A Dance with Dragons

An alternate theory on the Mummer’s Dragon

The most common theory on the Mummer’s Dragon is Aegon, and how he may be a Blackfyre.  But here is another theory, true or not.

Maester Marwyn departs to catch the Cinnamon Wind, and presumably to take it to Essos.  Marwyn is possibly in possession of Maester Aemon’s maester chain.  Marwyn is also known to be talented in the magical arts.  Wouldn’t it be interesting if Marwyn were to use a glamour in combination with Aemon’s chain to impersonate Maester Aemon to Daenerys?

What would his motivations be?  It could be as simple as her being more willing to trust Aemon.  Or it could be much more complex.

What do you think?

Torrent for The Lands of Ice and Fire

Don’t even think about it!  After receiving my book yesterday, I couldn’t be happier with everything.  The hardcover binder, the size and quality of the printing of the maps, but most of all the new content!

I’m not sure what most people’s expectations were but the map of Essos in particular is SWARMING with new cities and regions that we have never heard of!  Will we find out more about the history of Essos?  Just when you were thinking that Essos was nothing more than the free cities, Slaver’s Bay, and old Valyria, GRRM comes out and drops a bomb on us.

Serious, buy this and consider framing at least a few of them.  It will be the best $24 you spent this year.  Maybe get a few for Christmas gifts!

See larger image The Lands of Ice and Fire (A Game of Thrones) (Poster) By (author) George R.R. Martin List Price: $40.00 USD New From: $18.89 In Stock Used from: $24.92 In Stock Release date October 30, 2012.

Some great new fan art

I think I have a new favorite artist.  These are all done by a guy named Trillian who posts on http://www.reddit.com/r/asoiaf/

Double, make that Triple, victory

Great news for GRRM and all of his fans.  Yesterday SFX magazine held their annual readers awards.  A Dance with Dragons won best novel, and Game of Thrones won best new TV show.  And then not even 24 hours later, The NY Giants (or perhaps the Giants from Beyond the Wall) won the Super Bowl.  George is probably in one of his greatest moods of all time.

A Dance with Dragons review recap

The book has been out a while, and most people that I know have finished it.  But there are plenty of people out there who are still discovering A Song of Ice and Fire for the first time every day.  Whether it be from the HBO series, or on the recommendation of a friend, there will always be someone discovering Westeros for the first time.  To that end, I thought it would be good to compile some reviews of A Dance with Dragons, especially since the paperback edition will be coming out in July.

‘A Dance With Dragons’ is an impressive continuation of George R.R. Martin’s Song of Ice and Fire fantasy series.
(via The L.A. Times)

Martin will never win a Pulitzer or a National Book Award, but his skill as a crafter of narrative exceeds that of almost any literary novelist writing today. Throughout the book I was reminded of Jennifer Egan’s A Visit from the Goon Squad (which did win a Pulitzer), as well as Anthony Powell’s (similarly floridly titled) A Dance to the Music of Time. But even Powell can’t twist a plot like Martin. A Dance with Dragons is a big book, topping out at 1,016 pages, but it turns on a dime.

(via Slate)

A few images recur in the enormously complex fifth installment of Martin’s massively multicharacter epic: the chess-like game cyvasse, small rivers flowing into larger ones, ships and armies battered by terrible storms. These themes suggest that readers should think strategically, be patient as the story grows, and brace for a beating. Martin’s fans, however, are hungry for more action and purpose, their appetites whetted by a six-year wait and the recent HBO adaptation of A Game of Thrones. Dance was originally the second half of 2005′s A Feast for Crows, sometimes criticized for shifting from battles and intrigue to slow trudges through war-torn, corpse-littered Westeros.

(via Publishers Weekly)

A Dance with Dragons is the fifth volume out of a planned seven, and in many ways it’s the best. Martin was marking time a little bit in Feast for Crows, pushing his pawns up the board but leaving his big pieces alone. Now the camera has swung back to the main characters: Jon Snow and Daenerys Targaryen and Tyrion Lannister, the brilliant, black-witted dwarf whose family has had the firmest grip on power for much of the series, though that’s not saying much.

(via Time)

My favorite excerpt from the epilogue of Dance

Regardless of what your opinion of A Dance with Dragons is, I think its unanimous that the epilogue really sets the table for The Winds of Winter.  My favorite little excerpt from the epilogue gave me the chills the first time I read it.

The white ravens of the Citadel did not carry messages, as their dark cousins did.  When they went forth from Oldtown, it was for one purpose only: to herald a change of seasons.

And to think, I thought “dark wings, dark words” had an eerie ring to it.