ALL LEATHER MUST BE BOILED

Feastdance: The Combined Reading Order for A Feast for Crows and A Dance with Dragons

Hang on to your hardcovers, fire up those ebooks, and arrange the dulcet tones of Roy Dotrice into an appropriate iTunes playlist: Today Stefan and I are discussing the combined reading order I came up with for reading A Feast for Crows and A Dance with Dragons simultaneously. As you’re no doubt aware, the concerns that kept these two novels apart — they cover the same period of time, only with different characters at the forefront — were primarily IRL logistical ones. Weaving their chapters back together creates a very different reading experience, revealing aesthetic and thematic unities that make it well worth the effort. For both Stefan and myself, this has become the method of choice for reading this second-act section of A Song of Ice and Fire. In this podcast, we’ll explain why.

Here are a few links you might want to take a look at as you listen:

My original combined reading order

My new-reader-friendly combined reading order (this preserves the Dorne reveal; I actually prefer this one now)

My entire series of “Feastdance” posts on reading the two books together and what I got out of it

Stefan’s essay on the two books’ parallel themes for Tower of the Hand

Happy reading and happy listening!

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Women of Westeros, Part IV: Margaery, Melisandre, and Lysa

It’s a power-player episode of BLAH this time out, as our irregularly scheduled series on the women of Westeros tackles a trio who have little in common except their positions near the top of the power structure: Margaery Tyrell, Melisandre of Asshai, and Lysa Arryn. The combination was Stefan’s idea, and the result of the odd juxtaposition is a pretty diverse set of questions tackled over the course of the episode.

How do the differences and similarities between book-Margaery and show-Margaery stack up? How does Melisandre’s use of magic compliment or compromise what you might expect from a woman in her position in Westerosi society? What does Lysa tell us about the costs of the Westerosi gender system, and the limits of audience empathy? Let’s find out together, just you and us.

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Women of Westeros Part III: Catelyn and Daenerys

The mother of dragons squares off against/pairs up with the mother of direwolves in our new episode — the third installment in our irregularly scheduled series on the prominent female characters of A Song of Ice and Fire. Cat and Dany are interesting to talk about in tandem because more, perhaps, than any other characters, they draw strength from traditional female roles while in the process of subverting or expanding them. From their shared embrace of the mantle of motherhood to their shared perceived missteps with dashing, arrogant swordsmen to their divergent fortunes on the books’ TV adaptation, we tackle as much as we can about these pivotal characters.

And hey, if you like listening to us yak about A Song of Ice and Fire, and I should certainly hope you do if you’re reading this, please give a listen to our guest stint on the most recent episode of A Podcast of Ice and Fire. Stefan and I join regular hosts Amin, Ashley, and Kyle — plus unexpected guests Elio & Linda from Westeros.org — to play fast and loose with the most important questions you can ask about any fictional characters: who’d beat whom in a fight, and whom you’d most like to have sex with. Consider it BLAH 17.5!

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She’s Like the Wind: Analyzing the New Sample Chapter from “The Winds of Winter”

2013 gets its first case of the BLAHs! Once again, George R.R. Martin has posted a preview chapter from The Winds of Winter, on which I presume he’s merrily plowing along in between announcing the publication of novella-length stories no one had any idea he was even working on. And once again, Stefan and I take to the airwaves to pick the thing apart. This time out the focus is on Arianne and her journey to a rendez-vous with Jon Connington and, ostensibly, destiny. At first glance this seems much smaller beer than the previous sample chapter, but as Stefan and I read and re-read and talked, we were surprised how meaty the thing really is, and we think you will be too. From the mind of Doran Martell to the sex appeal of Gerold “Darkstar” Dayne to the traitor in Arianne’s midst to the growth of Arianne herself, we tackle it all.

One quick meta note: Don’t hold me to this, because I am a notorious liar, but Stefan and I have some hope that we’ll be able to record these suckers a bit more frequently, at least for a while. Hope to see you around then — dig this in the meantime!

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Book Report: “The Lands of Ice and Fire” and “A Flight of Sorrows”

Christmas is just around the corner, but what do you get the A Song of Ice and Fire fan who has everything? Don’t worry, we’re here for you, as always.

Please consider this your shoppers’ guide to two major A Song of Ice and Fire-related releases from the past couple months or so: The Lands of Ice and Fire , the first-ever collection of officially sanctioned maps of everything in George R.R. Martin’s world as designed by Jonathan Roberts, and A Flight of Sorrows, an ebook collection of essays by contributors to Tower of the Hand (including mine own illustrious co-host Stefan Sasse) and A Podcast of Ice and Fire. Are they worth stuffing your ASoIaF-nerd loved one’s stocking with? Listen and find out!

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Women of Westeros, Part II: Brienne & Asha

WARRIOR WOMEN OF WESTEROS IN HOT SWORD-ON-SWORD ACTION! Haha j/k LOL. Stefan and I proudly present the second installment in our intermittent series of episodes focusing on female characters. Our leading ladies today: Brienne of Tarth and Asha Greyjoy. The similarities are obvious, and the juxtaposition instructive, I think. We look at their attitudes toward violence and war, sexuality, gender, and their “careers,” to use an anachronistic term; the way their societies and their circle of acquaintances have shaped their lives; their resonance with the mindsets of modern readers; and much more. We also take some detours into Jaime Lannister and Victarion Greyjoy, always a good time. And be sure to listen until the very end, when we answer the only question that really matters. You’ll see.

By the way, I think our audio issues have been resolved. We’re not going to win a technical Grammy or anything, but you should no longer want to rip your headphones out and throw them across the room, either. Let us know!

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Prophet Motive: The Geopolitical Impact of Prophecy

Can you co-host also be your special guest? We’re about to find out, as I interview my podcast partner Stefan Sasse about his marvelous essay “Under the Bleeding Star: On the Role of Prophecy in Songs of Ice and Fire.” Before you do anything else, click the link to read it in its entirety at Tower of the Hand, where it’s been posted as a preview of the forthcoming essay-collection ebook Tower of the Hand: A Flight of Sorrows, featuring contributions from a whole bunch of snazzy TotH and A Podcast of Ice and Fire regulars. 

Stefan’s essay attacks the issue of prophecy in the books from a novel and rewarding angle. Rather than another attempt at interpretation or an examination of prophecy’s literary or philosophical import, the essay traces prophecy’s direct impact on the story and on the world therein, through the observable deeds of the books’ major players. As Stefan methodically lays out how belief in prophecy has influenced such prominent political leaders as Daenerys Targaryen, Cersei Lannister, Aeron Greyjoy, Stannis Baratheon, and Rhaegar Targaryen, it becomes strikingly clear that without prophecy’s influence, the world would be a very different place. Reading the essay was a “eureka” moment for me, and I was excited to explore Stefan’s insights with the man himself.

So go, read Stefan’s essay, listen to our discussion of it, and buy A Flight of Sorrows when it hits Amazon this Saturday! 

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Women of Westeros, Part I: Sansa & Cersei

BLAH’s long summer has ended at last! We’re back with the first in what promises to be a more or less ongoing series of episodes dedicated to the distaff. Part One of our lengthy look at the women of Westeros focuses on two of the series’ most divisive characters, Sansa Stark and Cersei Lannister. I’ve found myself growing fonder and fonder of them both as characters (as characters, emphasis added, in Cersei’s case), which leads me to suspect that the ire directed their way has done some good, at least: It’s forced me to do a lot of thinking about them, and the more thinking I do, the more I find there to think about. Indeed, this was one of those podcasts where the more we talked, the more lightbulbs kept switching on in my head — you’ll hear me say “I never thought of it this way until just now, but…” three or four times during the course of the discussion. Topics include how both of them function as nobility, as women, as members of an important house, as rulers or potential rulers, and as vectors for what GRRM wants us to think about when we contemplate the system that shaped them.

Thank you to longtime All Leather Must Be Boiled commenter Michal for suggesting that we talk about Sansa and inspiring our most ambitious podcast project to date — in fact, please follow her lead and pop into the comments and let us know which women you’d like us to take a look at next!

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‘Game’ Theory’: What ‘Game of Thrones’ Season Two Got Right and Wrong

For the first time ever, my co-host Stefan Sasse I focus exclusively on the show rather than the books, for an in-depth discussion of Game of Thrones Season Two. In large part we’re discussing the show as an adaptation, weighing it against the source material in A Song of Ice and Fire. This, too, is a first-time-ever deal for me, given that I tried to keep my Rolling Stone reviews focused primarily on what was on screen versus the pages whence it sprung, so even if you’ve read all my reviews so far this season, you’ll still be hearing some new perspectives from both me and Stefan alike. But we’re not letting “it’s different” stand as its own critique, positive or negative, I promise. I think that in every case, we understand why the show chose to make the changes it made, so we’re not questioning the a priori legitimacy of such changes; rather, it still comes down to the quality of the show as a show.

We pay particularly close attention to Jon, Qhorin, and the material north of the Wall; Robb, Talisa, and the Jeyne Westerling that wasn’t; Daenerys, Qarth, and the House of the Undying (lots and lots on that issue); and lastly, Littlefinger. Unfortunately my impassioned plea to the filmmakers to show Richard Madden’s ass, aka the Ass in the North, next season had to be cut for space, but hopefully you’ll enjoy the episode anyway.

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Suffer the Children/Blackwater Bonus: Children and Violence in A Song of Ice and Fire, plus thoughts on Game of Thrones’ “Blackwater” episode

Stefan Sasse and I are once again a dynamic duo for this week’s episode, which once again tackles two topics for the price of one.

First up, BLAH goes to the Blackwater, for a discussion of this week’s tremendous episode of Game of Thrones. You can find my full review of “Blackwater” at Rolling Stone, but the nice thing about our conversation is that the review hadn’t yet been posted when we recorded it, so we range into aspects of the episode not covered in the written piece. (SPOILER ALERT: We both loved it!)

Second, and on a more serious note, we talk about a part of the novels that’s as unpleasant as it is frequently described: violence against children. As I say on the podcast, between the show’s treatment of this issue during its second season (four out of nine episodes aired so far end with the murder of children or infants) and a remarkably grim series of real-world events, I’ve found myself noticing this aspect of the books more and more during my current re-read. Stefan and I argue that violence against children may well be as big a theme of the books as the treatment of women or the allure of faded history, albeit a far stealthier one than either. It’s rough stuff, obviously, so prep for that going in, but hopefully you’ll agree with us that there’s much of value to be mined here. Check it out.

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