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--Wow, a rare episode without new characters.
--At the beginning of each episode, when they go though "Previously on Game of Thrones," it seemed a bit odd that they didn't show Ned Stark in season one instructing Beric Donadarrion to bring the Mountain to justice. I mean, I understood what was going on just fine, but it probably would've been useful to viewers who don't know the books as they become immersed in the Brotherhood without Banners. Maybe my feelings will change with the next episode, but right now Beric feels very watered down as a character. In the books, despite his brief page time, he was dynamic.
--Speaking of the Brotherhood without Banners, it really looks as though we're not getting anyone besides Beric, Thoros of Myr, and Anguy. Too bad, I loved the rest of the Brotherhood, especially Tom Sevenstreams and Lem Lemoncloak.
--And speaking of streamlining, it looks like they're doing that with the Tyrells. We still haven't met Mace Tyrell, and arranging to have Sansa marry Loras goes against the books. In the book, the Tyrells are trying to marry her off to Willas Tyrell, a cripple in Highgarden. There's also been no sign or mention of Garlan Tyrell, the second son.
--Varys and the sorcerer: never happened in the books, but it was a nice insertion. Nor did his whole conversation with Lady Olenna, but its inclusion makes sense. They need a way to dramatize some of the stuff that George covers in narration
--Well Dany has her army now. Hopefully that means we'll get to see Yunkai this week on the map. I love it when they add new locations during the theme music.
--Right now the whole Podric-is-a-sex-god angle still remains rather pointless.
That's it for this week.
I nailed my prediction for the end of the episode. Now two out of three on the season. As to the episode itself (kind of spoiler-y):
1) At long last, Riverrun on the map.
2) New characters: Edmure Tully, Brynden Blackfish, and it seems that Vargo Hoat whom we glimpsed at the end of last episode is Locke in this show. Can't say I'm crazy about that ...does this mean no Bloody Mummers? Quite a few of them have a bearing on the plot later on. Guess we'll wait and see.
3) A good friend familiar with the books emailed me, asking what the hell is going on with Theon's story-line. I'm pretty sure I've got this one figured out, so in case anyone else is in the same boat, I'm going to copy in what I told him: the guy that saved Theon is the Bastard of Bolton, i.e. Ramsay. The guy who had been leading on Theon (i.e. the one who almost raped him) was Reek. When Reek died, he said "You little bastard" to Theon's savior. It was the most vile insult possible, because Ramsay has always hated being called "bastard"--he considered himself a Bolton. This is all part of an elaborate game on the part of Ramsay. We learned in Dance with Dragons that Ramsay set up several false escape attempts for Theon. It was an attempt to torture him with mind-games, to dangle freedom in front of him. Ultimately it got to the point that Theon wouldn't even try to escape anymore because of the punishments and such for trying to escape. Ramsay had broken him on the way to making him Reek. As to the Reek who'd been torturing Theon, everything was going according to plan until Ramsay killed them all. Basically Ramsay had grown tired of his current Reek and killed him off, with the intention of making Theon his replacement.
So Theon is still on the way to becoming Reek--Ramsay and Reek just haven't been named yet. They changed it around from when Reek dies in the book, but otherwise they're working with background material loosely established by GRRM and fleshing it out. I expected them to keep Theon around this year, so I'm all on board with this. I was under the impression they had written Reek out of the HBO series and the guy torturing Theon was Ramsay, but clearly this wasn't the case.
4) So either Pod is now some Lothario-in-the-making in the HBO series, or the whores are part of some elaborate plot on the part of Baelish and Roz to cozy up to Tyrion's squire in an attempt to wrangle information. Seems unlikely, but I'm considering all the possibilities.
5) The song during the closing credits: awful awful AWFUL rendition of The Bear and the Maiden Fair. I'd say they were being a bit tongue-in-cheek, going for something disconcerting after the shocking ending for those unfamiliar with the books. But while I understand the idea, I think think it was a horrible decision.
That's it for this week!
Part eighty-four in my ongoing retrospective as I read the fiction in the back issues of Realms of Fantasy and offer my thoughts, right up to the final issue. This time I'll be discussing the August 2008 issue.So obviously it's been a long time since my last retrospective, over a year and a half. When RoF was cancelled for the third and final time in early November of 2011, it had already been a month and a half since my last retrospective. The magazine's ending didn't exactly provide me an impetus to start writing them again. If the previous two cancellations were any indication, I was more inclined to take long breaks. On top of that, there has been a lot going on since then. Since I learned about the magazine's cancellation, I've started selling short stories with semi-regularity. I put out my first anthology (and working on making the second one happen). I finished my first novel and put it through several drafts (with another draft or two to come). Long story short, I had a lot of other stuff on my plate professionally speaking. I still do, but I always meant to return to this retrospective series and finish what I started. As I reminder to myself of my intentions, all this time I've kept the August 2008 issue on my dresser. The poor cover has actually become a little bit faded from so much exposure to sunlight, but it served its purpose. Every time I saw that issue, I knew I had unfinished business. I still don't have much time to work on these retrospectives, but I've found a way to budget a few minutes of reading time into my schedule each day. It's not even enough time to finish the shortest story in an issue in a single sitting, but right now it's all the time I can afford on this project. But even if I'm reading piecemeal going forward, I think the important thing is that I'll be reading and the project will finally reach its conclusion. Including this issue, there are nineteen retrospectives left, and since we shouldn't be counting on another RoF revival anytime soon, I can actually see the light at the end of the tunnel. So with this said, let's dive in.
The cover to this one features the artwork of Rebecca Guay.
A rundown of this issue's nonfiction is as follows:
In the Movie/TV column, Resa Nelson covers M. Night Shyamalan's The Happening; in the Folkroots column, Terri Windling writes about how the idea of heart and home permeates fairy tales, folklore, and mythology; in the books column, Paul Witcover reviews Black Ships by Jo Graham, Walking Brigid by Francis Clark, Pamela Freeman's Blood Ties, Book One of The Castings Trilogy, Wicked Game by Jeri Smith-Ready, and Jeff VanderMeer reviews Sharp Teeth by Toby Barlow, The Veil of Gold by Kim Wilkins, Renegade's Magic by Robin Hobb, God and Pawns by Kage Baker, and Elric: The Stealer of Souls, Volume 1 by Michael Moorcock; young adult books appears to be on hiatus this issue, but in graphic novels, Jeff VandeMeer reviews Amulet, Book One: The Stonekeeper by Kazu Kibuishi; in the artist gallery, Karen Haber covers the artwork of the aforementioned Rebecca Guay; in games, Eric T. Baker reviews The Experiment for the PC, Turok for the PC, 360, and PS3, Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword for the DS, Devil May Cry 4 for Xbox360 and PS3, and Sins of the Solar Empire for the PC; and this issue also includes an article on faerie festivals by Robert Gould.
On to the fiction ...
The lead story this issue is "A Letter to Nancy" by Carrie Vaughn, which marks her sixth appearance in the magazine. In this quirky little tale, a nurse writes letters to on a wounded soldier's non-existent sweetheart on his behalf, and afterward she throws a bottle into the ocean with the letter inside ...and it leads to far more than anyone ever expected. Art to this one was provided by Laurie Harden, which marks her eighteenth illustration in the magazine.
Next up we have "Spiderhorse" by Liz Williams. It marks her tenth appearance in the magazine, and it is the 500th story to be published in the magazine. In this piece, a dead woman rides Sleipnir, the eight-legged horse--or Spiderhorse--in the Wild Hunt. She captures the attentions of Wotan, who impregnates our narrator, and come the story's end she has been carrying the child seventeen years with the birth drawing near. This story was selected for inclusion in Year's Best Science Fiction and Fantasy 2009 Edition, edited by Jonathan Strahan. Art was provided by Huan Tran, which marks his second illustration in the magazine.
After this we have "The Restroom Murders" by Peni R. Griffin, which marks her eighth illustration in the magazine. In this piece, rumor takes on a life of its own when temps at a bank make up stories about a ghost, and people's repressed emotions make the ghost a reality as it starts haunting the bank as a poltergeist. Art to this one was provided by Tony Shasteen, which marks his fifth illustration in the magazine.
Then we have "Daughter of Botu" by Eugie Foster, which marks her fourth appearance in the magazine. In this piece that delves into Chinese mythology, a rabbit becomes a human woman who ends of marrying and experiencing love. All the while, she must contend with her husband's stepmother, who like the protagonist herself is far more than she seems. A podcast of this story appeared on the 7/29/09 edition of PodCastle. Art to this one was provided by Jada Fitch, which marks her second illustration in the magazine.
Following this we have "Light of a Thousand Suns" by James Van Pelt, which marks his seventh appearance in the magazine. In this chilling tale, a security guard beset who has experienced nuclear nightmares stumbles upon a secret group that sacrifices willing victims in order to prevent a nuclear holocaust. Art to this one was provided by Dale Rutter.
Our penultimate tale is "Someone Desperately Needed to be Neil Gaiman" by Way Jeng, which marks his fourth appearance in the magazine. In this heartwarming tale, a father makes his best attempt to write a novel that seems like it was written by Neil Gaiman, all to satisfy his young daughter, who loves Neil Gaiman stories. Art to this one was provided by Natalie Pierandrei.
Last but not least we have "Our to Fight For" by Jim C. Hines, which marks his third appearance in the magazine. In this piece, elves are at war with men in the modern world and the Ku Klux Klan wields magic. Racism is explored as a confused adolescent wants to join the Klan, but things become further complicated when the Klan commits violence against his elven friend. Art to this one was provided by David Palumbo.
So that wraps up this issue, though with the magazine over and done I'm going to renew an old feature in the retrospectives, i.e. naming my favorite story and my favorite artwork. My favorite story this issue is "Daughter of Botu" by Eugie Foster. And my favorite artwork? Tony Shasteen's illustration to "The Restroom Murders" by Peni R. Griffin.
Next time around I'll dip into the October 2008 issue, which provided readers a glimpse of things to come in the magazine's future. Until then ...
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New characters of note: Meera and Jojen Reed (finally!), Orrell (the warg), Thoros of Myr, Anguy, the Queen of Thorns, and I think it's pretty obvious that the dude overseeing Theon's torture was Ramsay, the Bastard of Bolton. And I'll take a guess that the Bolton man talking to Jaime and Brienne at the very end of the episode is Steelshanks.
Other quick thoughts:
--The Brotherhood without Banners: We'll certainly meet Berric Dondarrion in short order, but I hope we also meet the other members of the group as time goes on, particularly Tom Sevenstreams (total fakeout with Thoros of Myr singing--Tom is the singer), Lem Lemoncloak, and Greenbeard.
--No big surprise that Theon is in this season. They weren't going to make him disappear, not if they decided to keep Rickon around as well. It just wouldn't translate well on the screen after how prominent they've made his character. And it looks like they're following the storyline established by Martin, they're just showing instead of telling it. I expected them to go this route (actually predicted it in a round-table about the upcoming episode) think this could actually be interesting.
--That whole tidbit with Catelyn Stark praying for Jon Snow to survive the pox is NOT in the books ...but I liked it. All it did was enrich Catelyn's character and her stormy relationship with Jon Snow.
--Diana Riggs was very good as the Queen of Thorns, but that scene is just not the same without Butterbumps singing "A Bear and the Maiden Fair."
--So Jaime and Brienne have been captured by Bolton's men instead of Vargo Hoat and the Bloody Mummers? Umm, all right ...but now I'm very curious how they plan to smoothly introduce Hoat and his mercenaries.
--I really like the way they're depicting Maegary's character, and the way she manipulated Joffrey was brilliant.
This season is off to a fairly promising start. I think it's going to be a lot better than season two. That's it for this week.
I thought about going with Dany and the Unsullied. But if they want to split book three into two seasons, I feel like this might be rushing Dany's storyline a little bit. So instead I'm going to guess that the Brotherhood without Banners discovers Arya's true identity.
Now with this said, I do plan to keep one feature intact: I've made it a habit of predicting how each episode will end. I didn't post a prediction here for the first episode of season three, but that's because I was at a friend's place to watch the season premiere. Shortly before the episode premiered, I was reminded that I meant to do this and hastily got a prediction up on my Facebook account so I had something on record. I actually called this one correctly, as I wrote that the episode would end with the return of Ser Barristan Selmy. If you don't follow me on Facebook, you'll have to accept this on blind faith. But it made perfect sense. In the books, Selmy returns toward the end of book two. In the HBO series he was completely absent from season two. Book three has a lot of powerful moments, but not too many early on, so bringing back Selmy at the end of the season premiere was a chance for a nice reveal.
Going forward, I'll try to get in my predictions in a more timely manner. And again, sorry if you're disappointed that I'm discontinuing the write-ups. They're just too time-consuming. I'll spit out some condensed after each episode, but for the foreseeable future the lengthy write-ups are over, alas. But here are my condensed thoughts for episode one:
1) Opening credits: Winterfell burning and the harpy on the city of Astapor were both nice touches
2) Robb being at Harrenhal with Roose Bolton is a sure indication that they're going to continue to expand his storyline as compared to the books. But if they're doing that, give us more Greatjon!
3) New notable characters: Mance Rayder, Tormund Giantsbane, Missandei (though she wasn't named), and did Bronn called one of the Kingsguard Oakenheart? If so, that's the first time he's been mentioned by name.
4) They changed Dany's would-be assassin at the end of the episode. In book two, it's a Sorrowful Man.
And that's it! Brevity is the name of the game going forward!
I also had a chance to read and write down what Spectrum editors Cathy & Arnie Fenner had to say about RoF's art in their yearly roundup:
"In our little neighborhood, Realms of Fantasy was the fatality of 2011. Closed, sold, and restarted, it just did not have the steam (or deep pockets) needed to succeed. It did feature a last couple of excellent covers by Brom and Tom Canty though, so they went out on a high note. "
Seems like a fair assessment about why the mag closed. Everyone worked hard, but in the end there wasn't enough momentum (or steam) to keep it going, and yes, there was the whole pockets thing too. Still, I'm reasonably certain that this is the last venue to do coverage of RoF's final year. I'm thrilled to see another piece made it into Spectrum, and that they singled out two of the covers. So in roughly three years of overseeing the magazine's artwork--and only one year that allowed me to work on the full yearly six issues--five pieces of artwork in RoF appeared in the Editorial section in Spectrum, including one that snagged the Silver Award. There were some bumps and learning experiences along the way, but all things considered, I think I can look back and be proud of what I accomplished with the artwork.
The funny thing is that after RoF's closure, I didn't expect to be applying these skills again anytime soon. But then the Oz anthology ended up with interior illustrations, and I (working with John Joseph Adams and in-house editor, David Pomerico) had way more input on the interiors and the cover than I anticipated. I thought our artist, Galen Dara, did a wonderful job, and I was particularly thrilled with the cover. And I think it's fair to say that some of the suggestions that occurred to me were a result of my experiences with the artwork at RoF.
So I'm really glad that I had a chance to apply these skills again. And who knows? Maybe it won't be the last time ...
