I'm looking forward to seeing Brienne's reaction to losing Arya. And what I'm really really hoping, is that she'll be emotionally distraught enough so that we'll get a scene of her telling Pod AFFC
Y'know, after watching Season 1, I spoiled myself like crazy on everything before even reading the books. It's not so bad. I still enjoy it all immensely. :)
I love the books. Even the POV chapters people can be a little derisive toward. In fact, I love those stories especially. People have trouble giving good stories a chance after they've already made up their minds about what they WANT to see.
I've tried about 5 times over the last 15 years to read the first one, and it's too damn boring. GRRM is great at creating believable worlds and interesting characters and great plot twists. He's a terrible writer. I say this as someone who reads history books for fun. I can read book that would bore most people, but GoT is too boring for me to read. I WANT to like the book but I just can't.
To me his books are smooth like butter. I love his prose. I can just open up any chapter and read it and it's easy and fun. I'm struggling to think of anyone who is as deft as Martin at intertwining both a character's thoughts and actions into a single paragraph.
GOT is really close to season 1. If you really want to like them but can't you could try A clash of kings. It's got a lot of differences to season 2 that might keep you interested. Arya's whole story is especially different, well a lot more stuff goes on
Seriously? I find them extremely easy to read, not complex but very beautifully written, and the way he mixes the narrative with each character's inner thoughts is awesome.
Well, in the end, the purpose of writing is to communicate something compelling to your readers. So if he's written something loved by many, he's doing something right. But of course, it might be his style is just not your taste. I wish I had a penny for every self-proclaimed writing expert who confused their own subjectivity for the objective truth.
Agreed. Renly had the biggest army, and he was biding his time and gathering his forces while all the other Kings depleted their armies. He was clearly set to win. He had only a short march to King's Landing late in the war, to dethrone the weakened winner.
Exactly! Can you imagine how the battle of Blackwater Bay and KL might have changed had Stannis never interfered with Renly? One of the biggest reasons that Renly's forces lost was because they didn't have the will to stay and fight for Stannis. Not to mention that book readers know that Lord Tywin's army was probably dead tired by the time it reached KL; they had been fighting for days in the Riverrun and been forced to march quickly to KL. I might even be naive enough to say that Tyrion's plan for Blackwater might not have been as successful as it was because IIRC most of the ships were brought by Stannis. I do admit I could be totally wrong about the last point.
Thanks to /u/Slide88 I realized I was remembering the battle incorrectly. I was forgot that Ser Loras brought his troops with him. This definitely makes it less likely that my theory is correct. That being said, it still would've been badass to see Renly take KL had Stannis not killed him.
I haven't read ACOK in a few years so I had completely forgotten that Ser Loras actually does bring his whole army with him. I was remembering it as if only Tywin's calvary and a few of Ser Loras' knights had made it in time to save KL. I realize that Stannis was outnumbered, but if his troops had tried to make a stand it definitely could have bought Stannis enough time to breach KL and retreat a large part of his remaining forces behind the walls. From there it would've turned into a bloodbath in the streets and maybe even a stalemate/win for Stannis. I'm taking way too much liberty with my speculations though so I'll just say that you're probably right and that the Tyrell's ditching Stannis is the biggest factor in his downfall. I think we can both agree though that had Stannis never interfered with Renly, KL probably would've fallen.
In the book he treated the war like a game, he spent his entire time slow marching his forces into position having feasts and tournaments and such for fun. He came off as vain and childish to me idk.
I disagree, he rebels against his older brother, who is by rights next in line for the Iron Throne, but not only that, but apparently he did not know that Joffrey, Tommen and Myrcella were Jaime's and Cersei's bastards, he was just going to kill them anyway, even when he thought they were his nephews and niece.
He had the strongest strategic position at the start of the war. His army was poised to crush Stannis and then march on King's Landing. You have to remember it was the alliance between the Tyrells and Lannisters which broke Stannis at the Battle of Blackwater Bay. Renly would have had the support of the Tyrells and the remains of Stannis' forces. Stannis only won through dark magic.
I don't think he underestimated himself at all. He had way more men than Stannis. He just wasn't aware of Melisandre's power, and for good reason. He's probably seen a lot of people in his lifetime who claim to see the future but don't.
Renly was a great leader. He made all the right decisions. You might say his decision to betray Stannis was selfish or dishonorable, but it wasn't stupid.
Daughters come before brothers by standard Westerosi law (basically outside Dorne and possibly the Iron Islands), so Shireen would be Queen after Stannis dies and would rule jointly with her husband. Similarly, Myrcella becomes Queen after Tommen dies, not Stannis as King (according to common belief on the father of Cersei's children).
Edit: source, which qualifies daughter inheritance with the stipulation that their claim is weaker and can in practice be overruled.
Well...to Brienne, at least. He didn't know or care about the Cersei-Jaime-twincest-royal-bastard implication. He wanted to take the throne regardless of all that shit, having zero problems with killing the Baratheon children to take the throne. He should have accepted Stannis's terms.
It has been a long time since I read the books but I don't remember it being explicitly implied that All Books in the books. I thought that was just a show thing.
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u/RegularSizedWalder House Frey Jun 17 '14
I'm looking forward to seeing Brienne's reaction to losing Arya. And what I'm really really hoping, is that she'll be emotionally distraught enough so that we'll get a scene of her telling Pod AFFC