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The nice thing about pre-orders is that you can cancel them. That said, the Targaryen-dedicated section is about 80 pages... out of a 330-something page book, so 25% would be a fairer estimate (of course, the Targaryens appear in the regional sections after the Conquest since, well, they ruled the realm).

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Still miffed that the Targs got to monopolize the cover.

Its like nobody realises that the majority of ASOIAF fans aren't that hot on Targs.

If I'd known that a full half of the book was about the Targs I wouldn't have ordered it. Seriously.

Your favorite character is actually a Targ. Yes, him/her too. :cool4:

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Much to my chagrin, Victarrion.



I held out against the reality of that situation for as long as I could, but when the overwhelming evidence became irrefutable around about Book 2 or 3, I embraced it, and just hoped that his upbringing would make him take after the Stark part of his family.



Anyway, I don't think it's quite as bad as some have made it out to be above. If I recall, Ran mentioned the page counts of some of the other Ruling Houses in a previous thread, and I do believe the Starks come out well ahead of everyone else (other than the Targs) in terms of content.



Certainly from the Table of Contents it also appeared that way. So all is not lost.


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Much to my chagrin, Victarrion.

I held out against the reality of that situation for as long as I could, but when the overwhelming evidence became irrefutable around about Book 2 or 3, I embraced it, and just hoped that his upbringing would make him take after the Stark part of his family.

Anyway, I don't think it's quite as bad as some have made it out to be above. If I recall, Ran mentioned the page counts of some of the other Ruling Houses in a previous thread, and I do believe the Starks come out well ahead of everyone else (other than the Targs) in terms of content.

Certainly from the Table of Contents it also appeared that way. So all is not lost.

This is the best tears-of-fandom post ever. :D

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Interesting question (I think):



Is there any discussion in the World Book about the biggest elephant in the room?



And that is: Is there any speculation from Maester Yandell about the lopsides seasons that affect Westeros, how far South and East the lopsided effect extends, and some theories from the Maesters about whether it is a natural property of the World that has always existed, or whether there is evidence from either folklore, legend or perhaps even from nature, that it is a fairly recent phenomenon?



If it is to be discussed by anyone, it would surely be by the Maesters, and where better than in a book dealing with the World itself?


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Your favorite character is actually a Targ. Yes, him/her too. :cool4:

I don't dislike Targs wholesale, Visenya was fierce as hell but the whole focus on them is annoying. Kind of like Sky1 advertising Game of Thrones with no one but Dany. A book about the history of Westeros meant to be given to Robert, Joffrey or Tommen has a massive dragon on the front and the fall of House Baratheon's biggest ally (at the time of Robert)surrendering to their biggest enemy on the back? Even if we say its meant for us the reader to get interested, the Starks are the main POVs from the start, they have our sympathies and interest. But the cover shows them surrendering to the dragons? Starks, they keep on falling? Is that the message? Ice can't conquer fire? Its a bit rubbish.

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I can't beleive people are seriously complaining about the cover!

Well, there is a simply solution: when I was young (a long, long time ago ....) in order to protect our school textbooks we used to make a dustcover out of wallpaper (it being thicker and less prone to tear than normal paper). This also meant we could write/draw over the covers.

So why not do the same? Cut out a picture of your favourite character and use it to make a new cover. Simples.

You could even have a picture of Justin Bieber on the cover, if that's what you like :D

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The kingdom(s) as we know it took its form under the Targaryens, and it make sense for the most recent period of nearly three hundreds years under Targaryen rule to be the most well covered. All the more so since the Targaryens are the very dynasty that Robert brought to an end, and it is the city and throne they created that he established his rule from.



As for the contents of the book, no, I don't think they wrote a book full of lies. I think they wrote a book that a maester in Westeros during the reigns of Robert, Joffrey, and Tommen would be capable of writing. Containing mostly accounts of history that the average Westerosi noble has heard or has access to (in books) if they looked for it, with the logic, deductions, opinions, etc. of the compiler perhaps being the only things that would be new to such a Westerosi.



I think at times there will be alternate accounts or rumors, maybe sometimes the compiler will favor one in his commentary, maybe sometimes one will seem most likely, but we won't be explicitly told which, if any, is actually the case. I don't expect everything to be like that, of course.



When it says such and such became Master of Ships under Viserys I, Master of Coin under Aegon II, and Hand under Aegon III, that should be taken as factual. When it says such and such died in battle in 232 AC, that should be taken as factual. There should be some things that can be taken as fact, as much as anything in the regular series can be taken as fact.



But it is not going to give us clear answers for everything, especially where interpretation, rumors, etc. are involved. And different readers are going to have different approaches to and understandings of such information. I think it will be fun.


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Tully isn't fully Andal:

http://awoiaf.westeros.org/index.php/House_Tully

They date back to the Age of Heroes. And no, I don't think he will write a book of complete lies but I think before the Andals, where there is no writing but a lot of oral myth will be kept mysterious. I don't think we are in for a factual account of the Age of Heroes. Just what Westeros thinks happened in the Age of Heroes.

Ok, I was wrong about Tullys.

Yeah, many facts from the books will be based on legends, myths and will not be true. But what is doubtful is that GRRM will include in the book a deliberate misinformation like you said the Lannisters were creating. Because there is absolutely no point for GRRM to do this in a book like this.

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Seems to me it makes sense the the only family in Westeros to ever have dragons and ride them would get a lot of attention. Especially given that they are the only foreigners to conquer the land, and the only people ever to unite that whole half of the continent. Like it or not, that's a big thing in the history of a country.



Imagine how sick everyone in England must have gotten hearing about Alfred the Great all the time. Then William the Conqueror. Talk about king fatigue! :P


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People are actually cancelling pre-orders based on the amount of Targaryen coverage an early reviewer estimated was in the book?


My faith in humanity continues to dwindle...



If the whole book was about them I wouldn't mind, if the whole book was just about Essos I wouldn't mind, if the whole book was about the Lannisters I wouldn't mind etc. etc. The fact that we're getting this book at all seems to me to be a cause for happiness.


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People are actually cancelling pre-orders based on the amount of Targaryen coverage an early reviewer estimated was in the book?

My faith in humanity continues to dwindle...

If the whole book was about them I wouldn't mind, if the whole book was just about Essos I wouldn't mind, if the whole book was about the Lannisters I wouldn't mind etc. etc. The fact that we're getting this book at all seems to me to be a cause for happiness.

I absolutely agree with this. I'm not a huge Targ fan myself, but I'll eat their history right up if it's open to me.

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