Martin's Fire and Ice series

Cafe Society
1

Who else has read this fabulous series? I can’t wait for the 4th installment to come out (in the Spring I hope).

I just want to talk about it with some other fans.

Who is your favorite character? What aspect of the story are you most (or least) looking forward to reading more about in the next book? Any part of the Fire and Ice world that you dislike or find unbelievable? Who do you think will be killed off in the next book? How can all the conflict he’s set up possibly be resolved?

Let’s talk about it!

2

Ooooh! I can’t wait.

I’m a cheepskate when it comes to books. I’ll wait the extra 10 months to a year and wait for it to come out in softcover.

Not for this series. The day A Feast for Crows comes out, I’ll be there. Then I’ll have to fend off my wife who will fight me for the book :slight_smile: (I got her hooked on the series).

Personally I find Jon and Tyrion to be the most interesting characters. I found it really easy to hate Jamie through the first two books, but Martin humanized him in the last one.

And lastly, Martin’s little shocker in the epilouge of ASOS left me floored.

Zev Steinhardt

3

I agree that Tyrion is a fascinating character. I also have a big soft spot for Arya. And the Kingslayer has become a lot more sympathetic (although he DID throw a 7 year old out a window!)
The whole invasion from beyond the wall makes me nervous. It’s too overwhelming and too surreal. Giants riding mammoths??? Deathless wraiths???
And what is the deal with Jagen H’garr? “Valar morghulis!”

4

There’s been threads on A Song of Ice and Fire before, though nothing too recent that I remember. I do really love the books; it’s far and away the best current fantasy series IMO. And for any fans of the series that haven’t read Martin’s two prequel short stories (The Hedge Knight and The Sworn Sword) I very much recommend them. Martin has a website at www.georgerrmartin.com that he updates from time to time with his progress. He hasn’t finished writing A Feast for Crows yet, so unfortunately it probably won’t be out this Spring, but maybe by the Summer if he finishes soon (and it does sound like he’s getting close to the end). There’s also a sample Arya chapter from the next book on that site if you want some spoilers.

Anyways, my answers (I’ve blacked out any specific plot points from the first 3 books, in case someone who hasn’t read the whole series wanders in):

That’s a very tough question for me. I like all the point-of-view characters really, except Theon (I appreciate his role in the story, but I have a visceral dislike for him as a character). Even Jaime, who came off as a major villian in the first two books, showed some sympathic elements, especially in dealing with the loss of his hand. Ultimately, I’d say Dany and Sansa, both of whom are characters of a type that is rarely seen in fantasy, but show some real strength, are my favorites.

I’m really looking forward to Dany’s return to Westeros, but everything I’ve heard indicates that won’t happen till the 5th book. It’s hard to know what will be covered in Feast, so I’m not sure what to look forward to, but I’d like to see how Jon and Tyrion deal with their new situations, what happens to Arya, and maybe Euron Crow’s Eye will make an apperance, which I think will be interesting after what we’ve heard of him.

Not really. You can make some minor nitpicking observations about the timeline or how high the Wall is, but there’s nothing of any substence that I dislike. Which I guess shows just how much of a fan I am.

Cersei. Maybe it’s wishful thinking on my part, but she just feels like a character who has outlived her usefulness to me. I think she’ll make a mess of things in King’s Landing, what with Tywin no longer around to control her, make a lot of enemies and lose her life somehow.

I have no doubt that it will be a bloody resolution.

5

Have read the first two books, haven’t read the third yet. But thousands of years of dynastic politics already dictate the ultimate ending,

Danerys (sp?) (well, the person with the dragons) and Robb will marry.

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Keep readin’…

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OpalCat turned me on to this series. I can’t wait for the next one.

I could have sworn there was a sample chapter about Danys, not Arya. I could have sworn it! And yet Arya’s is on there right now. I wonder if he’s had more than one sample chapter up?

8

Uh, Truth Seeker, Robb is DEAD. Remember the betrayal by old what’s-his-face at the Twins? They sewed Grey Wolf’s head onto his body, so I don’t think he’s going to turn up Zombie-Cat-style. Do you mean Jon?

9

TruthSeeker, I strongly suggest you don’t read elfbabe’s spoiler. It contains a major 3rd book spoiler. I guess she missed that you had only read the first two books. Your idea is interesting, but there’s a problem with it. I can’t explain what that is, because it involves A Storm of Swords. I suggest you read on.

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Yeah, this is the second chapter he’s posted. The first was a Dany one. I don’t think that’s still up on his site anymore.

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[QUOTE=Amok]
TruthSeeker, I strongly suggest you don’t read elfbabe’s spoiler. It contains a major 3rd book spoiler. I guess she missed that you had only read the first two books.

[QUOTE]

Gah!

Sure did. feels dumb Don’t know how I missed something I QUOTED…

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Good, I’m not going nuts. But I think I’ll forgo this second sample and wait for the real deal.

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Just a warning that there’s a bunch of spoilers in this post, and I’m not bothering to box them.

That’s hilarious. :slight_smile:

 My favorite character, definetlyl Tyrion, no question about it. But I also like: the Red Viper, Brienne, Lord Beric and his band, Dolourous Ed, all of who are dangerous characters (well except for Ed.) I'm most looking forward too seeing where Tyrion and Arya end up now. The most popular theory is that Arya's becoming a Faceless man ( which annoys me because if she goes across the sea she's still going to be separated from Nymeria) , and Tyrion joins Dany. I hope we get to see a bit of Asshai in these POVs.

Wgo’s going to die in the next book, well I don’t think Cersie’s (whose getting her own POV by the way) going to last long, as dumb as she is. Ser Kevan Lannister, and probably some main character that no one will expect.

But for the love of god I hope Martin doesn’t let the Red Viper, the Mountain, or the Hound die! They’re just to cool.

Some other questions- Who do you think would be the best king? Who do you think is the most badass character?

Best King/Queen- I’m thinking either Dany or Stannis.
Badass- The Red Viper. (The Mountain won on a FLUKE dammit!)

14

I’ve been hanging out on the Song of Ice and Fire message board for the last six months, discussing all the issues mentioned here. Favorite character: currently it’s Daenerys, but it has been Arya, Tyrion, Catelyn, and Jon at various times in the past.

As to what I’m looking forward to, I hope to see a lot of Arya’s training during the upcoming book. Also, more plots and schemes from Petyr Baelish would be good. I am hoping that one certain character meets a fittinig demise before he has a chance to die of old age.

I encourage you all to reread the series if you’ve only been through it once. There are countless prophecies, jokes, and references that you don’t catch or understand on the first time through.

15

Well, it is fantasy, though a lot of the series so far reads more like historical fiction. I like the low-magic, low fantasy world Martin has created, but he has been steadly increasing the fantastic elements throughout the series, particulary in areas outside of Westeros. It fits in with the whole “magic is returning to this world” theme. I don’t think the giants are a big deal; they were on the losing side and aren’t a major plot point. The Others and their wights probably are a major plot point, but they were introduced in the first chapter of A Game of Thrones, even if the first two books didn’t deal with them much otherwise. While I don’t think the series is ever going to be high fantasy (nor would I want it to be), I do think more and more fantastic elements will be used as the struggle turns from the more mundane War of the Five Kings plot (the magical interference of Melisandre notwithstanding) to the more fantastic War for the Dawn (the name Master Aemon gives to… well, I’m not exactly sure what, but maybe a struggle versus the Others or something like that). Having said that, I don’t think Martin will ever abandon the politcal intrigue that has carried the first three books, it’s been a major strength of the series, just that it may not be the sole focus in the future.


There’s a group of assassins in Braavos named the Faceless Men. We don’t know much about them, but they are mentioned in a couple places. For instance, in the chapter in A Game of Thrones where the Small Council discusses having Dany assassinated, their name comes up. Littlefinger mentions that they’re incredibly expensive. There’s also a hint that they’re involved in the death of Balon Greyjoy. Since Jaqen H’garr seems to change his face, and mentions Braavos to Arya when he gives her the old coin, he seems like a good canidate for being a member. In one of Dany’s chapters it’s revealed that “valar morghulis” is High Valaryian (sp?) for “all men must die”. What hasn’t been revealed is the meaning of the phrase the ship captain responds to Arya with: “valar dohearis”.

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I don’t have my books with me, because I’m posting from work, but

the Red Viper is dead. It’s made clear that he died in A Storm of Swords. I could find the passages later if you really want. I believe at one point Tywin mentions that some of the Dornishmen that accompanied the Red Viper have left King’s Landing carrying his body.

Furthermore, and this is a mild spoiler for the 4th book, so I’m putting it in its own spoiler space:

Martin has mentioned that one of the reasons he’s writing A Feast for Crows (originally he was going to skip over that time period), is that there were some things he realized he just had to deal with, and one of them is the Dornish response to Oberon’s death.

17

Crap.

.

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Is Feast still supposed to be out around April-ish?

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Damn, You’re right I just checked, Clegane survived but not the Viper.

20

It’s very unlikely now. I don’t know what date the publisher or book sites are listing off-hand, but those dates are rather worthless. Reallistically it will be out 4-6 months after Martin is finished writing and he hasn’t finished writing it yet. The publisher could trim some time off that if they really wanted to, but I don’t know if they will.