The third book is the best of the series, I thought. Sansa is annoying...so is Catelyn. I hated that dumb wench. Pretty much the whole damn series is a result of her idiocy.

I'm about two thirds of the way through A Clash of Kings. A person could argue that there is way too much minutiae in the storytelling as frazod did, and they would be right, but I still find myself looking forward to each character's story. This has been a fantastic read (even though I'm listening to it on cd). Tricky Nicky was right earlier in the thread - Roy Dotrice does an excellent job narrating the story. For me, I it all the more interesting just for how he brings the characters to life. If you have the notion to listen to the cd's, I would definitely recommend it.

And I see that Roy Dotrice is playing Grand Maester Pycelle. Excellent.

And for the sake of WoodDraw....

He's not, Dotrice dropped the role b/c of health reasons. Julian Glover is playing Pycelle.

Thanks to everyone for the spoiler friendlyness


What's the expectation that the series will be finished?

The issue with Ned is that he ALWAYS plays by the rules. That's not how you win the Game of Thrones....

The stretch between book 3 and book 3.5 (approximately half of the planned fourth book) was 5 years. Its been past five years since the last release and it sounds like the second half is close to being done. I'm guessing we'll get a sixth book if we're lucky at this rate, and Daniel Abraham will finish the series if GRRM up and croaks, a la Sanderson and the Wheel of Time.

I know Daniel Abraham is a writer who has worked with Martin, but what's his exact connection to the series? In what capacity has Abraham worked with Martin?

I've officially started A Clash Of Kings. Just finished the Prologue. Exciting.

He's a frequent collaborator and contributor to Martin's shared universe series, The Wild Cards. He co-authored Shadow Twin with Martin and Gardner Dozois. Martin was his instructor at the Clarion West Writers Workshop, and they currently live near each other in New Mexico. He has no official connection to the series, but I'm betting if Martin weren't able to finish, the publisher might go with Abraham.

Do we know if Abraham has any input in the HBO series? Writer? Producer? Etc...

I don't think Abraham would ever finish ASOIAF if Martin couldn't. I would bet the series would probably remain unfinished.


All this talk of Abraham reminds me that I need to finish reading An Autumn War.