The Dying Earth was a favorite of mine too. Jack Vance was a brilliant and flawed writer. Dying Earth more than any other of his works played to his strengths and not to his weaknesses.

Gorgeous images, marvelous world building, character's revealed whole in a sentence or two. Dying Earth is not a novel in the conventional sense but a series of short stories in a single setting with many characters appearing in more than one story. The Dying Earth is painted so beautifully that it can itself be looked upon as a character in the story.

There was a line written in praise of Spenser's Faerie Queen I wish I could remember because it fits the Dying Earth so well, something along the lines of "brilliant image after brilliant image unfurled". I don't remember who said it and my damn memory has totally umgopochgied the quote as well, but I wish I could remember it cause that particular bit of praise for Spenser applies perfectly to Dying Earth,

Pix, I read them out of order -- Year of the Flood first. Oryx and Crake was much harder for me. They were....depressing as hell.

It may be better to take this to FB IM, but the theory goes like this: "You know, it's weird that Ned refers to Jon as 'my blood' rather than 'my son.'"

"We'll, yes, but it doesn't make sense that he'd be Benjen's. Ned would have no reason to lie about that, and they're the Starks we have for the previous generation."

"At the beginning of the books,yes, but there is their sister."

"The dead one who Robert was going to marry?"

"Who didn't seem too excited about the prospect, was named the Queen of Love and Beauty by King Rhaegar, and then was 'kidnapped' by him before dying in the Tower of Joy and making Ned promise to bury her in Winterfell. Yes. Her."

"Yeah, Ned sure seems to think about her telling him to promise her a lot for it just being about where her body would go."

"Doesn't he just."

"And if Robert found out, he totally would have killed the baby."

"See exhibits A and B, yes."

And then you go searching for textual support and it's all over the place.

I completely agree with Jon Snow parentage theories.

I didn't read the white font, but do you mean after five books, there's still of question of Jon Snow's parentage? Good god.

I suppose that is spoily, isn't it? We dont know but have been promised that we will have the answer before it is all over.

I probably wouldn't have figured it out in five books if Sean hadn't told me after the first book. It's all in the background, and I was waiting for something explicit.

Textually, no - we've been told that Ned Stark is his father and that his mother's name was Willa (or something). It's just that many readers aren't buying it, and have formed our own ideas.

I think it will be, in the end. Papa Reed (Not Dead) was with Ned when he got to the Tower of Joy, so he can spill the beans, or his kids can, since I'd bet they know.