(no subject)

[shadowkat]

1. Reading a rather interesting historical romance at the moment, entitled The Madness of Lord Ian McKenszie by Jennifer Ashely - it's a gothic romance, the old style (no paranormal stuff). Takes place in the 1880s. The Hero has undiagnosed Ausperger's syndrom, which they didn't know existed back then. People with Autism or Ausperger's were treated as if they were mad and tortured. The Hero's brother let him out of the asylum some time ago. The heroine is a Vicar's Widow, who has come into some money via being a paid lady's companion, and came from the workhouse. Not your standard run-of-the-mill historical, plus detailed sex scenes...which are okay. Sex scenes are admittedly difficult to write. I found the character's thoughts about having sex with each other, and their profound desire for each other...far more erotic actually. UST always is. It is rather unconventional actually.

At any rate, the books are doing a very good job of relaxing me...

2. Watched the Season Final of Game of Thrones - which in some respects I actually liked better than S1, I may be in the minority on that score. As much as I adore Scean Bean as an actor, and I truly do, I do not find Ned Stark interesting. He's likable enough, but somewhat dull as a character.

It was, granted, far more scattered. At times you felt like you were watching eight different medieval fantasy series at the same time. But that worked for me.

The finale worked for me too...better than I expected. They changed a few things from the books, which I was relieved by.



*Was rather relieved that they chose not to slice off Tyrion's nose. It is sliced off in the books. George RR Martin as you will soon discover, likes to cut off his characters appendages, and maim them in various ways. Have to admit - it would be a bit difficult to do a convincing makeup job, plus poor Peter Dinklage has to be able to breath. Slicing off a major character's nose is all well and good in a novel but on tv it can be a bit on the dicey side of the fence. From a personal standpoint? I'm just happy I don't have to watch a noseless character on screen, because eww.

*Dany's arc was less confusing on-screen. We had a prophecy in the book. Here they handled that with images...the choice she makes, the Iron Throne, the child and Khal Drago, or her dragons...she chooses her dragons and her power. Note - both the Iron Throne and Khal Drago and her child are in Winter, one in the lands beyond the gate, and the other in a snow drenched King's Landing. The undying...like like minature nostefretus...just saying.
Anyhow...I rather liked that sequence, completely forgot most of it. King of Quarth and her traitorous handmaiden being sealed inside the Quarth King's empty safe...was a nice touch.

* Varys discussions with Roz and Tyrion were interesting. Tyrion should have taken off with Shae. But he chose power or the potential for power over love and safety. Tyrion is not a coward. He has been tossed aside however. And Varys...makes it clear to both Roz and Tyrion that he makes a good ally.

* Not to be outdone...LittleFinger is going after Sansa, who has been tossed aside by
Joffrey or rather Joffrey's advisors - to Sansa's considerable relief. Well considerable relief until the ever helpful Little Finger decides to commiserate with her and informs her that now, instead of Joffrey's bride, she'll be considered his plaything (which is admittedly much worse.). Joffrey has decided to marry Margarey Tyrell...who is a Cersei in training. Remember all Margarey wants is to be The Queen.

* Meanwhile...Tywin is made hand of the king. No surprise there. Did feel sorry for Tyrion though. And Shae. Rather like Shae in the tv series, she annoyed the heck out of me in the books. And to show his gratitude, Tywin lets his house defecate on the doorstep to the throne room.

* Jon Snow proves his worth by killing one of his brothers (which if I remember correctly was a bigger deal in the books?) Jon Snow and Jamie Lannister's stories worked better in the books. Here they feel a bit muddled as if the writers don't quite have a handle on either character...? Anyhow, I adore Igritte and Jon's relationship quite a bit.

* Osha...was different in the books too. They've made her a wildling in the series, in the books she was one of the green tree people of the swamplands. At any rate...she had to kill Master LLuweylin...who tells them that Theon's group burned Winterfell to the ground.
The poor Master tried to save Theon...but as Theon stated it was far too late for that.

* Odd, here I actually feel sorry for Theon...I didn't in the books. He was whinier in the books. The actor is quite good in this role. He's countrymen, the Iron Born, clearly don't like him much. He should have gone home with his sister.

* Robb's story is also different from the books. He's actually more sympathetic in the books, as is the love story...he falls in love with one of the Lannister's bondsmen's daughter's who is his captive in a Castle they capture. He was wounded. She nurses him back to health. In a weak moment they exchange bodily fluids or boink. Honorable man that he is, he marries her. Here? He falls for a captive nurse...and marries her. Probably doesn't matter, Catelynne is correct - he's dishonored the Frey's by his actions.
Robb counters that his father, the ever honorable and wise Ned is gone, and he's left with a reckless parent. (As if Ned wasn't reckless? Honestly. Why do you think you are fighting a war, your sisters are prisoners, your brother's dead, Jon Snow on the Night's Watch and Winterfell burned to the ground? Oh that's right, because Ned was wise and stable. Got it.)
Oh, not to worry Robb, apparently you are more like good old Ned than you think. Which considering how Ned ended up isn't exactly a good thing.

I feel sorry for Catelynne. More so here than the books.

*Ayra's scenes were interesting. I'd forgotten that bit..It's a really important scene by the way. Will come up again later, around the end of the fourth season, I suspect.

Arya...talks to the Faceless Man from Bravos, who tells her she should go with him to Bravos and become part of his order. But she declines...to find her family, to be reunited with them.

*Sam...against the rock, while the wights and walking dead from the North attack the wall.
It was a creepier scene in the first chapter of Storm of Swords...and you didn't find out what happened until 250 pages later. SoS is a very long book. That is the problem with the books...Martin switches pov. Often to one where nothing is happening. It's highly annoying.

* Jamie and Brienne - a scene that tells Jamie and the audience quite a bit about Brienne, enough to root for her. OR as I told the tv, Brienne has managed to impress Jamie - he's rendered speechless. She also makes it clear that she isn't on anyone's side but Lady Catelynn's and her family. She and Catelynn bonded in that tent where they saw Renly killed by the shadowman.

*Stannis finally demonstrates regret for killing his brother, Renly, and obtains my sympathy as a result. Not a likable or sympathetic character in the books - but is one here. Which is a testament to Stephen Dilliane's acting skills. (Say the same about Charles Dance's excellent portrayal of Tywin Lannister). Melissandre is also more likable here than in the books. And creepier.

I love this series. Now do you want to explain to me why GoT was able to hold my attention but the first episode of S2 Sherlock wasn't? I keep trying to watch it, and every time my attention wanders elsewhere.

Comments

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

That book sounds similar to Kinsale's 'Flowers from the Storm's where after a stroke the hero was put away in insane asylum and the heroine was a Quaker nurse.

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

No, very very different. The only similarity is both heroes at one point or another spend time in an insane asylum.

Here's the synopsis of The Madness of Lord Ian McKenszie (so much more fun than Flowers From the Storm - which sounded insanely frustrating to me to read.)

The year is 1881. Meet the Mackenzie family--rich, powerful, dangerous, eccentric. A lady couldn't be seen with them without ruin. Rumors surround them--of tragic violence, of their mistresses, of their dark appetites, of scandals that set England and Scotland abuzz.

The youngest brother, Ian, known as the Mad Mackenzie, spent most of his young life in an asylum, and everyone agrees he is decidedly odd. He's also hard and handsome and has a penchant for Ming pottery and beautiful women.

Beth Ackerley, widow, has recently come into a fortune. She has decided that she wants no more drama in her life. She was raised in drama--an alcoholic father who drove them into the workhouse, a frail mother she had to nurse until her death, a fussy old lady she became constant companion to. No, she wants to take her money and find peace, to travel, to learn art, to sit back and fondly remember her brief but happy marriage to her late husband.

And then Ian Mackenzie decides he wants her.

And here's the synopsis of Flowers from the Storm:

The Duke of Jervaulx was brilliant - and dangerous. Considered dissolute, reckless, and extravagant, he was transparently referred to as the "D of J" in scandal sheets. But sometimes the most womanizing rakehell can be irresistible, and even his most causal attentions fascinated the sheltered Maddy Timms.

Then one fateful day she receives the shocking news - the duke is lost to the world. And Maddy knows it is her destiny to help him and her only chance to find the true man behind the wicked facade.

But she never dreamed her gentle, healing touch would alter his life and her own so completely - and bind them together in need, desire...and love.(less)


Actually I like the first description better...because he was in the aslym prior to the start of the novel, and there's more of a mystery.
But I may eventually check the other one out to see how similar they are.

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

Oh, checked out the reviews for the Flowers of the Storm one on Good Reads, sounds very religious , the other one isn't at all.

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

The one you're talking about sounds interesting.

However, though it's been ages since I read "Flowers" (something in the range of decades) boy does that description not remind me of the book I read. The book seemed far more Robert Downey Jr.'s "Restoration" than the rather standard description given there. (Which is to say that "Flowers" is rather dark.)

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

I read some of the comments to the Good Reads blurb and Flowers looks disturbing. Apparently Maddie, the love interest, believes the Duke got the stroke because he deserved it for his wicked deeds and she will redeem him with religion??? (Which is so NOT Quaker. Quaker's don't believe in divine retribution and are very into salvation for all. Non-violence.)

Not sure I can read that.

The Madness of Lord Ian - is rather interesting. It's a gothic, with a hero who has Asperger's syndrom in the 1800s. He's not mad, but people back then looked at autism and Asperger's as a type of Madness. Humans are rather sadistic in how they treat madness - particularly the behavorists. Ugh. But all of this is thankfully told in flashbacks, so we, the reader, don't have to live through his time in the aslym, that's over ten years in the past. He's 27, and was released from it at the age of 17.

[rebcake.livejournal.com]

Apropos of nothing, I've been meaning to rec a slip of a romance novel that features a gal who isn't a slip of a girl. It's The Thin Woman by Dorothy Cannell. It's been around for decades, so you might've already read it. It can't really decide if it's a romance, a mystery, or a spoof of both. I like that in a book. If you like it, there's more in the series.

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

Thanks...it looks interesting. Got mixed reviews on Good Reads. Some people hated it, others loved it.

[flameraven.livejournal.com]

Finally got around to catching up on GoT so I can comment here.

I liked the S2 finale. It felt quieter, less action-packed, but I think that's okay. Gives a bit of a respite before S3, which I'm pretty sure will end on the Red Wedding, traumatizing everyone even more than the death of Ned Stark did.

I also mostly liked the arcs that they're giving the characters. Especially Tyrion and Shae. In the books, you really got the feeling she was only there for the money, she got increasingly frustrated with all the hiding and with being forced to pose as a kitchen maid/lady's maid. But here, it seems like they're both rather in love. I really, really hope they keep this change for the end of Storm of Swords. I already feel bad enough for all the crap he goes through in later books without Shae betraying him too.

Daenerys' arc was a bit shorter than it was in the books, but I think it did a good job showing the beginnings of where her character will end up later-- much harder and untrusting, better at political games. It also gave a hint that she is more okay with the idea of being a conqueror and plundering in the Dothraki style. I do rather wish they'd managed to get in the prophecies she hears about-- I reread that section of the book last night and it talks about three fires, three mounts, and three betrayals, which were all nice little bits of foreshadowing. (The visions in the book also foreshadow some other events, like the Red Wedding, but they're less important to Dany specifically so I understand why they cut them out.)

I do wish they'd gone a bit more into Jon Snow's story-- in the books Qhorin Halfhand made it very clear that he wanted Jon to defect to the wildlings because there was no other way that the Watch would ever know what they were planning. I wish they'd made that a bit clearer in the show, right now it just looks like Jon is fumbling around with no idea what he's doing rather than going in with a plan (and slowly getting seduced by the lifestyle anyway).

Minor continuity note-- Osha was always a wildling, but the books featured two additional characters, Jojen and his sister, who were the green tree people. In the books the characters split up-- Osha took Rickon off... somewhere, and Bran went with Hodor and Jojen and headed north, to look for the three-eyed crow. It'll be interesting if the series keeps them all together.

So yeah. Overall I'm really pleased with the show and how well it fleshed out the characters that we see, even if it's simplifying a lot of the arcs. They managed to make Renly and Margaery's relationship way more interesting, as well as make Margaery's ambitions much more plain. They even made Stannis a bit sympathetic, which I didn't get in the books until the end of Storm of Swords. I'm looking forward to how they handle the third book, which was my favorite, as well as looking forward to a more streamlined version of the events of Books 4 and 5, which were mostly a mess.

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

Thank you - for picking up on the things I completely forgot about in the books. (In my defense, I read Clash way back in 2004.).

I do rather wish they'd managed to get in the prophecies she hears about-- I reread that section of the book last night and it talks about three fires, three mounts, and three betrayals, which were all nice little bits of foreshadowing. (The visions in the book also foreshadow some other events, like the Red Wedding, but they're less important to Dany specifically so I understand why they cut them out.)

Very hard to do prophecies well on tv shows without a)spoiling the audience, and b) confusing the audience or disrupting the action. GoT has so many story threads...and a limited time period to do them, that doing the prophecies...was a luxury they couldn't afford - also it's hard to do well. Don't blame them for dropping it. I do vaguely remember the betrayal three times, but the gypsey woman told her the same thing. So they did sort of already do that one.

I may be wrong...but my guess is that Dany and Jon Snow are Martin's end game. His Ice and Fire. There's a lot of foreshadowing on it. And the story appears to be their mutual coming of age tale or journey towards becoming a strong and fair leader.

I do wish they'd gone a bit more into Jon Snow's story-- in the books Qhorin Halfhand made it very clear that he wanted Jon to defect to the wildlings because there was no other way that the Watch would ever know what they were planning. I wish they'd made that a bit clearer in the show, right now it just looks like Jon is fumbling around with no idea what he's doing rather than going in with a plan (and slowly getting seduced by the lifestyle anyway).

Agreed. This was handled poorly. One of the few things I liked about Jon's tale in the books was that he was had been told to infilterate the Wildlings and was struggling with his loyalties and he deliberately kills Q'uorin to infiltrate them. Here - that's not clear at all and it looks like he's just struggling to survive and isn't sure who to trust or where his loyalties should be. He comes across as less smart and less likable here as a result.

Osha was always a wildling, but the books featured two additional characters, Jojen and his sister, who were the green tree people. In the books the characters split up-- Osha took Rickon off... somewhere, and Bran went with Hodor and Jojen and headed north, to look for the three-eyed crow. It'll be interesting if the series keeps them all together.

So that's what happened with Rickon? I could not remember. He just disappeared. But apparently it happened in Clash. Wonder if they plan are breaking them up in Storm and Jojen and his sister, who is adept with arrows (and one of my favorite characters) will be introduced later? Or have they merged the sister and Osha? I don't remember Osha, just Jojen and his sister and Hodor.

Agree on the rest...although I think they have to have Shae betray him, because that's what leads to other events...

I like Shae better here. She's more complex.

[flameraven.livejournal.com]

I honestly think I'm going to have to start rereading this series every year, because there are just so many details I miss a lot. I read them last year before Dance With Dragons came out, and that was the first I'd read them since about 2005.

I can understand the prophecy thing being hard to do well, so I don't mind too much. And I did enjoy the scenes in the show, especially at the end with locking Xaro in the vault. But it definitely made me go get my book so I could look at what the scene there was like.

Agreed that Dany and Jon Snow are important for the endgame. Even more so if the fan theory that Jon is Lyanna's and Rhaegar's son, and not Eddard's bastard, proves true, as that would make him him half Targaryen, and as they keep repeating, "the dragon has three heads." Three dragons, three riders, and with Jon and the introduction of Aegon(?) in DWD we now have three Targaryens.

Jon has definitely developed his leadership skills at the Wall and I was really disappointed (but not surprised) he got so much resistance when he tried to point out to the Watch that, you know, the Others/White Walkers are coming and why shouldn't they team up with the wildlings to fend them off and save the kingdom? But then you have Melisandre up there too and all kinds of strange things that could possibly happen. I'm less certain about Dany as a leader... I think she has the potential, but she's definitely more of a conqueror and she ends up having more good intentions than actual reform. She's obviously fiercely loyal and protective of her people, but I don't know how well she actually handles the realities of ruling. And of course we don't know much about the other guy at all.

Yes, Rickon disappears with Osha and Shaggydog at the end of Clash, and we have yet to see him again. I heard that there are some hints in Dance with Dragons that he is on some island in the North or that Davos is sent to find him... I really don't know. I skimmed much of that book and need to reread it because I obviously missed a lot. Not sure if they'll introduce Jojen and his sister next seasons. They might not need to; their importance was mostly that they remembered the stories of the Children of the Forest, which is who Bran ends up going to find. If they have Osha along she can serve the same purpose.

I agree, they probably do have to have Shae betray Tyrion, but it's definitely going to break my heart to see it. Tyrion has far and away become my favorite character, and I already feel really bad for him at the end of this season.