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  1. In Memory of LAJ_FETT: Please share your remembrances and condolences HERE

Amph A Song of Ice and Fire Discussion Thread

Discussion in 'Community' started by -RebelScum-, Jan 3, 2006.

  1. timmoishere

    timmoishere Force Ghost star 6

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    Jun 2, 2007
    GRRM delights in overturning fantasy traditions. If he followed those traditions, Robb would still be alive, among many other things.
     
  2. Amon_Amarth

    Amon_Amarth Force Ghost star 6

    Registered:
    Jan 27, 2005
    Beat me to it. :p

    True, he takes some very unorthodox actions, though in this case that's more of a dark fantasy over high fantasy thing.
     
  3. Handmaiden Yané

    Handmaiden Yané Manager Emeritus star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

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    Jul 15, 2002
    [face_laugh]
     
  4. I Are The Internets

    I Are The Internets Shelf of Shame Host star 9 VIP - Game Host

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    Nov 20, 2012
    One thing I like that is not really seen in the muchness of fantasy Lit. is how almost every single character is fully developed. I mean yeah I don't really like trudging through Bran and Sansa chapters, but at least they're not as shallow as they could be if written by a "lesser" writer.
     
    Handmaiden Yané likes this.
  5. tom

    tom Chosen One star 8

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    Mar 14, 2004
    i guess i'm weird for enjoying all the bran chapters. sansa's chapters were painful in the first two books but they make her growth as a character a lot more rewarding in the long run.
     
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  6. I Are The Internets

    I Are The Internets Shelf of Shame Host star 9 VIP - Game Host

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    Nov 20, 2012
    It's weird but I dislike Sansa and feel sorry for her at the same time. I am assuming she will become a stronger character later in the series.
     
  7. Jabba-wocky

    Jabba-wocky Chosen One star 10

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    May 4, 2003
    Sansa's chapters become more rewarding as time goes on. Bran's never do. They are the bane of all existence.
     
    SiouxFan likes this.
  8. timmoishere

    timmoishere Force Ghost star 6

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    Jun 2, 2007
    Bran's chapters started out strong, but got weaker once he left Winterfell. Although one of his best chapters is the one where he is at Queenscrown and Jon's group is across the lake from them.
     
  9. Jabba-wocky

    Jabba-wocky Chosen One star 10

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    May 4, 2003
    They started out with him not doing anything but having the same dream over and over while in bed, and progressed to him doing nothing but having the same dream over and over while trudging through a relatively static forested landscape.
     
  10. timmoishere

    timmoishere Force Ghost star 6

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    Jun 2, 2007
    It's weird. Since Bran was the first "real" chapter in AGOT, at first I kinda figured he would be the main star of the series, sort of a Harry Potter-like child protagonist. That's just another way that GRRM screws with our preconceptions of how these kind of series should proceed.
     
  11. Darth Guy

    Darth Guy Chosen One star 10

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    Aug 16, 2002
    I don't see what was so bad about Bran's chapters in particular. Arya has become much more tedious especially since there's no indication where the **** that's going.
     
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  12. Havac

    Havac Former Moderator star 7 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

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    Sep 29, 2005
    Well, the Bran chapters tend to lack the political intrigue that anchors most of the series' drama. They're just about a kid sitting in bed behind the lines, briefly involved in some action under occupation, and then on a magical/religious journey. There's less action or plot progression than average. The focus is on his dreams and his spirit-quest thing, but it takes five books for them to become anything more than just a long-recurring set of dreams. I don't mind them, because they're a great window into the history and mythology of the setting and they're not nearly frequent enough to bog down the pace of the books, but I can see them dragging if you're impatient and eager to get back to Tyrion and Daenerys and Jon and Davos. At least until ADWD, at which point they're finally paying off and totally fascinating (more fascinating than Tyrion's travelogue o' ennui, even).
     
  13. Mustafar_66

    Mustafar_66 Force Ghost star 6

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    May 20, 2005
    Bran's chapters became far more tolerable once I just stopped reading them about halfway through ACOK.
     
  14. Coruscant

    Coruscant Chosen One star 7

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    Feb 15, 2004
    Holy crap, this topic again? Why does the subject of the Bran chapters seem to come up once every couple of months?
     
  15. I Are The Internets

    I Are The Internets Shelf of Shame Host star 9 VIP - Game Host

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    Nov 20, 2012
    I always look forward to Tyrion chapters because they are consistently interesting. However, I'm only on book 2.
     
  16. Mustafar_66

    Mustafar_66 Force Ghost star 6

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    May 20, 2005
    Because he's so boring.
     
  17. Coruscant

    Coruscant Chosen One star 7

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    Feb 15, 2004
    We talk an awful lot about someone who's "boring." I for one enjoy Bran's chapters.
     
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  18. tom

    tom Chosen One star 8

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    Mar 14, 2004
    in the first three books i found his chapters a welcome respite from the sometimes hectic pace, and they felt like a long slow build to something huge. i also really like and sympathize with his character. in the fifth book i actually thought his chapters became really interesting and felt that long slow build starting to pay off.
     
  19. Mustafar_66

    Mustafar_66 Force Ghost star 6

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    May 20, 2005
    I think it's because there are some who do enjoy his chapters and then when people start slagging them off through discussion of the novel, they come out of the woodwork, so to speak.
     
  20. Coruscant

    Coruscant Chosen One star 7

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    Feb 15, 2004
    Well here I am popping out of the woodwork. Hello!!!!!!!
     
  21. RC-1991

    RC-1991 Jedi Grand Master star 4

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    Dec 2, 2009
    Yeah, let me crawl out from between the floorboards as well. Bran chapters rock, if simply because so much lore gets revealed in them. Knight of the Laughing Tree, Weirwood sacrifices, Bloodraven, the Old Gods, a bunch of the relevant info on Lyanna (IIRC),...
     
  22. timmoishere

    timmoishere Force Ghost star 6

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    Jun 2, 2007
    Bran was simply a plot device in the first book. With his injury and the subsequent assassination attempt, he really set the plot in motion. However, once that happened, he really became useless. I think the story would have been better served if Bran had died.
     
  23. MistrX

    MistrX Jedi Master star 4

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    Jun 20, 2006
    Your Bran must be my Martells. I know they're supposed to be adding another level of intrigue and throwing in another twist in the Return of the Targaryens storyline, but I was having trouble getting much into them in the last two books. Maybe because I'd already had three books getting to know all of the other characters, Arianne and co. have some catching up to do. Somehow, I didn't have that same problem with the Iron Islanders, maybe because at this point Vic's practically on Meereen's doorstep and their various stories are interwoven.

    Bran's chapters don't bother me too much as they certainly have a long goal that you're vaguely aware of. They just take a long time to develop and progress is slow, sometimes seeming a bit redundant, but it gets there in bits and pieces. Arya's Braavos chapters have reminded me of that as well. Similar to one another, seemingly little movement from chapter to chapter, but certainly going somewhere. They don't have the intrigue and middle of the action feel of chapters like Jon, Davos, Cersei, or even Theon, so they can be a little detached and stretched out and they have frustrated me from time to time. Still looking forward to where they're going, though.

    On a lighter note, I apologize if this has been posted here before, but this tumblr with ASOIAF character inboxes? I was cracking up.
     
  24. Coruscant

    Coruscant Chosen One star 7

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    Feb 15, 2004
    Olenna!

    [​IMG]

    !!!!!
     
  25. Likewater

    Likewater Jedi Master star 4

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    Dec 31, 2009
    Some one loves plunging necklines. Plunging necklines =P~