A Song of Ice and Fire and The Tales of Dunk and Egg

[Magus]

So I've just now am getting into this series and read the first four books, as well as the two Dunk and Egg novellas that are out so far. I'd talk about the main series, but frankly when I found out the newest book, A Dance With Dragons, is something like four years late I was a little depressed that I'd have to wait longer to continue with the main series

The Tales of Dunk and Egg are pretty great, though, and I'm currently reading an excerpt of the upcoming novella, The Mystery Knight, which is supposed to premiere in the upcoming Warriors anthology (which has another George R.R. Martin story in it, as well, though I'm sure it's not set in the Westeros universe). Said excerpt can be found here.

If any one knows where to find the various A Dance With Dragons excerpt chapters that have been put out on the internet, it'd be great if you could link them!

Also, the upcoming Game of Thrones HBO adaptation looks pretty cool, can't wait to watch it.

Anyway, I'm glad I've finally gotten into this series after hearing you guys talk about it for so long, though I'm a bit overwhelmed with the nine million theories abounding on forums dedicated to it. Jon is the bastard of Rhaegar and Lyanna Stark or Ashara Dayne? Or else Darkstar, a minor character, is? I thought WoT theories were zany. In any case, I like this series more than Wheel of Time at the moment, and they're very different anyway, so it's not much competition...

Whatever, discuss the upcoming novella or what you think is going to happen in A Dance With Dragons or whatever, I'm just getting into this series so seeing you guys chat about various theories and stuff will probably amp me up even more.

EDIT: Oh, and between the obviousness of the plot device and the fact that he is supposedly featured in A Dance With Dragons, I feel pretty good in asserting that Davos Seaworth is not dead and that it is just a ploy to make the Lannisters think White Harbor is loyal (or whatever the name of that port is).

[Lyaer]

Favoritest series, but I haven't gotten around to Dunk and Egg yet. Should do.

I did read Dying of the Light and Fevre Dream, though. Both excellent, but not very much like ASoIaF.

[Magus]

Tales of Dunk and Egg are pretty neat in that they give you a glimpse into the actual back story of the universe which unlike some authors Martin doesn't really delve into much, he just sort of mentions it and doesn't go into much detail. So you get stories from about a hundred years before the main series that are mentioned a few times in the books but not much, at a time that's supposed to be the Targaryen's "peak" as opposed to when the kingdoms are all at war with each other. So instead of being epic battles they're little episodes involving Dunk and his squire Egg (who has a secret identity). They're also more character based and dramatic because they only deal with a few characters and a single story dealing with them, as opposed to the more epic span of the main series.