A Flight of Links

- Just how easy is it to become a jedi knight? 
- Why would anyone want to see a Harry Potter prequel? 
- SeaWorld is in trouble because of a documentary
- Wot I think: The Wolf among us
- The Wolf of Wall Street reviews: here and here
- 10 pieces of SciFi lore that help you
- Most beautiful space stations
- BSG Newbie recaps
- 18 futuristic predictions that became true in 2013 
- 6 scenes we love from Benjamin Button
- MovieBob has stuff about Man of Steel 2 
- Top 10 video game controversies

The Supreme Court of Westeros, ruling 7

Thursday is court day! Only this week, Sunday. Because, christmas.

Welcome to the Supreme Court of Westeros! Every week, three pressing questions from the community will be answered by the esteemed judges Stefan (from your very own Nerdstream Era) and Amin (from the Podcast of Ice and Fire). The rules are simple: we take three questions, and one of us writes a measured analysis. The other one writes a shorter opinion, either concurring or dissenting. The catch is that every week a third judge from the fandom will join us and also write a dissenting or concurring opinion. So if you think you're up to the task - write us an email to stefan_sasse@gmx.de, leave a comment in the post, ask in the APOIAF-forum or contact Amin at his tumblr. Discussion is by no means limited to the court itself, though - feel free to discuss our rulings in the commentary section and ask your own questions through the channels above. 

One word on spoilers: we assume that you read all the books, including the Hedge Knight short stories, and watched the current TV episodes. We don't include the spoiler chapters from various sources in the discussion, with the notable exception of Theon I, which was supposed to be in "A Dance with Dragons" anyway.

And now, up to ruling 7 of the Supreme Court of Westeros! Our guest judge this week is FTWard, a sellsword, black of hair and heart. He's a member of the APoIaF community who carries the banner of Team Stannis.

Sherlock mini episode

There's a teaser video about seven minutes long for the third season of Sherlock. Can't wait for it, this is such brillant TV.  But, even in Sherlock's world, Germans shouldn't speak with heavy English accent, and the German judicial system still doesn't know the institution of a Grand Jury.

Video after the break.

A Flight of Links

- Christpher Nolan is making a space travel movie and there's a teaser! 
- Stormsongs reread Sam II, part 2. 
- How much would a Death Star cost? 
- Wertzone reviews Agents of SHIELD season 1.1 
- Another Smaug-review
- Assassin's Creed 4 gets the first DLC, which tackles a delicate topic. 
- Race of the Iron Throne reads Catelyn VII. 
- Copywrong 
- Must-read: the new one from the Meereenese Blot
- Video game disappointments of 2013
- First Salem trailer
- Good news, everyone!
- Is this glorious stuff even real? 
- Anchorman 2 review
- Age of Ultron spoilers
- Boys behaving badly
 - 80s lego movie heroes
- GRRM shows Game of Thrones in his cinema
- Race of the Iron Throne has Sansa V

And with that, Merry christmas! One week left in 2013. 

The Walking Dead Season 2 (Telltale Game) - All that remains review

Finally, the good The Walking Dead gets its much anticipated additional installement! After season 1, which I reviewed here, the first episode of season two is now out. For those of you unfamiliar with the titles, Telltale Games produces these in the unusual series format, releasing the "episodes" one by one. Each episode plays about two to three hours, for a total price of around 25€, which is pretty fair. The gameplay is almost non-existent apart from walking around, clicking stuff and hitting buttons very fast when the game tells you to, amounting to a largely story and character driven game. It worked well in season one, presenting plot choices that actually felt meaningful, delivering good voice acting on engaging character interactions. The question is - does Telltale manage to pull the same stunt twice?

The Supreme Court of Westeros, ruling 6

Thursday is court day! 

Welcome to the Supreme Court of Westeros! Every week, three pressing questions from the community will be answered by the esteemed judges Stefan (from your very own Nerdstream Era) and Amin (from the Podcast of Ice and Fire). The rules are simple: we take three questions, and one of us writes a measured analysis. The other one writes a shorter opinion, either concurring or dissenting. The catch is that every week a third judge from the fandom will join us and also write a dissenting or concurring opinion. So if you think you're up to the task - write us an email to stefan_sasse@gmx.de, leave a comment in the post, ask in the POIAF-forum or contact Amin at his tumblr. Discussion is by no means limited to the court itself, though - feel free to discuss our rulings in the commentary section and ask your own questions through the channels above. 

One word on spoilers: we assume that you read all the books, including the Hedge Knight short stories, and watched the current TV episodes. We don't include the spoiler chapters from various sources in the discussion, with the notable exception of Theon I, which was supposed to be in "A Dance with Dragons" anyway.

And now, up to ruling 5 of the Supreme Court of Westeros! Our guest judge this week is Bobby Westfall who lives in Baltimore, Maryland. He is a 25 year old master’s student in library and information sciences and is another TV show to books convert. He recently started a blog called Where Old Gods Rule where he will be writing about ASOIAF and other topics. Otherwise he hasn’t been very vocal in the community, but he posts sometimes on Westeros.org as robert_was_the_true_steel.

The Boiled Leather Audio Hour 25

Winds of War: The New “The Winds of Winter” Sample Chapter in the “A Dance with Dragons” Paperback

Cry havoc and let slip the BLAHs of war! Sean and I return for a discussion of the new sample chapter from The Winds of Winter included in the mass market paperback edition for A Dance with Dragons released last month. Our POV character is Ser Barristan Selmy, sizing up friends and foes alike as he prepares to ride through the gates of Meereen to begin the conflict colloquially known to the fandom as the Battle of Fire. It’s a relatively brief chapter and thus a relatively brief conversation, but there’s still much and more to talk about, from politics to prose, tactics to giants. It’s more a Boiled Leather Audio Half-Hour, honestly, but every second counts!

Mirror here.
Previous episodes here.
Podcast RSS feed here.
iTunes page here.
Sean’s blog here.
Stefan’s blog here.

A Flight of Links

- Doctor gets fined 25.000$ for fake Green-Tea-Cancer-Treatment. Good ruling.
- Sherlock season 3 trailer
- Smaug design info
- Disney's brillant strategy 
- 5 behind the scenes infos that show filmmaking is a horrible job
- Sesame Street Lord of the Rings hommage
- Godzilla trailer looks good IMHO
- Too many villains, very interesting and I agree
- Telltale even plans several seasons GOT. Better and better!   
- 5 reasons the Game Industry has troubles
- Extra Credits, new episode. Man, do I disagree.
- Wertzone reviews Princess&Queen. 
- BSG newbie recaps! 
- 10 superman villains who really suck. But hey, they all suck in a way. Comes with the territory.  
- MovieBob about Edge of Tomorrow. I don't know, I like the premise.
- MovieBob about Sony and Spiderman
- Disney plans a villain highschool movie.
- Tom and Lorenzo also reviewed the Walking Dead Season 4, by the way, and basically come to the same conclusions as I do.
- Wertzone reviews the new Hobbit movie.  
- Nobody suspects the Butterfly to write a Princess&Queen review
- Emilia Clarke is to star in the new Terminator-series
- First look at the Firefly MMO 
- MovieBob reviews the Desolation of Smaug 

The Supreme Court of Westeros, ruling 5

Thursday is court day! 

Welcome to the Supreme Court of Westeros! Every week, three pressing questions from the community will be answered by the esteemed judges Stefan (from your very own Nerdstream Era) and Amin (from the Podcast of Ice and Fire). The rules are simple: we take three questions, and one of us writes a measured analysis. The other one writes a shorter opinion, either concurring or dissenting. The catch is that every week a third judge from the fandom will join us and also write a dissenting or concurring opinion. So if you think you're up to the task - write us an email to stefan_sasse@gmx.de, leave a comment in the post, ask in the POIAF-forum or contact Amin at his tumblr. Discussion is by no means limited to the court itself, though - feel free to discuss our rulings in the commentary section and ask your own questions through the channels above. 

One word on spoilers: we assume that you read all the books, including the Hedge Knight short stories, and watched the current TV episodes. We don't include the spoiler chapters from various sources in the discussion, with the notable exception of Theon I, which was supposed to be in "A Dance with Dragons" anyway.

And now, up to ruling 5 of the Supreme Court of Westeros! Our guest judge this week is Marc N. Kleinhenz, the editor of Tower of the Hand: A Flight of Sorrows and a freelancer who has written for 22 sites, including The Huffington Post, Westeros.org, Winter Is Coming, and, of course, Tower of the Hand.  He's co-created and -hosted two podcasts and has even taught English in Japan. The latest book he's publishing is Waiting for Winter: Re-Reading A Clash of Kings, Part I, by Remy Verhoeve.

The Boiled Leather Audio Hour 24

Royals: Discussing “The Princess and the Queen, or, The Blacks and the Greens” (feat. Steven Attewell)

It’s here! Dangerous Women, the latest in George R.R. Martin & Gardner Dozois’ long series of themed genre-fiction anthologies, landed in stores last week, and with it came an all-new, all-different tale of Westeros. Martin’s new novella “The Princess and the Queen, or, The Blacks and the Greens” chronicles the Dance of the Dragons, the internecine civil war between rival Targaryen claimants to the Iron Throne that took place some 200 years prior to A Game of Thrones. The Princess is Rhaenyra, the (Dowager) Queen is Alicent, the narrator (a maester writing a history book) is unreliable, and the dragons are everywhere.
Join your usual hosts Sean & Stefan and special guest Westerosi history expert Steve Attewell of the masterful blog Race for the Iron Throne as we dissect the events, effects, and aesthetics of the story. How was warfare different during the dragons’ day? How does Martin convey his message without recourse to the emotions and insights of point-of-view characters? What do the story’s surprises tell us about events in the main series? Would Sean, Steve, and Stefan join the maesters’ centuries-long conspiracy to rid the world of flying nuclear dinosaurs if asked? There’s only one way to find out, people!

Mirror here.
Previous episodes here.
Podcast RSS feed here.
iTunes page here.
Sean’s blog here.
Stefan’s blog here.
Steve’s blog here.

The Walking Dead Season 4 Midseason Finale review

There were some reviewers falling over with joy and excitement over the Midseason Finale of The Walking Dead (the show returns in February): finally, the show was great again! The Mary Sue even dubbed the episode "The Red Wedding of Walking Dead". This is true in a sense - there certainly was a shock value to it, and we lost at least one character that was in a spot of sympathy - but the comparison (and the episode) still fall short. That doesn't mean it's bad. It's the show at its best. But the flaws that plagued the previous season and much of this one persist.

Andrea 2.0

A Flight of Links

- Tower of the Hand has some essays you must check out, yours truly among them. Click, click, click, click.
- Stormsongs gives us Samwell II, part 1 and part 2.
- Cracked has three things: 5 Hacking Myths you propably believe, 6 Iconic video games that resulted from glitches, and 4 famous movies/shows that lied their way into existence. 
- I don't own a TV. So true.
- J.J. Abrams admitting lying about Khan was stupid. 
- Pacific Rim cosplay. 
- Pink is not the issue. I totally agree.
- George R. R. Martin on bookLittlefinger and showLittlefinger.  
- Walking Dead Midseason Finale review, click, click
- What teachers make - so true!
- What a habitable planet twize the size of Earth would look like
- On X-Men Days of Future Past
- Review: Ryse: Son of Rome
- 7 things from GOT more disturbing than the Red Wedding. The sensational title aside, some of this really is gross and/or funny.
-  Zack Snyder and Wonder Woman
- Hook Movie Defense Force. I agree.
- MovieBob about Wonderwoman in the upcoming movie. 
- Pompeii trailer. MovieBob's comment on the title is hillarious. Plus: Kit Harrrriiiiiingtooooon!
- Race of the Iron Throne, Dany VI
- Fallout 4 coming?
- Wertzone about Man of Steel. I still like it.
- Oldboy review. Expected as much. 
- New Terminator series announced. Couldn't care less. 
- Really good discussion from Westeros swept on Boiled Leather. 
- Even better article about Summerhall, even though I'm not sure I agree.
- Telltale game officially announces their GOT game. GREAT NEWS!
- Why Smaug still matters

History Podcast, episode 2

In the second episode of my history podcast with Steven Attewell, we talk about historical perceptions and how they are changed based on the culture you live in. Specifically, we talk about the American Civil War and World War II and how Americans and Germans see them, respectively. The differences are striking, and I'd wager you'd be surprised at just how different two peoples can see the same event.

Download here, part 1 here.

South Park, George R. R. Martin and Wieners

Video after the break.

A quick thought about "The Princess and the Queen"

I won't provide you with a full review of George R. R. Martin's new...well, not exactly novella...let's call it text. The reason for this is that I will talk to Sean T. Collins and Steven Attewell about it next week on the new BLAH, and I guess we will all three be the wiser after it, because synergy. So, just let me give some bullet points. 

The Supreme Court of Westeros, ruling 4

Thursday is court day! 

Welcome to the Supreme Court of Westeros! Every week, three pressing questions from the community will be answered by the esteemed judges Stefan (from your very own Nerdstream Era) and Amin (from the Podcast of Ice and Fire). The rules are simple: we take three questions, and one of us writes a measured analysis. The other one writes a shorter opinion, either concurring or dissenting. The catch is that every week a third judge from the fandom will join us and also write a dissenting or concurring opinion. So if you think you're up to the task - write us an email to stefan_sasse@gmx.de, leave a comment in the post, ask in the POIAF-forum or contact Amin at his tumblr. Discussion is by no means limited to the court itself, though - feel free to discuss our rulings in the commentary section and ask your own questions through the channels above. 

One word on spoilers: we assume that you read all the books, including the Hedge Knight short stories, and watched the current TV episodes. We don't include the spoiler chapters from various sources in the discussion, with the notable exception of Theon I, which was supposed to be in "A Dance with Dragons" anyway.

And now, up to ruling 4 of the Supreme Court of Westeros! Our guest judge this week is Steven Lee who lives in Canada's Northwest Territories. He is a historian, educator and political commentator and blogs twice a week at Orange Tory. He has a limited track record in the community and recently joined the A Podcast of Ice and Fire forums under the name of SJLee.

A Flight of Links

- Some GOT stuff, nothing new, but all in one post
- Interesting comment
- MovieBob makes Family Guy interesting because of the parallels to other phenomena.
- HeroQuest returns, in case you're interested.  - Or not.
- Wasteland 2 comes out soon 
- 21 real deleted scenes that change the meaning of the movie
-  5 reasons the English language is unlogical. Rest assured, it's not just English. I love the Latin story, though.
- Frozen seems to be great. 
- Winston Churchill wanted to build giant ice aircraft carriers. 
-  The 8 worst mistakes the Allies made. I disagree about some of this fervently.
- 12 weirdest moments from the Superman movie. 
- 8 Superhero origins the movies get right, and 8 they get wrong. 
- 7 things the world runs out - not fossil fuel.
-  Amazing Spiderman 2 stuff.
- Warcraft movie postponed, due to Star Wars.
- Penny Arcade :What is a game?
- More stuff on AC4
- More BSG newbie recaps

Teaching the "Hedge Knight"

Hi everyone, 

I'm currently preparing a lesson to teach my students the "Hedge Knight" short novels in literature class. They have to read "The Hedge Knight" until next week (first lesson), with the "Sworn Sword" and "Mystery Knight" reserved for later. I already have some ideas about what to do, but if you have any suggestions or advice, I'd be very happy to listen to it. Please give the shoutout to everyone you know who could be interested in the question as well. Thanks in advance! 

Stefan

The Supreme Court of Westeros, ruling 3

Thursday is court day! 

Welcome to the Supreme Court of Westeros! Every week, three pressing questions from the community will be answered by the esteemed judges Stefan (from your very own Nerdstream Era) and Amin (from the Podcast of Ice and Fire). The rules are simple: we take three questions, and one of us writes a measured analysis. The other one writes a shorter opinion, either concurring or dissenting. The catch is that every week a third judge from the fandom will join us and also write a dissenting or concurring opinion. So if you think you're up to the task - write us an email to stefan_sasse@gmx.de, leave a comment in the post, ask in the POIAF-forum or contact Amin at his tumblr. Discussion is by no means limited to the court itself, though - feel free to discuss our rulings in the commentary section and ask your own questions through the channels above.
IMPORTANT CHANGE IN SPOILER POLICY:

One word on spoilers: we assume that you read all the books, including the Hedge Knight short stories, and watched the current TV episodes. We don't include the spoiler chapters from various sources in the discussion, with the notable exception of Theon I, which was supposed to be in "A Dance with Dragons" anyway. 
END OF CHANGE

And now, up to ruling 3 of the Supreme Court of Westeros! Our guest judge this week is Andrew Carey, a member of the larger community without previous record.

The Walking Dead Season 4 review, Episodes 6-7

Wow, that was fast. I already said in my last review that the return of the Governor bodes ill. And it does, but not for the characters. It's the show that immediately suffers. To get it out of the way, that's not Morrissey's fault. He does the best with the material he's given as the Governor. It's just that it's written so badly. The writing, to return my full circle together with the show, is why I review only two episodes this time. Both of them revolve around the Governor and a new set of bland secondary characters I give a shit about, and they manage to be completely meaningless by making the aforementioned full circle.

Is it a hobo? Is it a governor? It is HOBO GOVERNOR!

A Flight of Links

- Crusader Kings II expansion review
- Carrying around a singing sword is stupid
- 5 infamously terrible movies that could have been great
- 6 modern playgrounds for your inner child. Wanna wanna wanna wanna
- 4 awful things that are now Nerd behavior. Yes and yes, especially the money-thing I find detestable.
- Copyright laws are stranged, but not not nearly as rosy here in Germany as that article describes. 
- Star Citizen won't come to the console
- Shadowrun returns returns
- Impressions of AC4. Perhaps I'll buy it after all. 
- Yahtzee on the same thing. Totally agree with him. 
- More BSG newbie recaps! Yay. Read part 1, part 2 and part 3 which is totally part 1, but I linked it wrong.
- If you want to obsess over Robocop a bit more. 
- READ THIS FUCKING BLOG.
- Meta about Agents of SHIELD
- Dark Souls: Game of a Generation
- Hunger Games: Catching Fire review
- Yahtzee reviews Call of Duty Ghosts
- Movie Defense Force: Batman&Robin
- A kinder look on the new Hunger Games movie
- Ridley Scott throws a stuffes tiger at Russel Crowe
- I was a Hunger Games hater
- Dunce concept art is the balls
- JRR Tolkien biopic to come out. Good idea. 
- Stormsongs rereads Tyrion IV, part 1
- I finally watched the Agents of SHIELD pilote, so I can happily link these two bits. 
- What does the Doctor mean to you? Nothing, to be honest.

"It is Known: Season 3 Deconstructed" is now available!

On November 21st, my first stand-alone eBook came out. Published by Blue Buddha Press and edited by Marc Kleinhenz, the mastermind behind "A Flight of Sorrows", the book will cover the "Game of Thrones" TV show.  Psyched yet? You don't know anything yet, or as Melisandre would say: You know nothing. So, learn what cool stuff awaits you just a few clicks away on your electronic reading device after the break!

Pic: Every death in A Song of Ice and Fire bookmarked

Picture after the jump.

The Supreme Court of Westeros, ruling 2

Thursday is court day! 

Welcome to the Supreme Court of Westeros! Every week, three pressing questions from the community will be answered by the esteemed judges Stefan (from your very own Nerdstream Era) and Amin (from the Podcast of Ice and Fire). The rules are simple: we take three questions, and one of us writes a measured analysis. The other one writes a shorter opinion, either concurring or dissenting. The catch is that every week a third judge from the fandom will join us and also write a dissenting or concurring opinion. So if you think you're up to the task - write us an email to stefan_sasse@gmx.de, leave a comment in the post, ask in the POIAF-forum or contact Amin at his tumblr. Discussion is by no means limited to the court itself, though - feel free to discuss our rulings in the commentary section and ask your own questions through the channels above. 

One word on spoilers: we assume that you read all the books, including the Hedge Knight short stories, and watched the current TV episodes. 

And now, up to ruling 2 of the Supreme Court of Westeros! Our guest judge this week is John Kolla. 29 years old from Philadelphia, PA, he got into the series from watching the first season of Game of Thrones. He began reading the books right after the end of the season, so he would avoid spoilers, such as Ned's death, which was spoiled for him. He loves the books and has been reading from all the main websites and listening to BLAH and APOIAF, but this is the first active thing he ever did in the fandom. He just recently completed his second re-read of the series, where he led a couple of friends through their first read and found it even more enjoyable the second time through.

The Walking Dead Season 4 review, episodes 1-5

Since the third season was such a major disappointment for me, I initally decided to forego the fourth season entirely and add it to the "series I stopped watching"-post, but my wife insisted on us watching, so I'm currently keeping up with it. I decided against the big recaps of season 3, however, since it didn't seemed meaty enough to me. So instead of recapping, I'd review them in thematic batches. For this post, I'll review "30 days without an accident", "Infected", "Isolation", "Indifference" and "Internment" (I notice a pattern in the titles). 

Destroyed fences are harbingers of doom.

A Flight of Links

- The 6 most bizarre ways to die in a video game
- 5 movies with gaping plotholes
- X-COM Enemy within Reviews from RPS and Escapist
- Burial at Sea review from the Escapist and RPS
-  Wertzone has more infos on the WarCraft movie. Actually sounds good. 
- 25 behind the scenes shots 
- io9 finally picks up Feastdance. 
- Bad Toys'r'us ad
- Best game trailers of the past 8 years
- The 5 most ridiculous attempts of cartoon censorship. Man, the Turtles are "Hero Turtles" in Germany as well.
- Keeping Batman original. They should make a game in which you try to make a living as a criminal in Gotham, methinks.
- Extra Credits Collectible Games, part 2
- A German article about "House of Cards" with an awesome Brecht-comparison
- Blizzard talks Diablo III
- New Miracle-of-Sound-song
- Yahtzee reviews Assassin's Creed 4
- 5 classic movies made by people that didn't want to do them 
- John Olliver gets his own show
- The Man of Tai Chi review
- SyFy makes a Beowulf series
- Chapter analysis Sansa IV
- Jon VII
- Baldur's Gate II Enhanced Edition review
- You read this GOT meta now. Now. Now. 

Announcement: "It is Known: Season 3 deconstructed" coming to you on November 21st!

Hold your breath in anticipation! On November 21st, my first stand-alone eBook will come out. Published by Blue Buddha Press and edited by Marc Kleinhenz, the mastermind behind "A Flight of Sorrows", the book will cover the "Game of Thrones" TV show.  Psyched yet? You don't know anything yet, or as Melisandre would say: You know nothing. So, learn what cool stuff awaits you in a few days on your electronic reading device after the break! 

This is officially weird

So, the director of Black Swan makes a movie about Noah and the Arc with Russel Crowe, Emma Watson and Anthony Hopkins, taking all the stories literally, including flaming swords and fire reigning apocalypse? Consider me interested. Trailer after the jump.

The Supreme Court of Westeros, ruling 1

Thursday is court day! 

Welcome to the Supreme Court of Westeros! Every week, three pressing questions from the community will be answered by the esteemed judges Stefan (from your very own Nerdstream Era) and Amin (from the Podcast of Ice and Fire). The rules are simple: we take three questions, and one of us writes a measured analysis. The other one writes a shorter opinion, either concurring or dissenting. The catch is that every week a third judge from the fandom will join us and also write a dissenting or concurring opinion. So if you think you're up to the task - write us an email to stefan_sasse@gmx.de, leave a comment in the thread or contact Amin at his tumblr. Discussion is by no means limited to the court itself, though - feel free to discuss our rulings in the commentary section and ask your own questions through the channels above. 

One word on spoilers: we assume that you read all the books, including the Hedge Knight short stories, and watched the current TV episodes. 

And now, up to ruling 1 of the Supreme Court of Westeros! Our guest judge this week is Steven Attewell from "Race For The Iron Throne".

Announcement: The Supreme Court of Westeros

Change is coming to The Nerdstream Era and the "A Song of Ice and Fire" fandom! After fifty issues of "Stefan's Theory Hour", it is time to open a new chapter in the organisation and depth of theory discussion. Up to this point, arising questions in the community have either been answered by single persons like me, Sean T. Collins, nobodysuspectsthebutterfly and many, many more on their own blogs and tumblrs, or by the swarm in forums like Westeros.org. 

Until now, that is! I regret to announce that "Stefan's Theory Hour" is at an end, its run being concluded with the anniversary podcast of last week. 

A Flight of Links

- Star Wars Bloopers
- The Wertzone reviews Deus Ex Human Revolution Director's Cut
- GOT director gives away nothing but invites speculation
- Battlefield 4 review
- Call of Duty Ghosts review 
- If GOT was a children's book
- Another Wolverine movie...yawn 
- 5 Clever Movie Schemes that actually are stupid
- There are some great Movies in Real Life. Check them out. 
- 8 things Marvel got wrong about Thor
- Star Wars edited deleted scene that kills Jar Jar Binks
- Sooooooo sweet Princess Thor
- Wot I think: Call of Duty Single Player, part 1 and part 2. Really, the series went bonkers with the second installment, leaped over the line in part three and became offensive in "Black Ops".
- New version of "The New Black Gold" from Miracle of Sound
- Yahtzee reviews Batman Arkham Origins
- Extra Credits talk Collectible Games 
- The battle for the IP of D&D continues 
-  New Miracle of Sound music 
- How GOT changed Thor 2
- Great meta about Sandor
- New RoboCop trailer looks slightly less shitty.
- But MovieBon doesn't like that one, either. 
- 5 ways people mastered video games 
- Thor 2 reviews by MovieBob and io9
- Miss America in Optimus Prime costume. Wtf?
- Man of Steel concept art
- Marvel cooperates with Netflix now
- Neil Marshall talks GOT
- Interesting Meta about Arya. I absolutely don't agree with it, but interesting read nonetheless. 
- Meta about the PWWP and Azor Ahai
- Emilia Clark to play Sarah Connor?
- More info about the upcoming WarCraft movie. I don't really care (yet), but maybe you do. 
- 5 dumb movies with disproportionally dumb theme songs

Stefan's Theory Hour, part 50 - ANNIVERSARY BLAH EDITION

For 50 weeks now, I have written "Stefan's Theory Hour" every Thursday (or near enough that makes no matter), answering three questions posed by fans. Last week, in anticipation of the 50th issue, I asked for special suggestions about what to do for it. In the fine tradition of doing so and then ignoring all ideas, I managed to pull something I hope everyone will enjoy: I teamed up with my "Boiled Leather Audio Hour" co-host Sean T. Collins and "A Podcast of Ice and Fire" host Amin Javadi, and we answered the next three questions on my list together, just like a normal issue of the Theory Hour (kind of). 

So, join us for the pressing questions:

I just read a theory where by Eddard Stark is still alive. The evidence given was : Arya not recognising him at his execution; Sansa not recognising his face on a spike; Catelyn thinking his bones are too small. If you add this to the offer Varys makes where by he will read a letter Eddard will right for Jon makes me believe that Varys may have strung him free as Jon could easily be an ally of Daenarys as the dragon must have three heads.

What's the meaning of trial-by-combat? Don't the gods exist?
 

Will Jon get more POV chapters?

Plus, Sean and Amin each brought their own favorite crackpot theories that we talked about:

Was Tywin Lannister poisoned? 

Did Melisandre create another Shadow Baby in "A Dance with Dragons"? 

Finally, as per fan request on Nerdstream, each of us calls a shot with his guts about the likely plot twists that are bound to come in "The Winds of Winter". 

We discuss all this in length (convoluted just is our style, baby), and hopefully, Nerdstream readers, BLAH fans and APOIAF fans will all get something out of it. So, let's stop talking about it. Download it, give it a listen, and let us know what you think in the comments!

Download

Baggage in Criticism

You may be familiar with the "Boiled Leather Audio Hour", the podcast I do together with Sean T. Collins about all sort of ASOIAF stuff. We were often accused by parts of the fandom to bring in our liberal bias, something we consider to be one of our core concepts, which is why such criticism hasn't really resonated with us. But the thing goes even deeper. The whole idea of somehow dissecting onself from the whole mindset one lives in is naive. It can't be done. The thing why I mention it is that MovieBob ran into similar problems, and he made a video discussing the problem. I can only concur.

A Flight of Links

- Some students recreated 1666 London (pre-fire) with the Cry-Engine
- More about writing Star Wars 7
- Nemesis
- Assassin's Creed 4 review
- Good point about the Jaime-Cersei-ambivalence
- The 13 biggest assholes in Greek mythology. A title you simply have to click.
- Race to the Iron Throne continues! Arya IV.
- 8 pirates from video games that are arrsome. 
- Assassin's Creed 4 music video from Miracle of Sound
- How 7 iconic movie characters would have fared in a shlasher movie
- EA cancels Command&Conquer. Not that I cared. 
- MovieBob talks the new X-Men trailer
- Batman: Arkham Origins Review from The Escapist and RPS
- Walking Dead Season 2 really looks good
- Extra Credits looks at games you really don't know
- More BSG recaps. Really wish she would dispense with the GIFs. 
- 9 terrible movie mistakes
- David Nutter talks the Red Wedding
- Darth Vader, an alternative history
- Retronaut is hilarious
- Ian McKellen is even cooler than you thought
- Star Wars Episode VII will be published whether ready or not.
- Lego Movie simply looks awesome
- Casting news for Avengers 2
- Analogy between Breaking Bad and the NSA scandal 
- Wot I think: Democracy 3
- Star Wars Episode 7 really ought to be postponed
- Wot I think: Surface Pro 2
- 70 gorgeous stills of Thor 2
- What is good about Revolution. I watched only the first ten minutes of the pilot, and it was awful.  
- Agents of SHIELD will tie in with Thor 2.  
- Khal Drogo Cosplay 
- Stormsongs has a new Jaime chapter

Video: Game of Thrones Birthday Rap

BLUE BUDDHA: 2014 PREVIEW

Press Release

Blue Buddha Press, the publishing company behind Tower of the Hand: A Flight of Sorrows and the It Is Known series, has a brand-spankin’-new, completely free ebook out today. Think of it more as an ecatalogue, actually: it contains a listing, overview, and extensive excerpt from each of its releases, including those that have yet to come out.

The can’t-miss part of all this for the diehard Song of Ice and Fire fan? The inclusion of the first, full-length sample from our upcoming Tower of the Hand: A Hymn for Spring – some eight months before the book comes out. There’s also some other little details announced about it, as well, such as who our next author is going to be (hint: A Podcast of Ice and Fire fans should be very happy).

And if all that isn’t enough for you, we have a Q&A with ASOIAF super-writer Stefan Sasse about his very first (American) ebook release, along with a pretty lengthy first-look at it.  

And we do the same grand introduction for the controversial Remy Verhoeve, who has Waiting for Winter: Re-reading A CLASH OF KINGS coming out in just a few short weeks (his best chance for a shot at redemption?).

These are the books that you’re going to be reading to help pass the time until The Winds of Winter is out – you might as well start getting to know them now. =)  

WARNING! Due to Amazon’s demands, we are only able to provide Blue Buddha: 2014 Preview for free for the next five days. That means you only have until Wednesday, November 6th to check out A Hymn for Spring and all the other great titles for no money whatsoever. After that… well, we’re working on a permanent solution, with or without Amazon. But in the meantime, click away before you lose out!

Stefan's Theory Hour, part 49

Thursday is Theory Day! Since it's issue 49, I have to do something special for 50. Ideas and suggestions in the comments!

This is the fourty-ninth article of the series. Since there are a lot of theories floating out there and I'm asked often enough what I think of them, I thought I write it down. You can then laugh about me when I am totally proven wrong by "The Winds of Winter" or something like that. Rules are as follows: you put a question about any theory or plot element (really, let's stress "theory" a bit for the sake of interesting questions) either in the comments of any theory post or by mail (stefan_sasse@gmx.de) and I will answer them in an upcoming post. And if you now ask "Stefan, isn't this a shameless rip-off of Sean T. Collin's "Ask me anything"?", I would tell you to shut up, because you are right.

Prepare for part 49. Spoilers for "A Song of Ice and Fire", obviously. 

Boiled Leather Audio Hour episode 22

Vendettas and Hypotheticals: The Consequences of Vengeance, plus a few “What If?”s (feat. Amin Javadi)

Don’t call it a comeback! Stefan Sasse & Sean T. Collins return with our first BLAH since June, and we’re bringing our chum Amin Javadi of the mighty A Podcast of Ice and Fire along for the ride. It’s basically two episodes in one: For the first half hour or so, we discuss my essay “Savoring the Taste?: On the Role of Revenge in A Song of Ice and Fire” from the expanded Collector’s Edition of Tower of the Hand: A Flight of Sorrows — TotH's excellent collection of essays by various luminaries in the ASoIaF community. I argue that quests for revenge, no matter how horrendous the crime being avenged, are self-perpetuating engines of violence that have had awful consequences for these characters and their culture. Please note that the Collector's Edition — a print book, no less — is only on sale through the end of this Friday, November 1st, after which it will disappear forever. Buy it now and let’s talk!
In the back half of the ep, we get exquisitely nerdy and discuss various what-if scenarios, predicated on major events and decisions going a different way than they had before. What if Brandon Stark had escaped the wrath of the Mad King and lived to lead the North? What if Renly had sworn allegiance to Stannis and helped him in his quest for the Iron Throne rather than declaring himself king instead? What if the rebel lords who rose up against Joffrey following the deaths of Robert and Eddard had kept the king’s peace and traveled to King’s Landing to swear allegiance as requested? What if Ned had lived through his public confession and gone to the Wall as planned? I had an absolute blast teasing out the consequences of each of these divergences and hope you’ll enjoy it too. It’s good to be back!

Mirror here.

Previous episodes here.

Podcast RSS feed here.
iTunes page here.
Sean’s blog here.
Stefan’s blog here.

A Flight of Links

- The Father of Infographics!
- Dramatizing journalism (Newsroom...)
- Warface has the stupidest trailer in a long time. 
- Extra Credits talks about Spectacle creep, which is a problem in every entertainment industry.  
- Proposal to make math an elective. I agree, but why stop at math?
- No more blockbusters, says Mr. Jackson
- I want to play Star Citizen so bad! 
- BSG newbie recaps continue
- All six Apollo Moon landings in one video
- Pacific Rim recreated in Lego 
- Really, really bad bootlegged video game ripoffs. 
- We need soldiers to write about games
- Red Letter Media reviews Gravity and Carrie
- A Dark Knight for all occasions 
- Review 12 years a slave 
- Ever wanted to hear Academy Award winners read the texts of current pop songs? 
- Ill news for Star Wars Episode VII

Stefan's Theory Hour, part 48

Thursday is Theory Day!

This is the fourty-eigth article of the series. Since there are a lot of theories floating out there and I'm asked often enough what I think of them, I thought I write it down. You can then laugh about me when I am totally proven wrong by "The Winds of Winter" or something like that. Rules are as follows: you put a question about any theory or plot element (really, let's stress "theory" a bit for the sake of interesting questions) either in the comments of any theory post or by mail (stefan_sasse@gmx.de) and I will answer them in an upcoming post. And if you now ask "Stefan, isn't this a shameless rip-off of Sean T. Collin's "Ask me anything"?", I would tell you to shut up, because you are right.

Prepare for part 48. Spoilers for "A Song of Ice and Fire", obviously. 

A Flight of Links

- BSG Newbie recaps for Razor and the Webseries
- 11 Horror movies with lessons about society
- Adapting GOT season 5 - I disagree with a good part of it, but an interesting read nonetheless.
- Synopsis for the next hobbit movie leaked
- Carrie review
- More leaked information about the Desolation of Smaug, from a rather strange source. 
- The 4 best moments in the 4 worst movies
- The troubled story behind Mafia II. Very interesting!
- Dexter's writers weren't allowed to kill him off. Hardly a surprise after that disappointment of a show. How can they dare compare it to Breaking Bad.
- Sean T. Collins tries to fix Homeland, but as I argued, it's not really salvagable.
- A great article about the role of "Star Trek Next Generation", very emotional.  
- 7 disappointing movies that should have been great. 
-  Tarantino's boldest moments
- 7 excellent but morally problematic movies
- In Germany, yesterday the biggest battle of the Napoleonic Wars was reenacted by 6000 actors.

Article update

I updated the post "Series I stopped watching", because there are quite a few that were added or that I missed the first time.

Curse and Blessing: experienced roleplaying groups

OK, I lied to make the title more interesting. What I'm talking about - experienced groups that play well together - are a blessing, never a curse. Experienced roleplayers that despite their years in the hobby still suck are a curse, but you don't want to play with them anyway. So, let's have a look at the specific challenges you can run into with the more experienced and well-cooperating kinds of groups that I touched in the last article already.

Seek the aptly named guide here.

Stefan's Theory Hour, part 47

Thursday is Theory Day!

This is the fourty-seventh article of the series. Since there are a lot of theories floating out there and I'm asked often enough what I think of them, I thought I write it down. You can then laugh about me when I am totally proven wrong by "The Winds of Winter" or something like that. Rules are as follows: you put a question about any theory or plot element (really, let's stress "theory" a bit for the sake of interesting questions) either in the comments of any theory post or by mail (stefan_sasse@gmx.de) and I will answer them in an upcoming post. And if you now ask "Stefan, isn't this a shameless rip-off of Sean T. Collin's "Ask me anything"?", I would tell you to shut up, because you are right.

Prepare for part 47. Spoilers for "A Song of Ice and Fire", obviously. 

Bad Lipreading Game of Thrones

This is so cool!

A Flight of Links

- Avengers assemble! In the Star Wars universe!
- MovieBob about Gravity
- The first five minutes of Burial at the Sea look awesome
- Stormsongs rereads Arya V
- Marc Kleinhenz talks about ruins in ASOIAF.  
- Two German articles about the change in TV brought by Netflix and tablet PCs.
-  Fucking read these essays. 
- Extra Credits, Epsiode 4 and Episode 5.
- A conservative history of the United States of America. Hilarious. 
- Hilarious Arnold Schwarzenegger impersonator. 
-  Kit Harrington might play Reed Richards. 
- 10 wrong SciFi myths.
- Much stuff about GRRM, including him receiving death threats. 
- Ewwwwwwww, aren't they cute?
- Machete kills review
- BSG newbie recaps
- ASOS reread, Jon IV

Two new books for the special interest

Beginning today, you can get two new small ebooks from me at Amazon. They're more for the special interest. If you are in boardgames, you may know either of "Twilight Imperium 3rd Edition" or "StarCraft the Boardgame", both of which are queen-sized strategy games of almost unique quality. I played them a lot and still enjoy playing them, so writing strategy guides for them came somewhat naturally. 

Both guides are about 60-70 pages in length and cost only 3.36$, so if you play these games or plan to do so (I can really recommend them), check out the guides and step up your game!

Buy StarCraft the Boardgame Strategy Guide and Twilight Imperium Strategy Guide on Amazon! 

You find the German pages here and here if you live in Germany. Buying from these links earns me a small share as well.

Stefan's Theory Hour, part 46

Thursday is Theory Day!

This is the fourty-sixth article of the series. Since there are a lot of theories floating out there and I'm asked often enough what I think of them, I thought I write it down. You can then laugh about me when I am totally proven wrong by "The Winds of Winter" or something like that. Rules are as follows: you put a question about any theory or plot element (really, let's stress "theory" a bit for the sake of interesting questions) either in the comments of any theory post or by mail (stefan_sasse@gmx.de) and I will answer them in an upcoming post. And if you now ask "Stefan, isn't this a shameless rip-off of Sean T. Collin's "Ask me anything"?", I would tell you to shut up, because you are right.

Prepare for part 46. Spoilers for "A Song of Ice and Fire", obviously. 

Gamemaster's finest: Choice in RPG games

If you ever took the seat of the gamemaster in a roleplaying game session, be it in a Pen&Paper game or in a LARP, odds are that you ran into the greatest threat gamemasters face and which every gamemaster fails initially (and bad gamemasters consecutively): restraining the urge for choice of the players. Roleplaying games pride themselves on the aspect that the players as their characters can basically do what they want within the contraints of the game. Often, this creates problems, because players making their own choices deviate from the carefully planned storyline. What happens then can lead to all-out disaster or a smooth transition into the next episode of the game, with the players asking themselves how the heck their gamemaster pulled it off again.

The one movie that ruined it for the Eastern Front

In 2001, a slightly unusual World-War-II-movie hit theaters: "Enemy at the Gates". It was unusual because the heroes of the story were the Soviet soliders in Stalingrad, not the heroic American soldiers storming the beaches of Normandy or holding out in the grim winter against the German onslaught in the Battle of the Bulge. Since there isn't exactly a flood of movies about the Eastern Front in World War 2, "Enemy at the Gates" came to shape the view on that part of the conflict for pretty much everyone who saw it. And that's not exactly a good thing.

A Flight of Links

- Game of Thrones cast Hizdar zo Loraq. We all know what that means. Meereenese knot, guys!
- What combat feels like, presented in the form of a graphic novel
- WonderWoman fan trailer. 
- Yahtzee about writing horror games. 
- BSG newbie recap continues. 
- Penny Arcade, new issue
- io9 talks about human longevity. 
- GTAV review by Yahtzee
- Thoughtful text about Steam-OS.
- Thoughts about Boardwalk Empire. 
- Trailer for the new Jack Ryan movie. Guess it only gathers attention because Clancy died; the trailer looks utterly stupid and unimpressive. Come on, Chris Pine as Jack Ryan?!
- Why Renly would have made a good king. I agree. 
- Disappearing characters on GOT. I really don't agree.
- Sullivan sees Breaking Bad as embodiement of Machiavelli. 
- BioShock Infinite promotes the new DLC with a moch documentary. 
- Prototype Steam specs revealed
- All references in Del Toro's Simpsons intro 
- Some real great Breaking Bad stuff, check it out here, here, here and here.
- 5 absurd exploitation subgenres.