Game of Thrones Reread Thread

[Richard]

Hello, with all the Game of Thrones discussion I realized I haven't touched the books since Dragons came out, well over six years ago! Six years since Dragons was released. Amazing how fast time flies!

Anyway, I haven't read the first book since 1997 or '98, when I reread it in preparation for the second book coming out. I have never reread the next four. Unfortunately, I lent out my first edition 1996 copy of Game of Thrones and never received it back (don't lend books boys and girls, people just don't return them).

It is time for a reread. I am heading to the beach this weekend and am bringing my newly rebought game of thrones with me.

Who is joining me on this quest!

Click to read more...

 

[silverfish]

Hello, with all the Game of Thrones discussion I realized I haven't touched the books since Dragons came out, well over six years ago! Six years since Dragons was released. Amazing how fast time flies!

Anyway, I haven't read the first book since 1997 or '98, when I reread it in preparation for the second book coming out. I have never reread the next four. Unfortunately, I lent out my first edition 1996 copy of Game of Thrones and never received it back (don't lend books boys and girls, people just don't return them).

It is time for a reread. I am heading to the beach this weekend and am bringing my newly rebought game of thrones with me.

Who is joining me on this quest!

Waiting for a release date on TWoW before going back to re-read. Don't want to "waste my time" if the next book never comes out :/

 

[Siamese Dream]

I have already done one re-read and that was enough, I'm not going to put myself through the torture of all the disappointing times of turning the page to the next chapter and seeing "Bran" again, or the never-ending Jon and Dany chapters from A Dance With Dragons, with all the Meereneese characters with stupid names you don't care about enough to know which is which, or the Jon chapter in which Gurm literally lists the entire food stock of Castle Black.

Now I limit myself to reading particular POVs and chapters and excerpts that I like the most.

Here is an excerpt of the heartbreaking moment from the Mountain vs Viper fight chapter, complete with some classic Gurm food description of Tyrion's breakfast that he threw up!

Clegane's hand shot up and grabbed the Dornishman behind the knee. The Red Viper brought down the greatsword in a wild slash, but he was off-balance, and the edge did no more than put another dent in the Mountain's vambrace. Then the sword was forgotten as Gregor's hand tightened and twisted, yanking the Dornishman down on top of him. They wrestled in the dust and blood, the broken spear wobbling back and forth. Tyrion saw with horror that the Mountain had wrapped one huge arm around the prince, drawing him tight against his chest, like a lover.

"Elia of Dorne," they all heard Ser Gregor say, when they were close enough to kiss. His deep voice boomed within the helm. "I killed her screaming whelp." He thrust his free hand into Oberyn's unprotected face, pushing steel fingers into his eyes. "Then I raped her." Clegane slammed his fist into the Dornishman's mouth, making splinters of his teeth. "Then I smashed her ****ing head in. Like this." As he drew back his huge fist, the blood on his gauntlet seemed to smoke in the cold dawn air. There was a sickening crunch. Ellaria Sand wailed in terror, and Tyrion's breakfast came boiling back up. He found himself on his knees retching bacon and sausage and applecakes, and that double helping of fried eggs cooked up with onions and fiery Dornish peppers.

 

[Make]

I'm re-reading book one now. I did the same last autumn, but got busy doing other things and stopped reading 3/4ths into Clash of Kings. Then I had to start again because I can't read a series from the middle, I always have to start from the beginning.

Bran's chapters are among my favorites tbh. Yeah, maybe a bit boring in some parts, but I love everything to do with the North. The ones I struggle reading through are Daenerys' chapters. But I've noticed the favorite pov changes a lot depending on your mood. Kind of dreading Daenerys' Meereen part and all the Khazdar-zo-Somethings.

 

[Richard]

Ok first 100 pages in: characters grab you and the plotting is intense... however this book isn't written by a master writer. Very very good but I have been reading books with a higher technical level recently. Makes you realize that just because it is difficult doesn't make it better

 

[alko]

When i will retire and will have plenty of free time, maybe i will do it again. But now, it will be a never ending quest.

 

[Beau Knows]

I've been meaning to start this series at some point after enjoying the show so much. But it will probably take me a long time to read all the books as I'll want to read other books in between each one.

My current series is The Dark Tower and after about a year I've only reached the 4th book since I prefer reading at least a few other books before starting the next one in the series. I think I'll have to finish that series first, so sadly I doubt I'm going to get started on this any time soon.

 

[vdB]

Wow, thanks for that excerpt Peng.

I'd say the tv show did a much more effective job with the Viper fight. More blood, less of the pointless details.

 

[Siamese Dream]

Wow, thanks for that excerpt Peng.

I'd say the tv show did a much more effective job with the Viper fight. More blood, less of the pointless details.

In the show I didn't like the delivery of the line "Then I smashed her head in like this" - it was bad but probably because they had to cast a strongman as The Mountain instead of a real actor. But apart from that it was a great scene.

 

[Siamese Dream]

Here's another of my favourite passages, the one that gave me my epiphany moment about N/B+A=D and sent shivers through my body.

If I had been a better knight... if I had unhorsed the prince in that last tilt, as I unhorsed so many others, it would have been for me to choose the queen of love and beauty...

Rhaegar had chosen Lyanna Stark of Winterfell. Barristan Selmy would have made a different choice. Not the queen, who was not present. Nor Elia of Dorne, though she was good and gentle; had she been chosen, much war and woe might have been avoided. His choice would have been a young maiden not long at court, one of Elia's companions... though compared to Ashara Dayne, the Dornish princess was a kitchen drab. Even after all these years, Ser Barristan could still recall Ashara's smile, the sound of her laughter. He had only to close his eyes to see her, with her long dark hair tumbling about her shoulders and those haunting purple eyes. Daenerys has the same eyes. Sometimes when the queen looked at him, he felt as if he were looking at Ashara's daughter...

But Ashara's daughter had been stillborn, and his fair lady had thrown herself from a tower soon after, mad with grief for the child she had lost, and perhaps for the man who had dishonored her at Harrenhal as well. She died never knowing that Ser Barristan had loved her. How could she?

He was a knight of the Kingsguard, sworn to celibacy. No good could have come from telling her his feelings. No good came from silence either. If I had unhorsed Rhaegar and crowned Ashara queen of love and beauty, might she have looked to me instead of Stark?

He would never know. But of all his failures, none haunted Barristan Selmy so much as that.

 

[Richard]

Hmmm I forgot about that. The problem is that I read the first three books over a decade ago