Light a wight tonight

Football references? Mance Rayder? And don't the Wildlings sound a bit like Raider Nation?

Another Conan reference: in Asha's chapter in Dragons where the Northeners re-take Deepwood Motte one of the Ironborn is named Cromm, the Cimmerian deity that Conan invokes all the time ("By Crom!") Dagon isn't the only god name the Ironborn use.

Another Jack Vance reference that I haven't seen here (maybe I missed it) is that in the Sorrows as Tyrion, Jon Con, Aegon, et al travel down the Rhoyne there is a ruined building called the Palace of Love, which is the name of book three of the Demon Princes series.

Commenting on the "cellar door" discussion from a while back, the door to the crypts at Winterfell are very much like the cellar doors attached to many American homes prior to WW II. Seems like a silly way to build it.

I don't know if this has been mentioned, but I think Lann the Clever is a GRRM homage to s-f/fantasy author Jack Vance's most famous character, Cugel the Clever. GRRM is a known Vance fan. Swindling a family out of their hereditary castle is just the sort of thing Cugel might have done.

Cugel is an epic screw-up, though. Clever in his own mind only. Recall his botched try at the Spell of Forlorn Encystment.

For some reason my avatar has stopped showing. It worked this morning but not this evening. It went to an empty box with an X in the corner, and now is the silouhette shape after i fiddled with my profile.

Any idea what the prob is? Solution?

Howdy. Just joined and this is my first post.

I'm Tom, live in the Los Angeles area, and an a card-carrying Senior Citizen. I started reading the books when I read about the TV series, which I haven't seen due to having fired the cable company years ago. Have only read the first 4, and am re-reading them to pick up the bits of info that I may have skipped before. Funny how you can see the seeds of what happened later when you go back.

I sort of wonder if the whole 7 books will be written before GRRM kicks off. Shame if he dies with the story unfinished.