Categories
Books Music

The Last of the Giants

Oh, I am the last of the giants,
My people are gone from the earth,
The last of the great mountain giants,
Who ruled all the world at my birth,
Oh, the small folk have stolen my forests,
They’ve stolen my rivers and hills,
And they’ve built a great wall through my valleys,
And fished all the fish from my rills
In stone halls they burn their great fires,
In stone halls they forge their sharp spears,
While I walk alone in the mountains,
With no true companion but tears
They hunt me with dogs in the daylight,
They hunt me with torches by night
Oh, I am the last of the giants,
So learn well the words of my song
For when I am gone all the singing will fade,
And the silence will last long and long

From A Storm of Swords.

Categories
Books TV

Hardhome

Spoilers for last night’s Game of Thrones and A Dance with Dragons

So the closing quarter of Hardhome was the best zombie film of the last ten years. If we skip Shaun and 28 Days Later then, well, let’s just say if they are making a sequel to World War Z (leaving aside that WWZ films should be an altogether different affair to what they made) they should watch this to see how you do it.

It was also a pleasant surprise with ep 9 of a series usually the big set piece battle of the series (I’m guessing) we still have the siege of Winterfell to look forward to. What else?

  • I doubt we’ll have Abel rescuing Sansa (sorry Mance-truthers) but Theon could step up while Ramsay’s gone, I’m guessing she’ll be delivered to Brienne and Pod but ultimately to Stannis. When he learns that Bran and Rickon are alive that ties off Davos’s Wyman Manderley arc and leads him to a potential Rickon-rescue.
  • Let’s hope Ramsay gets some comeuppance during his little guerilla raid on Stannis’s army, there’s been heavy-handed establishment of his evil credentials and while the books and show are pretty clear that comeuppance isn’t always to be had (sorry Ned!) I’d love to see Roose disown him as a bastard and have the Red Lady burn him.
  • Jon’s headed for a stabbing :( The Hardhome detour was nice, I had my doubts at first but after that sequence I couldn’t have been more wrong. Some ep 10 we’ll have the Wildings, some very unhappy crows and possibly a crying Wun-wun to set things up. I imagine Jon will send Sam away toot sweet on his return to set up his Oldtown arc? I wasn’t too sure they’d even bother with it in the show but I can’t see Sam managing too well post corvicide.
  • Will Jorah have his Gladiator moment? My guess was this line would converge with Dany’s departure on Drogon but I’m not sure how that plays out now Tyrion has hooked up with her.
Categories
Animals Mythology and Folklore TV

Here be dragons

(Some season 4 spoilers)

Categories
Books

A Song of Ice and Fire

Highlights from the original outline for GRRM’s ASOIAF:

Sansa marries King Joffrey, bears his son, and, Martin writes, “when the crunch comes she will choose her husband and child over her parents and siblings, a choice she will later bitterly rue.”

Tyrion Lannister falls in love with Arya, who only has eyes for Jon; this leads to “a deadly rivalry between Tyrion and Jon Snow.”

Daenerys Targaryen still marries Khal Drogo, who has no interest in capturing the throne of the Seven Kingdoms and kills her brother Viserys when he refuses to let it go. Presumably, Viserys is less of a jerk in this version than in the published book, because Daenerys actually kills Khal Drogo to avenge him.

Categories
Books Funny

GRRM’s Naughty List

Sort of spoilers. But not. But maybe?

Categories
Me People

Giving

Giving is clearly the best part of Christmas so why not indulge yourself:

Books for goats, Valyrian Steel

Help Heifer International end hunger and get some sweet things from Pat Rothfuss and his awesome pals (think of a fantasy author, they’re probably in). Donate anything and you’re in the lottery to win rare editions, signed editions, other lovely extras, or if you think I’ve been an especially good boy this year (I have, I really really have) you can buy Longclaw for me and sleep safe knowing that you’ve helped a whole bunch of people feed themselves and that I’m safe from reanimated corpses (other goodies are up for auction).

Child’s Play

A bunch of children’s hospitals have Amazon wishlists, you can buy the toys and games they need so kids in hospital over Christmas have decent stuff to play with. Close to home there’s Bradford, Manchester, Alder Hey, Sheffield, and Dublin, but there are hospitals all over the world you can help out or you can donate directly to Child’s Play.

Wikipedia

Support Wikipedia. You almost certainly use it, and you probably ignore the fundraising message when it pops up. Pay the £3.

If you want to support another cause but you’re not sure who to give to try Charity Navigator or Give Well.

Even if you’re trying to keep Christmas small you are probably going to spend a hell of a lot of money, and a decent amount of it on crap, make sure you give something to a decent cause.

PS: Longclaw.