aSoIaF Discussion

**Arianna** · September 14th, 2011

finally finished it. I'm not so much disappointed, as left wanting more. let's hope its not another 5 years away.

**Arawis** · September 20th, 2011

In other news, I torrented the tv-series, and quite liked it. Especially like the casting of Daenerys (did someone mention something about characters not being as beautiful as they should be...?) and Tyrion. Disappointed castingwise with the Hound, Jaime and the, eh Lannister grand old man can't remember his name wossit?

I also torrented the series, but Daenerys really wasn't one of my favorites casting-wise. I can't really say why, so maybe she'll grow on me in the second season. I did adore Tyrion, however, and I thought Khal Drogo was pretty perfect.

I finished A Dance with Dragons a few weeks ago and I also just wanted more. I agree with (I can't remember who said it now) that there were a bunch of chapters where nothing too interesting happened.

Mainly, I just want to know more about Bran and Arya! We've seen so little of them for the past 2 books. I'm also upset with what we last saw of Jon Snow, though I've heard theories that he is going to be resurrected by Melisandre and made into Azor Ahai... Any thoughts? I was pretty certain that Daenerys was secure in that role, but I guess I can see it going the other way too.

**Arawis** · September 20th, 2011

BTW, am I the only one that pronounced Catelyn Stark's name as Caitlin while reading? I've had trouble adjusting to the pronunciation in the show

**sir archely** · December 20th, 2011

Definitely Caitlin in my mind, but I have yet to see the show (other than the pilot).

**sir archely** · January 29th, 2012

Spoilers below.

Well, finished Dance with Dragons today. Ultimately, disappointed. Left wanting more. Or perhaps less. Similar complaints to stuff other people have said. Dance with Dragons should have been Fire and Blood and instead, it was mostly, hopefully, just set up. One would also think that with this title, the actual dragons in the book wouldn't be chained up in the basement for 75% of the book. I wearied heavily of the Meereen context. I was definitely cheering for Dany to just bugger off out of slaver land and get back to Westeros. Alas. Also did not really care for the resurrection of fucking Aegon. It was just awkward to pull him out of a hat this far along in the series. Tyrion's perspectives were also quite useless, and rendered completely so by the close of the book. We got to see Arya... in some completely pointless chapters that could have been heavily condensed. Um... so she kills this insurance man and... stuff. Even that happens off-screen in a way that i suppose is intended to show her budding deviousness, but is instead just boring. I am in complete agreement with Jenn about the last Jon Snow chapter. Gah! Dany's last chapter may have been good for the end of a bit before a commercial break, or the end of an episode, but the end of a book? blech.

Setting all of that aside, my biggest complaint is that apparently neither Martin nor his editor realize that a group of ravens is called an unkindness, not a murder. A murder is a group of crows. I counted at least four instances where Martin used "murder of ravens," perhaps because it sounds cooler. Even once where he tried to be clever about it and said the ravens were speaking in their "language of murderers," or something similar. Call me a pedant if you will, but it just pissed me off.

**Anita Blake** · January 29th, 2012

holy crap, i just finished it yesterday! Some of the same conclusions. The Dany stuff... yeah. She seemed to lose a lot of her positive traits, and while I see that as a function of her being basically a teenage girl getting older, it wasn't good. The Jon Snow stuff was good... until freaking cliffhanger of madness. For my money, I think he's going to make it.

I wasn't sure why we had to be introduced to Jon Connnington at all, let alone devote more than a passing mention in Tyrion's chapters, or why the hell he had to have !!!mystic child of deadness!!!. I mean... come on, the story isn't convoluted enough as it is, we had to stir the pot some more? Jaime gets a chapter, and the placement of it in the story is more bewildering than anything else, it was just... odd.

Anyway, it took me a month to read, ultimately, I liked it, but I felt vagueley disappointed, much like after the 4th book. Too much on the side, and not enough up front.

And why didn't we go back to Bran?!!

**sir archely** · January 29th, 2012

I tend to agree with you on the Jon Snow conclusion Anita.

And Bran! How could I forget? Oh yeah, probably because we never went back to him.

**Arawis** · January 30th, 2012

Spoilers also contained below!

Originally Posted by sir archely

One would also think that with this title, the actual dragons in the book wouldn't be chained up in the basement for 75% of the book.

AGREED.

Originally Posted by sir archely

Also did not really care for the resurrection of fucking Aegon. It was just awkward to pull him out of a hat this far along in the series.

For a while, I thought he was going to turn out to be a fraud. I don't remember where it was, but I know that I read something about a "false dragon," so I assumed it was Aegon. I guess it was supposed to be Quentin Martell, though, since he talked about how he had some dragon blood in him too but his plans didn't work out (his whole story was another seemingly pointless aspect of the book, btw. Or at least I thought so since it didn't go anywhere...)

**Arianna** · April 3rd, 2012

I have nothing productive to say. New season started last weekend, but I still don't have HBO, and haven't watched it yet. but I am still SUPER excited for more episodes.