GAME OF THRONES

[jenni_blog]

GAME OF THRONES


I finally got the books I ordered and started reading Game of Thrones. I started last weekend and thanks to it being a 3-day holiday, I read the whole first book in the series. So now I am ahead of the TV show. In fact, I'm a third of the way through the second book, and hooked completely.

I'll add my two cents to the pot...it is a wonderful series, full of the most compelling characters I've enjoyed in ages. Of all the great characters, good and bad, I think Arya is my favourite. I identify with her the most of any of them. I love Ned, Tyrion, Robb and Catelyn too. Daenerys is another fascinating character, but she is, of necessity, remote. It's hard to identify with her, but I like her a lot despite that.

I don't want to put down any spoilers since I know what will be coming in the TV show. But I can say that despite the fact we have seen some exciting stuff in the TV series, we haven't seen anything yet by comparison. :)

Comments

[ayres-4.livejournal.com]

I really want to read the books but I haven't been able to find them in english here. I have the pdfs but I don't have a Kindle or anything of the sort and I usually read for pleasure only in the bus (thank you college). So, I'm jealous!! lol.

[just-jenni.livejournal.com]

Oh no! If you PM me with your address I'll send you the books, but one at a time. I also like to read on the bus. I have a Kindle too, but thought I'd buy the books in paperback. :)

[ayres-4.livejournal.com]

Awee, that's so sweet :) But don't worry, I always find a way of getting the books in the end. I'll just have to look harder =) or wait for the holidays and read them on the computer. I'd love to get a Kindle, I think it's be amazing for me. Do you like it?

[just-jenni.livejournal.com]

OK, but let me know if you can't find it. I love the Kindle for travelling...it also has internet access through Wi-fi, which can come in handy.

I bought Game of Thrones in paperback (the series of 4 books called 'A Song of Ice and Fire') so that I could lend them out to my sister and friends. You can't do that with a Kindle, although I did lend it to my daughter so she could read a book on it that I liked a lot.

I got GoT from amazon.ca but I am sure it would be available on ebay as well. Surely somebody would want to sell a used copy, and it would be cheaper. :)

[aglaiya.livejournal.com]

I told you the books are GREAT! Very best fantasy reading!

Love Arya too but the most I love Daenerys! Ned is made for loving him as Catelyn too and all the other Starks and JON SNOW!!!
Cersei I hate but I can understand her (not always because she is going too far)
I'm one of the people who don't like Tyrion! I HATE HIM! And Littlefinger is one of the charas I hate too.
Hahahahahahah I'm the one who LOVES Jaime!!! Okay he is a very bad person and almost killed Bran but...

Can't wait for the next book! Should be the 'A Dance with Dragons'!!!

[just-jenni.livejournal.com]

How could I forget about Jon Snow? Of course I love him too. Littlefinger is not a nice man. Neither is Jaime and I really, REALLY hate Cersei! But I love Tyrion and the more I am reading the more I kind of like Theon. He is a brat but he is always getting kicked. Oh, and I have a feeling I might like Stannis! I love your icon!

[aglaiya.livejournal.com]

Hahahahahah I don't like Stannis but I liked the picture and I made that icon years ago. Should make some new ones!

I know most people are loving Tyrion. Ceren told me he is is too much like me and that's the reason I hate him! I hate him with all my heart!

Theon???? SURPRISE!

[just-jenni.livejournal.com]

I have not read enough yet to know about Stannis but I hope the actor they get for the series is HOT. :)

LOL @ Tyrion being like you! Well, I like him because he is funny, very smart, perceptive and has very good judgement of people!

LOL...I just read the chapter where Theon meets his sister again after all those years...I hope that is not a spoiler...shouldn't be much of one. LMAO. Theon is what the English call a "lad". But he sure got his comeuppance! There is something a bit endearing about him...even if it's that he is such a sexual person! :P I think the actor who plays him in the series is a very good choice.

[aglaiya.livejournal.com]

Stannis should be ugly....

That's what all people like! @ Tyrion.

Theon was never I chara I liked and I will never like him. For me the actor is very unsimpatico and he is for sure a good choice.

But we all have our own likes and dislikes!

[just-jenni.livejournal.com]

Stannis should be ugly for sure! I have read the chapter when he comes to meet Renly! From how he is described, Renly should be beautiful with long, black hair, not the short-haired guy they used in the series! :(

As a character I think Theon is very self-absorbed, but he has done some good things for people...Robb Stark, anyway, who seems to be the only one he truly cares for. But it amuses me how he seems always to be thinking of sex!

Tyrion is putting things in order and doing a good job! But we will see how it all turns out...from this series of books you don't know who will live and who will die. Anything is possible! :)

[aglaiya.livejournal.com]

I don't like the gay Renly from the series!

There are many surprises in the books!!!

[lunar-art.livejournal.com]

It is a good series.
There is a new comm with mostly football fans if you want people to talk about it with.
http://whoresandboars.livejournal.com/profile
I will have the second book discussion post up as soon as I finish it. I am about half way thru.

[just-jenni.livejournal.com]

I love it! Thank you for the link to the comm! I think I tried to join it before but had some trouble posting my info...don't know why. I meant to go back and try to do it again. :)

Awesome. I just read another 70 pages or so and am almost halfway through, so I should be up to speed once you start the second book discussion. :)

[lady--croft.livejournal.com]

Ahhh every time someone on my Flist starts reading the series I smile because I know exactly what's coming. It is the ultimate 'been there, done that' and I am NOT saying that in a bad way. I love watching people fall in love with these books. I was exactly like you and and you are pretty much moving along through the series the same way I did. In other words...addicted. Book one was pretty much Jon, Arya, Bran and Tyrion for me. And although I enjoyed it, I always found Dany's story to be a bit remote just as you put it. Book Two I started leaning heavily towards Tyrion - he is the star of that book IMO. I loved Renly and wanted to find out more about Stannis, Mel and Brienne. There was never enough Sandor IMO. Even GRRM's minor characters are fascinating. Your allegiances and favourites will likely change as you progess through the books. There are so many intricate characters and so many twists as they develop in the series. I'm rereading the series now as well and have just started Book Three. Where are you in your reading? BTW, it is the perfect time to read the series since the fifth book will finally be coming out in July. If you had read the series any earlier you would have gone through the frustration that most fans did back six years ago when book four was released with the fifth (and pivotal) book nowhere in sight. Did you peek ahead at all? It's so difficult not to.

[just-jenni.livejournal.com]

I am doing the same thing with my sister! I bought the books, which I will share with her. So I have this slight feeling of 'superiority' because I know what's going to happen!

I am on Page 675 of Book Two, and there are 969 pages, so I am about 2/3rds of the way through. Tyrion has kept me in stitches. I also have been finding Arya's story very compelling. I am shattered about Renly. For me, Book Renly is such a sympathetic and wonderful character. He would have been a great king, IMO. And I LOVE Brienne and love the fact she is with Catelyn. And I find Theon amusing...I hope the scene with his sister will be in the TV series.

There is so much that is wonderful. While I enjoyed much of Episode 7 on TV last night, there were parts I was disappointed with as well. But I thought the Jon Snow segments were terrific, as were all the parts with Ned. :)

[lady--croft.livejournal.com]

Book two is all Tyrion for me as well. I think you've probably reached the end or close to it by now but OMG Tywin Lannister is so bloody annoying. He makes you realize why his kids turned out the way they did. I love what Pod did for Tyrion. I didn't expect that at all. Watch for Pod's character to get a bigger part!!

I was so disappointed with what happened to Renly. I guess it would have been too perfect for him to be king...even if only for a little while.

Brienne's part just keeps getting better...in Book three she moves from being with Catelyn to spending most of her time with another character and its a shocker. This pairing is one of the best in the series. I'm so excited for you ... I can't wait till you read book three.

Asha Greyjoy is another fantastic female character in the series. They have to keep her intro scene with her brother in the series - it is canon. I always love to watch Theon get burned. Loved watching Osha the wildling take him down a notch in episode seven as well. That was priceless :)

[just-jenni.livejournal.com]

I can't believe Pod is only twelve! But so many characters are very young in the books...I guess we are to believe that kids grew up a lot faster in those days.

I am currently reading Book Three with Brienne and 'that other character'! It's delicious...I hope it gets better. :)

Oh, I do hope they keep the scene with Theon and Asha Greyjoy. Theon getting burned is extremely entertaining...even though I have a love/hate relationship with that character and I can see that the lad has a serious personality disorder...I still find him endearing. However, the parts concerning Theon and the two young Stark boys are so harrowing...thank god he didn't...well, you know. But I have this sense of foreboding that something will happen to him. Up till now, I find most of the characters to be either 'good' or 'bad' but with Theon you just don't know which way he'll go!

Btw, there is no Rickon in the TV series, is there? Or did I miss something in the beginning? Is he back at Winterfell?

[lady--croft.livejournal.com]

What do you think of the story with Bran and the Reeds? I love the Reeds...they are so amazing. All these kids in the novel are so compelling. You forget they are so young sometimes. Jojen Reed seems like this great and wise wizard and yet he is merely a young boy.

I believe at some point Theon will redeem himself. At least I hope he does...if he has the chance to, that is.

Ahaha, Rickon. He has very much disappeared from the tv series. It has become quite the subject of parodies on the internet. I particularly like this Tumblr - Where's Rickon Stark? http://whereisrickon.tumblr.com/

I think/hope/expect Rickon will show up again in that scene that follows after the dreaded deed, when Bran goes down to visit the Stark family crypt.

[just-jenni.livejournal.com]

I love the Reeds too. Jojen is wise beyond his years...and I love Bran's wolf dreams and am excited by the idea of him being a 'skinchanger' - whatever that is, but it sounds good. And was that what Jaqen was? I hope we will find out more about Jaqen later on...he was a fascinating minor character.

I was horrified about Theon...nothing would surprise me about his fate.

Because I haven't watched Episodes 1 & 2 again yet, I wasn't sure if Rickon and his direwolf had been mentioned and were perhaps just left in Winterfell...but how many direwolves were found in the TV series? There should be six: Ghost, Summer, Grey Wind, Lady, Nymeria, and Shaggydog.

I do hope we get to see Rickon. I find that part of the story more compelling because it has two little boys in it, not just one. :(

[txorakeriak.livejournal.com]

I already said it in my previous comment, I really love Game of Thrones. It keeps blowing me away with its awesomeness.

My favourite characters? So many! I like Arya, Jon, Sam, Tyrion, Robb, Ned, Renly, Khal Drogo, Jory, Syrio Forel, Brienne, Gendry, and Margaery, and I've come to get really fond of Daenerys too. I also sort of like Stannis, and Davos, but I've only read a couple of scenes with them and I guess I can only really make up my mind about them once I've read all four books. (Or better, all seven. XD) And I have a soft spot for Robert Baratheon. Oh, and I'd say Loras but I've read way too little about him so far to make up my mind.

I dislike - well, all those who did anything bad to the characters I like. All Lannisters except for Tyrion, Theon Greyjoy, Craster, Vargo Hoat, Gregor Clegane, Littlefinger, Varys (to a certain extent), Lysa Arryn, Viserys... etc.

Something I both adore and dislike about the books is that one mustn't get too attached to one's characters. It makes for really really exciting reading but it's also so incredibly frustrating because some of the characters who died would have had so much potential. But obviously the story wouldn't have gone as it did if they'd lived. Ah well.

Another thing I love about the books (that is mentioned far too rarely) is the canon slash. It's subtle, yes, and a lot more subtle as in the TV series, but it's there (especially in the later books) and it's evident and it's gorgeous. I have never read any story about knights and battles and intrigues that included such wonderful canon slash like Renly/Loras. I'm hoping they'll show more in the series when Renly and Loras "pray" together before battle... ;)