A Game Of Thrones - Chapter 3 Spoilers

I just read the first three chapters (four counting the prologue) last night and figured we might as well have a thread for discussion ready. There will be spoilers in this so if you haven't read any of it yet... don't read this!









I'm mildly interested right now in what's going on. The prologue with those creatures obviously imply the kind of danger/evil that will have to be faced by the good guys. I'm a bit confused trying to make sense of all the world geography and history that has been given so far, on top of all the various characters and names as well, but I remember it being like that when I first read Eye of the World as well.

One thing that's not making it any easier is every chapter so far has been written by a different POV, and depending on the POV you might have one of the characters named differently. In Bran's chapter he refers to his father as "father" or "lord father" or the lord of whatever the name of his lordship-land is. Then in Catelyn's chapter she refers to him as Ned, and it took until she mentioned his sword Ice for me to realize she was talking about the same person. It didn't help that the first time I read through her chapter I could have sworn she referred to "Ned" as also being a 'she'

Ah well, that's really the only beef I have with it so far. The writing style seems good but I hope his 'old fashioned' kind of speech doesn't bug me after a while. Now onto the actual content...

Ned's little speech on how to dispense justice I liked, it seems like a very 'honourable' mindset to have especially for nobility considering how arrogant they usually are. I LOVE the fact that he has a bastard child who is treated differently (though not badly) as well as named differently. I think I'm going to like this Jon Snow... I'm also very interested to see how those direwolf pups grow up with their young masters and mistresses. Seems quite ominous, especially the albino one.

Interesting to see that, like Goodkind, he does not shirk away from the obvious darker aspects of life in his world. The third chapter is evidence enough of that... the brother and sister of the old royal line, especially the brother, plotting to raise an army and reclaim their kingdom. The brother's treatment of his sister and the things he says she must do.

That's all there is to say, really, since its only three chapters.

I'm actually going to create a separate forum for this, so plan on having it moved eventually.

You'll get used to the names, and very few people are referred to by more than one. Lord Eddard is one, Peter Baelish is another. (You probably got mixed up with the nanny, who's name is Nan.) As far as history, you just get bits and pieces. Don't expect that to change, but you WILL start to put them together.

The geography is pretty well constructed. I refer to the map a lot. I suggest keeping that and the appendix book marked.

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The prologue with those creatures obviously imply the kind of danger/evil that will have to be faced by the good guys.

I love that you said this. One of the major themes of the story is the difficulty in defining the good guy. Everyone has their own justifications for everything they do. For example, King Robert's reason's for his "visit" were to get Lord Eddard to basically run the kingdom for him. Was that a good or a bad thing to do?

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Ned's little speech on how to dispense justice I liked, it seems like a very 'honourable' mindset

Again, very astute. And this kind of ties into the whole POV thing. Lord Eddard's honor certainly seems like it would be his greatest attribute. Probably one of my favorite quotes from the series.

Jon Snow is one of my three favorite characters of the series. Great development, the part of the plot that follows him is amazing, and he has the right mixture of badass and sensibleness. The direwolves are great symbols as the story moves on. Plus awesome characters of their own.

I am not sure about this book. I think it might be too dark for me. There does not, a yet, seem to be a "good guy" shall we call him. I especially had problems with the third chapter. I hope that we will soon find consistency with following certain characters. If it continues as it is, that would be... not so nice.

I enjoyed the Prologue very much, however, it is become a much more difficult read as I go along. We will see. I am not giving up on it yet.

PyroMancer wrote:

For example, King Robert's reason's for his "visit" were to get Lord Eddard to basically run the kingdom for him. Was that a good or a bad thing to do?

Now this is why you NEED to read the chapters rather than just go on memory... this hadn't happened within the first three chapters, so you just gave a minor spoiler

Ugh I forgot that Dany's chapter was Chapter 3. Don't worry, it happens in the next one.

I enjoyed reading your observations so far. I'm excited to hear more as you read more.

And to Steve: It's worth it. don't despair.

Ive read GOT before but:

Prologue: Easily one of my favorite opening scenes of any book. The descriptions vivid and the lore is palpable and teases your brain leaving you wanting more - so much more. You are given a combination of action and character development mixed with the trademark of the series - "don't get too close to any character, no matter how much time I've invested developing them"

CH1: Introductions to the children of Stark. I find myself instantly liking some and hating others. And I'm wickedly jealous of their pups.

CH2: The Games of thrones begins - teased as we are by Ned's thoughts of "arguing with a Tully" and put off guard by the masterful mixture of old gods, the alien nature of religion that is in fact so close to Catelyn's own, and touches on undertones of love between the characters all the while a tone of unease unsettles us to be wary of any disingenuous language.

ch3: Upon re-reading this, I can understand why Steve was unsettled. I understand the few comments regarding the scattered nature of the narrative - but this is exactly the kind of writing I love. We learn so much about Dany and her brother with this

uneventful yet undeniably action packed chapter. Three words
jump at me while I am reading … exploitation, vengeance, duty.

Good observations Memnoch. I am going to be continuing with the book, so no worries there.

I have read this before and skimmed through the first few chapters again just to refresh my memory. I remember the first time reading it, I didn't like the prologue. It just didn't grab me in the way that other books have done, but I soon got into it when introduced to Ned Stark and his family.

I realized that I haven't posted anything in the forum on how I'm doing with Got. I'm not entirely sure where I've gotten up to, but it's >500 pgs, so I'll be spoiler free for now.

Of all the characters, my favorite is Arya (sp?, lol I'm that bad at spelling), followed closely by Jon Snow along with the direwolves. I love Arya's attitude towards authority and determination to do what she wants.

Jon is interesting especially b/c of the interplay he has with other characters (the dwarf and Sam for instance) and how that interplay reveals more about himself. \

Eddard/Ned is the one I feel sorry for the most, especially at what happens to him later. He strikes me as the type who would rather be honorable rather than doing what is prudent. That's nice, but when the enemy isn't gonna play by the rules, there comes a point where you have to break them as well. I'm not in favor of killing innocents or anything that drastic, but Ned refrains from doing things to non-innocents b/c it's not honorable or whatever. Though interestingly enough he does does

Spoiler:

Must say though, RR Martin is one of my favorite authors, mainly because of his charachter building and how what is seen though one charachters eyes isn't transmitted fully to another char (Arya telling Ned something she saw for instance) while the reader gets to be privy to important details before some of the main chars do.