Think outside the box from where? You read first book you continue, you understand story. Bam done. Though the Dunk and Egg stories are good too. That's pre Robert's Rebellion, post Blackfyre rebellions. I really enjoyed those. Only 3 really short stories, I wish they were longer.

 

In all seriousness though, some series have very convoluted reading orders and having not yet looked at it I'd wondered if maybe others found reading it out of order better.

 

I honestly don't know if you can read it out of order, nor do I know anyone who has. Pretty much everything stems from the first book plot wise.

 

This is not a series like that. You could read The Tales of Dunk & Egg first, but I think that it is better to read all 5 books and then read Dunk & Egg, as something to hold you over. D & E even has a graphic novel, it's so cool.

 

Graphic novel? Really?

Edit: Jesus Christ they're expensive.

 

What the fuck is this? Just go read the series. How in the fuck you're still reading and enjoying these fanfics without context is just weirdshit, and spoils the actual series. It occurs to me now on rechecking that you said you've never read the actual books on page one of this thread, so my bad for not telling you this earlier: Just go do it.

 

Yes, they are, but there ARE digital copies.

 

I haven't read the books either, but I'm looking to rectify that in the coming weeks.

 

New update for Ned Stark Lives!

 

That Acts of Treason story also updated, but I couldn't have been fucked to read it. For those who want it.

 

I saw it as well, but I didn't want to read it either having already finished the previous chapters and found it lacking.

 

One of the best thing about Ned Stark lives is that it has at least 1 update a week. And they're good updates. Link.

 

Indeed.

I also finally decided to order the complete ASoIaF set when I saw it on B&N, We'll see if I actually like them when they are in a couple of days.

 

I kinda doubt anyone looking out for them missed the updates but, I'll link 'em anyways.

Ned Stark Lives!

The North Remembers

 

Once again reading through the ASoIaF tournament on reddit and this particular piece caught my eye: Link. This short write up is fucking amazing.

 

North Remembers - probably the best written ASoFAI fanfic, very much in the vain of what canon would end up. So take that as you will. Problem is too much shit happening and you have to wait a very, very long time before you see where any one plotline ends up.

No Featherbed for Me - was also very well written, but seems to sort of go along with no real direciton and I have no idea where it will end up.

On recommendations of this thread I also read:

Ned Stark Lives - which was pretty decent. At times it does feel like some of the characters are OOC and everything does seem to go too well for everyone, but looking forward to seeing where it goes.

Acts of Treason - was surprisingly quite decent. I wasn't feeling the Robb/Myrcella romance at all - it feels really contrived and boring (where they could have had some rather interesting plot points). However, the rest of the plot, particularly Robb's campaign was very good. I also really enjoyed reading the interactions between Myrcella and the rest of the Lannisters - particularly towards the end. The epilogue was rubbish though, as were the characterisations of Daenrys and Aegon.

Lupus Iuvenis Praevalet - Was pretty bad to be honest. Potentially decent enough to waste time on if you had nothing better.

 

Though it isn't particularly true to the setting, the general things going well (or at least not ridiculously poorly) vibe is actually part of why I like Ned Stark Lives so much.

EDIT: btw it updated

 

This, so much. George Martin is like the most pessimistic and mean-spirited writer to ever write characters.

 

The fandom in this section is a bit meh. Stories I've heard mentioned several times are Acts of Treason, Ned Stark Lives, No Featherbed For Me and the North Remembers. That said, I haven't read No Featherbed For Me or much of the North Remembers.

Acts of Treason starts off well enough but it does have the shippy feel to it and while reading it I feel like I'm reading one of those self-insert stories and it leaves a sour taste in my mouth at points. The story has decent sized chapters and it's well written, but it tends to summarize way too much, glossing over the important bits you would want to read yourself - had this not happened, there would likely be around 100k more words if the author included half the missing battles. There seemed to be more childbirth then there was battles and there was gigantic war raging on every side. The author clearly leans towards the political side of things and while some people out there like that stuff, political!anyone is not something I like too much. Not to mention Myrcella is like a Westerosi-wedding-planner in this story. Still, it does have some good bits here and there though you could say the story crashed and burned towards the end.

Ned Stark Lives! stays true to form and uses a different pov character, though most are used from the same set again and again

Spoiler

something to note, there is no Dany or Jon, at all, though the story seems like it will continue in another part - canon-wise, the story has stopped somewhere around the battle between Mance Rayder and Night's Watch after Jon returns to the Wall

. That said, even though it does use different pov characters the story doesn't really feel like they're any different. In my opinion, the story doesn't seem to have a soul or any flair - it's bland, to the point and can pretty boring at times, though the author does do a pretty good job at showing us the stuff glossed over in Acts of Treason. Example: the author shows us the battle and it's well written yet you still find yourself groaning in boredom at times.

I've been searching the archives of FF and AO3 but coming up with little well-done stuff. I guess the problem is partly my taste and how the pov characters are used and by the gods do I hate all those San/San stories. I'm gonna go pick up the North Remembers again, even though I've heard it's a little all over the place which is something that may just make me say "Fnck it!" and X it away forever.

 

I followed Ned Stark Lives! (it could have definitely used a better title, though that didn't seem to hurt it) as it was published. Overall, I was surprised by how plausible and in character it was, particularly given how often it was updated. The only thing I found lacking was how little heart there seemed to be in the story. The story was interesting, but I wasn't living and dying with the characters. When the sequel begins this spring (as the author promised in the AN at the end of the last chapter) I really hope that's something he works on. Otherwise this is probably one of the best fic in the entire fandom, second to No Featherbed For Me.

Does anyone know of any other good fics in this fandom?