Happy New Year! Hope you had a good 2011, and that 2012 will be even better. If 2011 wasn’t a great year for you, then I hope this year treats you much more kindly.


From the Management:

Don’t forget to use our referral links when shopping at Amazons US, UK and Germany, and at The Book Depository. The links are found in the sidebar under “Support the Site”.

Also remember that we have super nifty RAFO merchandise at this link. I’ve got two t-shirts, a tote bag and a little vest for our baby. They’re all gorgeous and would make pretty neat gifts.

Website hint: Are you finding that the Boards are slow to load? First thing to check is the “Show topics from” option at the top right of each board. If you’ve got it set to a year then it will take a long time to load the board. Set it to a month or a couple of weeks. If this doesn’t work then clear your cache, and if this doesn’t work, drop a note to Nebhead. He’ll have more suggestions. (You’re welcome, Ben.)


The Books Board:

These are our plans for the year ahead. Do join in!

We discuss how we got on with the 2011 RAFO Challenges here. Some of us did better than others.

GRR Martin has released a sample chapter from the next book in his series A Song of Ice and Fire. Read the chapter and people’s opinions in this post.

Finally, dacole wants to know whether successful fantasy books can be written without violence, we talk about the books we plan to read in January, and check out the books due out this year in January and February.


The Wheel of Time Board:

Brandon Sanderson has finished his first draft of A Memory of Light. Tor will announce the publication date soon, although Sanderson expects it will be in Autumn/Fall.

Nessarra suggests that we tend to underestimate Forsaken strength. See the discussion here.

And Cannoli has a detailed theory on the Prophecies of Rhuidean.


The TV & Movies Board:

The RAFO TV&Movie Awards have rolled around again. It’s now the nomination phase, so go here for details.

Nate reviews the latest Sherlock Holmes film – A Game of Shadows.

Tom asks what people think of the latest version of 3D films.

And trailers have been released for The Hobbit, Prometheus and The Dark Knight Rises. Check them out.


The Games Board:

The_Muted_Grimaud asks what people think about Civ5.

beetnemesis shares the news that a Mistborn RPG has been released – and asks people who have it what they think of it.

And there are surprisingly few posts about Skyrim. Is that because everyone’s busy playing it?


The Roleplaying Board:

The current Mafia game is run by ranagrande. Check out the action here.

And if you want to know more about what happens on this Board, and maybe get involved, read through the Mafia Rules and Catalogue of Games posted by Isaac, as well as Fanatic_Templar’s Welcome Post.


The Community Board:

Larry shares a fascinating piece of family history in the form of his grandfather’s school journal from 1939.

Vivien asks us about the presents we received over the holiday season – and we brag a little bit.

Congratulations to Anonymous2000 on becoming Mayor of his town: a big 2012 awaits!

And Stephen wishes everyone a Happy New Year.

Plus: huge congratulations over the past few months to nossy and snoopcester on their marriage, Aemon and his wife for their marriage, Macharius and his wife on the birth of their son, and Dannymac for his engagement. We wish you all the very best for the years ahead.

What will 2012 bring for the RAFO Community?