About History of Westeros
The story behind the voices of the podcast.
George RR Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series is a standout favorite for those who love depth, intrigue and epic fantasy. There are subtle details and hidden clues in great number, and those who pay close attention are rewarded over and over, and a re-read seems like a whole new book. Many of you will agree… it’s quite addictive. History of Westeros creates podcasts for those who want to get more out of the story.
Aziz and Ashaya have made a practice of being thorough and critical when covering any topic, and their love for the material really shows. Part lecture, part fiery sermon, part silly, no audio analysis of Westeros and its storylines is as focused or comprehensive. Whether during the series or guessing at what comes next, from the Dawn Age to the Targaryen Conquest, we cover the history and current status of houses great and small. Particular attention and coverage is given to unreleased material you probably didn’t know existed, as well as questions GRRM has answered over the years that illuminate things not covered in the books.
There are numerous ways to search episodes, notably the search tool. Type in the name of a character, house, place or topic and it will display any episodes discussing those items. We have an extensive collection of links to various ASOIAF artists, and forums for discussing anything and everything.
The Hosts
Ashaya
@MeereeneseKnot on TwitterFavorite great house: Martell
Favorite secondary house: Hightower today, Dayne tomorrow. My name IS Ashaya, which fits pretty perfectly with Dayne, and they have a purple sigil…but house Hightower is also so intriguing, and living in Oldtown would be really amazing. Plus, as a Hightower you could probably visit the Citadel’s library any time you wanted despite being female, too.
Favorite book in the series: A Feast for Crows for many, many reasons, namely because Feast is the ‘expanding’ of the series in my eyes…it has our first look at Dorne!
Favorite POV: This question is difficult for me. Purely based on amount of chapters, it would be Tyrion or Arya. Based on my favorite change in the character, Jaime. If I were basing this on characters I myself identify with most, Sansa. Not a contender due to amount of chapters is Arianne, however I love seeing Dorne and I am particularly interested in her TWoW plotline.
Other favorite authors and books: I love The Expanse series, Edward Rutherfurd’s historical epics, Brandon Sanderson’s ‘cosmere’, Patrick Rothfuss, Flatland, C.D. Payne’s comedic novels, Gregory Maguire’s takes on fairy tales, the webseries Worm… I largely prefer books with female main characters, or at least prominent female characters.
How did you get into the series? Some months before the television show aired its first season, I was told to read the series by a friend (many friends, actually, including Aziz). When I heard that it was being made into a television show, I knew I had to start reading the books… By the time season 1 was over, I had finished the first 4 books and was left to wait for A Dance With Dragons with the rest of you.
Other hobbies: I love comedy TV shows and movies (Parks and Rec, It’s Always Sunny, Broad City, Community). Also fond of the various Game of Thrones inspired games, specifically the board game and the Crusader Kings 2 mod, as evidenced by the Games of Ice and Fire page. I love modding the board game and creating new scenarios.
Favorite great house: Targaryen, but mostly because we know so much about them. Could easily change when the World of Ice and Fire book illuminates others. Stark is probably second. My favorite house sigil is the Greyjoy kraken though!
Favorite secondary house: Really tough choice, but I like the houses that have ancient roots and stick to old traditions. Royce, Dayne, Yronwood & Blackwood are at the top of the short list.
Favorite book in the series: A Storm of Swords. The reason is simple. I pretty much love every page of every book and Storm has more pages than all but Dance, so that narrows it down easily enough.
Favorite POV: Close call between Tyrion and Victarion. Tyrion because I love intrigue and his chapters have the best of that, and because he’s hilarious… Which is precisely why I love Victarion, because he’s so different from me and anyone I know.
Why ASOIAF stands out: I was a big fan of fantasy when young, and a big fan of history and historical fiction when a bit older. ASOIAF has elements of both… it was more that adult fantasy is a near non-existent genre, but once I found it I was hooked.
Other favorite authors and books: Mary Renault, Sharon Kay Penman (A Sunne in Splendour is a must for ASOIAF fans), Robert Anton Wilson, Neal Stephenson (Cryptonomicon), Plutarch, H.P. Lovecraft. My favorite other book by GRRM is Dying of the Light.
How did you get into the series? I discovered A Game of Thrones in 2000 when a friend handed me the book… I endured the 6 year wait for Feast by delving as deep into the material as possible, reading forums and re-reading enough times that I lost count.
Other hobbies: Gaming (especially ASOIAF related games), guitar (I studied classical guitar in college), live music (mostly metal and EDM), comedy TV, history, and baseball (Go Braves!). I also enjoy playing poker. For places to play, check out: Professional Rakeback and Beat the Fish.
In Loving Memory
Steve the FriggenItalian is no longer with the show, but without him it would never have existed. This podcast was his idea and his initial effort made it possible. His friendship with musician Joey Townsend (SoundCloud) gave us our catchy theme song. He is greatly missed since his passing.
Behind the Scenes
Some early episodes show our previous lack of experience with recording and content management, but we think you’ll enjoy them thoroughly despite their imperfections.
We have had a few different backgrounds in our videos. The poster on the far right was done by an artist who doesn’t want an online presence. The large board game poster was done by West2Productions (it is a 9-player map that we printed and created our own cards for). Later videos have a map by BensMind. Our most recent videos have the fantastic map with Westeros across the top, done by Michael Klarfeld.
We also wear a variety of t-shirts when recording; shoot us an email or a comment on the specific video for a link to the various stores we purchased them from.
Connect With Us
You can find all of our social media links around the site, but our primary home on social media is Twitter.
Follow @WesterosHistory