PhD research: The Early Days of the Westeros Forum and the ASOIAF Fandom

[Reny of Storms End]

I joined the old board early in 2002 I believe. I agree with others that it definitely seemed like a closer knit community back then, but the numbers allowed that. I found the board because no one I knew enjoyed fantasy, and I wanted to talk to anyone I could find about the series. I was only 15 at the time I joined the boards, so it made me one of the younger members, but no one cared. I know personally the biggest difference between now and then is losing the feeling that I know most people posting.

As for meeting GRRM, I did it twice at Torcon and the Con in Boston. He seems like a really great guy, but on the occasions I had to talk with him, at BWB parties, he seemed disinterested. He appeared to be more engaged with those who were of age and could drink.

ETA: over the years my attitude towards him has remained very positive. I really like that even though he's hugely successful he still interacts with his fans.

[Inevittable]

Lots of very helpful answers above, thanks all. Keep them coming please.

Are you going to WorldCon in London?

I'd love to, but I think the cost is going to be prohibitive. I'd be interested in your 'complicated feelings about fandom' if you want to PM/email?

[ants]

I read AGOT and ACOK in Jan/Feb 2000, and joined the board (I think it was eesite???) when I returned to Uni (lived in Australia) and had internet access in March or so. It was a much smaller community then and there was a lot of discussion/debate/anticipation of ASOS. Lots of theories. The great Grand Unification Theory was a favourite. Of which ASOS wrecked a number of them. DAMN YOU GRRM! :)

I can't remember if it was pre/post ASOS's release that we switched to ezboard. It was definitely in 2000. One of the big things with the switch was custom titles, with the first ones going to anyone who reached 1000 posts. Unlike the switches since, oldies didn't get any transference rights. Between that and the discussion around ASOS, the board really buzzed. I think that was also when it got split between forums for the first time. General chatter was very strong. Didn't have the brotherhood without banners then.

Unfortunately leaving Uni at the end of the year I lost my internet, and didn't really get some for about a year. So I fell out of it, and then lurked a lot. A real pity since I was only 40-50 odd posts behind (I think) Son of Hot Pie who ended up getting that 1000 mark first.

For the real oldies over time you either drift into General Chatter or drift away (at least early 2000's) since without a new book the theories just got rehashed again and again and there really wasn't anything new to discuss. There was also a general drop in excitement as GRRM continued to fail to produce the new book. I remember when every month I would check his website for updates, and we all knew that it was a 6 book series. Once upon a time there was no US Politics thread, each issue had its own one (how long would Bengazi be?) and there was no split off of entertainment. I don't think there was as much discussion of movies/TV back then. I remember the debate over combining all the US Politics threads into one (to save others from the overflow), and the huge debates over the US involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan. I think there were more balanced members from the right back then (e.g. Flow) who actually argued their positions rather than using sound bites. I can also say I started the Aussies threads. That was back in 2000.

Personally, given the seven year gap to ADOD, plus the news the series would be at least 7 books, I decided not to continue with the books. Too much risk GRRM would die before finishing the series. So since then I have stayed with the Miscellaneous forums. Generally the community is still very good and I am fascinated by US politics so my participation varies. The debates during the Global Financial Crisis were also fantastic, as well as some of the autopsy threads on that issue.

I do think there is more of a left leaning sounding board now-a-days, but I'm not sure how much that's because the "right" have moved so far right that their positions have become difficult to argue and someone who is moderately-right is now really (or should be) a democrat.

Hope that helps. Never met GRRM, but been in Australia/UK and never attended a conference. Not huge into Fandom for authors.

[davos]

The history of the board has been outlined nicely between the above comments and the links to thread where it is discussed in more detail. I'm probably considered an old-timer by most but don't think of myself that way. The old-timers to me are those who were around in the early ezboard days or before, who were around when ASoS was new. These would be people like Chataya, Trebla, KAH and a few others that still are around now and again.

I discovered ASoIaF back in 2000. I was working at a bookstore at the time and was mining the dude who shelved the SF/Fantasy section for suggestions of what to read. AGoT thrones was his first and most enthusiastic recommendation. I devoured that as well as ACoK almost immediately and was thoroughly hooked. I bought ASoS the morning it was released and finished it within a few days. Like several others, I found this board looking for information about when ADwD would be coming out. This was on ezboard. I think this was the summer of 2002. I gleaned what little information there was to be had, mostly that no one had any idea, very quickly, and lurked off and on for months. I started posting regularly in early 2003 and have been a more or less regular member of this community since.

I met GRRM in the fall of 2004 at a dinner the Chicago fans organized with him when he was in that area for a miniture knights convention convention (or something along those lines, I recall he was there because of his hobby rather than as an author). There was probably 8-10 people there, all of whom I knew at least in passing from the board. George, as always, was very congenial and welcoming of his fans. That night also has the distinction, though I had no clue this would prove to the be the case, of being the first time I met my wife in person (more on that latter). I've had the pleasure of spending time around GRRM 3 or 4 times since. He has always been tremendously approachable and has treated his fans with the utmost respect. He's made a significant effort to remain a part of the community of SF/Fantasy fandom rather than acting as one separate due to his distinction of being a published and respected author. I've not had the opportunity to see him since before the run up to the TV series so I can not speak from personal experience rather or not his higher profile has impacted his relationship with his fans. Everything I've heard says it has it has not but others can address this better than I.

The fandom has changed significantly in the time I've been a part of it. As others have indicated, it was easier to build friendships through this board than it is now. Even back in 2003 it had the atmosphere of a large, very dysfunctional but still affectionate family. There was a lot more discussion of personal lives in GC and a lot more joke threads. It was generally fairly relaxed and fun. This board was the hub of a vibrant community made up of 5 or 6 splinter boards, each being made up largely of board members who wanted a smaller community more geared towards their interests and personality to unwind with. The chat function on the main board, when it was working, and the chat function at another board set up almost completely for that purpose, were very active.

Its a much less personal and personable fandom now. Its simply gotten to big. The joke thread and personal discussions that were a regular feature of GC are largely a thing of the past. As far as I am aware most of the splinter boards have died as well. While its a great fandom, even before the TV series, this board was just getting to much traffic to maintain the same sense of intimacy that it once had. The advent of the TV series just sped up this trend. Its still one of the most intelligent communities in fandom and this board still holds discussions that would put most comparable forums to shame. Its still a community I enjoy being a part of. That it is not what it was is largely due to the great success of ASoIaF and this is something to celebrate. Another feature of this fandom that is worth mentioning is the number of people that are active in it that are not traditional geeks. While this may not be as distinctive now as it was back in 2004 or 05, this community still attacks smart, literate people who might not be fantasy fans in general but still connected deeply with ASoIaF.

I don't think I can end this post without mentioning the RL impact this board has had. A very large number of RL friendships started here. A number of couples, including my wife and I, met because of this forum. There is still a number of people who make meet-ups, often though not always tied to aconvention where GRRM is appearing, a major feature of their year. WorldCon is the big one where the yearly BWB gathering occurs but there are always other get-togethers throughout the year. This fandom goes far beyond this board.

[Relic]

I've been on here since the days of eesite, which would date me back to 99 or 98. This was when revenshea was in charge of the board. Ran would soon inherit and lead us into the glory (and drama filled) days of Ezboard. I, along with two others inherited her GRRM website and uhhhh...ran it into the ground.

Back then GRRM was active on AOL and we would sometime speak to one another via that medium. He was generous with his time and tolerant of my questions regarding the art of writing. I was working for the New York Post and had organized our features editor to do an interview with George right before the UK release of aSoS. Unfortunately the editor pulled out a few days before it was supposed to happen, citing some stupid reason or other. I begged him to reconsider and told him GRRM would be huge one day. He did not, and I ended up looking like an idiot. Sadly, George never spoke to me on AOL again.

I think the thing I miss most about the early days of fandom was the unifying knowledge that we few loved something that we knew was amazing. It was like a small band of people found buried treasure or a secret knowledge. It created bonds, some of which still hold up today.

I used to hassle mostly everyone I met to read the books and maybe 5% of those people actually did. I got a lot of "swords and dragons? Fuck off with that nerd shit" from a ton of people, some which no doubt are now in live with the show. On the other hand everyone I managed to convince loved the series.

If you have any specific questions feel free to ask.

[The Marquis de Leech]

I lurked on the old EZBoard, but signed up at the dawn of the board's current incarnation in November 2005. I've never met Martin, nor am I likely to.

The books forum of yore was smaller, less fast-paced, and less obsessed with Stannis (certain characters have risen to prominence in fandom, and he's one of them. The likes of Littlefinger have declined). There was also a certain (and I mean no offence) pride-bordering-on-smugness that ASOIAF readers had the best possible taste in fantasy literature (it was all about literature back then); this self-confidence has become muted as the years have gone on, and people grew dissatisfied with AFFC and ADWD.

There were also likely to be more game-related threads in the books forum; the games forum hadn't been split off yet.

It was also easier to recognise people in the old days. The influx of newbies coming and going makes it harder to get to know people.

[litechick]

1. XRay--Have I told you lately that I love you?

This video seems particularly relevant.

Back in the day...I was resistant to a new fantasy series because I was totally over the fantasy thing. Little did I know.

In all the years since aSoS I've had precious little payoff in terms of plot but I will always honor GRRM for books 1-3. Honestly, even if 1-3 is all I get, George deserves his place as a hero of fantasy.*

George has had a long road to achieve his current recognition. I presume that 1-3 were written in the relative obscurity which allowed him to focus on craft and story rather than premieres. If the accolades are intruding on his ability to hunker down and produce, he is forgiven.

The expansion of the board is both a blessing and a curse. It's less cozy but also less insular. If we could maintain our level of discourse but also embrace different frames of reference, it would be fantastic. (I'm drunk, that probably doesn't make any sense.)

For myself, I don't feel like a 'fan' in the mindlessly adoring sense but I guess that many years of coming here to discuss everything from Jon Snow's parentage** to Muslim extremism has made a mark on me.

I've completely lost track of what was the original question so I guess that's it.

* I get the sense that 'fantasy' is no longer the term and we are supposed to call it 'speculative fiction' now--whatever.

**There is no question in my mind that L + R = J. If George ultimately writes it differently, it will only be because he was too heavy-handed with the foreshadowing and people figured it out so he had to change it so as not to be predictable. There. I said it.

[S John]

I read the books in 2004, AFFC was not out yet. I lurked on the old EZboard and then made an account here and decided to start posting when the community moved to this site. I guess that was '05 or '06.

I will say straight out that I definitely liked the board a lot better before the shows came out. The sense of community was better. I still come here occasionally, but out of habit more than anything. There have definitely been many new people post-HBO show who have been great additions, its just that there are so many people now I can't keep everyone straight. At first I didn't really mind because I felt that the pre-show board was a bit 'cliquey' and I got a little bit of a kick out of a flood of new people coming in and changing the dynamic. But as the show has reached a height of popularity that I could never have possibly imagined at that time it has definitely lost a lot of the familiarity that it used to have.

Its kinda like how in real life I usually have a great time hanging out at a small party or in a small group, but throw me into a huge party where I don't know anyone and I'll flounder. That is what this community is to me now. A party that is too big for my tastes, so I pop in and see what is going on but spend most of my time elsewhere. Most people who I have befriended here over the years I can contact via facebook if I need to.

All that said, its hard to say if it is necessarily the influx of new members that has made me less enthusiastic about this place over the past 2-3 years or if I've just been posting around here for enough years that I've said what I had to say about most topics. It used to be that I would come here and immediately spot 5-6 threads on page 1 that I would want to read and comment on. Now... there will be maybe 1 or 2 that interest me enough to click on it.

[paddington]

I joined just before the Tv shows 15/4/10.

I'd never read much straight fantasy, I'd always perfered more sci-fi. It however was getting harder to find Sci-fi I enjoyed. So i started picking up fantasy, I am a little shamed to admit Goodkind was really my first introduction to newer fantasy.

I really just sorted of ended up here, because I wanted to see what some of the theories were. I am still here because, there is a good miscellaneous section. It's well run, the mods on the whole seem pretty balanced, and the memebers pretty interesting. I am and always was a pretty rare vistor to the sections about the books.

[White Walker Texas Ranger]

Back then GRRM was active on AOL and we would sometime speak to one another via that medium. He was generous with his time and tolerant of my questions regarding the art of writing. I was working for the New York Post and had organized our features editor to do an interview with George right before the UK release of aSoS. Unfortunately the editor pulled out a few days before it was supposed to happen, citing some stupid reason or other. I begged him to reconsider and told him GRRM would be huge one day. He did not, and I ended up looking like an idiot. Sadly, George never spoke to me on AOL again.

GRRM never became huge, or the editor never reconsidered? :)

Sometimes I roll my eyes at people who think they're superior because they read the books. Congratulations, you've read a 15+ year old book series that's been #1 on the NYtimes bestsellers list and millions of people have read. You are truly on the cutting edge of literature tastes.

[DanteGabriel]

Sometimes I roll my eyes at people who think they're superior because they read the books. Congratulations, you've read a 15+ year old book series that's been #1 on the NYtimes bestsellers list and millions of people have read. You are truly on the cutting edge of literature tastes.

I'm sure the superiority is rooted in when one read the books. Like how I used to get snitty at Nine Inch Nails fans who became fans after "The Downward Spiral," particularly the video for "Closer."

[Fez]

I started reading the books back in '99, at an age earlier than I probably should've, and I lurked on the old eesite that year as well, at an age definitely earlier than I should've. I started posting shortly after the move to the ezboard, although I think I went through a couple different user names (I only sporadically posted until around '02 or '03) before settling on Fezrock, and then just Fez.

The biggest thing I remember is that the board's genchat seemed a lot more carefree back then, less talk of politics (although that was there), more talk of made up religions, squirrels, and straight-up pornographic writing contests. Or maybe I just paid less attention to the serious topics back then since I was younger.

[Relic]

GRRM never became huge, or the editor never reconsidered? :)

Sometimes I roll my eyes at people who think they're superior because they read the books. Congratulations, you've read a 15+ year old book series that's been #1 on the NYtimes bestsellers list and millions of people have read. You are truly on the cutting edge of literature tastes.

Not sure if you are referring to my post in your second graph. If so, like i said, back in those days not many people knew who GRRM was. The first book to make the best seller list was AFFC. So yes, there was a feeling that we were a small community.

[awesome possum]

Yeah, I have no issue with my feelings of superiority as a long-time book reader. Is it any different than any fandom that has members who were around before the item in question became huge? Dante brought up NIN which is a good example. I would liken it personally for me to Arcade Fire. I discovered their first album shortly after it came out and loved the hell out of it. Now, almost 10 years later they're one of the biggest bands on the planet but I still remember when people were like, "WTF is this weird crap, they'll never make it." And they made it and I can say "I told you so."

I've done a lot of "I told you so's" regarding ASoIaF. Just a couple weeks ago I visited a forum I hadn't posted on in years and one of the top posts on the entire forum was a Game of Thrones discussion thread that was started by yours truly in January, 2007. The first post was news that HBO had picked up the series for development and I was frothing at the mouth telling everyone to read those books because and I quote, "This is going to be one of the biggest shows on television by the end of the third season."

I have no qualms at all with feeling pride that I have supported this juggernaut before it was a juggernaut.

And I'm proud of the feeling of brotherhood that comes with being old school fans and the camaraderie that comes from the suffering of essentially waiting 11 years to find out what happened to Tyrion, Dany, Bran, Jon and others. So many people who came to the series late have no idea what those long dark days were like, hoping month after month, year after year for just a hint of news of publication for the next book.

They will, though, by the time TWoW is released in 2019. ;)

I think, getting back to topic, this is the biggest change for me personally in my fandom of the series. I love this series and will never not love it, even if the last two books are disappointing as hell nothing will ever change the feelings I had reading the first three books in the series and the feelings I had when rereading books 4 and 5 after my expectations had been lowered and I could just enjoy those books for what they were. I love the series and I will always be a fan, but I have become less of a fan of George R.R. Martin personally as time goes by. It's his right to take as long as he wishes on the books, its his right to get caught up in all these side dream projects that his new fame and fortune grant him the opportunity for. And it's my right to be disappointed in the fact that I personally believe we will probably never get the final book in this series because he's selfishly (again, in my opinion) spent so much time on those side projects instead of the series that made him a very wealthy, popular man.

[drawkcabi]

I want to add that with me, I don't feel smug or superior to those that didn't come to ASOIAF until after the TV series, I feel resentment I'm sorry to say... though not to individuals here I've gotten to know and really like, but to the fl00b wave as an entity.

Like Relic said, this was me as well:

I used to hassle mostly everyone I met to read the books and maybe 5% of those people actually did. I got a lot of "swords and dragons? Fuck off with that nerd shit" from a ton of people, some which no doubt are now in live with the show. On the other hand everyone I managed to convince loved the series.

Except my number was 0% and that hurt that nobody cared for my opinion. (On a side note - another great thing about finding the old EZ board back in those days was finally there were people who listened and respected my opinion and that was just such a boost to my self esteem.)

Anyway then all these new people show up after GOT premieres on HBO, they cause the servers to crash, I've been cut off from the forum because of them, and I also can't help but put the faces of those who ignored me back when it was just books on those who are drooling over the series and flooding the TV show and books forums now.

So now I'm more standoffish to new people, maybe it's unfair, but the feeling of resentment is there. But to elaborate on what I said above, the new people that stick around and make thoughtful and insightful comments about anything we are discussing here in the Miscellaneous forums (where I have pretty much made my main roaming territory) have shed the group fl00b image to become individuals to me and I value their presence here now as much as anyone I've known since my own joining of the forum. Let me get to know you and it won't matter to me when you came here, I will come to value and respect you and be grateful for you being here if you show me you are more than just a random "GOT is teh cool!" post.

[Ken Stone]

I joined the board around 2001 and almost got banned right away. Somehow made it all the way to here.

A big difference I've noticed is that back in the "old days" people seemed to feel like they had more ownership of the community as a whole. Some of the longest threads were discussions of the community itself. Members felt strongly that they were a part of something special and exclusive. Today it isn't like that any more. You can discuss "anything under the sun" except the community itself.

[arya_underfoot]

I first read the books in 1998, shortly after ACOK was released. It happened completely by chance. Jordan and Eddings were the two most popular fantasy authors back then. I'd read all of Jordan's books and couldn't get beyond a couple of pages of Eddings. So whilst looking for something new to read, I chanced upon AGOT. I read it mainly because of one of the recommendations on the back cover which said that the storyline had similarities to the war of roses, a subject that I was interested in at the time and had already read numerous books on. I enjoyed it without being enthralled. My most enduring memory of AGOT is not being able to figure out why there was so much time and book-space devoted to Dany, who seemed like a dead-end character to me. It was only halfway through ACOK that I realised how HUGE asoiaf was going to be. This guy Martin was a once-in-a-lifetime genius, I thought. Fast-forward a few years to the early 00's and I was again looking for books to read, but I'd forgotten the name of the author who wrote those fantastic books which started out like the war of the roses. It wasn't until many years later in 2006 that I saw AFFC on the shelves that I rediscovered asoiaf. By this time, we had cable internet at my parent's house, and immediately after reading ASOS and AFFC I started looking for info on ADWD and found this forum...

For many years, I lurked and read all the book threads and caught up with all the theories, mainstream and crackpot. I was amazed by the incredibly intelligent and sophisticated discourse in the majority of discussions. I felt too intellectually intimidated to post my opinions regularly. I'd say that amongst regular visitors to the forums, I probably have one of the lowest post counts, and almost all of them are in the cricket discussions, a rare topic that I actually know a lot about. One of my first posts in this forum contained an sms abbreviation (can't remember which one) which sparked a flurry of comments about I was a philistine trying to destroy Rome with that sort of language. I think that really put me off from posting frequently for a long time. The other thing that stood out for me was how closely knit the community seemed to be. For the first few years, it felt like everyone knew everyone else, and I was very much the outsider. To be fair, I never fully participated in the community and have absolutely no right to complain. I've always been impressed by the moderators. They've managed to run a tight ship despite the inevitable influx of idiots that the tv series has brought in. Trolls and morons of other descriptions are promptly removed, and offensive material is kept to an absolute minimum.

I've never met GRRM nor have I attempted to contact him. I am however incredibly happy for his success. After decades of struggling to get recognition, it's all happening for him now, later in life. I used to get really angry with the delays in the publication of ADWD, but have now come to accept that GRRM is enjoying the celebrity and fame that was long overdue, as is his right. I think I'd probably do the same if I were him. This necessarily means that the completion of asoiaf will be delayed and may not ever happen.

[Errant Bard]

I came here in 2006, close after the forum opened, I think.

The forum was smaller, though with the release of AFFC, it was already relatively big for a Fantasy book fandom. The community felt like it was less fractured: a lot of people in General Chatter were also posting in books forums, and overall the feeling of haughty superiority and disdain towards other boards "up north" that General Chatter oozes nowadays did not really exist as such.

It was also more civilized, or so it feels, I was not even aware that there was a report function for half a decade -I never had a need to use it-. Not to say there were no heated discussions, but it stayed within boundaries.

General Chatter at that time felt like it leaned a bit more to the right, and that the conservative speaking up were more numerous and more articulate.

The books forums definitely changed along the way, and a lot certainly comes down to the fandom getting enormous. Moderating has become less tolerant as a result: there is no time to learn to know someone and steer him into productive discourse, and too many posters. Also, one thing time brought on was moderation of Martin's "slowness" threads, which itself brought the departure of some disgruntled members who managed to found a splinter board teeming with resentment for Westeros.org.

Anyway, in book forumes, usual stale, old topics keep popping up, only way faster, and obscure sub-groups in the fandom gain enough critical mass to be seen. Actually, every single subject is almost certain to get some following. Discussions feel like they are a tad less focused, too: in the beginning, while there were often hate threads for the women of the series, it was more likely that thread would be about one interpretation, leading to a theory and its ramification, now there are more attempts to have "appreciation" threads, shipping, and in general loose discussion about anything coming to the mind of the posters, in chaotic fashion (not saying that good stuff cannot arise, though: with that many people, ideas are that much more diverse.) Derailments about Stannis are a good illustration, so are the "foreshadowing" threads or the various "character rethinking" stuff.

One thing to lay at the foot of the TV series is that the fandom changed from being solely made of people who read genre books to a more diverse crowd, a crowd more typical of pop culture trendy sites on internet, so as ASOIAF was appropriated by pop culture, so the forum became more like other sites, with its ransom of trolls, flames, insensitivity and general immaturity.

This being said, and it's sad in a way, I don't feel like the Literature sub-forum changed much except it got some authors posting in it, like Joe Abercrombie, and it became slower and more repetitive. Not much new blood came there.

General Chatter is less harmless fun (I mean it's been years since a Zakalwe talked about his dick), but feels like it gets the same volume of post it always got. The community there was not renewed as it was in books forums.

I never had any contact with GRRM, nor do I desire to contact him. Nothing personal.

[zelticgar]

I've been on the forum since almost the beginning - 1997 or 1998. I remember the novelty of aol chat rooms had worn off and forums were starting to become popular, this was really the only one that ended up having staying power. I recall the slow transition from a forum totally focused on the books to one with a pretty good variety of topics.

Back in those days there were great threads with inside jokes, juvenile humor and funny tributes to posters. I'm sure it goes on still but the forum is so big now it is tough to keep up. The biggest benefit I got out of those early years was the exposure to diverse views and cultures. Back then the only gay people I knew we're from the board. I'd never gotten opinions from Europeans about American politics, I'd never discussed sports with people from different regions of the country. The experience was incredibly powerful in shaping new world views and helping to develop empathy for different views and opinions. It really made me realize how big the world is and that the way I looked at things was really limited so a small world view. I think I was experiencing something that pretty much everyone was experiencing on the Internet but the benefit of goi g through it on this forum is that the intellectual power of the participants was very good. If you were gong to debate issues you had better bring your A game.

Over the years the forum has continued to be a great resource for learning about the series. I've read the books so may times I consider myself and expert but there are still things I learn from posters. The tv show has been a surreal experience. I have all the scenes from the books in my head and watching them on tv can be amazing and disappointing depending on how well the scenes match my expectations. The net result is generally positive but occasionally a scene will disappoint.

Nowadays I don't post as much. I was always heavy into the general discussion section and politics but I'm kind of done caring about those topics now. The board is pretty much a consensus left leaning group which is fine but it does not really result in nteresting discussion. Most of time it is just posters agreeing with each other. I've evolved into a libertarian and a lot of the debate on the board evolves around how government can solve everyone's problems. It used to be you could find a good balance of discussion but now if you hold an opposing view everyone just dismisses you as a uncaring or unenlightened. I will give this boad credit for helping me evolve on the social side. I used to be a big family value type. Now I'm just a plain old live and let live person. Tracker gets a lot of credit for showing me what's up :)

Regarding George - I met him a few times. I interviewed him for the board at noreastcon sometime around 2000 or 2001 (maybe even earlier) We compiled a group of questions and I brought them to his signing and reported back to everyone. Back then we did that a lot and everyone would freak out when he did a chapter reading and readers would report back. I remember asking him seven different ways if Ned was really dead or if a faceless man had done a switch. He actually got kind of frustrated because I kept pushing the question. I met him at noreastcon one other year and then he came to boston in 2004 and I was knighted after taking a food run to Kelly's roast beef. My view on George has not changed much other than being bummed out by him being a Giants fan and hating the Patriots. I hope he finishes the books soon. I expect the series has evolved from being something he was passionate about to being an albatross of commitment. My theory is that he has so much pressure he gets paralyzed and over thinks the story. Sometimes you just have to write and if it is no ,onager fun it is probably very hard to get motivated.

[AverageGuy]

I first started reading ASOIAF in 2001. I was still in high school, A Storm of Swords was almost a year old, and I was blown away by a series that was unlike anything else I had read before. Almost two years later, A Dance with Dragons still hadn't been published, so I decided to go online and start Googling (though I may not have been using Google at that point) to see what the deal was. So, I found GRRM's website, which had an, "I'm working on it" message, then decided to keep going. I ended up finding con reports from an ASOIAF fan group with a lot of information, which eventually led me to ezboard.

To be honest, the board was kind of intimidating to me; I'd never spent much time on any forums before, most of the members were a few years older than me at the time, actual adults, and everyone seemed to know each other. While I only knew posters by their usernames, real-life first names often would pop up in posts. Constant references to cons came up, or so it seemed to me, where people had met George, who partied with them, sent them on quests, and "knighted" them. It always seemed sort of interesting to me, and I thought about attending someday, though I never did.

I did briefly meet Martin once, though. On November 8, 2005, A Feast for Crows was released in the U.S., and George was doing a signing in Nashville, where I was attending college. I had introduced one of my friends to the series a few months before (this jerk didn't have to wait years for the book, though I ultimately got a taste of schadenfreude from his wait for ADWD); his girlfriend, who lived in England, had shipped him the book in October, and we decided he'd go get his signed while I picked up mine. Well, he ended up having a lab that night, so I brought his book along for him to get both signed. When I got to the front of the line, Martin looked at his copy, said, "Oh, the British version," to which I replied, "Yeah, the bastard got it a month before me." He laughed. That was the extent of my GRRM experience.

Of course, you can only talk about the books themselves so much before you're done with them. Largely, I stuck around in the Miscellaneous section, where people smarter than me from diverse backgrounds debated all sorts of things. I participated peripherally, but mostly I would end up realizing how much I didn't know about whichever topic was under debate. As Misc was split into General Chatter, Literature, and Entertainment, I spent more and more time in the Literature section. If I had no new reading material to speculate on from Martin, there were still plenty of other series out there to talk about. More than that, however, the board was a great place to discover new books; we had a few regular bloggers/reviewers like Stego, Pat, DylanFanatic/Larry, Wert, and Aidan, among others, who would mention which anything that caught their attention, and a community that generally had such a wide knowledge of science fiction and fantasy that it was easy to find new things to read. Over the past decade, I have bought hundreds of books because of discussions on this board. My own tastes may not be so discriminating, but I can generally rely on the board for decent recommendations.

As others have said, the fandom has changed in the past few years mostly because of the way it's grown. There are a lot of new people around who I don't recognize, but then I've never been as involved here as many of the regular posters. Outside of the board, there's a difference in that people actually know what I'm talking about if I mention Martin, but I don't really do so all that often.