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[Getheli]

Hey all, haven't really posted much here yet, but I've been lurking for a while, so I think I've got a hang of things.

I was wondering if anyone here had heard of the Song of Ice and Fire series of books by George R R Martin, and whether or not they had tried to create any of the castles or constructions in it?

I would love to see the Wall, built entirely of ice 7 z levels high by 7 wide spanning an entire map, or a castle that has water running through all the walls (We can just pretend that its hot water like Winterfell) and beautiful glass gardens growing stuff.

Or the entire Vale of Arryn, which would be INSANELY impressive to do. Making each castle a little bit higher up the mountain.

Anywho, just thought it'd be a cool idea.

[zagibu]

Heh, the wall would be really cool. You can even have the ice revenants on the other side  .

[Getheli]

Oooh! The only trick is to find a place thats half normal and half haunted!

Most of the castles have pretty good descriptions, with an exception of Casterly Rock and Oldtown. I think that all the "Legendary Castles" could be done easily.

Harrenhal taking up an entire 6*6 starting space anyone?  

[Alex Encandar]

Yeah, my brother is constently telling me to read these books hehe. I probably should.

[Lord Dullard]

They're good books, although they're not amongst my favorites. Reading them is a little bit like.. well, it's a little like reading a fantasy/drama television production. That's not to say I wouldn't recommend them, because they're a pretty fun read.. just don't expect the depth or breadth of some of the more 'epic' fantasy works out there (and this is all just my opinion, of course).

But yes, some of the locations in the series would make really neat DF fortresses, especially if you turn on playable Humans. I'd like to build a giant stone pyramid with the Harpy of Astapor on top..  

[Getheli]

Well, GRRM did a lot of scriptwriting in-between when he first started writing aGoT and when finished it off and started writing the rest of the series.

Safe to say, I think it is one of the most easily translated-to-film epic fantasies out there. When its finally put to screen, it would easily overshadow Lord of the Rings and all these Narnia/Golden Compass movies that are like to come out.

I still think it has plenty of length and breadth, but again, I suppose that is only my opinion.

[Hypcso]

A while back, just after the launch of the Z level version there was a succession fortress planned for the wall, I actually signed up but it disappeared without much fanfaire before I got to play a turn. I'm forever making grand castles, but rarely based on anything and generally purely drawn from my mind. I should re-read the series as a refresher and attempt something from the books.

[nunix]

The wall would be pretty cool. The one problem you might have is interior ice melting; ice brought indoors/subterranean will melt, but I'm not sure about ice that's considered indoors (because it's surrounded on all sides) but still outdoors.

I've read the books, but honestly.. GRRM is kind of a dick. "I will spend 200 pages (or possibly a couple of books) building up your favourite character.. and then do horrible unspeakable things to them. Ooo, drama! Where's James Lipton?!" So annoying. -.-

[Mephisto]

The ice wall must span the entire map, with a few iron gates blocking the way through. It also must have multiple ballistae on top. Once your square is done? Start again on the square to your left. Just imagine a gynormous world-crossing wall.

Bonus points if you try to decapitate your queen and raise her when Dwarf Companion is fixed.

While I liked the books, long stretches of them were mind-numbingly dull for some reason. He may have changed that after one particularly long, boring book (may have been #3, as that was the last I've read). How many books in all are there? I would have gladly read more, but the third or so was the latest one out when I finished it.

[ March 11, 2008: Message edited by: Mephisto ]

[Pandarsenic]

I think the anyone-can-die status makes it more suspenseful.

Because your favorite main characters have no main-character protection. There are always more characters to follow....

[Lord Dullard]

Actually, the anyone-can-die thing has never bothered me in the least. It's one of the things I actually enjoy about GRRM's books. Conversely, it actually bothers me sometimes in series when characters seem 'invincible', or an author/filmmaker is afraid to get rid of a character. I understand main characters are meant to survive.. to a point. But that makes more sense when you're talking about one or two main characters. In a series with as many characters as Ice and Fire, I appreciate the realism that the deaths add.

Just curious - has anyone here ever read anything by S.M. Stirling? He's a perfect example. I love his books, great style, interesting characters.. but they just seem too unkillable to me, sometimes. Aside from the last book of the Dies the Fire series, where he actually killed off a couple biggies, but those have been the first main characters to die in three books.. and he, like GRRM, uses a lot of 'main characters'.

[ March 11, 2008: Message edited by: Lord Dullard ]

[Getheli]

I agree with you completely, Lord Dullard. The suspense that is created when a main character dies, even when its the only realistic thing that can happen, is something few other authors emulate.

I can't bring myself to read the one-warrior-kills-everyone-and-saves-the-kingdom books anymore, and whenever I look back at my old Drizzt books, I shudder.

A series you might want to look into is Steven Erikson's Malazan Book of the Fallen. A must-read of epic fantasy, in my humble opinion.

[Snugglebear]

quote:Originally posted by Getheli:
<STRONG>I agree with you completely, Lord Dullard. The suspense that is created when a main character dies, even when its the only realistic thing that can happen, is something few other authors emulate.

I can't bring myself to read the one-warrior-kills-everyone-and-saves-the-kingdom books anymore, and whenever I look back at my old Drizzt books, I shudder.

A series you might want to look into is Steven Erikson's Malazan Book of the Fallen. A must-read of epic fantasy, in my humble opinion.</STRONG>

Martin is all right, but he's not doing too well at holding the reins on the monster of discontinuous narrative he's create dout of Song of Ice and Fire, in my opinion.  The habit of killing his characters on occasion has made him careless of narrative structure and there are too many tangents.

I took a crack at Erikson the last trip to the library.  Too many people mucking about with immortality, too little explication.  I was not as impressed as I had hoped to be.

I'd definitely be willing to take a crack at something along the lines of Winterfell; for extra-warm water make it steam trapped in the walls via magma.