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EDIT (7/30/2010): Jump to discussion on A Clash of Kings, the second book in the series. MOD EDIT: Any spoiler, big or small, will be banned. Any indirect spoiler, which is blatantly obvious in general once you get it, will get a LONG probation. Alright goons, now is your chance to get in on The Book Barn's read through of George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire! This discussion thread will be SPOILER-FREE. As the read-through progresses the spoiler fog of war will naturally recede, but this is your final warning.  DO NOT SPOIL THESE BOOKS.That being said, if you have an interest in these books you probably shouldn't be on the internet, or even communicate with other beings capable of your language prior to finishing. Spoilers are everywhere on the web. For those willing to take that risk, welcome! Avoid rolling over spoiler tags, as you'll really regret it.  Author: George R. R. Martin, AKA GRRM. Born: September 20, 1948 in Bayonne, New Jersey. Occupation(s): Author, Former TV writer (The New Twilight Zone, Beauty and the Beast) , Miniature Salesmen, NFL Blogger, Convention Fixture Genres: Fantasy, Science-fiction, Horror Influences J. R. R. Tolkien, Robert A. Heinlein, H. P. Lovecraft, F. Scott Fitzgerald, George MacDonald Fraser, Robert E. Howard, Stan Lee, Jack Vance, William Faulkner, Roger Zelazny, Influenced Daniel Abraham, Steven Erikson, Scott Lynch, David Anthony Durham, Paul Haines, Joe Abercrombie, Patrick Rothfuss, Michael Chabon Why do I want to read GRRM? GRRM's won awards! Locuses, Hugos, Nebulas, Ignotuses, AnLabs, Seiuns, Balrogs, Stokers, Geffens, Skylarks, and other things Scifi/Fantasy folks make up to convince ourselves it's a legitimate art form.  The Series: A Song of Ice and Fire Why do I want to read this series? Because you are a giant escapist medieval fantasy dork hungering for a low magic story that focuses on intrigue, royal plots, and the machinations of noble families. Because you want to  at others when they go nuts over the HBO series coming next spring. Because you're the sort of person that enjoys reading phone book sized tomes, and descriptions of food. Westeros is a world reminiscent of medieval Europe. Times past saw seven kingdoms conquered, and turned into one by a family with A decade and a half prior to the start of our story saw rebellion, the deposing of the Targaryens, and the fleeing of the last scions of their house into hiding across the sea. GRRM uses a very effective Point of View, limited third person perspective per chapter following some of the victor's of the rebellion(both "good" and "bad"), their children, and the deposed. You'll follow current plots. You'll learn the nature of past plots, secrets, and mysteries. You'll find this all entwined with larger, ancient threats. Royal plots, ancient threats, mysteries, prophecies, twists, turns, betrayals, sex, rape, bastards, lemon cakes, and more! What more could you ask for? Quotes about the Series: Westeros.org, an ASoIaF fan site posted:Imagine a feudal kingdom on a massive continent in a world filled with many cultures and half-legendary lands and an ancient history. Imagine a time where dragons once lived but magic is now dwindling, yet the seasons can be long or short, bringing glorious summers or terrible winters that last years at a time. Imagine a massive iron throne from which seven kingdoms are ruled, with false knights and true all gathered about it in hopes of blood or glory or profit, and shadows behind it pushing the pieces that make up the game of thrones. Time posted:Martin isn't the best known of America's straight-up fantasy writers. That honor would probably go to upstart Christopher Paolini (Eragon), or Robert Jordan (the endlessly turning Wheel of Time series), or better yet to ageless grandmistress Ursula K. LeGuin (A Wizard of Earthsea). But of those who work in the grand epic-fantasy tradition, Martin is by far the best. In fact, with his newest book, A Feast for Crows (Bantam; 784 pages), currently descending on bookstores and ascending best-seller lists, this is as good a time as any to proclaim him the American Tolkien.     
Additional Short-Stories: Same world, but taking place about a century before the series proper.
Wait, the series isn't finished? Correct! The writing of A Feast for Crows, and the "almost done" A Dance with Dragons was, and has been, troubled. Rewrites, change-ups, and other distractions have caused a delay in the release of the latest series installment. This has caused a large division in the fan base, and has either driven us mad (  ), or turned us into fawning sycophants. One day, you too will likely go mad, and we'll be here to welcome you with a lemoncake, and something non-consensual.Bitchin' Art based on the Series(we are nerds.) Trying to avoid spoilery images. Some of these certainly depict events in the book, but don't really spoil anything.             Principal Characters The tale of the first book, A Game of Thrones, is told through the eyes of 8 POV characters and a one-off prologue POV.
We will have point of view chapters from other characters in later books. Other important characters exist. Many in fact, yet those are revealed through the course of the book, so no sense encumbering you now.  Resource Links Again, your best bet is to stay away from anything outside of this thread concerning the series. But hey, links! GRRM's website: The big guy himself. Rarely updated, and straight out of the 90's. GRRM's blog: His livejournal, in which he . Tower of the Hand: Resource with a filter level to help avoid spoilers in books you have not yet read. Westeros.org: Another fan site. With a roughly obsessive amount of content, and stalker section in which everything GRRM has ever said about the series is cataloged. Thread Links STAY AWAY FROM HERE: Unless you've finished the books. The current ASoIaF thread has devolved into a horrible place, for horrible people. You will be hunted for sport. The previous thread is similar. ALSO STAY AWAY FROM HERE: The TVIV thread, anticipating next Spring's series on HBO. Spoilers have a way of slipping into conversation. Humor Links @GRRMpy: Parody twitter account, typically tweeted in response to his LiveJournal entries. Where's the book, George: GRRM critics. Details of the Read Book 1: A Game of Thrones Week 1, Monday 24 May Prologue Bran 1 Catelyn 1 Dany 1 Ned 1 Jon 1 Catelyn 2 Arya 1 Bran 2 Tyrion 1 Jon 2 Dany 2 Week 2, Monday 31 May Ned 2 Tyrion 2 Catelyn 3 Sansa 1 Ned 3 Bran 3 Catelyn 4 Jon 3 Ned 4 Tyrion 3 Arya 2 Week 3, Monday 7 June Dany 3 Bran 4 Ned 5 Jon 4 Ned 6 Catelyn 5 Sansa 2 Ned 7 Tyrion 4 Week 4, Monday 14 June Arya 3 Ned 8 Catelyn 6 Ned 9 Dany 4 Bran 5 Tyrion 5 Ned 10 Catelyn 7 Jon 5 Week 5, Monday 21 June Tyrion 6 Ned 11 Sansa 3 Ned 12 Dany 5 Ned 13 Jon 6 Ned 14 Arya 4 Sansa 4 Week 6, Monday 28 June Jon 7 Bran 6 Dany 6 Catelyn 8 Tyrion 7 Sansa 5 Ned 15 Catelyn 9 Week 7, Monday 5 July Jon 8 Dany 7 Tyrion 8 Catelyn 10 Dany 8 Arya 5 Week 8, Monday 12 July Bran 7 Sansa 6 Dany 8 Tyrion 9 Jon 9 Catelyn 11 Dany 9 If you get ahead, please spoiler your comments or else you will get probated and/or banned (see above). Please PM/Email viconia@somethingawful.com if you find the timeline is too fast/slow or with any comments. Details on other book timelines to follow.. Zombie Lincoln fucked around with this message at 04:09 on Jul 31, 2010 |
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May 18, 2010 23:27
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Week 1 Recap! (This was added after the Week 2 recap went in, for uniformity's sake) Prologue: Three rangers in the Night's Watch track a group of wildling raiders beyond the Wall. Bran 1: Robb Stark and Jon Snow discover a litter of direwolves, one pup for each of Eddard Stark's six children. Catelyn 1: Catelyn Tully informs her husband, Eddard, that Jon Arryn, an old friend of Eddard's, has died and that King Robert Baratheon is coming to Winterfell. Dany 1: Exiled prince Viserys Targaryen sells his sister Daenerys to Khal Drogo of the Dothraki in exchange for an army to take back the Seven Kingdoms. Ned 1: King Robert and his party arrive in Winterfell; Robert asks Eddard to be the new Hand of the King and promises to wed his son Joffrey to Ned's daughter Sansa. Jon 1: A feast is held in honor of the king; Tyrion Lannister, brother of the queen and a dwarf, speaks with Jon Snow about being Eddard Stark's bastard son; Jon declares that he wishes to join the Night's Watch. Catelyn 2: A secret letter from Catelyn's sister Lysa convinces Eddard to go to King's Landing with the king; Lysa claims that Jon Arryn was murdered by the queen. Arya 1: Failing miserably at her needlework, Arya Stark goes to watch her brothers Robb and Bran practice swords with the princes Joffrey and Tommen, respectively. Bran 2: Bran accidentally witnesses Queen Cersei Lannister having sex with her twin brother, Ser Jaime Lannister of the Kingsguard; Jaime flings Bran from a tower. Tyrion 1: Tyrion has breakfast with Cersei and Jaime, noting that Bran lies crippled and in a coma, but unlikely to die from the fall; Tyrion announces his plans to see the Wall. Jon 2: Before leaving with his uncle Benjen Stark for the Wall, Jon visits with Bran, Robb, and Arya; he gives Arya a small sword named Needle. Dany 2: Daenerys weds Khal Drogo and is offered many wedding gifts, among them three dragon eggs from Magister Illyrio Mopatis. Next: Week 2, Monday 31 May Ned 2 Tyrion 2 Catelyn 3 Sansa 1 Ned 3 Bran 3 Catelyn 4 Jon 3 Ned 4 Tyrion 3 Arya 2 Zombie Lincoln fucked around with this message at 18:53 on Jun 1, 2010 |
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May 18, 2010 23:27
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Might as well get a 6th read in. I'll try and keep up with this read-through, but probably won't comment much to avoid spoilering things accidentally. And honestly, the thing that makes this series amazing is that it's even better the 2nd and 3rd time you read through it. There are so many layers of nuance and subtle plots that you pick things up on future readings that make it incredible. Think the fantasy series version of Arrested Development. Small clues that you'd never notice until you already found out what happens in the end. They abound.
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May 18, 2010 23:38
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Awesome OP! I will have to dig out my copy of GoT to get in on this (I have nothing better to do  )Khatib posted:And honestly, the thing that makes this series amazing is that it's even better the 2nd and 3rd time you read through it. There are so many layers of nuance and subtle plots that you pick things up on future readings that make it incredible. Think the fantasy series version of Arrested Development. Small clues that you'd never notice until you already found out what happens in the end. They abound. Speaking of which, are we going to talk about these as we read through? Karter705 fucked around with this message at 03:11 on May 19, 2010 |
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May 19, 2010 00:14
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There's also a pretty awesome (mostly hilarious) podcast that contains a good portion of the first book via readthrough... but there are plenty of spoilers in it. http://podcastoficeandfire.com I'm sure there are other podcasts out there, but it's the most goony.
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May 19, 2010 00:15
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Time for a goonfession: Despite taking part in the GRRM  but then I got spoiled about every possible plot point in the latter books so I just didn't bother. However, I will get around to it because I like the world and characters of the books!
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May 19, 2010 00:31
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Put spoiler free in the title to attracts noobs! Maybe put a link in the TVIV thread for people who are curious?
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May 19, 2010 00:36
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Excellent! I'm still finishing up Game on my second read through of the series, but I can tag along. And you poor fuckers who are new to G. R. R. Martin are screwed. dyehead posted:There's also a pretty awesome (mostly hilarious) podcast that contains a good portion of the first book via readthrough... but there are plenty of spoilers in it. Many or most of these guys are Goons too. I'd love to find out who is who on here. Mostly because I have beef with a couple of them.
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May 19, 2010 00:37
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Unmistakeable Fire posted:Put spoiler free in the title to attracts noobs! Maybe put a link in the TVIV thread for people who are curious? drat title's too long to add anything!
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May 19, 2010 00:39
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LooseChanj posted:drat title's too long to add anything! You could take out George R. R. Martin I suppose. They'll get a nice glimpse of him when they click the thread anyway.
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May 19, 2010 00:40
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This sounds good, been too long since my last readthrough and I'm sure I've forgotten the majority of A Feast For Crows. Looking forward to seeing you all in the other thread 
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May 19, 2010 00:40
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LooseChanj posted:drat title's too long to add anything! Perhaps the other thread should be prepended with [SPOILERS!].
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May 19, 2010 01:02
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Zombie Lincoln posted:Perhaps the other thread should be prepended with [SPOILERS!]. Not nearly accurate enough. [SPOILED!] might work.
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May 19, 2010 01:06
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Hmmm, might have to load the audiobooks back onto my mp3 player to join the ride at work.
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May 19, 2010 01:13
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I just started my first re-read last week, so I'll play along in the discussion as we start talking about chapters. These books really are great when you re-read them. I'm catching a whole lot more stuff that I didn't get the first time around. EDIT EDIT: Alright, the spoilers are gone now. Day Man fucked around with this message at 14:42 on May 19, 2010 |
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May 19, 2010 01:54
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Count how many times GRRM uses the phrase "had the grace to blush". There's at least 3 
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May 19, 2010 01:55
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Nothing to see here. This guy spoiled most of the books for people. Lesson be learnt! (USER WAS BANNED FOR THIS POST) Somebody fucked around with this message at 08:58 on May 19, 2010 |
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May 19, 2010 01:57
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Wow already spoiled on the first page that was quicker then I expected. At least they look shiny.
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May 19, 2010 02:12
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Pompous Rhombus posted:spoiler Well, that didn't take long. Throwdown fucked around with this message at 02:19 on May 19, 2010 |
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May 19, 2010 02:12
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Throwdown posted:Well, that didn't take long. Probably want to clear out your quote before the ravens reach the mods.
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May 19, 2010 02:15
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This is why we can't have nice things.
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May 19, 2010 02:17
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Zombie Lincoln posted:Probably want to clear out your quote before the ravens reach the mods. Good call. I guess you can't be a true to form "WILD CARD" without being a dick.
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May 19, 2010 02:19
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Throwdown posted:Good call. I guess you can't be a true to form "WILD CARD" without being a dick. I just love how miserable fans of GRRM's are that they love to spoil new readers. It's almost like a jealous lover: "if we can't have him, no one will".
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May 19, 2010 02:21
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I liked the idea of the thread since I just started reading the series (finished with the 2nd book recently) and have nowhere where I can discuss them without being spoiled, but I guess it wasn't meant to be.
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May 19, 2010 02:40
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We all know that won't be the last time, too. Face it, it's impossible to keep a spoiler-free thread in TBB.
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May 19, 2010 02:47
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Mean Bean Machine posted:I liked the idea of the thread since I just started reading the series (finished with the 2nd book recently) and have nowhere where I can discuss them without being spoiled, but I guess it wasn't meant to be. Ayn Rand and Martin could not have more different writing styles. Yet the thing they share in common is that their fans are assholes.
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May 19, 2010 02:51
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Pompous Rhombus posted:spoilers Okay this is just dumb. I'm all for spoiling idiots who come into the bad!thread but this is the good!thread for newbies. Viconia please permaban this douchebag.
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May 19, 2010 03:03
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Hedrigall posted:Okay this is just dumb. I'm all for spoiling idiots who come into the bad!thread but this is the good!thread for newbies. The thing that bothers me is that it completely misses the point of spoiling newbs in the other thread. It's like a slap in the face to our threads glorious history.
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May 19, 2010 03:06
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Pompous Rhombus posted:
IMO, while I love me some wildcard books, this is the best wildcard out there.: 
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May 19, 2010 03:06
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bengraven posted:Ayn Rand and Martin could not have more different writing styles. I don't think any of us are GRRM fans, we all see him as an absolute fucker who happens to write exceedingly good fantasy novels in his spare time whenever he can tear away from the NFL / selling water damaged calandars from last year.
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May 19, 2010 03:08
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Virigoth posted:IMO, while I love me some wildcard books, this is the best wildcard out there.:  is the best emote.
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May 19, 2010 03:10
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I managed to power through the four books last fall without being spoiled. I laughed, I cried, I raged, and now I check the lemoncakes/rape thread daily in the hope that someday I'll see a link to a ADwD release announcement. So all that being said, I'm pretty stoked to do a group re-read. I actually started with the audio book a couple of days ago, but I'll put the brakes on it for now until the discussion time line comes out. Let me be the first to say the prologue sucks...
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May 19, 2010 04:14
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Well, this thread had a good run I suppose.
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May 19, 2010 04:18
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All the wildcards crew must post in this thread. Voting 5 to lure people.
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May 19, 2010 04:42
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In honor of the new thread, I'm officially ending my denial and requesting a Wild Cards tag. E: Can someone PM Viconia for me please, I dont have PMs.
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May 19, 2010 04:46
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Rhgr posted:I don't think any of us are GRRM fans, we all see him as an absolute fucker who happens to write exceedingly good fantasy novels in his spare time whenever he can tear away from the NFL / selling water damaged calandars from last year. If you weren't a fan, you wouldn't obsess about his inactivity. Come on, you know we all want to hug that Santa Claus looking mother fucker. bengraven fucked around with this message at 04:52 on May 19, 2010 |
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May 19, 2010 04:47
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Mr.48 posted:In honor of the new thread, I'm officially ending my denial and requesting a Wild Cards tag. You and me both buddy, I didn't know how to hate til I started hanging out in the ASOIAF thread.
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May 19, 2010 04:50
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Paddyo posted:So all that being said, I'm pretty stoked to do a group re-read. I actually started with the audio book a couple of days ago, but I'll put the brakes on it for now until the discussion time line comes out. Is the audiobook actually decent? I wouldn't be able to listen to a book this long on tape. edit: but yes, this is why we can't have nice things
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May 19, 2010 04:58
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I'm in for the re-read, I had to dig my copy of a game of thrones out of the deep dark black back of my bookshelf but I found it. Last time I read the books I power read them to get finished, was a huggeee mistake. I'm sure I can learn something new from the re-read.
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May 19, 2010 05:03
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I was very much not impressed with the first chapter. The prologue was alright, for what it was, but the first chapter felt so strange and forced to me. I guess that's because GRRM had a vision of this scene, and decided to construct the entire series around it, but it just feels forced.
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May 19, 2010 05:26
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