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Established POV characters (or even non-POV characters) are never prologue POVs though.

OpenAI has put out a bunch of short videos about what they're calling GPT-4o, and some of it is extremely impressive. This one in particular has Reddit abuzz: The fact that the AI sounds not a little bit like Scarlett Johnasson is probably not a coincidence -- Sam Altman tweeted just "her" after these started coming out, referring to Spike Jonez's Her (which is a really great film, BTW), seeming to confirm that some of this stuff was inspired by the film. Lots more examples here.

I am aware of both takes, I agree with some parts but not others, the population has to match the descriptions of in the books on its not valid I don't agree that any of them are too high, apart from the Iron islands all of them could go higher the Reach for example is the same size as the Carolingian Empire which may have reached as many as 20 million in the 9th century.

I'd say the country is royally fucked. Dems suck at messaging and getting people excited. Biden is too old and not charismatic enough to get it going. The country is really filled with some really terrible, selfish, ignorant and dumb people with memory problems if they think Trump is going to do anything good to help them unless they're a white christian male. Biden though has absolutely dropped the ball and his lack of being able to message things, and lack of being out for the public to see is an issue. Aren't Dems doing better aside from Biden though? Like he is THE issue here?

What is dead may die, I agree. The ironborn would see things differently, perhaps. These books seem to have a bit of a thing about life after death. Almost like a central theme, you might say?

What I'm most surprised by from the trailer is the literalness of the Roman references. I'd noticed it in the character names ,but he's really gone all in on it. Bread and circuses, indeed... I feel like there's a decided Atlas Shrugged quality to it as well, from the premise of a visionary architect being denied, but obviously the "Fall of the Roman Empire" decadence seen in Megalopolis has more to do with Randian philosophy than the apparently utopic progressive vision that Driver's character has. So ... a kind of reversal, and thus rebuttal, of it? Apparently Coppola has said in the past that it was an influence, anyways. I am sure it is going to be a grand mess, but some of the images were striking.

In that interview she also mentions Snowdonia as a filming location where herself, Jace, & sister Rhaena are all present. Any ideas what this might be? As straightforward as the Sowing, or something else?

Looking forward to it, let’s wait till it comes out before bashing it ?

I was completely baffled by what they were trying to achieve with Bran.

I hate everything about Season 8, and I hate how Bran became king (but I don't have a problem with that being the book's endgame, if done differently... which it will be). But I think this idiotic reason for the prisoner to be allowed to nominate Bran as king is misunderstood. I think "Bran has the best story" meant that as the "Three-Eyed Raven", Robot Bran was the keeper of everybody's story. Of course the showrunners/Tyrion wildly confused this point by then going on about Bran's individual story (if I remember correctly: I only saw the finale episode once and don't plan to see it again).

@Protagoras @Castellan don't get me wrong: I agree the BwB are planning something. But I lean towards them attacking the Freys, with Brienne and/or Jamie as our POV. Probably both. The BwB are VERY focused on the Freys and there are not many of those with Prester's column. So I think they will infiltrate Riverrun and sabotage from within there. The extra Lannister soldiers sent with Prester serve to weaken Riverrun's defenses, and the various siege forces from Brackens, Vances etc. are all going home, so are not sticking around to help Freys. This is why the bit about Genna matters. As for Brynden, I think there is good reason we first met him in the Vale. His future is there. He spent more than a decade there and has many many friends. A tourney has been called, and since a large number of Riverlands families have kin in the Vale, Brynden will disguise himself as a hedge knight or knight in service and accompany one of these large groups headed to the Vale. He may die there, or he may win a position as a winged knight defending his nephew, which puts him in place to advise and help Sansa free herself from LF's clutches.

This is extremely concerning and outright disappointing. Trump does absolutely nothing to solve any of the issues people have with Biden, which are rather mild to begin with IMO.

If Tom Hanks is in attendance at Villa Park, then it will be a wild, exciting match that will include an own goal from Martinez.

It's magnificently bad. https://gizmodo.com/crystal-star-really-is-the-worst-star-wars-book-ever-1788426849

this post aged well

The trailers do seem a little off for me having only watched them on my laptop but Fury Road was the best theater experience for me in the 2010s, so I’ll definitely be watching this in IMAX with a group of friends. I’ve never seen Spotlight but I’m not sure how that movie could be considered a better film than Fury Road. Miller has earned my money for this one so hoping for the best.

It certainly does! Or is it something made of animal skin, like leather?

Now that I think about it, I have a something to clarify. Does meat include flesh of animals\birds\etc, even ones we don't eat?

Interesting, but nope. That would be a nice twist to the question indeed. 1. No, it is not animate (anymore). 2. No, it was not human when animate. 3. No, it is not North of the Wall. 4. No, it is not a dead animal. 5. Yes, it was seen on page alive or dead, as opposed to just being mentioned. 6. No, it is not of a botanical nature (tree or plant). 7. No, it is not bone. 8. No, it is not any kind of meat or dish made of meat. 9. No, it is not an egg. 10. No, it is not the Blackwood dead weirwood tree.

Loving something is only part of the magic. You still need a good story. And good writing. I'm guessing the creators of Ghostbusters: Afterlife really loved Ghostbusters. Didn't stop that movie from being utterly derivative and lacking in any creativity.

Haven’t read her stuff

Those of y’all who enjoyed the depiction of mandolorians in the tv show REALLY need to give the Karen Traviss Clone commando novels a try…probably the best depiction of that culture in the SW setting. Really humanises the clones and the Jedi, good stuff. That’s how you show the Jedi are fallible and have flaws, not by turning them into space hermits lol. Luke was in exile for a brief period of time even in the old EU but there was a logical way it happened there…unlike the sequels.

R. F. Kuang's Babel is 1.99$ on Kindle.