And now his watch is ended

I have gorged myself –
been a Prince, a scholar,
a lost man, peddling on
hands and knees for
a fallen cause –

My memories are inked
in silver –
my mind grows spotted
with the days –
and sometimes,
sometimes,
I can’t even rise.

Where are the fires of
my youth?
Where are the men who
stand like axes against
the tint of dishonor?

In my tower of ice
I crouch, the last
Dragon, the last man.

I have seen greatness
devoured in greed.
I have seen folly
praised for brains.
But now my vision
turns black, and
my fingers grow numb
Oh Egg!
Why did I grow old?

A Love Letter to the Kingslayer

I suppose Circe was your “always”.  That unconditional force that turned the tide and plowed the harvest. After all, what is a sword without a wielder, a Knight without a Lord? She ruled you – and you loved her for it.

But I am sure that on dark nights when you were made to stand outside her bedchamber and hear Robert belittle all you adore, you must have thought: where would I be without you?

If your Queen had never been, what would have become of you, my love?

You would have Casterly Rock.  You would have sons that could call you father, and a proper wife too.  Though I think any woman would do.  Wench or whore, it matters not, she would be better to you than your Queen ever was.

You would never have worn a white cloak – and never earned the name of so much dishonor.  Kingslayer no more, my love.  Instead you would be called fair Lord Jamie of Casterly Rock.

But your Queen was born, and she made you her creature, her sword, her knight.  You belonged to her.  You love her.  And you, you would do anything for love, wouldn’t you?

I wonder…. was it because she was beautiful? Was it because you saw yourself in her? Or did you just fall because destiny would have it be so?  Does it matter? In the end you had your sister and in doing so you took her schemes, her suspicions and her sins as your own.

Did you have any doubts, my love? And if you did how did you keep your fidelity intact? I think Tyrion had the right of it – you loved her to blindness, to madness.  Oh, the things you have done for love.  You gave Circe your life, your prospects, your children.  You gave her your honor to wear as a dubious crown.  Do you regret it, my love? Do you wish to turn back the years and free yourself from her?

Who are you, my love? And who will you be tomorrow?

I call you Kingslayer now – but what will happen in the morning? What will happen when you face your Queen again? Might you earn a new name for yourself, my love?

I ask you this – what is more honorable?  To take revenge on your tormentor? Or to stand behind her because you vowed to do so.

We Do Not Sow

Of all the fantastic location is Westeros and beyond, it has been the Iron Islands that most captivate me.  Probably because it combines my two favored geographical features – mountainous terrain, and a misty sea.  Likewise I am usually fond of the Greyjoys.  I might not want to see them rule the continent, but they are my favored family.  I like all of them, the clever, and the stupid, the humorous, and the wicked.  It was an immense pleasure to learn so much about them this last book.

I always like Theon.  I liked his mocking smile, I liked his leering ways, and daft misconceptions.  He is the kind of character I always fall for. A boy with big dreams, bad intentions and worse luck.  He kind of reminds me of a more developed version of Draco Malfoy or Zuko from Avatar.  He is the perfect example of someone who is not evil, but who has inadvertently created evil.  And of course it all went so terribly wrong, which makes it all the more amusing.  I think Theon is one of the most fascinating of all Martin’s characters.  And I think this last book put his erratic behavior in proportion by fleshing out his family.

His sister Asha is much easier to respect.  She is more stable than Theon, and much more realistic in terms of her goals, plus she understands her people which is very important.  But I think what I liked most about her was how comfortable she was with her own sexuality. We have seen time and time again that the most powerful women in Martin’s world depend a great deal on their sexual charms to maintain their positions.  Circe sleeps with men for favors and false loyalties. Arianne made Arys fall in love with her to make her plans pan out. Daenerys was sold for the sake of a crown and she continues to manipulate men (such as Joras or Xora) so that she may keep it.  But Asha treats sex much more causality.  Yes, I’m sure she does it to raise her own popularity, but for her it’s not shameful.  It doesn’t have to be hidden.  She seems complete comfortable in her own skin, and as a modern reader I find that very empowering.

And then there are their Uncles, of which only Rodrick Harlaw hasn’t managed to spike my interest.  The three Greyjoys I liked very much.  Aeron Greyjoy’s opening chapter titled “Phrophet” was absolute gorgeous. I loved the sea, and the bleakness, as well as the sheer intensity of his fervent religiosity.  Even to a none-believer, or perhaps especially to a none-believer it came across as very powerful, almost frightening.  But it was his other two brothers who I liked the best.

I really like how Martin set up the conflict between them – the aggression, the distance, and yet there is something else there.  I guess it could be called a “blood-tie” but I don’t think that’s quite it.  I think that despite all the tension between them they still admire each other as men.  Euron knows what a good captain Victarion is.  He understand that his younger brother is able, and capable, and fierce.  That he is in short a great leader among the Ironborn if only because of his naval strength.  And in his own way Victarion acknowledges his elder brother’s power even as he resents him for it.  He cannot fail to see that Victarion is enigmatic, he is charismatic, and he is a lot cleverer, even as he is mad.  Their connection, and their history is so interesting that I cannot wait to find out what happens between the Ironborn, and our Dragon Queen….

I think Martin has achieved a lot with the Iron Islands in this book.  Not only did he add a threat to Circe, and the Tyrells, but at the same time he also put another claimant for the Iron Throne forward.  I also think the way he has quietly created the culture and religion of the Iron Islands is impeccable.  I have a feeling that just like Theon failed in his conquest of the North, his Uncles will fail in the conquest of Daenerys Targaryan, however I look forward to their imminent defeat with relish.  In Martin’s world I have often found that losing battles, and suffering humiliations makes the characters much more interesting.  Because it forces them to change, to grow stronger.  Isn’t that how it’s been for Sansa, and Jamie, and Tyrion?

For the Iron Throne

During a Game of Thrones it was easy to look out at Westeroes and only see the Grey of Stark and the Crimson of Lannister.  I know a lot of the other houses were mentioned but for the most part they were background players. The only other house that had a significant role in the book were the Targaryans all the way across the narrow sea.  However, with each additional volume Martin has broadened the horizons.  In a Clash of Kings he introduced the Baratheon and the Greyjoy.  In a Storm of Swords it was the Tyrell and the Frey. And in a Feast for Crows it was Martell.

At the beginning of the story the Starks are the clear heroes. They are just, they are good, and their motives make sense to us.  For them it was never about greed, or glory.  They were just protecting themselves.  However, with half of House Stark dead most of us have had to seek our heroes elsewhere.  It would be almost impossible for a Stark to win the Iron Throne, the only one who is even a remote possibility would be Sansa, and lets face it she is nobody’s idea of a good ruler.  She just doesn’t have the strength.

With the Starks defeated readers are forced to look at the other houses and find other characters that appeal to them.  I think the house that you support says a lot about you as a person, much more so than the Hogwarts Houses.  This reflects not only who you are, but what you think good is, what you think justice is.  Who you support for the Iron Throne shows if you believe in destiny, if you believe that good triumphs over evil.  It shows whether you hold faith in gods, and whether you will stand for corruption.  It is a big question if it’s considered properly.

I think if you ask  people the most popular answer among them would be Tyrion, because it is clear that he is the most capable.  He is a good, smart, fair man, who has shown us again and again that despite the odds he can be efficient.  But the problem is that Tyrion’s chances of ruling are worse much worse than his lady wife’s.  Tyrion doesn’t have anybody’s support, not even the other Lannisters.  There is no feasible way for him to be King.

So it’s not just a matter of who would be best for the Kingdom.  It’s also a practical issue. Who is good enough to win the Iron throne in the first place?  I don’t ask this question to try to guess what Martin is going to do.  I ask it because the answers people give show a lot about who they are and what they respect.

Who do I want on the Iron Throne?

I have been a stringent support of Stannis Baratheon since his introduction.  I think he is the best candidate.  He is just, he is strong, he is smart, and next to his Red Woman he is quite powerful.  He was the only man to stand with the North.  He was the only person to listen to the Night’s Watch warnings.  I don’t think his chances are good – but out of all the characters vying for the throne at the moment I feel like he is by far the best.  I’m not sure there are many who share my opinion.  Stannis both as a character and as a person doesn’t inspire love or compassion in the same way that Danerys does.  He has none of Circe’s charisma.  He has not had as many victories as Robb Stark.  His lands have been taken from him.  His wife is mad.  His daughter is sick. His mistress is dangerous. And he has no heir.

However, I admire his sense of justice.  I am intrigued by his relationship with Melissandra.  I love his harshness.  And I want to believe in the power of R’hollor.  Also – and let’s not forget this – with no Targaryan present in Westeroes, he is the rightful ruler and I guess that means something to me.

To Dorne

It’s strange to think that in the context of thousands and thousands of pages “less may be more”, and yet in regards to the land of Dorne Martin knew that it must be so.   Dorne had been referenced from the very first book by numerous characters.   It was a far away land, of heat, and sand.  The last Kingdom to fall to the Targaryans Kings.  The homeland of the doomed Princess Elia Martell, who one may describe as the ultimate of the many victims that surrounded the events of Robert’s Rebellion.

Last book Dorne was vaguely introduced through a minor character by the name of Oberyn Martelll.  He was a famed fighter, and the younger brother of Elia.  His presence in the book is mostly background, until he finds the opportunity to avenge the rape and murder of his sister.  His fight with the Mountain was one of the most thrilling, and bleak events in a Storm of Swords, as Oberyn (more commonly referred to as the “Red Viper”) is killed, resulting in Tyrion’s own death sentence.

Although his death was certainly tragic, the reader had not been made to care a great deal about him.  Our attention was on Tyrion’s fate.  What would happen in Dorne was not our concern.  A Feast for Crows remedies this fault. At long last we see the Southern promise-land in one of the most spectacular and surprising of all of Martin’s story lines.  He manages to tell a story of love, duty, betrayal, and sullen regret in four brief chapters.  He introduces an entire society and simultaneously makes you understand two of its most powerful political figures: Prince Doran (elder brother to Elia and Oberyn) and his daughter Arianne, who is just as willful as she is beautiful.

This story line is peculiar for many reasons, particularly the fact that Martin choose to tell this story in four chapters narrated by three different people.  Thus the reader achieves a wider understanding of the circumstances because as we have learned through out the previous three installments (particularly with the POV of Sansa, Theon, and Circe) someone’s opinion can not always be trusted.  And yet by splintering this small story with so many voices it achieved little continuity and created many questions.  The story line literally opens up a new world of possibilities for Westeroes, for Danny, for the Martells, but at the same time I have to wonder, when the hell is Martin going to have the time or the space to elaborate on it.  I don’t think there will be any Dornish chapters next book, and I don’t want this fantastic story thread just to hang over me like a leering promise.

I know it’s not my place to think about such things.  Writing is best left to the writer, but I can’t help feeling that Martin is overstretching himself.  Even if there is no limit to his abilities as a story teller, there is a limit to the number of pages his books can be both, practically and economically.  And to be a bit crueler there is also a limit to the number of years he has to tell this story.

And yet even though this plot has me rather concerned I must say it was a joy to read.  I loved Arianne’s POV.  I loved her vigor,  her selfishness, her total misunderstanding of her father.  She felt exceptionally real – I could picture her eyes, her smile, her utter confidence of being.  And I love how there is no tragedy to her.  This girl will go on – being stuck in a tower will not end her being.  She will fight another day, I don’t doubt it for a second.

On a slightly different note I also greatly enjoyed the chapter POV by Arys Oakheart because it was one of the cherished few moment of tenderness in a Song of Ice and Fire.  It had all the nice things I have come to appreciate for their rarity, love, and sex, and want.  But at the same time all of those were skillfully mingled with Arianne’s ambitions.  Even through Ary’s blind lust for her you could taste the subtleties of her manipulations like honey.  It was a wondrous thing to behold and it’s end was in perfect Martin fashion, grandiose, heroic, and yet ultimately futile.

I think these four chapters alone are a fantastic representation of Martin’s ability as a writer.  They have that familial intimacy of a short-story, and yet they are just one little cog in the masterpiece of A Feast for Crows.

The Reawakening

Between school work and fiction writing I have devoted no time to this blog.  But now my semester is running to an end, and I am finally finding the hours to do things I really love. Including continuing the George R.R Martin’s series, a Song of Ice and Fire.

I started the books in late August of 2013.  It was the first fantasy novel I’d read in a long time, and to this day it remains the only “adult” fantasy I’ve ever gotten into.  I loved it from the very first chapter, and it only got better from there.  I remember the fanatical rush of adrenaline with which I swifted through the first novel, A Game of Thrones, the entire book only took me a few days.  However, I made the decision not to continue reading the series till my school year ended.  I didn’t pick up the 2^nd and 3^rd volumes until Spring of 2014.  Again, as soon as I opened up the first page I found myself transfigured.  I dreamt of castles, and dragons, and green flames, I obsessed with battles, and debated destiny.  And I went through the rollercoaster of emotions that Martin creates for his readers.  I fell in love.  I cried.  I felt fear, and pain, and fury.  I felt devastation, betrayal.  And right along-side of that I prized the blood of the victories, the glory of political intrigue, the sweet success of each enemy slain, and each delicious revenge.

I read both books in such quick succession that even now it’s difficult for me to remember them as separate works.  I confuse the time-lines, the POV characters, the heartbreaks.  It’s hard for me to remember even how one book ended and the other began.  Everything was one beautiful and horrible blur.  After I finished I felt emotionally wrecked.  My two favored characters were dead, and ever faithful I took the time to mourn them.  For the next ten months I busied myself with other things, and although occasionally I would turn back to the book and re-read my favored chapter or two, I knew I wasn’t ready to pick up the fourth volume.  The more time passed the more amazing I found the books.  While I was cooking, or waiting for the bus, or trying to go to sleep I would remember with peculiar vibrancy Martin’s narrative.  I would think of Arrya with her changing names, and her lithe strength.  I would remember Sansa’s snow castle, and the flutter of Littlefinger’s kiss.  I would think about Catelyn’s last words, picturing her pale face as she fell with thunderous heartbreak.  I would remember Jamie and Brienne’s quick banter, him with his empty insults, and her quietly growing attached to his wit.  But most of all I would think of Jon and Ygritte.  The cold, and the stars, and Ghost’s shadow over them.  I would think of their climb up the wall, against the bitter wind, and the kisses in the cave they should have never left.  I thought of them again and again.  It takes a good writer to can make you fall in love with a character, but it takes a great writer to make you fall in love with a couple.  I always liked Jon, but it was only through Ygritte’s eyes, and her funny accent that I really felt I knew him.  And I fell in love with his love for her.  I loved everything about them, and my decision to take some time before reading the fourth book was directly linked to their romantic demise.

However, a couple of weeks ago classes were suspected in my University due to a union strike, which created the perfect opportunity for me to finally embark on A Feast for Crows. Now this time I made the conscious decision not to speed-read the book.  I didn’t want to finish it in a couple of days.  Instead I took my time, I read every word carefully, I studied the maps, I looked up character I’d forgotten, and some ten days later I finished this mammoth 650 page work.

Reading it opened me up to the amazing world Martin has created.  More than ever before I got a sense of the depth in his mythology, of the sharp contrasts in his cultures, of the numerous faiths in his world.  A Song Ice and Fire isn’t one story, it doesn’t have one beginning, one ending, one hero.  It has a thousand threads coiled around these continents, these cities, these characters, and as a reader you get the immense pleasure of choosing your own beginning, your own path, your own heroes.  In that sense it is a creation like no other.  Martin’s narrative is not just beautiful, or successful, it achieves a multiplicity, a complexity, that few other writers have ever managed to articulate.  He is a master of the craft, and for my part even finding the words to describe his books is a constant challenge.

There are so many stories in A Feast for Crows, that I don’t feel I can address them all in one post.  I have so much passion for these books that I think I could continuously praise them till the end of time.  I am so happy I read this book slowly, cherishing every sentence, and every POV.  I want to review it in the same fashion.  So, my next few posts will likely be devoted to this one subjected, because few things have ever impacted me so much.

the Wall, the Throne, the Queen, the Boy, the Giant, the Pups & the End

I. The sea brings what the winter takes
On a wall stacked sky-high
With broken crowns and smouldered bones
We will watch them
Burn together –
The winds swerving the flames closer to
Our masked faces.

II. The throne is empty
It does not recognize an owner
But there are ghosts on it
And spikes dripping of ancient
Blood and acid sweat,
Eyes may admire it’s iron,
Tongues may whisper it’s name,
But everybody knows: it owes
Allenge only to the dead.

III. On an island free and beautiful
She has not heard of winter’s flurries,
Her eyes are skyward to where her sons
Take flight, beauty in their strength,
Steel in their grace,
Dracarys, Dracarys, Dracarys,
The very seas envy them,
And the eyes of hollow men,
But I have heard she is not the last.

IV. Distant as the summer stars,
The boy in black bewildered,
He will fight with the wrong name,
And he will wield the wrong sword,
but somehow,
Between the ice and her heat,
He may hear,
He may hear his other calling him
Through the seas.

V. In another shadow,
Closer to the great fist
The fly catcher,
The iron throne of swords,
There is a giant with as many truths
As he has coins.
He will watch for all and do much,
But the lions shall take no notice.

VI. In the North the pups have
Become wildlings,
the cold has them all,
Orphans in the night,
Crypt walkers,
Staying Close to their chivalrous
Silhouettes.

VII. Nightfall brings the screech
Of children and the howl of wolves
To the great mother, the dragon queen
Of Westeros,
There are no victors or losers in
The game of thrones
Only the dead
And those who remember.

This is the only “epic” poem I have ever written, and the very first I wrote about a Song of Ice and Fire. It’s certainly no great work, but it does capture well what I love about the series.

An Ode to Changeability

I think one of my greatest pleasures as a reader/watcher is the moment when, through the unpredictable progression of a story, I begin to feel radically different about a character I thought I knew.  In this first impressions really matter.  Someone can put you off instantly and yet as the story winds its way around you come to see the best of them.  Or quite the opposite, a character you thought likeable does something that you simply cannot approve of.

I love characters like this, because they are proof that the story is progressing contrary to how you thought it would.  So here are the 10 that have most surprised me.  The 10 that have caused me to change my opinions of them most drastically.

10. Samwise Gamgee (The Lord of the Rings)

Sam started out the story as a bit of a loser.  Smart and likeable too, but there was no doubt he was the sidekick and Frodo was the hero.  However by the time the third movie comes around you realize just how much of the weight of ring falls on Sam’s shoulders.  And he rises to this challenge in a way that exceeded all my expectations.  He is the hero, and Frodo is just the guy that he defended, put up with and half-carried to Mount Doom.

9. Light Yagami (Death Note)

From the very start of Death Note we become aware that Light is a bad person.  That he is a killer. However his logic is understandable. Who among us doesn’t wish that the world were a safer place? A place filled with only good people? Yet as the story progressed all the admiration I had for Light was turned inside out.  Slowly you began to see how sick he was, how cruel, how unfeeling.  By the end of the story I was cheering for his demise, the same character that in pilot I was sure would become one of my all time favourites.

8. Brenda Chenowith (Six Feet Under)

Originally there was absolutely nothing I liked about Brenda.  She was crazy, she was a liar, she was near-incestial and most of all she was a sex-maniac.  But she changed so much when she became a mother.  It seemed to suit her instantly, and you really begin to wonder who was the real crazy one, her or Nate? In the end she was still far from my favoured character but I could appreciate her. She was strong, she was brilliant and unlike Nate she managed to solve her mental-problems whereas he couldn’t.

7. Jayne Cobb (Firefly)

Jayne comes off as an asshole.  He’s misogynistic.  He’s unloyal.  And his role in the crew is clearly just “muscle”.  However as the show continued you also get to see how sweet he can be, how funny, how human.  Sure he might not be a good person, but that doesn’t make him a bad person.  And shamefully he has wormed his way into being my favoured Firefly character, I cannot get enough of Jayne and that stupid hat of his.

6. Jamie Lannister (A Song of Ice and Fire)

He threw a six year old from a window because he wanted to keep fucking his sister.  That’s the reader’s first impression of Jamie.  He comes across as a guiltless, lustful villain, without even a little bit of mercy inside of him.  However in the third book when he becomes a PoV character suddenly everything is thrown into a new context.  He’s in love. He’s desperate.  He’s lonely.  Jamie has a way to win you over to him.  You feel for his pain, specially when you know what a freaking hoe bag Circe is.  Poor bloke.  Things would be so much easier if he was in love with Tyrion…

5. Roger Sterling (Mad Men)

When Mad Men started Roger Sterling was a laughable old prick who chased after all the wrong woman and who’s life was symbolic at best. Don was the guy to be.  Don was the hot one.  Don was the clever one.  Don was the one who was getting places in the world.  Only as the show went on, season through season you realize what a cruel person Don is.  Roger might not be a Saint, but he’s a better human being than Don could ever be and by season six the only paring in the whole show I care even the least bit about is Roger and Joan.  Those two belong together, hell they’ve already got the baby.

4. Littlefinger (A Song of Ice and Fire)

Littlefinger is introduced as a douche bag.  A sleazy, creepy, pedophiliac dandy.  I always wrote him off as just that and no more.  And then the last chapter of a Storm of Swords happened, and I realized that Littlefinger is actually responsible for like 90% of the shit that has happened in Westeros.  Yep, he’s actually one of the big players, and I had no idea until now… Well played G.R.R.M… Well played.

3. Severus Snape (Harry Potter)

This one doesn’t need explaining. We all thought Snape was bad. And then we learned that he was actually just a bitter old guy with a broken heart. Sweet, no? Well, not exactly, but he was a better person than I gave him credit for.

2. The 11th Doctor (Dr. Who)

Here’s one that a bit difficult to explain.  Let’s begin by saying that Tennant is my Dr.  He always will be my Dr.  I adore the man.  However when Smith came along I took to the transition really really well.  He was adorable and funny, sort of like a cross between a disoriented cat and a small child.  I was with him all of season 5 and season 6.  And even though I never for one second though he lived up to Tennant (cause who could?) I did love him.  And then season 7 got here and I have never been more disappointed in my life.  His acting went down the toilet and I just couldn’t even look at his face anymore without getting angry.  It took me longer to get through season 7 than the previous 6 seasons combined and multiplied.  By the end of Smith’s run I had lost absolute all the love I had previously harboured for him, and these days I’m just screaming for Capaldi to get here already.

1. Walter White (Breaking Bad)

I don’t think this one needs an explanation either.  During Season 1 I didn’t like Walt, but I felt sorry for him.  Much like Light I thought that in some ways his action were justified.  I could understand it.  But with every person he killed, and every person he screwed over that became harder and harder to believe. By the time Season 3 hit I loathed him, and now (I am currently half-way through season 5) I am looking forward to his coming death with relish.

 

Of Love and Humor

Since my last post talking about the Song and of Ice and Fire, I have finished the second and third volume, and I have to say the story is getting better and better. Martin is not only a very talented story teller but he has a way of making you care, care deeply about characters that you hated previously. 

For example at the start of book three I loathed Jamie with a passion for what he did to Bran.  And I could imagine him, cocky, handsome and talented, but when Jamie’s POV started it was different.  The first thing that came across is that he had an excellent sense of humor. Jamie is freaking hilarious, even funnier than Tyrion and grudgingly through every chapter you get to love him, genuinely love him.  I mean it.  In book 3 I went from hating Jamie to treasuring him, as both a remarkably fresh perspective and a lovely human being, even if he was blind and damaged.  I guess this comes from Martin paring him off with Brienne.  That was simply genius. 

You know a lot of the blood, and death can be anticipated but those rare moments of love and kindness, they just always take me by surprise.  And if something shocked me more than my affection for Jamie, it was Jon.  Now for both of the first books I thought Jon’s story line was a little boring.  I always liked Jon, but he was out in the cold, surrounded by a bunch of dudes who’s names I found it really hard to remember.  But Ygritte, she changed everything.  From her first appearance I knew she would be amazing, and she was.  I liked her very much in book 2 but it was in A Storm of Sword that she really came to herself.  She was funny, she was tough, she was loving, and she was enigmatic.  I liked that she was the one pushing Jon to have intercourse and not the other way around.  I liked how she talked.   I liked that she wasn’t beautiful, and to be honest I liked that she died.  Yes, it ripped my heart out but at the same time I do think it was necessary, especially in keeping with Martin’s style. 

Nevertheless her contributions of love, and sex, and laughs were what made the third volume so superior to the other two.  I know a lot of dark things happen.  I know that it is constantly crammed with pain and loss, but the love that Ygritte brought somehow balanced it out for me.  It reminded me that even in this hellish word, pure things can exist.  And I think it’s the first real love story the book series has had (unless you count Circe and Jamie, which I don’t because their not really seen together, or Caitlyn and Ned who again suffer from the same problem) and it makes me yearn for another one.   I think love is necessary to achieve the full-world spectrum that Martin is going for, so I hope he embraces it in following books. 

A Game of Thrones

I just finished the first book in George R.R Martin’s A song of ice and fire series and I absolutely love it.  However it is a very strange read.  There’s no main character, there’s no hero, there’s very little magic.  He breaks all the conventions of fantasy writing and yet he uses this to his advantage in advancing the plot.

I think he’s a fantastic writer, he makes you care for every one of his POV characters even when some are just terrible humans being.  He also deals with very immoral behaviour but it’s always in a context where it can be understood.  Nonetheless I think we shouldn’t forget that it is immoral, and in some instances just plain sick.

For example I was very disturbed with the “sex” scene between Deanerys and Kahl Drogo. I know in the tv-show she’s looks to be in her late teens but in the books she’s 13 years old.  I would not call this a ‘sex” scene and I don’t think anybody else should, this was rape.  She was sold to him like a slave.  She didn’t know him.  And at the beginning she’s crying and miserable.  I hate the fact that he made it seem that as soon as she felt pleasure she lost all her fears and worries.  Also need I repeat: she was thirteen years old.  Anyway you look at it this relationship is pretty sick.

However it was in a context where it could be undersood not only culturally but personally.  All Danny ever wanted was somewhere safe, and she had already been abused so much by her brother that Drogo seemed like the better man.  I like that there’s this kind of explanation and it does add credibility to the era.

Overall I was extremely pleased with how he wrote women.  I think many fantasy writers struggle with where to put them or how to make them act, you know that cliche balance between girly and tough but with Martin every woman felt like a rounded out individual.  He didn’t go for stereotypes, he wrote people, as multi-dymentional as their male counterparts.

But what I found most impressive of all is how Martin built the world.  Because he has so many POV characters spread out across so many places you really get a wider sense of the geography, politics, and culture than you do in say Lord of the Rings. Add this to his elusions to history, mythology and religion and you are left with the most complex fantasy lore’s I’ve ever read.