As there are carols in the air and holiday cheer all around us this time of year, you may be wondering if there is anything similar for our fantasy friends in Westeros? Are there decorated trees, candle lighting, a Santa Claus throwing presents down chimneys, or any sort of midwinter holidays going on? We’ll take […]
Continue reading →George R.R. Martin’s world is vast and rich, like a proper fantasy setting should be. If you can believe in the world and feel like it’s a real place, then the author has done half of the job. From frozen wastelands to beautiful green riverlands and busy city capitals, there’s a lot of iconic sites, […]
Continue reading →In Game of Thrones and A Song of Ice and Fire, we are accustomed with seeing enormous, flashy moments that drastically change the plot. Miracle dragons hatching from stone eggs, huge landslides from surprise attacks led by dead men, violent dinners, murderous weddings. However, these events are often the payoff for a meticulous and well-thought-out […]
Continue reading →They call themselves the “Free Folk” but the Westerosi who reside south of the Wall refer to them as “wildlings”. The very name, despite being derogatory, seems to imply that they aren’t civilized or good people: that they are violent savages. They do have a bad reputation among the people of the Seven Kingdoms, who […]
Continue reading →The article contains spoilers from ASOIAF. Bran: Where are the rest of you? Leaf: Gone down into the earth…Into the stones, into the trees. Before the First Men came all this land that you call Westeros was home to us, yet even in those days we were few. The gods gave us long lives but not great numbers, lest we overrun […]
Continue reading →The article contains spoilers from ASOIAF. Zaldrīzes buzdari iksos daor. The dragons are a big part of what makes Game of Thrones stand out from the pack. There are dozens of period dramas with intricate costumes and believable recreations of medieval cities, but how many of those have flying, fire-breathing weapons of mass destruction? It […]
Continue reading →The article contains spoilers from ASOIAF. This isn’t happening to you for a reason. Well, one reason: I enjoy it! Ramsay Bolton (formerly Snow) was for sure a villain we all loved to hate. Much as certain characters like to remind us how much of an unpleasant person Joffrey was, the boy king didn’t hold […]
Continue reading →Jon Snow has a secret. No, not his real name. No, not his parents. No, not that his direwolf has gone missing and no one cares. And no, not that he had sex with his aunt. His secret is that he is not among the world of the living anymore. He is the undead, risen […]
Continue reading →The article contains spoilers from ASOIAF. The world hadn’t seen a dragon in centuries until my children were born. The Dothraki hadn’t crossed the sea, any sea. They did for me. I was born to rule the Seven Kingdoms, and I will. Daenerys Targaryen is one of the few Season 1 veterans who is still […]
Continue reading →The article contains spoilers from ASOIAF, including a sample chapter of The Winds of Winter. Is he a ham? Stannis Baratheon was the head of the currently extinct House Baratheon, and a claimant to the Iron Throne. He’s also one of the most interesting characters in both the A Song of Ice and Fire series […]
Continue reading →