Quote from: EkyannusIII on July 23, 2016, 12:24:05 am

Here's a question - why would whalemotherism emerge at all? I can't see why gigantism would be stimulated as an outcome by the conditions of Ishual, and I don't see why the Dunyain would want it, unless every Whale Mother was also meant to be an Octomom. Theories?

It's got to be related to the whole "the seed is too strong" deal. Esmenet could barely deal with bearing half-Dunyain children, and literally all of them were defective to some lesser or greater degree (except maybe Kayutas). To me, that implies that a strongly specialized host is needed to carry Dunyain children. One flaw in this is the existence of Maithanet. He had no obvious flaws (he was even of the few), and he was the son of a random Fanim woman as far as we know. I also remember (though my memory is somewhat spotty) him saying there were only a few failures, although that may be counting only live non-mutant births.

It's a huuuuuge stretch imo. No doubt. I see two ways for it to be possible. He either manipulated another into being his Mallahat or as a Dunyain he could do the minor spells without being blinded. I will say when I read that scene, to me, I have the feeling Moe blinded his self right then. To me, everything points to Moe being totally in control and every turn in Kyudea being conditioned.

I was referring to the lack of quality in comparison to the original. They had the actual text word for word the majority of the run, entering the phase where they now only have broad strokes means i'll sit through another few hours of improbable travel, over acting and random sex scenes so i can get the broad strokes of how the series is going to end. As I don't think Martin is going to finish the series.

It seems like a very unique kind of situation to be in. Just as there's not a very large selection of authors historically who have experienced contemporary online fandoms, surely Martin must be one of the very few authors ever to have had their own story overtaken by their story on a separate medium?

Basically fan fiction finishing the story for him.

So rewatched the first episode and a half of S1...

Seeing Jaime reach out to shake John's hand at Winterfell was so fucking disorienting.

Quote from: Titan on June 27, 2016, 03:54:52 am

Quote from: Madness on June 25, 2016, 05:56:59 pm

What are the comparative weaknesses you perceive, Titan? Just curious.

Hmm... GRRM's writing is ... how should I put it... easier to read. Even though the 5th book (ADWD) is not GRRM's best, I actually found Tyrions journey through Essos to be my favorite part. A lot of people hated this part, but I can read though a LOT of well written world building without getting bored. Bakker has his moments, but frequently his descriptions of the world is lacking. It took until the 5th book to even get a clear picture in my mind of how the Sranc and Nonmen look, which seems like a rather basic failure. There is practically NOTHING about how the Sranc look in the first book (or did I miss it?), so I kept expecting a some sort of twist where the Sranc were just regular humans under some sort of mind-control. Or just a primitive tribe.

Bakker's work bears close reading. I actually think this does him a major disservice, especially in TDTCB when it is of utmost importance that the reader be paying attention. There are one-liner descriptions of Nonmen and Sranc during Kellhus' prologue and Sranc in Cnaiur's POV later in the book - even then, though, Bakker relies twofold on these very sparse descriptions and the reader's imagination to evoke an image that isn't necessarily easy to visualize. Inhumanly expressive. Fused teeth. Hairless. Nonmen are statuesque in the extreme. Sranc basically have some fucked-up human-dog body. Etc. Etc.

Classic Bakker in that something might only be addressed in three sentences across five books but then is outsourced to the reader to hold and maintain the world to the capacity of their inner limits .