Welcome to GoTTalkPod! Game of Thrones/A Song of Ice and Fire Book discussion and analysis. Now our watch begins in earnest--we are into the novel proper with Bran 1/Chapter 1!!! Please tackle the prior episodes for a sense of our angle of approach. We're less interested than other pods in the literal events of the novels; rather, our focus is primarily on the literary evolution and meaning available to us through the text. So, yes, while there are a million and one ASOIAF/Thrones pods out there, few if any tackle the text in precisely this way. 

Maybe you've heard about the series and are just getting into it for the first time, trying to understand what the hype's all about? Or perhaps you already read the novels and felt like there was something more going on, but just not sure what. Or got the sense that some of the scenes and themes of the book are familiar, but you just can't put your finger on it. Or feel that there is more to the text than meets the eye but can't quite see past the lamprey pie to find what's hidden underneath. GoTTalkPod is here to help you sort through it all and find the meaning beneath the veil of George's verse. 

In this chapter we see the great theme of the series open up before us--justice, in all its complex, magnificent and terrible dimensions. What's that I hear? The Plato claxon sounding loud! Plato is the great philosopher of justice, so there can be no doubt we're swimming in his pool. But of course, how can you talk about justice and epic songs without mentioning Dante? The short answer is, you can't. And George doesn't try to--there are more hints at the Dante connection in this chapter. And finally, the evidence pointing to a link to James Joyce begins to pile up in earnest. 

***The chapter-by-chapter reading will be spoiler free unless otherwise indicated.***

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