This thread is now an A Dance With Dragons Spoiler thread.

[Disco Pickle]

I'm only 100 pages in so far but should put down a deal more today as I've absolutely no projects on which to work at the moment.

Going to try and refrain from talking about it ITT for the benefit of those still catching up with the other books.  Wouldn't want to give anything away.

[Suu]

Thanks. Though I'm thinking of making the investment today. I've concluded that these are must-haves on my shelf.

[Disco Pickle]

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2388482,00.asp

Dwarves, dire wolves, and dragons come to life this summer with the release of A Game of Thrones: Genesis, developer Cyanide's PC-only tribute to George R.R. Martin's beloved fantasy series, A Song of Ice and Fire.

The game, being published by Focus Home Interactive, was previewed at E3 earlier this year (video below) and this week new Genesis screen shots emerged on the highly anticipated video game's official website. A Game of Thrones: Genesis was created with the help of Martin himself and ties in nicely with the just-concluded and critically acclaimed HBO season of the "Game of Thrones" miniseries.

The major noble houses of Westeros can all be played in the sprawling game universe that covers 1,000 years of history in the fictional land of knights and ladies, with the game kicking off with warrior-queen Nymeria's arrival in Dorne from the eastern continent of Essos long before the actual events of A Song of Ice and Fire actually take place.

The historical span of the game covers such events as the rise of the White Walkers that are currently familiar to Martin's fandom only in historical snippets peppered throughout his books, but also moves into the events that happen closer to the time of the series, such as Robert Baratheon's usurpation of the Iron Throne of Westeros.

Up to eight players can vie for the Iron Throne, or the game can be played solo, according to the official site. All of the major noble houses of the continent can be played, and each affords gamers with a special ability and a special unit, not unlike the last few editions of the turn-based favorite, Civilization.

Thus, House Targeryan gets better results from secret arrangements and its knights are more powerful than those of other houses. The Dragon Lords are also the only house with the Raven unit, which can neither attack nor be attacked, but which can fly over any part of the continent and detect enemy stealth units. House Stark has stronger commanders and Direwolf units, House Baratheon marshals superior archers and has a special Captain of the Guards unit, etc.

Here's how to succeed at building up the "prestige" necessary to win A Game of Thrones: Genesis, according to Cyanide:

"Accessing the Iron Throne is achieved by building up Prestige for your House. Different ways are at your disposal: amassing wealth, building many alliances, controlling the Sept temples, slaughtering the opponent ...

"However, some actions may also lead to Prestige loss: laying siege to an enemy castle or town during peace time, being a victim of a secret alliance, having your bastard sons discovered, and others."

Not sure how I feel about this.

[Disco Pickle]

I occurred to me that another thrones thread on this board is stupid. 

Would a mod mind rolling this into the current one in Apple Talk?

[Disco Pickle]

slight spoiler below but nothing really revealing..  Cain, what page are you on?
































Holy hell he just dropped a bomb 200 some odd pages in.  Fuck YES this one almost makes up for 6 years of waiting.  Looks like Varys is better at plotting than I had ever thought.

[Cain]

I'm about 80% of the way through.  I'm actually on the fence about that particular revalation.

Edit for further explanation: it strikes me as a little too twee and Tolkeinesque.  Even Pratchett mocked that particular trope.  Now, if Varys had arranged it so a child was brought up thinking they were that person, but with no actual evidence, that would make me warm to it a bit.  But that does not seem to be the case, given whose care he is in and his physical characteristics.

I do like the introduction of the Golden Company, however.  The Blackfyre rebellion didn't just spring out of nowhere, and houses that supported the rebels still exist (and just look at who some of those houses are allied to!).  I also like how the War of the Five Kings is becoming increasingly internationalised, with the Free Cities and Slavers Bay being increasingly drawn into the fighting.

[Disco Pickle]

I missed my calling.  I've found 3 errors in the book so far.  Two are typos, one is just sloppy and stupid editing.

3/4 of the way through and I'm thinking this one really rivals Swords for best book in the series so far.

[Cain]

Yeah, I saw a few on my Kindle version as well.  Should've highlighted them and sent them to the publisher - that's one way they pick for copy editors.

Definitely the best since a Storm of Swords, at least.  But the fun's not over yet...

[Disco Pickle]

I've have the page #s for two of them but I'd have to skim over the first chapters for the first one.

The one where Kevan tells Cercei that Lancel was her nephew was the one really stuck out because that's not just sloppy spell checking.

Maybe I'll forward them on after I've finished.

[Nadezhda]

I'm almost finished Sworrrrrds OMFG.  srs.

SRS.

[Cain]

A Feast for Crows will just disappoint you.

I'd like to know where Martin is going with some of this.  Unresolved issues that stand out from A Dance With Dragons:

Lightbringer doesn't actually provide heat.  Rather unusual for a blade dedicated to Rhllor.  Melisandre seems sincere enough in her faith...but then she also births shadows which kill people, which doesn't exactly sound like something a light-bringing fire god would approve of, even if fire does create shadows.

The Watch's records don't go back 998 commanders.  OK, records get lost, especially ancient ones, but why does Martin mention it?

What is Jaqen (for want of a better name) doing involving himself with the Maesters?

Why are Varys and Illryio so devoted to the Targaryen line?

The Stranger/The Many-Named God/The Enemy - all the same being?  Worth thinking about.  Their domains seem to overlap, especially when it comes to death.

What exactly was the Doom of Valyria? 

Will Daenerys ever stop wangsting?

[Laughin Jude]

I don't think Stannis' "Lightbringer" is Lightbringer at all. It's just a prop. The real Lightbringer may show up later (though it may not even be a literal sword). My guess is that Mel is just plain wrong in her interpretation re: Stannis because it's increasingly obvious that it's Dany (if anyone) who fits the bill for the prophecy she's always yammering about.

[Cain]

Yeah, that almost certainly seems to be the case.

But then again, Dany ain't doing so hot as of the last book, I think becoming a world-saving Messiah figure may be somewhat above her pay grade.

And that's the thing, about Melisandre?  Is she just plain wrong?  There's something entirely off about that woman, her motivations and her actions.  She seems sincere in her worship of Rhllor...but as I recall, early on in the series, it sorta hinted that magic started dying out when dragons became a rare commodity.  It could just be the Rhllor faith somehow preserved the rituals and techniques which allow magic to work, and Melisandre isn't doing the will of Rhllor at all, and is just listening to the fanatical imaginings of her own mind.

And that's the best interpretation of what she's up to.  All the others involve knowingly decieving Stannis, which of course raises questions, such as "to what end" and "who is she really serving then, if anyone?"  For someone who declares The Enemy is Death (probably the same god the Faceless Men worship, aka also probably The Stranger) she sure does seem keen on dishing death out and using seriously fucked up magic to kill people (Renly).  And she's almost certainly been urging Stannis to use a blood magic ritual to sacrifice Robert's bastard son, Edric Storm, in order to wake the dragon eggs he has in his possession.

[Cain]

Bump.

Or possibly, my above speculation was totally wrong.  I re-read A Dance With Dragons and it is my belief that the Red God and the Faceless Men are related.  Fire makes shadows and shadows are what the Faceless Men use to achieve their tasks.  They also share similar abilities in the field of illusion.

Also, perhaps far more revealingly, there was a departure from the books in last night's episode of A Game of Thrones.  Melisandre came to visit the Brotherhood without Banners, and greeted Thoros with "Valar Morghulis" (all men must die).  While it's not explicitly a phrase of the Faceless Men, it is very suggestive.

As an aside, I'm really liking the quality of actors this season has introduced.  Paul Kaye is surprisingly good as Thoros, and Roose Bolton is wonderfully cold.  Mance Rayder was a pleasant surprise too, though he has lacked for screen time, which is unfortunate.

[Junkenstein]

I saw that as more of an attempt to remove the Edric storm plotline and use Gendry as a replacement.

I'm pretty sure there was a link between the faceless men and the doom of valyria, I recall it being implied that the first to get "the gift" was a slave and they gave it to the masters later.

Overall, I'm just enjoying that this is one of the few shows that surpass the books in many ways. Not quite sure how they're going to handle the next couple of seasons though.