A Song of Ice and Fire (books)

[CSamurai]

So, I'm certain that there are others out there who have read these books, and, with the raving for them that the series produced, I went ahead and read the books (since I tend to find books more rewarding than TV, and easier to carry to work)

And I think I've figured out a secret... It's in spoiler tags, because it heavily involves knowing what's going on in the books, and I don't want to colour people's first read of the books, or the series if they watch the first book on HBO..

but..

Jon Snow is not only a Stark, he's a Targayren. Specifically, he's Lyanna's son by Rhaegar Targayren.

The evidence is all in the first book. Eddard returned from his first war with a child claiming a bastard son. He has never spoken of the mother. At several points in the first book, he thinks back to promises that he had to keep for Lyanna, and talks of finding her in 'a bed of blood'..

No one seems to talk about how Lyanna died, but if she died in childbirth, it seems plausible that it may have been covered up or simply mistaken for, mutilation. But Eddard would know.. and keep the secret, from his best friend, Robert, renowned for his hatred of all the offspring of the Dragons..

He raised Jon openly, and at home, as his own son might be raised.. Or his nephew whom he could not claim.

It's also singularly out of character for a man so stuck on honour that he'd die to protect his ideals to have an affair.

It's apparently a not uncommon theory, over in their forums and wikia, but I wonder what other folks, not steeped in the fandom, think.

So, thoughts, comments, and theories about the books are welcomed. I haven't yet read the latest book, waiting for this Friday to purchase it.

Anyone reading it now?

[Redundant]

So, I'm certain that there are others out there who have read these books, and, with the raving for them that the series produced, I went ahead and read the books (since I tend to find books more rewarding than TV, and easier to carry to work)

And I think I've figured out a secret... It's in spoiler tags, because it heavily involves knowing what's going on in the books, and I don't want to colour people's first read of the books, or the series if they watch the first book on HBO..

but..

Jon Snow is not only a Stark, he's a Targayren. Specifically, he's Lyanna's son by Rhaegar Targayren.

The evidence is all in the first book. Eddard returned from his first war with a child claiming a bastard son. He has never spoken of the mother. At several points in the first book, he thinks back to promises that he had to keep for Lyanna, and talks of finding her in 'a bed of blood'..

No one seems to talk about how Lyanna died, but if she died in childbirth, it seems plausible that it may have been covered up or simply mistaken for, mutilation. But Eddard would know.. and keep the secret, from his best friend, Robert, renowned for his hatred of all the offspring of the Dragons..

He raised Jon openly, and at home, as his own son might be raised.. Or his nephew whom he could not claim.

It's also singularly out of character for a man so stuck on honour that he'd die to protect his ideals to have an affair.

It's apparently a not uncommon theory, over in their forums and wikia, but I wonder what other folks, not steeped in the fandom, think.

So, thoughts, comments, and theories about the books are welcomed. I haven't yet read the latest book, waiting for this Friday to purchase it.

Anyone reading it now?

I finished Dance yesterday. It's a good, but flawed novel. Some plot lines seem to go nowhere, while others make some progress, but are quite boring in doing so.

[lindentree]

So, I'm certain that there are others out there who have read these books, and, with the raving for them that the series produced, I went ahead and read the books (since I tend to find books more rewarding than TV, and easier to carry to work)

And I think I've figured out a secret... It's in spoiler tags, because it heavily involves knowing what's going on in the books, and I don't want to colour people's first read of the books, or the series if they watch the first book on HBO..

but..

Jon Snow is not only a Stark, he's a Targayren. Specifically, he's Lyanna's son by Rhaegar Targayren.

The evidence is all in the first book. Eddard returned from his first war with a child claiming a bastard son. He has never spoken of the mother. At several points in the first book, he thinks back to promises that he had to keep for Lyanna, and talks of finding her in 'a bed of blood'..

No one seems to talk about how Lyanna died, but if she died in childbirth, it seems plausible that it may have been covered up or simply mistaken for, mutilation. But Eddard would know.. and keep the secret, from his best friend, Robert, renowned for his hatred of all the offspring of the Dragons..

He raised Jon openly, and at home, as his own son might be raised.. Or his nephew whom he could not claim.

It's also singularly out of character for a man so stuck on honour that he'd die to protect his ideals to have an affair.

It's apparently a not uncommon theory, over in their forums and wikia, but I wonder what other folks, not steeped in the fandom, think.

So, thoughts, comments, and theories about the books are welcomed. I haven't yet read the latest book, waiting for this Friday to purchase it.

Anyone reading it now?

I finished Dance yesterday. It's a good, but flawed novel. Some plot lines seem to go nowhere, while others make some progress, but are quite boring in doing so.

Agreed.

[Tofu]

I'm reading Dance now. I'm liking it so far. Interesting theory about John Snow, I can see how that might come true.

[Archivist]

I love this series. It's not The Book of the New Sun, but it's fantastic nonetheless.

[Falcord]

I don't like how the saga is written, I find the sex scenes naive and overly fantastic, but it's undeniably addictive.

They're books that you simply can't stop reading. They're hard to get back into though, I read the fourth roughly 2 years ago and now I'm going to be completely lost starting the fifth...

[kirkmc]

I read about 3/4 of the first book, and reached a point where I said to myself, "Seriously?" I gave up then.

The book is poorly written, overly verbose, full of plot lines that just fade away, and the flitting from character to character may work in a 300 page thriller, but for a book that size, it gets annoying very quickly. Martin tried to do way too much in those books, though I can understand why some people like them. I did find that writing a "fantasy" with few elements of fantasy was interesting, but, in the end, I just realize that he did not make me care about any of his characters, and I felt no need to continue reading.

I did watch the series, and thought it was okay, but no better than that.

As for the theory in your spoiler, my thought about this is: Big deal. As I said, I felt no interest in these characters, so if he was the son of the dwarf, I don't see what interest it would make. If it takes 5,000 pages to get there, and that's all the payoff there is, I'll go back to reading the Dark Tower again if I want not-too-fantastic fantasy.

[amnal]

I read about 3/4 of the first book, and reached a point where I said to myself, "Seriously?" I gave up then.

The book is poorly written, overly verbose, full of plot lines that just fade away, and the flitting from character to character may work in a 300 page thriller, but for a book that size, it gets annoying very quickly. Martin tried to do way too much in those books, though I can understand why some people like them. I did find that writing a "fantasy" with few elements of fantasy was interesting, but, in the end, I just realize that he did not make me care about any of his characters, and I felt no need to continue reading.

I did watch the series, and thought it was okay, but no better than that.

As for the theory in your spoiler, my thought about this is: Big deal. As I said, I felt no interest in these characters, so if he was the son of the dwarf, I don't see what interest it would make. If it takes 5,000 pages to get there, and that's all the payoff there is, I'll go back to reading the Dark Tower again if I want not-too-fantastic fantasy.

Cor, I could clean my kettle with that.

[Archivist]

overly verbose? What do you read?

If anything, I might fault him for being too modern in his diction. And his graphic depiction of life is plain lifelike. Some people take issue with that, but I can't see why. It's not a children's book.

[Marcus]

I've been meaning to try these books out, but I've always found with any book or series of books with so much hype I'm always disappointed.

Previous experiences have developed a habit in me for avoiding the "popular" stuff (books, games, technologies, etc.) until the hype has died down significantly.

So, I'll wait for another couple years or so before I get to this series ...

[Tryss]

Previous experiences have developed a habit in me for avoiding the "popular" stuff (books, games, technologies, etc.) until the hype has died down significantly.

So, I'll wait for another couple years or so before I get to this series ...

The first book is 15 years old... it was published in 1996

[kirkmc]

The first book is 15 years old... it was published in 1996

Which makes you wonder how long before the next one, and whether the author will live to complete the series.

[Marcus]

The first book is 15 years old... it was published in 1996

Which makes you wonder how long before the next one, and whether the author will live to complete the series.

Which reminds me that I'm ALMOST finished the Wheel of Time series.

[kirkmc]

The first book is 15 years old... it was published in 1996

Which makes you wonder how long before the next one, and whether the author will live to complete the series.

Which reminds me that I'm ALMOST finished the Wheel of Time series.

Is it finished? I thought there was to be one more book, at least.

[Redundant]

Is it finished? I thought there was to be one more book, at least.

The last book is currently being written. It should be out either next spring or fall.