The hairy bear

They are great, worth-reading books. Great characterizations all arround, and there are even some snipets of early ideas of ASOIAF. That said, IMHO George is top notch at almost everything except with the endings. I found all of them lacking in a way or another. My takes: Dying of the Light: Good first novel, but overall perhaps the weaker of the three. The thing is that it takes place in a dying world, with a heartbroken protagonist, and George is so good at transmiting this pessimistic mood all throughout the book, that while it's a fine read, it's a little depressing. Fevre Dream is a really cool vampire story set on 19th century steamboats. Great characters, and great atmosphere. One of the most interesting takes on vampires I've ever seen. I still don't understand why it hasn't been adapted. The first 90% of Armageddon Rag is one of the best books I've ever read. The characterization of the members of the Nazgul and the old friends of the protagonist is superb. The dialogues are great. The mystery and the tension are palpable. But then, the ending is rushed, nonsensical and unfulfilling, in a way that greatly disminishes the whole story.

"Likely they were too shy to come out," Ned jested. He could feel the chill coming up the stairs, a cold breath from deep within the earth. "Kings are a rare sight in the north." Robert snorted. "More likely they were hiding under the snow. Snow, Ned!" It'll be king Jon.

The named characters are: The 6 characters that were supposed to be included in AFFC's prologue: Initally, AFFC was supposed to start with a 6 POV prologue with Dornish and Iron Islands characters (Aero, Arys, Arianne, Asha, Aerion and Victarion). Since they were all intially prologue characters, George had to think of a title to distinguish them. Those titles were kept when the chapters were distributed through all the book. But when those characters have further chapters, they are title with their names. The characters that change his identity, from AFFC. George thought of changing Sansa and Arya's names to reflect their change of identity. He didn't start doing that in ASOS because he still hadn't thought of it. Jon Connington: George couldn't title his chapters with "Jon", so he had to think of something. Barristan: no idea here, but perhaps George did it so that Jon Connington didn't stand out that much.

No, it's not a First Law universe book. It's set in a parallel version of our own world. Apparently the geography it's the same, but demons and cannibalistic elves inhabit the earth.

Gollancz has made available the fist three chapters from the Devils, the first book of Joe's new trilogy. They are real fun. The style is 100% Abercrombie, but it feels something completely new. I'm already sold!

They seem good choices. Dunk really looks thick as a castle wall, and he's nearly as tall as he should be. And I guess they can made him seem even taller with high shoes and forced perspectives.

The looks of the show is getting better with every season. Many truly amazing shots.

Keep dreaming?

I think it has been a good resolution. I was fearing that they'd abuse the supernatural element, so I'm happy that there was a logical, earned answer to the mystery. (except for the tongue, which I think they should have dispensed with).

I think that there was certainly something fishy going on. If we look at the family trees of the Starks and the Lannisters, going back for many generations, we see that lords almost never married with families from outside their regions, and never with other Great Houses. The information we have for the other regions is consistent with that pattern. And then, suddenly, we have Starks bethroting Tullys, the Martells proposing betrothals to the Lannisters, Lannisters and Tullys negotiationg marriages, two great lords sending their sons as wards to another,... it's as if suddenly the entire paradigm for marriages had changed.

Nice theory, but I'm afraid it's not possible. We are told Elys Waynwood is the uncle of the current Lady Waynwood. That means that he was a younger brother of Lady Waynwoods father. If Elys descended from Jocelyn, so would his elder brother. Therefore, any claim to the North that may stem from Jocelyn would have gone to the main branch of the Waynwood family, not to Harry. If we ignore the fact that Edmure no longer is Lord of Riverrun, and Sansa is nowhere to be found, then yes. Being the heir to the lordship of the Vale is a huge thing by itself. Specially when the current lord has very bad health and is in no position to sire children. I do not think that Littlefinger's interest on him is disproportionate at all. That said, there's certainly something going on with those tapestries.

It won't be easy to make sympathetic protagonists out of three incestuous polygamous siblings who routinely burn thousands to death to satisfy their lust for conquest. It's a show that, in order to work, will require to make up much more stuff than HotD.

@sifth After Harys Swift complains that the Tyrells have filled their coffers with the plunder of Dragonstone, Mace replies: "I resent your implication, Swyft," Mace Tyrell said, bristling. "No wealth was found on Dragonstone, I promise you. My son's men have searched every inch of that damp and dreary island and turned up not so much as a single gemstone or speck of gold. Nor any sign of this fabled hoard of dragon eggs." It's just that. Mace talks about his son's men, not about him.

I wasn't convinced after reading AFFC, but once Dance came out, I came to the conclusions that the events happened more or less as Auranne Waters described. The last chapters in Dance take place about three months after the fall of Dragonstone. By that time, many people have come and gone between King's Landing and Dragonstone, including many of the soldiers from the West that participated in the assault. It seems to me that it would be impossible to maintain any significant foul play in that context. That conspiracy would require far too many people with different allegiances to agree on a lie, with huge risks associated and no apparent benefit for any of them. I'm not sure what quote you are referring to. In ADWD's epilogue Kevan thinks that "Loras Tyrell is gravely wounded on Dragonstone". A few chapters before, in Cersei I, we have "At last report the Knight of Flowers had been dying on Dragonstone of wounds received whilst taking the castle. "

That's not even true in real life. It is very common to have blond-haired individuals with only one of the parents being blond. And it's more unusual, but far from impossible, to have to blond people produce a brown-haired child. Af course, as Alester Florent says, Martin's genetics do not work as Mendel's.

It seems that there may be room for a small dose of cautious optimism...

This extrapolation doesn't take into account that the three currently manned castles are bigger than average (Castle Black being the "central castle", Eastwatch-by-the-Sea a trade and communications hub, and the Shadow Tower the most important castle on the west side). One should assume that the other castles (with the exception of the Nightfort) are much smaller than those. (the current distribution is 600 men at Castle Black, 200 at the Shadow Tower, and fewer at Eastwatch) With this in mind, ten thousand men should be more than enough to man all the castles of the Watch. An explanation that has been frequently suggested is that there was the tradition that prisoners in border skirmishes during the Seven Kingdoms period were usually sent to the Wall. Once those wars stopped, the Wall lost this steady supply of recruits. After that, we know that Maegor sent there many members of the Faith Militant. But during the long, peaceful reigns of Jaehaerys and Viserys, the decline would be significant, as they wouldn't get replacements during a whole century. And since the Dance ended with no clear losing side and everyone focused on reconciliation, that trend would continue. I daresay that it must be during this long period that many of the Wall's castles were closed.

They could, if Rodrik Arryn (Rhaenyra's grandfather) was brown-haired. Another potential source for brown hair could have been Corlys' wife (Laenor's grandmother). We don't even know to which family she belonged to. And there's Rhaeny's Baratheon ancestry to consider. ETA: the paternity issue in the books would also be less murky if Harwin Strong had been described as brown-haired. But he hasn't. And we don't know the hair colour of anyone from House Strong. In fact, the Strongs are usually described as large men, and none of Rhaenyra's children are. We have been told that Rhaenyra's sons didn't resemble her or Laenor's hair, not that they resembled Harwin in any way.

Rhaena started the tradition, according to legend, by placing an egg on the cradles of Jaehaerys and Alyssane, on years 34 and 36. In the next generation, Jaehaerys put an egg on Aemon's cradle on 55. And then, it's not longer done with the rest of the children born during Jaehaery's reign (not the rest of his sons, not his grandchildren, and not with Rhaenyra). I think this pattern is very telling that there was a conscious policy by Jaehaerys to avoid that too many collateral lines have access to dragons. It's also woth noting that Elissa Farman had stolen the dragon eggs around the time of Aemon's birth. In other words, I don't think that Rhaenyra's boys were given dragon eggs to counter "bastard allegations". I think that it's just that Viserys I had a much more relaxed attitude towards the proliferation of dragons that his grandfather had. And even in that case, Jaehaerys himself had given his heir presumptive an egg at birth, so it's only logical that Jacaerys was given one (as he was expected, at birth, to eventually become king). The fact that it's not mentioned doesn't mean that it didn't happen. Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence. Aegon II could have had Sunfyre's egg placed in his craddle (he is his first rider, from an early age). We don't know. And with little Daeron, we know that he already had a dragon at 6, before he could ride it, so I'd say there's a strong likelihood that he was given an egg at birth. We shouldn't take for granted that Rhaenyra's sons are bastards. It's something that it's made obvious in the show, but it's much more muddy in the books (when we don't even have descriptions of Rodrik Arryn and Harwin Strong). Also, the marriage alliences betwen Rhaenyra and Laena's children make a lot of sense regardless of the boys status. It's not only that Laena and Rhaenyra are friends, but the fact that those marriages unite three different dragon-riding lines competing for the Iron Throne: Rhaeyra's (Viserys' chosen heir), Daemon's (Viserys' heir apparent for many years) and the Velaryons (who felt that had been cheated in the Great Council). It also is in keeping with the tradition of Targaryen kings having Velaryon wives when no sister is available. I think that politically those marriages were a no-brainer, and would have occurred even if no one had questioned the legitimacy of Rhaenyra's sons. I think that a key aspect to consider is that, in the scenario proposed by the OP, "She also doesn't have beef with Criston Cole, and he is still her supporter. " I think Cole is key in the ability to launch the coup. Without him, the greens can't keep the secrecy around Viserys' death, and can't make the coronation ceremony. The Green Council would be much more balanced, an a real opposition could be organized from within the city. He is called the "kingmaker" for a reason.

I think it's important to take into account that the kingsguard are not the only people protecting the king. The Red Keep will always be full of guards, and have no doubt that when the king travels outside the keep, he brings more than seven bodyguards in his entourage. Normally, the kingsguard would be a mix of young fighters in his prime and old seasoned warriors. There will always be those younger members who can carry out the more demanding duties with the help of as many household guards as they need. Alester Florent has already laid out one: loyalty. People will serve much more faithfully if it's a life post. Other reasons would be prestige (even if they are no longer top fighters, having recognizable names around you give you a higher standing) or privacy (the kingsguard are privy to most of the king's secrets. You don't want those guys going back to their families with that information)

We can say for sure that: There has never been any ruling Queen of Winter or lady of Winterfell. That in the many occasions that in such a long dynasty, a king/lord has died leaving only daughters, the succession has ended passing to a male. Which, in practice, means that women have been barred from inheriting Winterfell. Although in theory anything can happen in the future, a female claimant to Winterfell would have a difficult time making her claim prevail. Precedent would be a huge disadvantage.

GRRM has given us a clear answer: the answer being that it's not clear. Any succession that could lead to Wintefell being inherited by grand-grandsons through collateral lines, or to someone born outside the North, etc. will likely be disputed. And it won't be a clear-cut scenario where it's a legitimate heir against an usurper.

Argella Durrandon declared herself Storm Queen, and ruled briefly. Besides her, there might have been Ladies of Storm's End or Storm Queens. We just don't know. It's a completely different situation with the Starks, where we have been explicitly told by Martin that there were any female ruling monarch. That conclusion would have merit in a succession going back a century or two. But when we are dealing with the Starks, we are talking of eight thousand years. That would be, on average, more than three hundred generations. If you throw a six-sided dice three hundred times and you don't get a "one" even once, wouldn't you agree that the dice is probably rigged? The Iron Throne has a different succession from the rest of Westeros. There's no reason to assume that inheritance traditions and rules are the same for every seat. The kingdom of the North itself was formed through the union of other kingdoms, just as with Westeros, where we know that different succession rules are kept. George himself says that also says that "the laws of inheritance in the Seven Kingdoms are modeled on those in real medieval history... which is to say, they were vague, uncodified, subject to varying interpretations, and often contradictory." We don't know what "normal succession" is, and we don't know whether Winterfell was supposed to go to Cregard Stark. If we have an actual example of females being passed over, and we know that in eight thousand years no female has ever ruled, the most logical assumption is that females are barred from inheriting Winterfell. Assuming that there were "funny businesses taking place" every time a female had to inherit to justify why it didn't happen doesn't seem a reasonable approach to me.

George confirms that there has never been a ruling Lady of Winterfell or Queen of Winter. That means that in the eight thousand years that the Starks have supposedly been ruling Winterfell, there has not been a single king or lord with only daughters. That's just statistically inconceivable. Besides that, in the family tree we have an actual example of both women and males from female lines being barred from inheriting: when Cregan firstborn Rickon died, his daughter (Serena) and his grandson (Cregard) were disregarded, and Winterfell went to his second son Jonnel.

There's at least one instance when we know for a fact that this happened with the Starks, if we are to believe the wildling's legend about Bael. It's perfectly possible that the Stark line passed through female lines in many other occasions. I'm not sure about that. Lord Edwyle had three male uncles (Artos, Errold and Rodrik) that would be closer kin than Jocelyn's grandsons. If Rickard and Edwyle died while they were alive, I'd say they'd have a much better chance of inheriting Winterfell. Even if the uncles were all dead, I'm not entirely sure I'd be a clear cut matter. The potential grandsons of Artos the implacable would be grandnephews of a Lord Willam, through a male line. Meanwhile, Jocelyn's grandsons would be grand-grandsons of Lord Willam, through the female line. With the later being born and raised away from the North, I'm honestly not sure how it'd turn out.