Random thought: A Song of Ice and Fire as historical fiction

I can't tell you why this thought first popped into my head because it's been so long that I can't even hope to remember the reason. Nonetheless, it was something that spawned from my noggin like Athena from the head of Zeus and for lack of anything better, I thought I'd share it here.

So yes, reading A Song of Ice and Fire as if it were historical fiction is an odd notion and probably not one that occurred to George R.R. Martin when he conceived the series, but it's something that I don't think is that far-fetched. Historical fiction at it's biggest and grandest is simply the retelling (with liberties) of historical events as told from a mix of historical figures and wholly fictional ones. The stage is which ASoIaF is set is not dissimilar to that. If you were to excise the more fantastical elements like the dragons, white walkers, and magic, then you have a retelling of events that wouldn't be that far removed from what you'd read in a historical fiction novel or novels.

Indeed, you could take it one step further and argue that if the plot of the series were distilled down to just the events that occur, then the entire series could be read as a historical record. Political upheavals, assassinations, and wars of succession are exactly the kind of thing that happened in Europe for centuries, just sans dragons, zombies, and Kitt Harrington's perfect hair. In fact, when I finally get around to re-reading A Game of Thrones and (hopefully) the rest of the series, I'm going to try and do so from the point of view that I'm reading historical fiction.

Winds of Winter next year, maybe?

George R.R. Martin provided an update on his blog concerning his full throttled progress on Winds of Winter, the next book in the A Song of Ice and Fire series. As it turns out, a global pandemic is conducive towards writing door-stoppers, as GRRM seems to be boogieing along:

If nothing else, the enforced isolation has helped me write. I am spending long hours every day on THE WINDS OF WINTER, and making steady progress. I finished a new chapter yesterday, another one three days ago, another one the previous week.

He also makes important note that he still has a ways to go, but is hopeful that maybe, just maybe it'll be finished by next year.

Of course, this won't suit the dipshits who constantly complain and hound the man for not writing as fast as say Brandon Sanderson. Hell, GRRM could release Winds of Winter tomorrow and they would still find reason to complain. "But he's taking forever to write A Dream of Spring!"

Queen in the North

She certainly would be now that a certain fan theory was confirmed on Game of Thrones.

(spoiler, probably still)

There was a fan theory that Jon Snow wasn't Ned Stark's bastard, but the son of Lyanna Stark and Rhaegar Targaryen and the season six finale confirmed it. Currently, only Bran Stark knows this and Jon has apparently been "crowned" King in the North as the last known and eldest son of Ned. Of course, if his true parentage gets out, then it could lead to questions of who the true ruler of the North is. Sansa has the stronger claim as Ned's daughter and is considered (at least according to the GoT wiki) to be Lady of Winterfell. Jon does have a claim through his mother, but Sansa's is stronger as the daughter as and sister of the last two Stark Lords of Winterfell, respectively.

Of course, the question is whether or not the Northern Houses would accept a woman as Queen? House Mormont has been lead by two women so far and Lyanna Mormont seems to be widely respected by the other Houses, so it's entirely possible.

As for Jon, having the blood of Rhaegar gives him a stronger claim to the Iron Throne than his aunt, Dany. On the other hand, he's still a bastard and she isn't. He was legitimized by the Houses of the North when he was crowned King of the North, so it stands to reason that the same could very well happen there.

(Pic via HeroPress)

You can have your Iron Throne, I'd rather have a book one

Aerys the Mad should have sat on one of these instead, then he wouldn't have cut himself so much. He still would have been an insane asshole though. To quote the immortal Bronn, "there's no cure for being a cunt."

Of course, that's probably not enough space for us fantasy readers - most of us would use up half the slots just for one series. #fantasygeekproblems am I right? I don't think Sanderson's Way of Kings would fit anywhere on there, either, not without tipping the thing over.

(via thefullblossom)

Dragon Mistress

This is supposed to be a picture of Daenerys Targaryen with one of her dragons, Drogon. Instead, it looks like Mario Teodosio drew a very awesome high fantasy/sword and sorcery picture of a woman and her dragon, hence the title of this post.

(via A Wiki of Ice and Fire)

Either way, it's a bitching picture.

I think it's funny how they never dye Emilia Clarke's eyebrows for Game of Thrones

(via Game of Thrones wiki)

It's just amusing to me that Dany has super blonde/almost white hair, but her eyebrows are Clarke's original brown. On the other hand, it's probably a pain in the ass to dye someone's brows for a show that only does what, twelve episodes a season? To say nothing of Clarke having to go around with white eyebrows and brown hair the rest of the year, or enduring a second dye job to restore her brows back to their original color.

Twilight is the best fantasy book series ever

Way, way, way better than that dumb A Song of Ice and Fire or that trash Robert Jordan wrote.

Ned Stark warned us winter was coming

But good freaking god, I didn't expect it to be this cold. When I went to bed last night, it was 1 degree Fahrenheit. ONE DEGREE, PEOPLE. It's less than 10 degrees now and it's almost noon. Did I mention that I live in the Southern U.S.? Friiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiick!

A Song of Ice and Fire house sigils, Lisa Frank style

Remember those Lisa Frank designed trapper keepers, folders, and notebooks that kids took to school back in the day? The ones with unicorns, tigers, and whatnot in every possible color known to mankind?

It's like someone stabbed a rainbow.
(via This Is My Boomstick)

Tumblr artist arterialmotive decided to put a Lisa Frank spin on the various house sigils from A Song of Ice and Fire, starting with House Targaryen and Stark.

They're adorable. I want twenty of each.

But man, can you imagine what House Bolton's sigil would look like? Holy shit. Can you even Lisa Frank a flayed body?

h/t Laughing Squid.

Barnes & Noble might be overdoing it on the A Song of Ice and Fire front

Went to a B&N today for the first time in six months and headed straight for the scifi/fantasy section. On one hand, I saw some books that I plan on getting next month or in January, but on the other hand, I saw something that actually ticked me off a little: four shelves dedicated to George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire. Four shelves, all carrying varied types of hardcovers, paperbacks, and box sets, with only five books not part of that series. What ticked me off about it is the realization that in order to make room for the Martin bounty, they had to remove a lot of other writers' books, meaning that those people are going to get less money, especially if other B&N's did the same thing. Now, this might not be a problem for the more established writers, but what about the new ones? The folks who are just starting out and need every dollar they can get from book sales? I don't know, maybe I'm overreacting, but it just seems like Barnes & Noble is taking a giant piss on a lot of people.

As for the books that caught my attention:

The Ten Thousand by Paul Kearny.
The Eyes of God by John Marco.
The Darwin Elevator by James M. Hough.
Hooded Man: An Omnibus of Post-Apocalyptic Novels by Paul Kane.
Stark's War by John G. Hemry.

I'm forgetting a few. I know it's more than a little hypocritical to talk about buying books at a store that I ranted about in the same post, but there's nothing to be done about B&N's poor decision making.

I bet the government shutdown wouldn't have happened if the Lannisters were in charge

I mean, they are the richest of the great houses, so clearly, they're doing something right. Stannis wouldn't have let it happen either, but he would probably start putting people to death until the solution was solved. With the Starks, it probably wouldn't have happened to begin with because they would be more austere.

Apologies to anyone sick and tired of hearing about the shutdown or who have a distaste for politics. The comparison popped in my head and I couldn't help myself.

Randyll Tarly was a dick, wasn't he? (spoilers)

Alternate title: Let's have some truly random A Song of Ice and Fire thoughts.

Credit: Sardag.
Via A Wiki of Ice and Fire.

So, I recently picked up A Clash of Kings, figuring that after like two or three years, it would be a pretty good time to start progressing through the series. At the same time, I started reading stuff and things on the ASoIaF wiki, including the page about Randyll Tarly, the father of Samwell of the Night's Watch. Well, that reminded me of a thought I had had while reading A Game of Thrones and Tarly's treatment of his son. For those who haven't read the books or might not otherwise remember, Randyll Tarly despised his son because he basically wasn't Ron fucking Swanson and when his wife gave birth to a son who was more to his liking, he forced Samwell to take the black and join the Night's Watch. If he hadn't, Randyll would have arranged an unfortunate "accident" for his eldest son.

via Game of Thrones wiki.

I don't think he'll be winning Father of the Year anytime soon. Back then, I thought it was odd that Randyll had forced his son to take the black, as opposed to sending him to Oldtown to become a Maester*. One of Sam's rather "displeasing" (to his father) was his love of books, which to me, marks him out as a good candidate and it would have served the same purpose as sending him North to the Watch - Sam would have had to forfeit any claim he would have had to his father's lands or any inheritance whatsoever. Then it hit me: That's exactly why he sent Sam to The Wall. If he had sent him to the Maesters, then Sam might have grown up happy and Randyll Tarly so despised Sam that he didn't want his son to be happy.

If that doesn't make him a dick, I don't what will.






*I know he does eventually go to Oldtown to become a Maester.

And this is your idiot of the month and maybe the entire year

On her discovery of GAME OF THRONES creator George R.R. Martin's books...

Here's the thing about the Our Valued Customers webcomic: it's all true. The strips are based off of actual, honest-to-god things that Tim Chamberlain, the creator of the comic, has overheard or seen at the comic book store that he works at. Someone actually said this!

It's a nice day for a Red Wedding

A modified version of Billy Idol's "White Wedding" song popped in my head tonight and after mentioning it on Tumblr, one of my followers pointed me to this video featuring that very thing. Check it out:



Personally, I think the people behind Game of Thrones should have paid Idol to record a Red Wedding version of his song and played it during that part of the episode and the credits. Just rub the salt into the wound there.

Prepare yourselves, summer is coming.

I have no idea how the people of Westeros handled nine years of it. It hits 80 or 90 and I'm melting like those Nazis from Raiders of the Lost Ark.

George R.R. Martin posted another chapter from Winds of Winter

And I would read it if I had read the rest of the series first. I should probably move Clash of Kings up further on the queue.

Finished S.M. Stirling's Dies the Fire

And goddamn, Dies the Fire was excellence. I'll write up a non-review later, but it was excellent. With that out of way, it's time to move on to something else. I have three in mind:

Unofficial S.M.Stirling Fan Page.

The Protector's War is the sequel to Dies the Fire. I'm a bit worried about burning myself out on the Emberverse by jumping to the next book so quickly.

Lord of the Rings Wiki.

Partly because the first part of trilogy is coming out in December, but mostly because I want to read more of the classics. I did read a bit of this last year and enjoyed it.

A Wiki of Ice and Fire.

It's been several months since I finished A Game of Thrones and I'd like to be at least halfway through A Storm of Swords before season three of Game of Thrones airs, so I should probably get to reading A Clash of Kings soon.

What to choose, what the choose?

In a game of thrones, you either finish the book or you die

Literacy can be very dangerous. Seeing as how I'm not dead, we can safely assume that I finished A Game of Thrones. Only a few hours ago, actually. I'm not going to write a review, I both suck at them and it took me well over a year to finish the book. When I first started reading it, I don't even think Game of Thrones was even announced and when it was, I decided to finish AGoT before the first season aired. That didn't happen, as I overdid it and burned myself out on the book. After that, I read the book off and on until recently, when I decided to finally finish the thing.

Anyway, I liked the books, especially where it differed with the TV series. AGoT has much more depth than the show, but I like them both about the same, with the former edging out the latter. As a result of the show, however, I kept picturing the characters in the book as their TV equivalent, but I'm not complaining. I didn't really have a mental image for any of them, save for Tyrion, and what he looked like in my mind was vastly inferior to Peter Dinklage. If I had to give A Game of Thrones a rating, I'd like 9.75/10. The length was a bit wearing and it's not even the longest book. Oh boy.

I need this shirt on my body

Shirt available at RedBubble. Direwolf and Longclaw sold separately.

h/t Wil Wheaton.

Image inspiration: An old Knight

A Wiki of Ice and Fire.

Obviously, this isn't just any "old" knight, but Ser Barristan Selmy, former Lord Commander of the Kingsguard from A Song of Ice and Fire. Aside from that, this picture serves as an interesting piece of inspiration. I've been mulling over a fictional world I had started to lay the groundwork for many, many years ago and an aged knight would fit right into a potential cast of characters. A couple of possibilities come to mind: