REPOST--Why loving A Song of Ice and Fire makes you want to rip your heart out and come back for more punishment

Source : Created by Olga Daniels.

Many years ago now I came across a piece of fantasy writing called A Game of Thrones.  I had never heard of George R.R Martin, but the book had a really cool cover so it grabbed my attention. I know attracted by a cover, how cliché.  (To the a-hole that lent the book too and never returned it.  I still have my daggers out for you.)

Let's get two things straight before proceeding.     

1.   I love Jaime Lannister. I have no idea what gave that little nugget away. Unsure if I could share him. I know we Saucy Wenches share our book boyfriends around, but um confession. It might be difficult to pry my limp fingers and naked body off him. But I would share then, I think.

2.     I’m not a Daenerys (Danys) fan. I can already hear the gasps of shock from some of you.

****Mild spoilers after the jump*****

So what got me on the series bandwagon?

From the first couple of chapters I knew I was going to be propelled into a world of high fantasy. After all, children with direwolves, what was not to love? Quickly I was thrust into a world where intrigue, drama, morality and immorality were all battling each other.  There was duty, there was honour, there was scheming, there was backstabbing, there was incest and there was death.  Early on you could hear the drummer was drumming to the beat of war as the factions began the battle for the Iron Throne. As the books progress the beat gets more frantic. The first book, A Game of Thrones, had all the marking for setting up a world about to implode and I felt I had to be there to know how it was all going to go down.  Picture if you will the kings aligned up upon the board with their armies ready to strike should any advantage be shown.  As each book went on, I became more and more invested in the characters. I had to know that they were going to be okay. I had to know if they would live or die. If my nerves could handle it.

The pervading sense of doom.

The whole setting of the books is that the long summer is over and now we have to prepare for the long winter.   The children in the series are often called the children of summer, for they have never known the devastation that winter can bring.  The landscape descriptions that are evoked by the novels shows are very diverse land.  There are varying religions, climates, familial ties and each has a part to play in battle, strategy and war.  

The early descriptions of a place called The Wall were intriguing as there was something otherworldly that lay beyond its boundaries. Imagine if you will, the footsteps of deadly forces that revel in the gloom and despair that a harsh winter can bring. Doom seemed to permeate over The Wall, sending out its tendrils to grasp anything within its reach. As winter starts to bite, the tendrils extend further South.  The Wall is the barrier between Westeros and the Others.  The Wall is the barrier to keep out evil, but the Wall is undermanned and under pressure. Even here at the Wall as events play out, you still sense that the real battle will be fought here and not down in Kings Landing which is where the traditional seat of power is.

You always get the sense that along the Wall it is always winter. And sometimes it makes me shiver just imagining the place and how cold it must be to stand at the top of the wall and feel the cold wind buffeting the Wall and men huddled around fires and wrapped in black cloaks to keep warm.   In the back of the men's minds must be the danger that lurks, waiting on the other side of the Wall. When the men go ranging beyond the Wall into where the wildlings are, you can hear the echoes of the dead. As each step is taken further North from the Wall, the sense of death lurking increases. Because death means Others.


“he remembered the dead coming over the stones with arrows in their faces and through their throats. Some were all in ringmail and some were almost naked…wildlings, most of them, but a few wore faded blacks. He remembered one of the Shadow Tower men shoving his spear through a wight’s pale soft belly and out his back, and how the thing staggered right up the shaft and reached out his black hands and twisted the brother’s head around until blood came out his mouth. That was when his bladder let go the first time, he was almost sure.” Sam Tarly – A Storm of Swords

One element that pervades the books is the sense of impending disaster and doom. The world is gloomy and to quote the Starks motto “Winter is Coming”. It always feels like things can’t get any worse and then they do.  Victory is quickly followed by defeat. Defeat, quickly replaced by victory as the author highlights so clearly how one wrong / one right decision can alter the course of the political landscape.  In the background is that it can take only one death and all the chess pieces will be scattered. Thus the chessboard is reset and  a new game is started.  Each character is a pawn on a chessboard battling for survival. And in this game, being a king is a deadly business for both the life of the king and the other players. For here kings die as easily as they are thrust into position.

The books centre on how astutely a person can play the game of thrones.  As with any game there are winners and losers. Some players are better at the game than others. Some players continue to grow from strength to strength as they gain more experience. Other players think they are winning the game, yet they fail to consider that while the old saying is “keep your friends close and your enemies closer”, the closer you keeps your enemies, the more easily they can stab you in the back.  Trust me, all players have some kind of weapon they can wield. So readers need to keep their wits about them. Yes the world is all encompassing, but don’t get too comfortable in your seat as right around the corner you are going to find yourself ten paces behind the game, or the person you have been backing is lying in a pool of blood.

Multiple Points of View. (POV)

There are a lot of points of view (POV’s) to keep track of and sometimes it can be a bit daunting, but it is so worth it.  One of the main reasons, I have enjoyed these books so much is the author’s ability to make the characters grey and I think the multiple points of view has helped to establish why George R. R. Martin is able to tell this type of story and it is a deliberate ploy to pull the reader into this world. There are characters I started out loathing – hello Jaime Lannister (I wanted you to meet an evil, torturous death after the first book) and Theon Greyjoy (I spent many an hour plotting your demise). The imagined deaths were slow, torturous and painful.  Here is where the true brilliance of the author comes into play. To begin with we are only shown some characters' points of view (POV’s) and hence our view of characters that don’t have their own POV is coloured by perception.  Once characters are given their own POV’s my empathy and, in some cases, my support for certain characters changed.  Case in point is Jaime Lannister and Theon Greyjoy. Let’s just say that if Jaime Lannister isn’t still alive when all the chips come out to play and with a certain woman, I won’t be happy.

 I think Jaime Lannister is one of the most redemptive characters I have ever read and I am a sucker for that.  This is not to say that Jaime Lannister is a completely noble person, by any means, but he is not the horrific person he may appear in A Game of Thrones. The ability to make the reader want a character to succeed after a very unforgivable action in A Game of Thrones, an action that would see many readers wanting to see Jaime Lannister impaled, is truly what makes this series one to treasure.  The multiple points of view help to layer the books so that you can see events from very different angles, and this helps to create the whole, complex world that the series is set in. Just a little side note for those friends who I am still trying to convince of the merits of Jaime, the love doesn't even start until Book 3, A Storm of Swords. Up until then, I wanted someone to thrust a sword into his supposed black heart.

Don’t get too comfy in your chair.

Just when you think you are getting cosy in your seat, an event will jump up and make you want to throw the book across the floor or start drinking copious amounts of wine. This might lead to some swearing saying “What the fuck just happened here?  

“Please,” she said. “He is my son. My first son, and my last. Let him go. Let him go and I swear we will forget this…forget all you’ve done here.  I swear it by the old gods and the new, we…we will take no vengeance…” – A Storm of Swords.

There are shocking deaths -hello the Red Wedding; maiming – how ugly can we possibly make characters, lost limbs galore, who needs a hand, a nose and what's a few scars? It almost feels like George R.R Martin wages a war on the reader of shock and awe.  He wants you to think that no one is safe and trust me I believe it that no one is completely safe. But once you have your favourites, it becomes a lot harder to handle if they die or are missing in action. Didn’t I already tell you these characters are real?   It is worth noting that the body count is high in this series.  As for all the characters it is never wise to assume they are dead, unless there is concrete proof, like say a head chopped off, displayed with crows pecking it. In this world it is best to burn your dead; otherwise you might be in for an unpleasant surprise. The last thing you would want is a bodiless hand or headless body trying to attack you. Could this happen? Yes it really could.

 

Why my Heart has been trashed.

You have to be prepared to have your heart ripped out. Mine, has been pulled out, staked, stabbed and put back in. I envy the people that have only just discovered this series given the success of the TV show as the wait between books will not be so excruciating.  When A Dance with Dragons came out, long-time fans had not seen some of these characters since 2000, with A Storm of Swords.  To say it was a long time between drinks is an understatement. But I keep getting pulled in each time the next book comes out, as I have to know how it will all end. Will my favourites still be standing? Jaime / Arya / Asha / Brienne / Jon / Bran and Davos. Will those I don’t like finally meet the sword or perhaps a dragon? Danys is on that list for me. (I know shock horror, but I did warn you I’m not a fan.) Cersei is in that category too, but that darn George R.R. Martin has even managed to make me have a tiny smidgen of sympathy for her. Does she deserve a bad end? Assuredly, but this is where the whole genius of this series boils down too.  Cersei is completely evil and often very unhinged.  Yes even Cersei gets a POV along the way and suddenly you are able to see more clearly how she was moulded into the person she becomes.

“Will the king and I have children?” she asked

“Oh, aye. Six-and-ten for him, and three for you.” That made no sense to Cersei. Her thumb was throbbing where she’d cut it, and her blood was dripping on the carpet. How could that be she wanted to ask, but she was done with her questions.

The old woman was not done with her, however. “Gold shall be their crowns and gold their shrouds, “she said. “And when your tears have drowned you, the valonqar shall wrap his hands about your pale white throat and choke the life from you.’ - A Feast For Crows.

Thus when the reader is given a chance to look inside characters minds, it can be both scary and enlightening at the same time. 

Danys and Tyrion I want to see the pain (for the reader) end.

Danys and Tyrion, sad to say I loved them in Book 1 and Tyrion up to until he headed across the Narrow Sea. However since then nothing has really captured me in their stories, and since these two junctures in their narratives I've lost interest. I don’t care about Meereen. I don’t care about the slaves or the dragons. – Hey I love dragons with the best of them, but I still feel a bit like, what is the point of them in relation to this series and to Westeros? Perhaps the epic plan is that Danys will sweep in on the three headed dragon, along with two other Targaryens (one popular theory tends to suggest this might be Tyrion and Jon) and save the day. But I’m not feeling it.  Danys has been stranded there for too long and it is boring, boring, boring. I spent the Danys and Tyrion chapters of A Dance with Dragons trying not to fall asleep whilst reading them.   If the story across the Narrow Sea was napalmed I don’t think I would be too disappointed, except for one particular character that needs to get her butt back to Westeros ASAP. I now think the Narrow Sea is pretty much a death knell for an interesting story line. The action is on Westeros. That is the island and people I care about most. Perhaps once the series ends my view might change.  It is going to take a lot for me to back Danys to be ultimately victorious.  Yeah like a miracle.  If this happens then be prepared to see my heart trampled into the mud and Danys supporters doing a happy dance above me.

But by the time the series wraps up, I will have invested a lot of time and emotional heartache that to see Danys succeed to the throne might make me ball my eyes out. It might be wise to note here, I don’t cry easily when I read a book.

I don’t feel Danys deserves to be the leader of Westeros, although it doesn’t come down to who deserves to does it? It comes down to who can play the game better.  In my view there are others that would prove a better leader and yes that even includes Stannis Baratheon.  Please don’t shriek too loudly when you read that. Yes George R.R Martin (sorry, I can’t seem to say his name without saying the whole thing) as I raise my fist to you, you have made me like this character too. I am probably one of only five people in the whole world. No doubt we could have our own fan club. Contact me if you are interested ;). Although, I am a bit nervous about where Stannis story arc is going. There are many other characters whose leadership has more promise, however the scramble for the throne continues. Some may argue that Danys doesn’t have experience to guide her, that she is too young. Again this is the glory of this series. There is a character for everyone and we can all back our own candidates to ultimately succeed.  Much like a political campaign really.

Just a small note on the Starks. I can’t leave them out.

There are many different noble houses in the novels. From the Starks, Baratheons, Lannisters, Freys, Greyjoys and many more. Yet the Starks are, and always have been my favourite.  So you start your series off by introducing some cute kids, Robb, Jon, Sansa, Arya, Bran, and Rickon. They are very diverse in character and age and then you scatter them. It is almost as if you have a handful of marbles and then fling them as far apart as you possibly can.  The trouble is that I just want them back together again, somehow, some way.  Perhaps that isn’t the overall plan, as it seems that all the Stark children have their own destiny. And George R.R Martin’s vision of destiny may vary from mine. I am sure I will be satisfied with whatever conclusion he comes to.  I hope.  Some of the Starks have already completed their journey, while others are still on the road, searching for a way to make sense of what the gods have dished up for them.  My heart bleeds for this family when I know all that they have gone through and are no doubt yet to endure.  I worry, because I think the author delights in keeping me on my toes and killing characters when I'm not paying attention.

My love affair with the North.

The North is where my heart of hearts remains and as the story progresses the area I love the most continues to be torn apart.  Winterfell is an empty shell; there is fighting between the factions and still the dreadful walking dead are making their presence felt.  The marauding hordes have laid waste to much of the land and Winter is coming.  As players jump sides as often as you can change your underwear, it is little wonder that the devastation is plain to see.  As winter tightens its grip across the land, the future remains uncertain, the land divided and who knows how many more deaths, or in this series's case, presumed deaths the author has up his sleeve.  Oh wait I won’t know until 2018 at the current rate of writing. Just kidding. I am hoping that “Son of Kong” will be out before then. 

The Winds of Winter, I hope that when you finally make it to the shelves that many questions are answered and that it sets us up for the final book and a fantastic end to the series. You have taken me through the ride of my life so far and I can’t wait to see what is still to come around the corner.  

Will the The Winds of Winter hurry up already?

P.S Why oh why did the book covers change? I loved my first three covers and then in book 4 the theme wasn’t continued. Grr. I like my book covers to match thank you very much. The End as I could ramble on and on.

A Song of Ice and Fire

A Game of Thrones
A Clash of Kings
A Storm of Swords
A Feast for Crows
A Dance with Dragons
The Winds of Winter - to be released.

Sound off below. Let me know what you love about this series and what you hate. Who do you think will still be standing when the series concludes? Who do you think will be on the Iron Throne? Do you have a favourite character? Or a character you wish had been beheaded long ago?

Special mention to Zee the Terrible for taking the time to read through my post before it was published to the blog.

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