Avian Gamers Network

So have any of you read George R.R. Martins “A Song of Fire and Ice” books?

I was made aware of this series a few months back while watching The Totally Rad Show podcast. Alex was going on and on about it, so I bought the first book “A Game of Thrones” for my Amazon kindle. It took me a few days to comprehend all the characters, but once I understood who all the real players were I was totally hooked. I have now moved on to the second book “A Clash of Kings”

The books are written for the point of view of the main characters, each chapter devoted to a different character’s point of view. So it gives you an ever changing opinion of each characters moral standing. Characters who were bad, become not so bad, or misunderstood when read from their point of view. Good characters do some not so good things. And all the points of view do an amazing job or weaving a complete story.

I guess I am a slow reader and I don’t have much free time. The books are great for me because each chapter is relatively short, allowing me to knock out small chunks of the book whenever I get the opportunity.

Also worthy of note, HBO has picked up the first book for a new cable TV series.

Anyway I just wanted to share this with you.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Song_of_Ice_and_Fire

I have read game of Thrones and enjoyed it, havent had a chance to pick up the others yet.

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Section 6

Wow, I just completed the third book, Storm of Swords, last night. I was so tired, but the end had me, I could not put it down.

I love this series. It sucks that releases take about 5 years or more. I've read all the books twice and will re-read before the next release

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Nasiobo Aprillis
Star Wars: The Old Republic | Jedi Consular (Nasiobo)
Slicing, Scavenging and Cybertech

Not a big reader of fiction but these sound like their depth makes them a good read.

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Deak
SWTOR - Spicerunner Legacy - Smuggler - RETIRED
Rift - Decipher - Paragon - RETIRED | WAR - Frenzyof Energy - Shaman - RETIRED
WoW - Fire Mage - RETIRED | SWG - Weaponsmith - RETIRED
MMOGGLER™ for online gamers

I finished the current 4 books a few weeks ago. I felt the first three were much better than the 4th, however towards the end of the 4th it really started getting good.

Anyway, like Nas mentioned, it has been 5 years since the last book. Many fans are not happy about that. Well in my goodreads feed today I saw a thread where it was announced at NY comic-con that Martin is 5 chapters away from completing the 5th book, the chapters are in draft already. The publisher wants the book complete by Christmas with a release shortly after. The book is at 1500 pages, so they are talking about where to end the 5th book, and where to begin the 6th book.

Honestly I think the reason I was not as into the 4th book was because it focused on only a fraction of the characters, and introduced too many characters I did not care about. The 5th book is supposed to span the same time frame as the 4th, but from the prospective of the characters who were missing in the. I think the decision to split the books up based on the characters was a big mistake, and is the reason he is having problems ending the Dance of Dragons. Anyway according to comic-con, the wait may not be much longer.

I am halfway thru reading the third book, and its the best series I have read in a while.

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"For over 2 years, the Veteran Community were the guardians of peace and justice in the Pre CU. Before the dark times, before the NGE."

http://www.ew.com/ew/gallery/0,,2038592 ... 31,00.html

Entertainment Weekly has posted 10 pictures from the set of HBO's "Game of Thrones" as part of a "first look" on the new series.

I am almost done with this book, and its getting to be the same way for me. I just wish I had more time, Ive been busier than heck at work this week.

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"For over 2 years, the Veteran Community were the guardians of peace and justice in the Pre CU. Before the dark times, before the NGE."

Grrr.. now I have to start reading these... Never heard of them before. Thanks.

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"Perhaps the sentiments contained in the following pages, are not yet sufficiently fashionable to procure them general favor; a long habit of not thinking a thing wrong, gives it a superficial appearance of being right, and raises at first a formidable outcry in defence of custom. But the tumult soon subsides." - Thomas Paine, Common Sense

You won't be disappointed.

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"For over 2 years, the Veteran Community were the guardians of peace and justice in the Pre CU. Before the dark times, before the NGE."

Just in case I missed the show timing above, just read today that the HBO show is due for an April airing.

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"I built me a bomb and dropped it on every MFer who got in my way!"

http://www.georgerrmartin.com/if-update.html

A Dance with Dragons, the next and long overdue book has a release date of 12 July 2011.

Did anyone watch the tv show debut on HBO last night? I could not.

I am trying to download it now.... I leave Dubai heading back to Kuwait in a few hours, utorrent is telling me it needs 9 more hours to download. Looks like I am screwed because Kuwait blocks file sharing. I picked up some http tunneling software, maybe I can get it to work in Kuwait and continue downloading the show when I get back.

//edit: I went to grab a quick lunch and low and behold when I came back the whole episode 1 was downloaded. I will watch tonight. I hope the tunneling software will allow me to DL future episodes. //

Anyway I would love to hear a review from any of you guys.

I'm late to the Thrones party but picked up the sample of the four-book series on my iPod Touch and loved it! Solid recommendation, everyone! My wife and I nearly always wait for series like this to come out on DVD before watching them so I have a little time to catch up on the books.

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Liro
"The english language is not a wedding gown, it doesn't get better the more lace you add. It is instead a thong. Less is more." From /.
I need to remind myself of this regularly.

Hope to watch it on the PVR this week. Haven't gotten around to reading the book(s) yet though.

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"I built me a bomb and dropped it on every MFer who got in my way!"

So I watched the show the other night and thought it was great. I will probably watch it again tonight.

The ugly characters (Tyrion & Arya) are much prettier in the show… I don’t think that is a bad thing. In the show I did not find Queen Cersei to be as amazingly beautiful as I had imagined. I expected to see more extravagance and grandeur in her wardrobe being that she is both a queen and a Lannister. No real complaint from me here, I was just surprised at her plainness. There are a lot of boobs in the show, which is true to the book, but I was still caught off guard. Plot wise, most of the nudity is unnecessary, however it is HBO.

I am positive that reading the books before watching the show is enormously helpful and rewarding. There are so many small details that I am able to notice and appreciate thanks to reading the books. (Jon Snow, The Hound, glances between characters, the significance of the costumes), So much of the story is compressed to fit the one hour show, I am following it with ease, but I wonder how difficult it would be for my wife who has never read the series.

I am left wanting more and can’t wait for next week to get here already. (I need to test my way around the Kuwait file sharing ban) I also wonder how the dire wolf pups are going to work out when they are supposed to be grown. I heard there were problems with their RL training, and I wonder if they will have a smaller part in the show than was originally envisioned. I also wonder if they are going to fit all of book one in the first season of the TV Show, or will they take their time and spread the book across two or more seasons.

I agree with you Cyrus, I found myself wanting to explain some of those little details to my wife and had to say to her that "you will have to wait to see later in the story". I found myself wanting to start rereading the first book again.

As for you wife Cyrus, my wife who has never read any of the series really enjoyed it just didnt get some of those details that a reader would.

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Section 6

A Dance with Dragons is officially complete.

http://grrm.livejournal.com/212603.html
and
http://suvudu.com/2011/04/yes-it-is-done-really.html

I have really enjoyed the last two Game of Thrones episodes a lot. Characters are coming into their own, and the pace is really picking up.

I just watched episodes 1 & 2. Really enjoying the series. Haven't read the books yet but will read the first once S1 on TV is over.

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"I built me a bomb and dropped it on every MFer who got in my way!"

So, based on this thread and my sister's recommendation, I picked up the first book, and also downloaded the HBO series. I've watched the first two episodes, and read not quite that far in the book.

Does it get better? So far, I'm not seeing a lot of a point to the whole thing. I'm also not feeling any urgency or drive to the plot. Having each chapter be solely from one character's viewpoint is a neat concept, but I'm not seeing it actually propel the story forward or getting me to care about the characters at all yet. Jumping around from character to character does give me different perspectives, but I don't really feel emotionally invested in any of them.

I may need some selling to keep plowing through the books.

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Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God!

I think the books are better than the HBO series. The detailed story in the books is vast compared to the limited time a TV series has to offer. The HBO series is harder to appreciate if you have not read the books yet. There are so many tidbits and details hidden in the show from all the books, not just AGoT. Therefore I think the HBO series is amazing for those who have already read the books.

The series and perhaps the books start slow, but the series really picks up speed after the first few episodes. It’s been so long, I can’t remember how far into the book I got before I really appreciated the character POV and all the drama unfolding. In the beginning I was on the fence whether I liked the book or not, I powered forward a few more chapters and am so thankful I did. I think it gets amazing halfway through book 1 thru book 3. Book 4 was bla to me, until the end redeemed itself.

I've seen a lot of people who have read the books to have this stance, but it hasn't stopped people who haven't read them from really enjoying the show regardless. Sure there is more details, context and subtlety to be had from the books, but it is obviously not missed for those who don't know it is there.
I tend to watch each episode at least twice; once to resolve what is on screen with what is in my head, or to get over surprise over 'missing' scenes, and then a second time to just enjoy it for what it is.
It's not perfect, it could probably have been better off for having a thirteen episode run instead of ten, but it is still bloody good.

So the first season is over, I thought it was well done, and mostly true to the book. What did you think?

I'm looking forward to the new book coming out in 10 days.

I picked up the first book yesterday, Border's closing sales...

I hate you all and don't know how I will have time to read it and the others.

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Ryric Krael
Former Vice President AGN
Former Director, Section 6
Former Head of Department of the Treasury
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Ask not what your PA can do for you, but what you can do for your PA
"Gone Section Five"

Loved the show. Half way through book one. So far it appears the show followed the book following fairly closely. I feel like I get to know the charcters much more in the book, or at least can piece together who is who's relative, and the inter-relationships amongst the characters. Awesome read.

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"I built me a bomb and dropped it on every MFer who got in my way!"

CollegeHumor did a great job with this animation!

WARNING: NSFW, NSFK, Spoilers, May contain peanuts.

http://www.collegehumor.com/video/65793 ... hrones-rpg

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Liro
"The english language is not a wedding gown, it doesn't get better the more lace you add. It is instead a thong. Less is more." From /.
I need to remind myself of this regularly.

That. Was. Awesome.

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"I built me a bomb and dropped it on every MFer who got in my way!"

That is great, I only watched the first half or so b/c I didn't want to spoil the book and thought I was getting a bit close to where I was...I'll return later.

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Ryric Krael
Former Vice President AGN
Former Director, Section 6
Former Head of Department of the Treasury
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Ask not what your PA can do for you, but what you can do for your PA
"Gone Section Five"

So watched the TV series as I waited for the eBook to come in to the Library. Is Season 1 basically the first book? I'd skip to the second perhaps if it is. (I read almost half of the first book on the "preview" from Kobo)

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Dr. Golga Bolg
SWTOR - Golga
Rift - Gnarlwood: Golgar Golgantua Golgate - Retired
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Eve - Edge Finn - Limbo
Section 2 - (Former) Director
What am I playing now?: The waiting game

I think so (have not seen it) but read the damn book. From the preview of first show (first 15minutes) they fly through some parts quite quickly.

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Ryric Krael
Former Vice President AGN
Former Director, Section 6
Former Head of Department of the Treasury
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Ask not what your PA can do for you, but what you can do for your PA
"Gone Section Five"

Yes season 1 is book 1 (A Game of Thrones)

I just got season two tonight...I am pumped, and continually amazed that my wife enjoys it.

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Ryric Krael
Former Vice President AGN
Former Director, Section 6
Former Head of Department of the Treasury
-------
Ask not what your PA can do for you, but what you can do for your PA
"Gone Section Five"