Ranking the Books in A Song of Ice and Fire

The North RemembersThe North Remembers

While George R.R. Martin takes his time with writing the 6th book in A Song of Ice and Fire (and the TV show gets to tell the story he missed the opportunity to tell), we thought it’s a good opportunity to try and rank what’s been written so far: Five huge novels, telling an incredible story that still doesn’t have an end, but hopefully will.

5. A Dance With Dragons, 2011

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For now, A Dance with Dragons is the last novel in the series, with fans waiting for two more. And that’s the biggest problem with ‘Dance’: It came out six years after A Feast for Crows, and offered almost no closure to some plot lines. Only more branching off, and more complexity that seemed to take things a bit too far. The Meereenese knot plays a big part in why the book took so long (six years) to come out, the stagnation in Daenerys’ chapters or the futility in Quentyn’s storyline, but it might also be a bigger problem than that: George R.R. Martin writing himself into a dead end, which he isn’t sure how to get out of. This is still a good book, with Arya Stark and Bran Stark each taking their skills towards a certain destiny up a notch, Tyrion finding purpose, Jon Snow trying to change the Night’s Watch and especially Reek/Theon trying to redeem himself. But this book falls short both in the first and re-reads when compared to the other books in this series.

4. A Feast for Crows, 2005

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At first read, A Feast for Crows is disappointing. Not because of poor writing or anything, but because of three things: An incredible slowing down in pace compared to the previous book, the missing key characters like Tyrion, Jon Snow, Bran Stark and Daenerys due to the split with ‘Dance’ (were supposed to be one book) and the introduction of many more, resulting in a book that felt more like world building than plot advancing. But as far as re-reads go, it might be the best one. It drops so much detail on the saga, gives us Cersei’s inner thoughts, shows us Dorne, the Iron Islands and the torn up Riverlands from two different perspectives, and finally Sansa in less pitiful form. Not a perfect book, but one that gets better  when you give it more than one go.

3. A Game of Thrones, 1996

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The book that opens it all, and introduces us to Westeros and the world of ice and fire. The first book in the series focuses on the Stark Family and how it falls apart bit by bit, or at least some of it does. Robert comes north, asks Ned Stark to come south, and sets everything in motion, while we’re introduced to, well, the main characters, on both sides of the narrow sea. It blends action, world building and what we later learn, foreshadowing, kicking off what is in my opinion the finest fantasy series ever written. Hopefully it’ll have an ending as well.

2. A Clash of Kings, 1998

Image via: A Wiki of Ice and Fire

The second book in the series pushes the story in a number of directions: Further north, as Jon Snow ventures beyond the wall in the great ranging, deeper into Essos as Daenerys Targaryen shows her dragons (still small to the world), deeper into King’s Landing politics and especially Tyron trying to juggle everything, Arya going through things that no kid should, Theon changing everything up North, and overall some incredible action sequences (Blackwater) and a brand new kind of magic (shadow babies) by the mysterious Melisandre. A book with no real flaws, only it happens to be standing next to something a bit better.

1. A Storm of Swords, 2000

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First off, A Storm of Swords is f***ing huge (973 pages, split into two books in some countries). But it’s not the size, it’s the amount of things that happen. The cliffhangers, the payoffs, just about everything that goes down. The Red Wedding and the Purple Wedding obviously rise above everything, but the book also includes the best duel ever written (Oberyn vs the Mountain), gives us some incredible reveals that give us a completely new way of looking at the story, and overall attacks us at an incredible pace while being impossible to put down. As far as fantasy books go and especially action ones, this is as good as it gets.

In 2017, Being a ‘A Song of Ice and Fire’ Fan is More Hopeless Than Ever

waiting-for-the-winds-of-winterwaiting-for-the-winds-of-winter

We’re two days into 2016. The Winds of Winter hasn’t come out.

George R.R. Martin, who shot an arrow through the heart of the entire fan base with his deflating blog post a year ago, has either made incredible secretive progress while writing the sixth book in ‘A Song of Ice and Fire’ over the last year and has been able to keep it a well-hidden secret.

Or perhaps the growing pessimism within the fan base is there for a reason. Martin did say he isn’t going to give the fans any more updates about his ‘Winds of Winter’ progress and will only let them know when it’s done.

Image via: Source

But that hasn’t stopped a large portion of the book lovers (which are separate from the show fans in a number of ways, yet numerous, if inferior in numbers) to expect some sort of recognition as we switched from ’16 to 2017, just like he did last year. As of now, there hasn’t been any word.

There’s a good chance he’s keeping radio silence for the simple reason he never intended to let anything out. I mean Martin does blog, quite a lot. But not about the sixth book. He blogs about Wildcards, about the New York Giants and New York Jets. About anything Pop Culture. About things in New Mexico. About life. But not about the big elephant in the room, which has been over five years in the making.

For those who love to follow forums that discuss A Song of Ice and Fire, it has been difficult to miss the growing number of threads and posts that don’t actually mention the plot any longer. Suddenly, more and more posts are being written trying to decipher the number of pages Martin writes in a certain timeframe, attempting to figure out when the book will be out.

Don’t be surprised if it doesn’t come out in 2017 as well. Martin hoped he could finish the book by the end of 2015, which would have meant sending it to his editors and publishers in time for the book to be released before the beginning of season 6. No one is hoping that he beats season 7, and no one is going to be surprised if the series concludes (it ends with season 8) before book six comes out.

There’s something tragic about it in more than one way. The ending to his epic series will be told by someone else. Sure, the books are a completely different experience, but a lot of what still hasn’t been published in writing has been revealed on screen, a trend that will continue. Remember, D&D know how the story ends, and while they don’t tell the full story and some plot lines have taken a different course, it’s not going to be too far off what Martin has planned for the books.

Image via: Euron Greyjoy by Mike Hallstein

And wait, there’s more depressing news. Almost all of the sample chapters Martin has published or read in various conventions were written in 2011, 2012 or perhaps 2013. Maybe his most recent release, ‘The Forsaken’, an Aeron Greyjoy POV, is a bit newer. But overall, we have no indication that he’s made significant progress while Game of Thrones has become the biggest show on the planet. Maybe he hasn’t made any progress at all.

Personally, I’m one of those who believe he’s either given up on the series or written himself into a dead end; either way, he’s not enjoying it anymore. Martin isn’t someone who loves talking to his fans about his progress, not anymore. He hates fan fiction. He doesn’t like fans analysing and theorizing where the series is going. He hates (and for good reason) people discussing his health and whether or not he’ll ever finish the series. The fans might not get their next book or a ending to this series, at least not from him. But it’s OK. People will move on, even those who picked up the books in 1996 and have been waiting for over 20 years for resolution.

Image via: Wirdou Designs

But Martin himself has already missed out on the opportunity to tell the ending his own way. Maybe he knew he wouldn’t catch up to the series, but I doubt he thought it would take him this long to complete it. It’s been 16 years since A Storm of Swords, the third book in the series, came out. Only two books have been published in that time.

Another depressing realization is that the seven books Martin promised won’t cut it. Many think that The Winds of Winter and A Dream of Spring would need to be massive beyond belief in size and page count in order to wrap up everything Martin has been building towards. And assuming it is taking him this long to complete six books, forget about it when it comes to seven or eight.

The optimists would say that he’s actually working on two books at once. His writing style isn’t that organized; moving on to chapters that will be included in the next book does make sense. So if A Feast for Crows and A Dance with Dragons came out over the course of 11 years, this means there’s a chance the books all come out by 2022?

From the bits of information we have, and from the snail-pace of the known progress, that’s actually an ultra-optimistic projection. It’s 2017, and I believe we may never see another book in the best fantasy series ever written.

‘A Song of Ice and Fire’ Remains an Uncompleted Masterpiece as We’re Still Waiting for ‘The Winds of Winter’

George R.R. Martin Game of Thrones

It’s been over five years since the last novel in the ‘A Song of Ice and Fire’ series, written by George R.R. Martin, and is the basis for the Game of Thrones TV show, came out. The release date of the next book in the series, ‘The Winds of Winter’, remains a mystery wrapped in an enigma.

A year ago, the author posted on his livejournal blog some a very disappointing announcement. He told his fans that the book would not be coming out in 2016, in time to coincide the release with the sixth season of the TV show, which meant that the plot of the show has now not just caught up with the books, but has surpassed it. It means the show runners are treading in uncharted waters, with only guidelines from Martin about what’s going to happen. This means the ending to this saga won’t be delivered by the person who created the story and this world, but through the television show, which debuted 15 years after the first book, ‘A Game of Thrones’, came out.

Before we dive in deeper, there’s one thing worth remembering: The show has diverged in several plotlines from the books, which means not everything that’s happened in the show is going to happen in the books, which means that maybe the ending will be different, and book readers haven’t been ‘spoiled’, or at least not as much as they thought they’d be.

An interesting thread on reddit discussed the one-year anniversary of Martin announcing that the book won’t be coming out in time to beat the show to it. He wrote about missing a deadline, and then missing another one. Since then, he hasn’t offered any updates, which could mean a number of things. It’s easy to see how more and more people have less and less faith in him ever completing the story compared to the optimism and faith last year.

What caused the change in hope? Well, following Martin’s writing timeline and previous problems, along with where he is today, does raise some concerns. This won’t be the first time a book series wasn’t completed, at all or simply by the original author, but every day that Martin doesn’t offer good news to his fans, more people believe they might not get to read the conclusion of what might be the best fantasy series of all time.

Martin has never been a fast writer. However, he’s now busier than ever, due to becoming famous thanks to the show, or a lot more famous (and richer, good for him) thanks to the success of ‘Game of Thrones’. It took him 11 years to release the 4th and 5th books. There were almost six years between those two books. Martin is close to breaking the record for hiatuses between books in this series. And why is it happening? A number of theories:

  • He’s stuck. Not writer’s block, but something along those lines. The Meereenese Knot, which is basically a lot of POV characters (the style in which this book is written) converging into one place, game Martin a lot of trouble with the two previous books. He’s in the same kind of problem now, according to many, whether it’s trying to fit in the POVs in one place (The North, King’s Landing), while stretching the world and his POV characters too much. Instead of carrying on with direct action like in the first three books, Martin dove into world building and slowing down the pace in the next two, which got him into this mess
  • He’s writing the last two books at once. People wearing “pink glasses” believe this one. That Martin, who usually writes the same character for a number of chapters which means even getting into the next book, is working both on The Winds of Winter and on what is supposed to be the series finale, A Dream of Spring, simultaneously. As good as it sounds, it’s probably unlikely
  • He’s simply tired of it. Maybe it’s depression from letting the show catch up with him, or the vocal few how hate on him on the Internet, or simply getting bored with the story. Martin might just be sick of the characters, the world, anything. It’s not that he can’t write, he simply won’t write. Part of me believes this is holding him back

Martin keeps updating his blog, only he doesn’t talk about the next book. And his infuriates some of his fans, who want to at least hear something about when it’s coming out, or not coming out at all. Remember, some of his fans began reading this series in 1996. That’s a generation gone by, and they still have no idea when it’s going to end.

In the meantime, while life goes on, all we have to do is wait, and maybe read something else (Which we all probably have). It could be ASOIAF related: Dunk & Egg tales or The World of Ice and Fire. Doing a re-read (I’ve done it three times myself) is also recommended, especially for those who have only recently gotten into the series. He’ll finish it when he’ll finish it, or he won’t at all. While it’s fun diving into this world and finding out new things, there comes a point when it’s not just out of the readers hands, it’s simply a waste of time thinking otherwise. Hopefully when it does come out, it’ll live up to the hype.

10 Best Fantasy Book Series Worth Binge-Reading

A Song of Ice and Fire Novels

Deciding on the best Fantasy series of books is practically impossible without causing a discussion that leads to argument. In this list, we tried to touch on most of the sub-genres, including some of the more well known and popular series these days, like A Song of Ice and Fire and The First Law Trilogy, while also paying respect to the older ones, still influencing many writers and fans to this day, beginning with The Lord of The rings, but also mentioning Elric and Chronicles of Amber.

A Song of Ice and Fire

George R.R. Martin isn’t the first to do somewhat realistic, gritty, violent and dark medieval fantasy. However, his creation has been the most successful, resulting in possibly the biggest TV show in the world (Game of Thrones), and the world of Westeros that has millions waiting for the final two books to be delivered. The series so far consists of five novels, kinda of prequels in Dunk & Egg and a universe encyclopedia.

The Lord of the Rings

Not the first Fantasy series, but simply the most important fantasy series. Sure, the tropes of good vs evil cemented by J.R.R. Tolkien are being challenged, flipped and broken today, but it’s hard to think of any fantasy work today that doesn’t have some sort of influence from the massive, immersive universe Tolkien created. This link is for the 50th anniversary, one-volume edition, but you can get each of the books separately if you want.

The Elric of Melnibone Series

Elric is fantasy tropes turned upside down. Michael Moorcock, the author, was influenced by much more than just Conan the Barbarian, but Elric of Melnibone is the exact opposite of Conan. Complex instead of simple, frail instead of strong, decaying instead of rising. The Elric Saga consists of three parts.

The First Law Trilogy

Joe Abercrombie created a world based on some typical fantasy-medieval tropes, including the contrast between magic and brute force, a glorious past as the backdrop to a decaying present, and combines action and pragmatism with careful, but not over indulgent world building. It’s similar and obviously influenced by A Song of Ice and Fire, but is it’s own creation, maybe even better. The trilogy includes The Blade Itself, Before They Are Hanged and Last Argument of Kings.

The Wheel of Time

A mega series penned by Robert Jordan, who started it out in 1984 (first book release). He dies in 2007 while working on what should have been the final novel, which was eventually split into three books, authored by Brandon Sanderson based on Jordan’s remaining work. Few series provide this kind of depth when it comes to world building and the magic that comes with it. The series is 14 novels long.

Harry Potter

It’s hard to find anyone who doesn’t know what Harry Potter is. J.K. Rowling, original or heavily influenced by others, helped usher in a new age of interest in fantasy books through the tales of Harry, Ron and Hermione, which might not tingle the taste bud of elitists, but weave books that are simply difficult to put down, even if they aren’t as dark and serious as some would like their fantasy to be. There were 8 movies, but “only” 7 novels.

The Chronicles of Amber

A massive tale consisting of two story arcs, each spanning five novels and more than 20 years between the first novel and the 10th one coming out. Written by Roger Zelazny, the Amber Chronicles are filled with elements from Norse, Japanese and Irish mythology, Arthurian legend as well as several references to real history, including Williams Shakespeare. The Great Book of Amber is the combining of all 10 novels in one volume.

The Broken Empire

Mark Lawrence wrote a trilogy that includes Prince of Thorns, King of Thorns and Emperor of Thorns, which plays on themes of family dramas and a coming of age stories, with a twist in the usual tale, bringing forth a protagonist so traumatised it turns him far more vicious and unethical than we’ve come accustomed to. There’s a good chance you’ll want to re-read immediately upon finishing the books.

The Dark Tower

Just when Stephen King seems to be done with Ronaldo Deschain, he comes up with a new idea to continue what he considers one big uber novel, and each book a part of that grand story. It’s western meets dark fantasy if one has to categorize it, describing a world that’s falling apart, and little by little going out of order in every possible way. There have been 8 novels so far, with the 7th one being the end of the series in terms of chronology, although it’s a bit more complicated than that.

The Witcher

Most people know The Witcher as a Video Game series, but the terrific games are what comes after The Witcher saga ends. Andrzej Sapkowski wrote short stories, collected in two books, before the main Witcher series begins, spanning five novels that tell the story of Geralt of Rivia and his connection to Ciri, a child of destiny. There are five novels, with the english translation for the fifth one (Lady of the Lake) coming in 2017, although there are unofficial translations to find online.

If fantasy is something you want to put on hold, maybe popular science works for you right now: Here’s our top 10.

20 Hilariously Bad Game of Thrones Memes

Rickon didn't have to die

Dad jokes are funny, even if they’re not supposed to be. The same can be said of intentionally bad memes, including these ones from Game of Thrones, jokes and puns: They make enough sense to make us laugh, even if they don’t follow the classic joke structure.

Most of the memes, some of them in gif form, refer to Season 6, and maybe a bit to things that happen in the A Song of Ice and Fire books. Obviously, if spoilers is something you’re worried about, maybe bookmark this post and get back to it once you’re done catching up. It’ll be worth your time.

Idiot Sandwich

Blowing S*** Up

Dothraki Math Joke

Sam Loves Books

Ned Stark Back at Winterfell

Unsullied Humor

Thinking About Family Complications

The Honorable Ned Stark

 

The Blackfish Doesn’t Care

Hipster Night’s Watchman

Everybody Loves Mormonts

Lancel’s Last Thought

Throwing away that salary

Rickon didn’t have to die

Margaery Jones

Never Knew Kit Was This Small

Jaime Missed the Party

True Northern Romance

Dorne Revenge Logic

Benjen Has Some Catching Up to Do

15 Dead Game of Thrones Characters Re-Animated Through Magnificent Art

Dead Hodor

Few shows make people feel… anything, quite like Game of Thrones does. When a character on the show dies, it makes people happy, but usually sad, depressed, angry. And in honor of these dead characters, comes this wonderful art project.

Ertaç Alt?nöz, or ertacaltinoz on Deviantart, took the more notable dead Game of Thrones characters from the TV show and gave them a Wight (GOT zombies) kind of makeover, with the way of death of something from the death scene itself showing in the image, sometimes as hint alone, creating a powerful collage of morbidity and beauty fused together.

Lyanna Stark

Died giving birth to Jon Snow.

Khal Drogo

Ned Stark

Got his head chopped off.

Robb Stark

This one really broke my heart. Couldn’t believe what I was reading when I made it to the passage in the books.

Catelyn Stark

Got her throat sliced. In the show, she stays dead. In the books…

Tywin Lannister

Got a crossbolt in his belly while trying to have a quiet evening in the bathroom.

Joffrey Baratheon/Lannister

Poisoned at his own wedding. Tough luck.

Ygritte

Got arrowed.

Oberyn Martell

Got his face smashed the f*** in.

Hodor… Just Hodor

Died casually leaning on a door.

Margaery Tyrell

Burned down in a gush of wildfire.

Ramsay Bolton/Snow

Shireen Baratheon

Turned into toast.

The Waif

Met Arya, tried to kill her, should have known better.

Arthur Dayne

Died like a knight should: With a sword in his hand.

For more dead GOT characters and other works by ertacaltinoz, check out his gallery. For less depressing Game of Thrones art which doesn’t follow the show but the A Song of Ice and Fire books, check out this gallery.

15 Awesome Game of Thrones Artworks to Fill the Void

Cersei

The Game of Thrones TV Show is going on a longer than usual hiatus, preparing for the final 15 (???) episodes, probably split into two seasons. The next book in A Song of Ice and Fire (The Winds of Winter), the book series the TV show is based on, is still one huge question mark. So how do we fill the void? We begin by enjoying the incredible artwork done by fans and professional artists for various projects related to the fantasy series.

Arya checking a name off her list / Inna-Vjuzhanina

Cersei in all her green glory / Inna-Vjuzhanina

Remembering Hardhome / patrickballesteros

Cleganebowl, Get Hype / ertacaltinoz

The Mountain vs The Viper / DenisM79

Sandor & Sansa (Wishful thinking…) / bubug

The Bolton family during happier times / Thrumugnyr

Arya & Nymeria / Cryptid-Creations

A Knight, Maiden & Bear / 1oshuart

Theon Greyjoy (Reek) / Kep-Trefler

Theon is sorry / Thrumugnyr

King Robb marching South / zippo514

Stopping Joffrey (ACOK) / bubug

The mysterious Coldhands / mustamirri

House Stark during better days / Gigei

For more Game of Thrones related posts, check out these cool Game of Thrones T-Shirts or enjoy these illuminating A Song of Ice and Fire Maps.

15 Coolest Game of Thrones T-Shirts

Hold the Door Game of Thrones Shirt

The best way to show you’re a fan of Game of Thrones, the most downloaded show on the planet, and ruler of social media and water-cooler talk, even when it’s offseason? Wear a cool Game of Thrones Shirt. Maybe not to work if you have a dress code, but anywhere else is fine.

Game of Thrones ‘Hold the Door’ Shirt

They didn’t wait long to stick a knife through our hearts. I don’t know what you’d be trying to achieve by wearing this shirt, but it’s pretty cool to have. Get it here.

Tyrion & Drogon Game of Thrones Shirt

Of all the promo art done on Game of Thrones, Tyrion standing on the edge of a ship and watching Drogon reveal himself through the fog is hands down their best, making for one awesome T-Shirt.

Game of Musical Thrones Shirt

A show and story so violent and dark is well depicted in a cute-style shirt, with the house sigils playing a children’s game. Get it here.

Star Direwolf Game of Thrones Shirt

There’s no house more popular on Game of Thrones than the Starks, although not too many of them are left, and the Direwolves are also running out. This probably makes this awesome splatter-style shirt a lot more valuable. Buy it here.

Fire & Blood Targaryen Shirt

I’m not a huge fan of Daenerys and House Targaryen in general, but the three-headed dragon is an awesome sigil, and the blood splatter on black is gorgeous. Get it here.

Westeros Map Game of Thrones Shirt

I love me some fictional maps, and this one, depicting the kingdoms of Westeros by the ruling houses and their sigils is probably one of the more awesome you can find, with excellent detail to geographical accuracy. No one forgot about Skagos and Bear Island! Get it here.

Game of Thrones Three-Eyed Raven Tank Top

For a while it was one of the best kept secrets on the show. I luv this three-eyed raven tank top not just because I’m a huge Bran fan, but this is simply gorgeous, with the white & blue combination, and the falling swords as a bonus. Get it here.

Hodor Game of Thrones Shirt

The man, the word, the door. If you wanna rep Bran’s servant on your shirt, buy it here.

Mother of Dragons Game of Thrones Tank Top

Not the number one Daenerys catchphrase, but close to it. She loves being described as one. And for women who are also mothers to obnoxious kids, this tank top will be perfect to describe your wonderful experience.

Game of Thrones White Walker Shirt

Not the Night’s King, just a regular White Walker. Still pretty awesome, especially from people who want others spotting their shirts from far away. This one is hard to stop looking at.

Game of Thrones House Bolton Shirt

Why get this shirt? Because it’s fun rooting for a vile villain.

Game of Thrones – The Iron Throne Shirt

Viserys described the Iron Throne better than anyone: The breath of the greatest dragon forged the Iron Throne…the swords of the vanquished, a thousand of them, melted together like so many candles. Too bad Khal Drogo had to melt gold on his head. Don’t let that stop you from getting this shirt.

Jon Snow Night Gathers Game of Thrones Shirt

If you love Jon Snow and his commitment to the Night’s Watch, you’ll love this shirt. If you love The Cure and think this would make an awesome cover to one of their albums, you’re going to love this shirt too. Get it here.

Game of Thrones Opening Shirt

Not exactly the Bat Signal, but somehow, this capture of the Game of Thrones TV show opening reminds me of it, kinda like calling sign for everyone to take notice of. Get it here.

Game of Thrones Polo Shirt

When you want to give out a slightly official, business like vibe, but don’t want to stop repping your favorite TV Show, wear the Game of Thrones (with the Stark Sigil) Polo shirt.

Be Social! Follow Walyou on Facebook and Twitter. Check out more Game of Thrones stuff, like these fantastic GOT hoodies, or the top 10 Game of Thrones gadgets.

4 Game of Thrones Board Games For A Song of Ice and Fire Fans

A Game of Thrones The Board Game

Turning A Song of Ice and Fire into the Game of Thrones TV show has been an incredible success. Adaptations to other mediums, like Video Games and comic books haven’t been as successful. But not everything has failed. Turning Game of Thrones into a Board Game or two worked quite well and more, with a Risk and Monopoly version as well.

A Game of Thrones: The Board Game

The Game of Thrones strategy board game has been around since before the TV Show. It came out in 2003 to keep the masses satisfied while they were waiting for A Feast for Crows to come out. Made for 3-to-5 players, the original, expansion-less version is for about two to three hours of gameplay, and includes the Arryn, Baratheon, Greyjoy, Lannister, Stark and Tyrell families. How is it played?

The game is played on a board that divides the continent of Westeros into several regions. Most regions have at least one icon representing a city, a stronghold, a support barrel, or a power icon, and some key locations have multiples of such icons. Each player selects a starting House, places starting units on the board as indicated by the instructions, places House markers on the Supply and three Influence tracks, and takes the hand of seven House characters to be used in battles.At the beginning of the game, the players with House markers on the highest positions in the Iron Throne, Fiefdoms, and King’s Court Influence tracks will start with the Iron Throne, Valyrian Steel Blade, and Messenger Raven special tokens respectively. The three Westeros decks are shuffled, and placed off to the side where all players can see. A deck of cards representing the actions of the Wildlings is placed on the board, along with a Wildling threat token indicating the strength of the Wildlings should they attack.

Got it? So go play. It’s available for $130.98. With time, two expansions came out, according to the books: A Clash of Kings in 2004, adding the Martells, a new unit type (Siege Engines), rules for ports, a second possible set of 7 House character cards for all six Houses with a wider variety of effects, and new unique special orders for each House. The expansion was then integrated into the base game when the second edition came out.

Then there was a Storm of Swords (the third book) expansion (available for $80) that came out in 2006. Additions include Tactics cards, Ally cards, new sets of House character cards, new Westeros cards, new units, and a new game board for a standalone game, representing a focused view of the Trident region of Westeros.

A Game of Thrones: The Board Game Second Edition

The second edition came out in October 2011, a few months after the release of the last novel in the A Song of Ice and Fire series (so far. Hurry up George!), A Dance With Dragons. he second edition includes the additions introduced in the A Clash of Kings expansion to the base game, and other changes to game play include alterations to the starting positions of units for some Houses (such as Greyjoy), the abilities of house cards, the effects of consolidate power and raid special orders, and the possibility to use Tides of Battle cards to affect battles. It’s currently available for $41.51 instead of $59.99.

There were expansions to the second edition as well. A Dance With Dragons, the fifth book, got the first expansion in 2012, adding 42 house cards. Also included is a special scenario and alternate setup to reflect the current states of each of the six playable Houses and shortens the total turn length from ten down to six. It’s available for $10 instead of $14.95.

The fourth book, A Feast for Crows, got an expansion as well. It adds a four-player scenario, with an alternate victory condition, shortened play time, and a set of playable House cards for House Arryn are the main focus of this expansion. A total of 48 new cards are included. It costs $10 instead of $14.95.

Risk: Game of Thrones Board Game

The universe of A Song of Ice and Fire is perfect for a Risk game, which according to Seinfeld, is a game about global domination played by people who can barely control their own lives, or something like that. In any case, it includes maps of both Essos and Westeros, over 600 unique game pieces including armies represented by noble houses and can be played by up to 7 players. It’s available for $49.79 instead of $74.99.

Monopoly Game of Thrones

A very special collector’s edition which is pretty much the same Monopoly game you’ve always played, only with a Westeros twist, including customized game pieces and of course specially designed mission cards to make you feel a bit more in the Game of Thrones mood. It’s available for $42.75 instead of $59.99.

Be social! Follow Walyou on Facebook and Twitter. For more board games, check out our rundown of awful, forgotten ones from the 1980’s and 1990’s. For some more Game of Thrones stuff, check out these awesome Game of Thrones hoodies.

20 Fantastic A Song of Ice and Fire Maps

Travel Map GOT

For anyone who really dives into a fantasy series and immerses himself/herself in the world unfolding through the pages, maps of past and present make a big difference in the perception of the depth of the storytelling. There are maps in the A Song of Ice and Fire books (Game of Thrones), but that’s not enough.

Fans and artists have made maps of the Planetos, mostly of Westeros and Essos. Of past events like how wars and invasions changed the political landscape, and of how things currently stand as we keep waiting for The Winds of Winter to be released. Until George RR Martin finally finishes with the sixth book of the series, we’ll have these to glance over.

The Seven Kingdoms Map (Sigils)

Full size map

Travel Map of Major Characters

Full size map

Bannermen Borders Maps (Not 100% Accurate)

Full size maps

Historical Maps of Westeros & Essos

Full size maps

Political Map at the Beginning of The Winds of Winter

Full size map

For other interesting posts on maps, check out this one about Game of Thrones which the first map on this post comes from, focusing on the outlines of the different cities. For more fictional worlds, check out these maps.