OMG ASOIAF Squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

[dolorous_ett]

I went to the local bookshop for a browse, and what did I find in the Science Fiction section but A Feast for Crows by George R R Martin? Even though it's not due out till Monday! By which time I would have been too busy to read it anyway.

There was even a Humorous Interlude at the sight of me catching sight of the book on the top shelf, doing a double take and then struggling in a most undignified manner to try and get the damn thing down. I was on the point of kicking off my shoes and scaling the bookshelves to get it (I'm of exactly average height for a British woman - but I don't think we're the target audience in the SF section *glares at hypothetical taller males*) when I managed to locate the one kickstool in the shop. And victory was mine! I'm now the proud possessor of my own copy of the fourth book in this amazing saga! With 10% University staff discount! Squee again!

Now I know netspeak is tacky and squeeing is undignified, but if there was ever a reason to be cheerful at the end of a week when I've worked bloody hard, this was it. I've been waiting at least two years for this book. And on the basis of a couple of chapters, it's well worth the wait.

I know there are other people on my f-list who read George R R Martin, and a lot of them are in the US, where the publication date is a lot later than here. So I would like your opinion on how much (or little) I tell.

I could:

1. Say nothing at all. It's bad enough that I'm reading the book when you aren't.
2. Drop tantalising hints, safely tucked away behind spoiler tags.
3. Not volunteer information, but answer questions when asked - even if the answers contain massive spoilers. If people click on the button to read the replies, what they see is their problem.

So - how much (or little) do you want to know about this book? Bearing in mind how much fury there was over even perfectly well hidden spoilers with Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince I'm at a bit of a loss as to how best to proceed.

Comments

[dreamer-marie.livejournal.com]

Tall bookshelves in the SF section of bookstores are there so that you can ask a taller male of your choice to retrieve the book of your choice from the bookshelf. That's rule number two of bookstore etiquette, just after "don't make noise"!

[dolorous-ett.livejournal.com]

Tall bookshelves in the SF section of bookstores are there so that you can ask a taller male of your choice to retrieve the book of your choice from the bookshelf. That's rule number two of bookstore etiquette, just after "don't make noise"!

This made me smile, but have you seen some of the tall males that hang around in the sci-fi section of your average bookshop? Not at all a good reason to abandon my dignity and go all girly, in the main!

I think I'll just stick to throwing rocks the book till it drops off the shelf, cutting off the lower shelves with a small saw, or else climbing, thanks ever so.

[bufo-viridis.livejournal.com]

Oh, don't be such feminist - give the tall guys a chance.
Some of them can be not half-bad, if washed and shaved. And dressed better. And having this glint from their eyes removed. And taught to use fork. Have the socks dark-coloured (and matching). Put a hat on the dreadlocks. Or better shaved altogether. Unstuck from Net. Computers in general. RPG boards. And...

Well, maybe you'd better climb after all.

[dolorous-ett.livejournal.com]

Oh, don't be such feminist - give the tall guys a chance.

I'm an unregenerate feminist, and happy to be so - it's a good thing to be. Far too late for me to change. Sorry.

Had a good laugh at your picture of the average sci-fi reader... pretty much the way I'd have turned out if I'd inherited that Y chromosome, I suspect. Even as it stands, I've got a bit more in common with this picture than I should (though I can use a fork!)

[ignipes.livejournal.com]

I hate you. :(

And (commence netspeak) OMGWTFSOJEALOUSSSSS!

I don't mind if you drop tantalizing hints, but if you tell me anything important -- like who gets killed or maimed or chopped into little pieces by a near and dear family member -- I will hunt you down.

Funny, but I didn't even care about spoilers for HBP, but ASOIAF is different. It actually matters. *g*

[dolorous-ett.livejournal.com]

Since it's not my fault, I'm confident that you'll get over your Anger fairly quickly...

As to "anything important", does that include things like points of view? Or knowing if people are alive?

Don't worry - I'll be the model of discretion. Just let me know the kind of things I mustn't say...

[ignipes.livejournal.com]

No, it's the publishing industry's fault. They are Agents of Evil.

I don't mind knowing the points of view (in fact, I'd love to know who the POV are this time), or the basic setup of the various storylines, I just don't want to know any details of what happens. I'll force myself to be good and I won't read under a spoiler-marked lj-cut. Although, really, I don't have any desire to seek out spoilers. I like to be surprised by GRRM. :)

[dolorous-ett.livejournal.com]

Wow - you must really feel strongly about this, to write from your tropical paradise!

*is impressed*

[lareinenoire.livejournal.com]

To follow in ignipes' footsteps, OMGWTFSOJEALOUS!!!!!!

Feel free to squee or drop tantalising hints if you'd like. I, for one, will be starting my reread of CoK and SoS this week (did GoT earlier this year, as I made the boyfriend read it on the plane to India), so I may take very strange tangents from the hints in question.

I'll just sit here and stew and wait for the books to come out here. Or I might just give up and shell out the money to order the hardcover on Amazon.co.uk.

[dolorous-ett.livejournal.com]

I've finished the book and it's good.

As soon as I can think of a way to write about it that's both entertaining and doesn't give away the sort of things you'd hate it if I told you, I'll post on the subject.