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posted by LaminatorX on Friday June 13 2014, @07:15PM   Printer-friendly
from the Immortality dept.

Susanna Kim reports that author George R.R. Martin, the creator of the "Game of Thrones" series, will introduce a new character named David Goldblatt in one of his upcoming books and eventually kill him off. Goldblatt, a 30-year-old Facebook employee won the prize in a charity auction in which Martin will name a character after him in an upcoming book in the series, "A Song of Ice and Fire." Goldblatt says he viewed the first season of the HBO series on the recommendation of a friend, then he immediately read the book series in six months. "I'm just lucky enough to be in a position to do this," says Goldblatt of the $20,000 payment. "Obviously, the money is going to charity, so it's an added bonus. I didn't immediately seek to help wolf sanctuaries, but the more I read about the charities, I learned it was a worthwhile cause." Martin's project is raising money for Wild Spirit Wolf Sanctuary and the Food Depot of Santa Fe, New Mexico, where Martin lives with his wife, Parris.

Goldblatt chose to be a "Valryian," a people group famous for their indestructible steel, as his station in Martin's literary universe. "You read some piece of fiction and for whatever reason you think one particular character or race is cool and for whatever reason," says Goldblatt. I thought the Valyrians were cool. I'm hoping in future books we get to see more of them."

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  • (Score: -1, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 13 2014, @07:33PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 13 2014, @07:33PM (#55103)

    Books have no influence in modern society.

    • (Score: 2) by isostatic on Friday June 13 2014, @08:01PM

      by isostatic (365) on Friday June 13 2014, @08:01PM (#55107) Journal

      Until they're made into hit tv series's. With boobs.

      • (Score: 2) by Nerdfest on Friday June 13 2014, @08:29PM

        by Nerdfest (80) on Friday June 13 2014, @08:29PM (#55112)

        So really, boobs have influence in modern society. I'm fairly sure there's a long history of that sort of influence.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 14 2014, @02:47AM

        by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 14 2014, @02:47AM (#55179)

        Until they're made into hit tv series's. With dongs.

        FTFY.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 13 2014, @07:35PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 13 2014, @07:35PM (#55104)

    Will this fictional character also work for a fictional privacy-invading organisation?

  • (Score: 2) by pbnjoe on Friday June 13 2014, @08:17PM

    by pbnjoe (313) on Friday June 13 2014, @08:17PM (#55109) Journal

    Why wait? Introduce him, heck, get the whole FB gang in there, then have some big murder-fest that suddenly happens, then move on with the plot.

    (Note to LaminatorX: it says "Valryian" instead of "Valyrian" once in the summary, last paragraph)

  • (Score: -1, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 13 2014, @08:23PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 13 2014, @08:23PM (#55111)

    George R. R. Martin. Didn't he used to manage the Beatles, or is he that guy who wrote about hobbits?

    • (Score: 3, Informative) by Nerdfest on Friday June 13 2014, @08:31PM

      by Nerdfest (80) on Friday June 13 2014, @08:31PM (#55113)

      It's the Beatles guy. He was caught torrenting music by the RIAA and part of the punishment was to change his name.

    • (Score: 1) by gawdonblue on Friday June 13 2014, @10:24PM

      by gawdonblue (412) on Friday June 13 2014, @10:24PM (#55136)
      John:Khuu! George:Khuu! [wordpress.com]
      Is that
  • (Score: -1, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 13 2014, @10:25PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 13 2014, @10:25PM (#55137)

    My state just reinstated the wolf hunt recently. It's amazing how many hunters who have dogs they love also love shooting wolves. Cognitive dissidence? I think so.

    • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 13 2014, @10:50PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 13 2014, @10:50PM (#55142)

      Huh? Cognitive dissonance is when you start doing irrational things because you can't reconcile two conflicting beliefs. Just because they have two conflicting beliefs doesn't mean they are doing irrational things because of it.

      Besides, I'm pretty sure they are easily able to reconcile those two beliefs by saying they don't love all dogs, just their own dogs. Classic tribalism is verrrrrry human.

      • (Score: 1) by broken on Saturday June 14 2014, @12:38AM

        by broken (4018) on Saturday June 14 2014, @12:38AM (#55154) Journal

        Cognitive dissonance [wikipedia.org] from wikipedia

        cognitive dissonance is the excessive mental stress and discomfort[1] experienced by an individual who (1) holds two or more contradictory beliefs, ideas, or values at the same time or (2) is confronted by new information that conflicts with existing beliefs, ideas, or values.

        This definition applies if the hunters love their dogs for their dog-like characteristics that wolves also have. (And assuming they wouldn't hunt animals that they love.) It's a valid point.

        However, I don't think there will be cognitive dissonance because I think the hunters love their dogs for their obedience, friendliness, and familiarity. None of these apply to unknown, wild animals.

    • (Score: 1) by khedoros on Saturday June 14 2014, @12:25AM

      by khedoros (2921) on Saturday June 14 2014, @12:25AM (#55150)
      Well, one dog is helpful to the hunter, and one dog is harmful to the hunter (and they have permission to kill that dog from the government). I don't see a contradiction in shooting the harmful dog while feeding and loving the helpful one. Might as well say "It's amazing how many people who have friends that they love also love flipping people off while driving."