time, and it was this series that introduced me to the fantasy genre (yeah, it was not Lord of the Rings), currently my favorite genre of literature. Also, I loved the TV adaption, how can you not? It's brilliant, much as the books are.

Anyway, that's my introduction. Thanks for having me here, and see you guys around. Also, corrections regarding my English are very welcome =)

Welcome, Julio. I am certain your English is plenty good enough, but no doubt some helpful sort will correct you anyway. I am a Vancouverite, too, but originally from...uh...the suburbs of Vancouver (not quite as exotic as is Brazil, sadly).

[Cotter_Pyke]

A bit late but here's a hello from the Netherlands :)

Relative new to the forums but not to the books.

[pdoubleum]

Hi folks, new poster here!

Watched HBO 'Game of Thrones' at the urging of a co-worker, loved it, read the 5 ASOIAF books back-to-back-to-back...you get it in an 8 week period! Loved them all and can't wait for Winds...

Not a huge fantasy guy, ASOIAF and LOTR my only 2 series of this genre. The length of story, volume of characters and interweaving storylines did remind me of one of my favorite series, Lonesome Dove, although the genre and writing style are much different.

[WinterChild]

Hi everyone! I'm fairly new to ASOIAF. I started GOT back in January (thank you HBO for filming this series, and Sean Bean for playing Ned, otherwise I might never have discovered it :) ). I devoured the rest of the series and am eagerly awaiting the season one boxset while following all the news about season 2 filming.

[ObsidianEdge]

Newb question:

Are there any threads that talk about the 5 or 10 most significant ideas and theories for readers and new forum members to investigate?

R + L = J is one big one that didn't occur to me on my own and makes me think over and re-read evything again.

Also whether or not Jaqen and Syrio are the same person.

What happened in the Tower of Joy?

There are loads of others and I am just barely scratching the surface, but surely prior newbs have asked the same question.

Are there any threads that can guide us newbs on our way here?

Edited September 29, 2011 by ObsidianEdge

[JeorMormont]

Hello! My name is Kevin and I first picked up the series in 2001 just after the release of Storm of Swords. Like many others here I am a lover of fantasy, and believe Martin's series to be the high water mark of contemporary fiction. I have lurked the forums for a while, enjoying the community's insight into the books (I particularly enjoy the easter egg thread). It's great to have a group of people that are as infatuated as I am.

In addition to being a book worm, I am also a graphic designer and I have recently embarked on a poster series celebrating the vivid castles and cities of A Game of Thrones. If possible, I would like to solicit some feedback from the community and maybe get suggestions for locations that might work well for the poster series.

Anyways, thank you for creating such a wonderful community and I look forward to chatting soon!

[Cotter_Pyke]

Hi Kev,

I would be interested to see your work :)

Cotter

Edited September 29, 2011 by Cotter_Pyke

[Stubby]

Welcomes to Cotter_Pyke, pdoubleum, Winter Child Obsidian Edge and JeorMormont. :)

OE, the short answer is 'not really'.

The longer answer is that the General (ASOIAF) forums is a good place to start. Part of the fun of all these theories is that they are still theories, so there is no FAQ or the like of theories that have become dogma (for lack of a better word and i don't for a moment think that these theories have gone that far) as that would likely sound the death knell for all the discussion.

Kevin, noting your art interest, please be aware of the board rules about the like (extracted from the Board FAQ):

Q. I've made this awesome design based on the books/TV show, and I want everyone to know they can buy a print/poster/T-shirt/Pog featuring my cool design. Where do I post this information?!

A. Nowhere. Unless you hold a license to sell commercial products based off George R.R. Martin's intellectual property, you are not allowed to advertise here. Fan art is great, so long as it's non-commercial.

Otherwise, Cheers to all and enjoy the place. :thumbsup:

[QueenNymeria]

Hello Everyone!!

I am new and wanted to officially introduce myself, even though I have put a few posts out there already. I have to admit that I did not really know about this series until the HBO show, but at this point I have read all of the books and really love them. GRRM's writing is so full of texture and detail and his characters' humanity really jumps off the page for me. I am currently working through a re-read of GoT- slow going because I am reading it out loud with the BF (a habit we picked up years ago on a long hiking trip). It is fun to read it aloud, I find myself slipping into little character voices every now and again.

This board is a really incredible trove of resources and ideas and I just wanted to say that I am happy to be a part of it! Please, everyone, keep doing what you do- it is so great to come on here and read others' thoughts and theories; it increases my enjoyment of the books tenfold.

Cheers!!

QN

[Knyfe]

Hello~

I've been on the forum for a week but never stopped by, so here. I actually only started reading the books 2 months ago, but it has easily become my favorite series. I love that there's no such thing as a "good guy" or a "bad guy" in the series, and I love that almost all the scenes including food are annoyingly mouth-watering.

Hope you'll have me! :)

[Dena]

Hi!

I'm a huge fan of the books (I plan on reading them again ASAP). I've been reading this forum for some months because I find interesting all the theories, references and hints some of you see.

I apologize if sometimes my English is bad, or if I don't make myself clear.

Edited September 30, 2011 by Dena

[Lord_Chaplin]

Hello everyone!! I stumbled onto HBO's GoT, and once the first season was complete my girl and I went and got all 5 books. I am completely hooked on the series!!