Review: A dance with Dragons by George R. R. Martin

A Dance with Dragons
(A Song of Ice and Fire # 5)
By George R.R. Martin

Publshed: 2011

Synopsis (via goodreads): In the aftermath of a colossal battle, the future of the Seven Kingdoms hangs in the balance once again--beset by newly emerging threats from every direction.And from all corners, bitter conflicts soon reignite, intimate betrayals are perpetrated, and a grand cast of outlaws and priests, soldiers and skinchangers, nobles and slaves, will face seemingly insurmountable obstacles. Some will fail, others will grow in the strength of darkness. But in a time of rising restlessness, the tides of destiny and politics will lead inevitably to the greatest dance of all. . . .



I can't believe I've already finished the series! I really should have slowed myself down so that I wouldn't have to reread it in 5-10 years when GRRM finally releases the next book in the series! It's going to destroy my patience trying to wait out the next book's release...waiting is not my forte. Anyway, onto the review of the recently released book five of the wonderful and magnificently large A Song of Ice and Fire fantasy series. Obviously since this is book five it'll contain spoilers from the previous four books so if you haven't read them yet and you don't want them spoiled do not read on!

Ok so my previous review for book four, A Feast for Crows, stated my ambivalence for this book. Partly because AFFC didn't really live up to the previous books and because A Dance with Dragons takes place at the same time as AFFC but tells the story of the characters who missed out getting in to AFFC. So my verdict? Well...I'm torn. On one hand I raced through this book and at no time did it feel like it was a chore or difficult to get through the 961 pages (my edition) but on the other hand...meh. I'm going to do my best to describe what I liked and disliked about this book but I'm having trouble actually putting it into words it was just...meh.

So as mentioned the book continues along the timeline set in the previous book, but this time we get to hear from my favourite characters, and in my opinion the more interesting characters, Jon (at the wall), Tyrion (escaping from King's Landing) and Daenerys (struggling to rule Mereen), as well as characters like Bran, Davos, Quentyn and a few others. Because I've read these books in pretty quick concession I had no issue picking up where their stories had been left off but I imagine anyone who has had a bit of time lapse in between reads might have difficult remembering all the smaller, yet important, details and more importantly they may have issues recalling exactly who all the minor characters are. Especially those around Daenerys in Mereen with all their ridiculously similar names Hazayrr, Kazayrr, Khazzyr or whoever they are!

It did take a little getting used to the pace of this novel because even though chronologically it's in line with AFFC it doesn't exactly match up. So when Jon's chapters start up Sam seems to linger around for a lot longer than he did in the previous book (where we read from his perspective) because for Jon there was more that needed to happen before he could send Sam away. And at times I'd find myself a little muddled and confusing action from the previous book with this book, "wait I thought Sam was on his way south, why is he still at the wall?" for example. This was mostly an issue at the very start of the book, once Sam had headed south, it was a lot easier to fall into the rhythm of the book.

One of my chief concerns was that this book would waste chapters rehashing an event from another perspective. There were perhaps two chapters where a large chunk of the dialogue/action was exactly as it had been in the previous book. Again the example coming to mind is when Jon tells Sam he's sending him to become a maester. There is dialogue and interaction that occurred before this conversation and we get a bit of insight into why Tilly ran crying from Jon while Sam was waiting to speak with him, but a large chunk of the chapter is simply what we'd already read with the occasional input of internal dialogue from Jon. I found that beyond boring and I found the internal insights confusing because even though I knew they were giving explanation to why Jon made faces at Sam or paused in his speech in Sam's version from AFFC I couldn't actually remember exactly what happened in Sam's version and I wasn't interested enough to pull out that book and read them side by side. Luckily this only happens in one other chapter (that I can recall) but for those chapters it is a little clunky and awkward and really could have probably been edited out or down.

What it does do with this chronological format is provide the full story behind some of the rumours in AFFC. Early into AFFC Cersei receives word that Davos, Stannis's hand also known as the Onion Knight, had been beheaded at White Harbour. In this book we find out what really happened, in much more detail, and this new aspect adds a whole new dimension to the news and information those in King's Landing receive. In my reviews of the earliest books I expressed my delight over the secrecy and double-crossing that was had a constant presence in the books. Basically that's what happens in this book, except rather than just realising it from chapter to chapter when you see what news different characters receive and how they react/act around different people in small groups (most commonly in King's Landing) you see this behaviour taking place across the kingdom. The two sub-plots that blossom in White Harbour with Davos (one that begins to take shape, and one which is left for the next book) are only small but they have the potential to grow greatly and I found them very, very interesting!

This book has a much quicker pace but I think that really comes down to the characters it focuses on. In King's Landing things had begun to stagnate. Cersei was losing her mind to paranoia and struggling to maintain her power through her son around the shifty characters she'd surrounded herself with. It was quite small scale and for the most part concerned only King's Landing and a few characters. Similarly Brienne's chapters were basically her saying "I'm looking for my sister, a girl of three and ten" over and over as she rode through the ruins of Westeros. However this book had Quentyn (son of the prince of Dorne) struggling to make his way to Daenerys to swear his allegiance through marriage, Tyrion racing away from King's Landing and his sister's clutches and falling in to some interesting company (on more than one occasion!) and Jon struggling against the Wildings, the Others and the obnoxious King Stannis and his red witch. So immediately this book covers a far greater area and looks at several different conflicts and issues taking place across the seven kingdoms and beyond. That said it still is a little slow. Not snail pace, but it's filling in a lot of gaps, reminding audiences of earlier conflicts and providing new details of back stories which had previously been hinted at.

I had no real problem with this slower speed especially when about two thirds of the way through it actually overtakes the previous book and begins to give us completely new stories. Cliff hangers from AFFC are answered or at least re-glimpsed and the action takes off at a much faster pace. It really needed those slower two thirds to set up the scene for the last part of the book and hopefully this means the next book will begin at an equally fast pace and really snowball the story home.

So I had no real problem with the pace of the story but I did feel like a lot of it was unnecessary. Did GRRM really need 2000 pages and two books to tell this part of the story? One of the things I really loved about GRRM was how he managed to write this huge, all encompassing story but still maintain it fairly succinctly. I feel like he's perhaps lost control of these books. Davos was given four or five chapters to do very little and as soon as things got really interesting it was left. Bran spent a long time walking north and once things got interesting the chapters ended. Brienne and Jaime were reintroduced at the two thirds mark, we were teased a little and that was it. Jon didn't really develop too much that hadn't been introduced in the previous three books and Daenerys lingers on in Mereen even though nothing happens except people hate her or want to marry her. Ultimately it was 961 pages of story which really could have been worked into the previous book if GRRM had a more concrete idea of where the story was going and what needed to be included, and what was merely interesting filler. I guess this is where the meh reaction comes in. I enjoyed reading the book, I like the characters and I love the world he's created and his writing is still fantastic but did I need to read it, did it advance the story at all? No, not really, and I imagine those fans who've waited five years for it will be a little let down.

Which I guess brings me on to my final point, his unbelievable overuse of cliff hangers! In the first two or three books these cliff hangers weren't really an issue because more often than not the cliff hanger was resumed in the same book at a later chapter. Now that GRRM has so many characters (I think he's literally bordering on a cast of 1000s) if he leaves a chapter as a cliff hanger, especially one of the minor characters like Davos or Sam, there is a chance it won't be picked up again in the same book. So at this point there are literally dozens of story lines left hanging, some since two books previously, which perhaps won't be resolved any time soon. It makes it a little frustrating and a little confusing. There are only so many sub-plots and frayed story lines that can be remembered at any one time and as time goes on they'll need more background provided to rehash them (you can't expect your audience to reread every book again each time you publish a new one) which will take up unnecessary space and waste yet another book.

I feel like this has come out really negative which wasn't my intention at all! I really did enjoy the book, some of the story lines were fantastic and I jumped around in anger/happiness/fear more than a few times! But I guess once you start to think about it for an extended period of time you start to realise the inconsistencies and the difficulties the series is up against. If you haven't read the series yet (but have decided to risk spoilers to read this!) don't let this be a deterrent, it's a wonderful series and has some great potential to go into new, uncharted waters. If you've read it, I'm interested in what you think about this book, let me know in the comments!

Review: A Feast for Crows by George R.R. Martin

A Feast For Crows
(A Song of Ice and Fire #4)
by George R.R. Martin

Published: 2005

Synopsis(from book cover): Bloodthirsty, treacherous and cunnng, the Lannisters are in power on the Iron Throne in the name of the boy king Tommen. The war in the Seven Kingdoms has burned itself out, but in its bitter aftermaths new conflicts spark to life. The Martells of Dorne and the Starks of Winterfell seek vengeance for their dead. Euron Crow's Eye, as black a pirate as ever raised a sale, returns from the smoking ruins of Valyria to claim the Iron Isles. From the icy noth, where Others threaten the wall, apprentice Maester Samwell Tarly brings a mysterious babe in arms to the Citadel.


So assuming you've read my previous reviews I'm sure you're aware that I'm kinda in love with this series and so far have not faulted it a drop. Well hold on to your hats people, things are about to change!

A Feast for Crows begins where the previous book ended, which incidentally was my favourite book of the series so far, so I had pretty high hopes for this one. I've heard from other bloggers and friends that this book was by far the worst in the series but I was hoping they were wrong, or exaggerating or jealous of Martin's god-like storytelling abilities. Unfortunately they were right, well, to an extent. This book was by far the worst of the series, but when the four previous books have received 5 stars from me that doesn't necessarily mean much.

An epilogue from Martin at the end of the book explains that this books is merely half of what he intended to publish. When he realised the book was going to be excessive in size he decided to split it in half but struggled over whether it would be better to take the finished work, cut it in half and slap a "to be continued" at the end or to divide the characters in half and tell the complete story for half of the characters in one book and then release a second book that completed the story for the other half of characters. He decided on the latter, though I'm still debating over whether that was the right move to make or not. For instance in this book we learn that a mid-level character is dead and in the epilogue Martin says that we'll hear from that character. But will it just be telling the story that we heard in this book or does that suggest that there is more to the story and we'll find out perhaps he isn't dead or something else happened before he died which was kept from the Queen and those in King's Landing? If it's the second option then yay! But if it's the first and it plays out as it was told to the Queen then I think it'll be rather boring and something I don't care to read.

So in this book we see a Westeros that has been severely damaged by the war that has nearly petered out completely. The Northmen have died or bent their knee to the Iron throne, Stannis is at the wall but is excluded from this book, Rob is definitely dead and his resurrected mother features very little in this book (though I hope she has a place in A Dance with Dragons), Cersei is losing it and Jaime seems to have had a change of character and is actually proving to be a tough but just lord commander of the Kingsguard. Though the threat of war has been extinguished to the north the Iron men (Theon Greyjoy's family) have taken up arms and are threatening the southern realm, there are more and more outlaws and wolves (the four legged kind) roaming through the kingdom and in Dorne trouble brews.

One of my main concerns about this book was that it focused so heavily on the lagging kingdom and omitted where the action would be, i.e. the wall and with Daenerys. There is far too much focus on Queen Cersei's insane fear of opposition, desperation and utter stupidity. Seriously, she's the stupidest character in the series (in terms of intelligence) and it seems like more and more people are coming to realise that. It was interesting to watch her plot and plan and think how brilliant she was and then read a chapter from Jaime or another character which demonstrates how stupid her plans are, how transparent her schemes are and how disliked she is by everyone. I'll enjoy it greatly when she finally dies, which is such a horrible thing to say, but it's only fiction so I'm allowed to be heartless and bloodthirsty like that! Though this stuff was interesting and will serve in later books as the catalyst for the Lannister kingdom's implosion I'm sure, it did grow a little tedious to just read over and over about her little schemes and men fawning over her and her and Jaime's constant bickering. Similarly I found the travels with Brienne to be equally tedious. I never warmed to her character and now she's almost overwhelmingly obnoxious, always going on about honour and keeping oaths and freaking Jaime Lannister. Seriously Martin, just make them bang already. Though she isn't as pious as some of the other characters have become her self-righteousness is just as annoying and I'm sick of reading how ugly a maid she is.

I suppose this leads fairly well into my second complaint. Because this book only contains half the stories we've been following we also only hear from half the characters. Unfortunately these characters are some of my least favourite (Cersei and Brienne especially) and for much of the time I was desperately wondering what was happening with Jon and Stannis on the wall. What happened with Tyrion, where did he go and is Varys with him? Will he join with Dany, or plot some other war against his sister? And what about Dany, how is her endeavour going? The few characters that I did really enjoy (Arya, Samwell, Sansa etc) had chapters few and far between and are likely to go undocumented until the book after A Dance with Dragons if Martin's epilogue is still true in intent. A few new characters were introduced and held their own chapters but they were also in the minority. On the plus side A Dance with Dragons should be an absolute cracker since it'll tell the stories of the characters which hold my interest the most.

Complaints aside this was still and interesting book and equally as well written as it's predecessors. There are a few interesting story lines that have begun to be explored namely, without giving away any spoilers, the Ironborn Euron Crow's Eye and his recent trip to the depths of Valyria, what is awaiting Samwell in the Citadel and the hints of collusion and revenge mentioned in Dorne. Although these probably set up the events for A Dance with Dragons and more likely the book that will follow I feel like they could have been explored more thoroughly and earlier, seeing as the Euron Crow's Eye plot was the only one really mentioned earlier than 700 pages in. Obviously ends have to be tied for the new chapter in the tale to begin but I really do think too much emphasis was placed on it, and particularly Cersei, and a few hundred pages could have served a better story.

While the seeds for the new war/uprising/threat have been planted and the secrecy of this series has hit an all-time high I'm a little worried about beginning A Dance with Dragons and coming up against the same thing. Perhaps Martin's story would have been better served to have a 'to be continued' line at the end rather than the split it was published with but I won't know until I begin A Dance with Dragons and find out for certain. I know this review has been a bit of a downer but it was still a great book, just a let-down compared to the previous epic tales of the wars and worries of Westeros. Definitely don't give up on the series or skip this book, just be prepared for a dip in awesomeness.

Review: A Storm of Swords 2: Blood and Gold by George R.R. Martin

A Storm of Swords 2: Blood and Gold
(A Song of Ice and Fire #3)
By George R.R Martin

Published: 2000

Synopsis:  The Seven Kingdoms are divided by revolt and blood feud, and winter approaches like an angry beast. Beyond the Northern borders, wildlings leave their villages to gather in the ice and stone wasteland of the Frostfangs. From there, the renegade Brother Mance Rayder will lead them South towards the Wall. Robb Stark wears his new-forged crown in the Kingdom of the North, but his defences are ranged against attack from the South, the land of House Stark's enemies the Lannisters. His sisters are trapped there, dead or likely yet to die, at the whim of the Lannister boy-king Joffrey or his depraved mother Cersei, regent of the Iron Throne. And Daenerys Stormborn will return to the land of her birth to avenge the murder of her father, the last Dragon King on the Iron Throne.


Wow book two, what can I say?!

After completing the 'complete' book I think I'd have to say that this is probably my favourite book (by which I mean part 1 and 2 combined) that I've read in the series so far. It is by far the most complex, character-driven and action packed book of the series and I'd say Martin's most ambitious attempt yet.

When I reviewed A Storm of Swords book 1 I mentioned that it began to really delve into the character's psyche and motivations. This continued throughout book two also. In a world like Westeros life can be pretty black and white at times. You work tirelessly in your position, you marry to strengthen ties with other families in the realm and you honour your king but your family comes first. Because of the fairly rigid social and cultural boundaries and expectations many of the characters appeared to be fairly easy to assess. In this book (and part 1) Martin almost makes you feel bad for judging the characters so superficially or quickly. Characters like Jaime Lannister who seemed at first to just be an incestuous killing machine appears to have grown a conscience and built a wall between him and the rest of his family and Sandor Clegane, while not honourable or a gentleman, is definitely more than the 'king's dog'. It isn't as though they've simply swung in the other direction from bad to good, or good to bad but now they have far more texture and complexity and their morality is now hard to pinpoint, at least definitively.

Unlike A Storm of Swords 1 that seemed to concentrate more on this character investigation at the expense of action, this part definitely didn't lack in action. Unlike A Game of Thrones which heavily featured big and expansive battle scenes, this book's action was smaller but more potent. This time it was personal. (Sorry, I couldn't help myself!) Rather than large fights between faceless armies, brothers turned against brothers, friends vs friends, shadows flickered in the dark and the deaths were messy, unexpected and horrifying. Some (one in particular) were so unexpected and came from such secret planning that I could barely believe they had actually happened, while others were the culmination of three previous books of animosity or planning. In addition to the characters releasing some venom in their revenge or battle tactics Martin decides that this is the book that will begin to see some serious death tolls.

Death isn't a stranger to the people of Westeros. So far we've seen Ned Stark, Viserys Targaryen, King Robert, Lord Renley and countless smaller characters that won our hearts and some that perhaps we were glad to see die. This book trumps them all though. Death haunts every chapter but very few are expected. Unlike some books like Harry Potter where the death of popular or prominent characters seemed to be a bit heartless or unnecessary each and every death makes sense in this book. Sure I'd prefer a few of my favourites remained in the land of the living, but their deaths have so far proven crucial to the unfolding narrative. The sudden spate of deaths also seem to be pushing the story in a new direction and I think my prediction about the fire god R'hllor taking centre stage in the coming books will be correct. At least to a degree. I think I'd rework that prediction to say that R'hllor may not be key to the story, but it'll be key in pushing the story onwards away from the original narrative. If you read this book, perhaps you'll understand what I mean better, but I'd hate to give away any spoilers or influence your perspectives so I'll speak no more!

The books are roaring towards the conclusion now and to honest I can't wait to put this series behind me! It's been so consuming of my time and energy. The nature of the chapters means that it may be 100 pages between a Tyrion cliffhanger (for example) and the conclusion of that cliffhanger. That makes it hard to put down the book at 2am even when you know you have to be up in 5 hours, or to put it down so you can work on your big scary thesis that really needs to be worked on! I'm not very patient and I hate cliffhangers so more than once I've taken a stickybeak at some of the later chapters, reading sentences here and there to see if I can get a hint at where the story is going. This isn't a complaint about the book, more like a complaint about my lack of will power and hours in a day! Martin has superbly crafted a story that is so difficult to put down and that you can't get out of your head.

Review: A Storm of Swords 1: Steel and Snow by George R.R Martin

A Storm of Swords 1: Steel and Snow
(A Song of Ice and Fire #3)
By George R.R Martin

Published: 2001

Synopsis (via Goodreads): The surviving Stark children are scattered--Robb leading revolt in the North, Arya learning hard lessons as she treks through the war zone, Sansa an observer of court intrigue, crippled Bran heading towards a sorcerous destiny, Jon engaged in desperate defence of the icewall against barbarians and worse things. Daenerys, pretender and ruler of dragons, is building an empire elsewhere. And characters we have thought of as villains, notably Jaime Kingslayer, are developing belated consciences ...

Attempting to review the third book in a series seems a little difficult and also kind of pointless. Perhaps if it were a series like Harry Potter which had self-contained story lines for each book it'd be easier, but since all the books run chronologically on from one another and follow the same characters (for the most part) in the same style I feel like I'm running out of things to add. So I guess I'll keep this short and discuss purely what this book has delivered (or not delivered) and skip the discussion of writing style or technique which I've discussed previously.

I really enjoyed this book and had no trouble running through the 500+ pages but on reflection nothing really happened. The actions of the previous two books are having some serious ramifications across the lands and the game of thrones is still in full throng, but there isn't too many new story lines or battles being set up. At least not yet. I suppose what this book really does is take you a little further into the characters heads. The Stark children are definitely the focus of this book, each of the children (sans Rickon) have chapters that follow their actions (although not Robb specifically, he's seen through Catelyn's chapters) and they are at the centre of most of the action and scandal in this book. This is the book where they all grow up a lot. The "death" of their brothers Rickon and Bran has shaken them all (except for Jon who hasn't yet heard the news) and seems to have made the damaging war all the more real for them. With the two sons out of the way, the lordship of Winterfell is up for claim so there are countless families, friend and foe, vying to marry one of the remaining Starks and produce the first child. Torn between family honour and obligation and the almost story-book idea of love, Rob and Sansa (the only Stark children whose whereabouts are known) are both forced to grow up quickly and witness the way life really is for adults in a warring kingdom.

Though much of the action and discussion surrounds the Starks there is a great deal of illumination of other characters in this book. Jaime Lannister, the Kingslayer, becomes far more complex and interesting, Jon's craven fat friend Samwell Tarly is forced into action beyond the wall and gains his own chapters to demonstrate it and other characters like Sandor Clegane,  Ser Davos and Jorah Mormont all open up for the readers as they face struggles and battles both within and without. Because we're learning far more about the actions and motivations of the characters some of the mysteries that have lingered unsolved since book one are beginning to move in new directions or take firmer shape. People you once thought would definitely be responsible for heartless or wicked acts are suddenly shown with a conscience while wonderful and warm characters suddenly appear heartless and lacking of sympathy. Few answers are given, but the new information makes the questions far more interesting.

Religion also plays a bigger part in this book and I think Steel and Snow is setting the direction the books will soon take. Previously the religion of the book has been of the seven gods, also known as the southron gods. Far and wide these are the accepted gods and they are almost universally prayed to. The only other exception was the old gods of the north, nameless and countless these are the gods of the first men. These are gods only observed by northmen, however the godswoods (which are their church of sorts) are found in or near almost all the castles regardless of location. In the last book a third religion was introduced, the mighty R'hllor, represented by the red woman Melissandre who lived in Dragonstone with King Stannis. In the last book Stannis' new found religious beliefs were a cause of mockery by many and it was concerned it would discredit him amongst the people of the kingdom, however in this book we see that this religion has spread far further across the lands thanks to a red priest (Thoros) who is part of Beric Dondarrion's outlaws and perhaps isn't a silly 'false god'from outside the kingdoms.

While the prominence of this god is one reason for me thinking this will perhaps take charge in the coming books the other hint, for me at least, is the additional news from Melissandre that Rh'llor, the god of light has an enemy, an Other who must be vanquished and is far more important than the deathly game of thrones the men play. With the threat of the undead in the north, I think this is a storyline we'll be seeing a lot more of soon.

Any complaints? Well, not really except of Jon's girlfriend Ygritte. Ugh. She's annoying as hell. I actually like the storyline, the idea of Jon struggling against his sworn oath as a Black Brother and the blossoming feeling he has for Ygritte (which personally I think spring purely from the fact he's 15) and the further complication of her being a wildling and not 'from his world' is interesting and well-developed by Martin. What annoys me is this catch-phrase she constantly repeats "You know nothing Jon Snow. You know nothing." Every time Jon says anything she comes out with that line and it's doing my head in. This isn't even a complaint about her character being a know-it-all and ignorant to life outside of her wild world it's the actual phrase that I'm troubled by. It's annoying and repeated far too often. Seriously, can't you at least mix it up a little Mr Martin, perhaps have her say "Jon Snow, you have no understanding of anything which you've just proved several time over." Please? It's getting to the point that I dread Jon's chapters because I know it'll come up at least 3 or 4 times.

All in all this book adds depth and further intrigue to the story lines and characters set out in the first two books and I'm itching to start reading the next few. At only 500+ pages this is almost a short read by Martin and it breezed right by. My praise in my previous reviews stands again here. They're well written and encourage all-nighters in order to get through them. A great way to hit the half-way point I think!

Fanart Friday: Khal and Khaleesi from 'A Game of Thrones'

Just two pictures this week, but my god are they good! Both feature the strong and indestructible Khal Drogo and his young and beautiful wife Daenerys, mother of dragons. When I started this series these two quickly rose up the ranks of favourite characters. At first glance Drogo seems impenetrable and harsh and Dany seems young, naive and timid. As the first book continues they both develop and form two interesting and compelling characters thanks to the bond that forms between them. I think these two pictures perfectly represent the ying and yang of their relationship, don't you agree? As always I have to thank the marvelous artists for letting me feature their work and implore all of you to click through the links under the images. The link attached to the title will take you back to the deviant page for each image and the link attached to the artist's names will take you to their personal website. 

Khal -Khaleesi by Mako-Fufu

Khal Drogo and Daenerys Targar by Ilias Kyriazis

Review: A Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin

A Clash of Kings
 (A Song of Ice and Fire #2)
By George R.R. Martin

Published in: 1998

Synopsis (via Goodreads): The Seven Kingdoms are divided by revolt and blood feud; beyond their Northern borders, the men of the Night Watch fight the coming of a great cold and the walking corpses that travel with it; on the other side of the ocean, the last of the Kingdom's deposed ruling house mourns her horseclan husband and rears the dragonets she hatched from his funeral pyre. This is character-driven fantasy—we see most events through the eyes of the sons and daughters of the Stark family, the once and future Kings of the North, whose father's judicial murder started the war. Martin avoids the cosy cheeriness of many epic fantasies in favour of a sense of the squalor and grandeur of high medieval life; there is passion here, and misery and charm


The bookstores around my place are still desperately low in stock of this series so rather than wait for the stock levels to rise I turned to a friend to borrow his copy. After waiting a fortnight I finally had the book in my hands and I devoured it in a day and a half! I couldn't help it! I meant to let it linger so that I wouldn't have to wait till I next saw my friend to borrow the next book in the series, but alas it was too tempting and delicious and I gobbled it all up. Before I truly get into the review I juts want to warn anyone who hasn't read the series yet that there will be spoilers from book one in this review. So if you plan to start the series at some point, sooner or later, and don't wish to hear any major plot points from the first book then turn back now! If you keep reading, well, don't say I didn't warn you!

Book two takes off immediately where book one left us. A year has now passed since King Robert made his way to Winterfell to make Ned his hand and in the time since much of the seven kingdoms have fallen to endless war, savage raids and crippling hunger. The peace and prosperity that blossomed (however weakly or deceptively) under Robert died with him, and the hope of reuniting past allegiances died with the murder of Ned Stark. Rob, now 15 and King of the North, continues to lead his men into battle against the Lannisters while Robert's brothers Stannis and Renly both put forth claims for the iron throne and butt heads. Discord and chaos rules the lands and in this murky atmosphere it is all too easy for sworn allegiances to crumble and for smaller houses to desire the power and strength of the Starks, Lannisters and Baratheons for themselves.

I'm so glad the second book maintained the level of awesomeness set in A Game of Thrones! Once the establishment of the characters and age old grudges had been well and truly taken care of in book one Martin was able to really raise the pace and amp up the action sequences. The fragmented story format that Martin uses to tell the story through the perspective of several characters scattered across the kingdoms means that you have a constant build of tension and action within each chapter before being left with a cliffhanger that has you desperate for the next chapter of that character to come along. Then you fall headlong into the next chapter and the build and flow and that cliffhanger! It makes for a very consistent and desirable build of tension and character arcs.

I mentioned in my review of A Game of Thrones that one of the most interesting parts of the novel was the pervasive air of deception and secrets, and if anything that has doubled in this book. The secrets are no longer contained within the Red Keep, instead the air of dis-ease has spread to the furthest reaches, and allegiances and oaths of fealty many centuries old are crumbling as men and women strive for their own slice in the pie that is Westeros. Added to this is an increase in magic across the realm. Long believed to be lost with the first men and the children of the forest it seems that Daenerys and her three new dragons are rekindling powers long thought extinct. I'm interested to see how this develops in the later books when Dany gets closer to Westeros and attempts to take the Iron Throne for herself.

There is one thing I really want to address, and that is the comments being made in reviews on sites like Goodreads about the quality of Martin's writing. Many seem to hold the opinion that Martin is a strong storyteller, but a poor writer. I completely and wholeheartedly disagree. When I'm reading the books I don't see any clumsy writing, there is no awkward or unnecessary exposition and I certainly don't think it lacks profundity. For me to agree with any of those points I would have had to be jerked out of the story as a result of some form of sloppy writing, but not once did my attention waver as I read the book. In fact the only thing that stopped me from sitting and reading it non-stop was a need to eat and to get enough sleep to be able to work the next day. Throughout the two books I've read so far Martin has demonstrated an incredible ability to weave sub-plots, build characters and pace an epic and almost exhaustively huge narrative. His writing is rich with metaphor and symbolism, and like J.K. Rowling every sentence seems to be awash with subtext, signals and signs. The dialogue between characters is genuine and interesting, and the structure of the chapters (as mentioned above and in my review of A Game of Thrones) is a well-developed method of delivering the information on the multiple sub-stories without muddying the narrative.

As for the claims that George R.R. Martin is the American Tolkein, well it's too soon to tell. There are books I love that I, sadly, know will never stand the test of time, and until several more decades have passed how can we truly know whether Martin will join the godly ranks of Tolkein? In terms of quality I do think Martin is a superb writer and a fantastic storyteller, and perhaps best of all is that when I read these books I don't feel like I'm reading a poor replication of Tolkein's masterful fantasy tomes. So perhaps he will one day ascend to sit up high with Tolkein and have fantasy authors strive to be heralded as the 'Australian Martin', or the 'French Martin' or the 'Swedish Martin'. If his books continue in the same vein that they currently have, I have no doubt that he deserves such accolades and I'll probably start crying 'Martin for king' along with the others.

Review: A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin

A Game of Thrones(A Song of Ice and Fire #1)
by George R. R. Martin

Published: 1996

Synopsis (via Goodreads): Long ago, in a time forgotten, a preternatural event threw the seasons out of balance. The cold is returning, and in the frozen wastes to the north of Winterfell, sinister forces are massing beyond the kingdom's protective wall. To the south, the King's powers are failing, and his enemies are emerging from the shadows of the throne. At the center of the conflict lie the Starks of Winterfell, a family as harsh and unyielding as the frozen land they were born to. Now Lord Eddard Stark is reluctantly summoned to serve as the King's new Hand, an appointment that threatens to sunder not only his family but also the kingdom itself.

I think you'd have to be living under a pretty big rock to not have heard about the HBO adaptation of George R.R. Martin's fantasy series, because the waves have been felt so hard here in Brisbane, Australia (where it 'legally' isn't available for viewing yet)  that all the bookstores have sold out of the first couple of books in the series, and the libraries have waiting lists that roll out the door. I enjoy fantasy, but I hadn't heard of this series before it began flooding the internet pre-season one and thanks to the absolute awesomeness of the series I couldn't help but read the book that inspired it all.

As with many fantasy books A Game of Thrones is set in a world that is both like ours (historically speaking) and completely unlike ours. While dragons, 'white walkers,' direwolves and spell-forged steel is a natural and accepted aspect of life for those living in the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros (except the dragons are now long extinct) it isn't the focus of the tale. Instead we witness how something as simple as the request by a king (and long time friend) asks a northern lord to be his Hand (an advisor of sorts) can cause not only a family, but an entire kingdom to unravel.

At least that's what King Robert's demands that Lord Eddard (Ned) Stark journey south to King's Landing initiates. Factor into that a queen's secret that she's desperate to remain so, family rivalry, bastards, a drunk for a king, the previously deposed king's heir coming of age and marrying, the threat that 'winter' and the white walkers (wights) are coming, insanity, distrust, watching eyes and the attempted murder (twice) of a boy who knows too much and you can gleam a bit of understanding as to why the story isn't all sunshine and rainbows.

The story is split into chapters that focus on several of the lead characters, Ned, his wife Catelyn, his 9 year old daughter Arya, his 12 year old daughter Sansa, his 7 year old son Bran, his 14 year old bastard son Jon, the queen's dwarf brother Tyrion and the deposed 'Mad King's' daughter, Daenerys. I found this multi-focus narration to ultimately be an interesting and beneficial way of structuring a story that spans hundreds of miles and countless sub-plots. It is rare for all the narrators to be in the one location, so this style allows you to catch glimpses of the different people, places, customs and loyalties found across the land. Unlike some fantasy novels I've read which spend the first 50 or so pages setting the scene and describing the history, in A Game of Thrones you launch straight into it and learn about the fantasy realm as it is necessary.  This quickens the pace without sacrificing character or setting development and also adds an air of mystery which is quite important in this tale of lies, deceits and double-agents.

Another great addition that this multi-focus style adds is that you see a character or event from several angles. Nothing in this book is black and white, noone is truly evil or good, or friend or foe. When you're reading a chapter from the position of Ned or his family his past infidelities or aggressions are ignored or explained away so as to paint his as a wonderful family man who does what he must for the benefit of the greater community. However if you read the chapters from his enemies perspectives, or even in Jon's (his bastard son) chapters where people feel free to speak as they wish, you realise that he isn't quite as free of sin as his family likes to think/pretend. It adds a great deal of depth and realism to the characters, because let's be honest who in the world is actually perfect? Especially a world when bloody take-overs are considered fairly normal?

The multi-focus narration is also great for advancing the intrigue and mystery surrounding the bit-part characters. They don't have their own chapters so you have to piece them together with what you see from chapter to chapter, and they certainly aren't easy to pinpoint. Their loyalties and motivations seem to switch depending on whose chapter they're in and how the latest event played out. Lord Baelish and Varys are two such characters. Baelish has old ties to Ned's wife, and Varys is a eunuch and has 'eyes' all over the kingdom. Both sit on the King's council and both seem to be moving from side to side, gathering information, plotting and other mysterious behaviours. They're quite fantastic characters and are so important in the direction the novel takes. While they may only have small parts to play, you soon realise how much power they hold and how easily they can make the larger characters dance like puppets on strings.

This constant air of suspicion and distrust are important because many of the events take place because a character has heard something, taken offence and decided to act. It's like a very dangerous game of chinese whispers, for all you know the message you've received is only half the original message or could have been completely garbled down the line. We know that some of the characters aren't to be trusted, or at least seem like they shouldn't be trusted, but because this is a world where loyalty to family through age-old truces and marriages is considered sacrosanct no one thinks to question the information or the word of people considered 'friends'. This means people take dangerous and stupid risks and that the outcome they're expected almost never occurs as they intend. It also makes for fantastic reading, because while we have an idea of some plot-lines and of some not-so-friendly friends we're as much in the dark as the characters most of the time, and are equally shocked, outraged and surprised by some of the revelations that come out.

The book is really well-written, the sub-plots flow smoothly and the dialogue is sharp and quick-witted. Characters only have the one name (unlike LOTR where they seemed to have a different name in every town) and are often fairly simple so it isn't hard to link names to characters and keep them straight - a problem I often have with fantasy. Added to this is the fact that each character (regardless of how small) stands out very distinctly as their own person. They're incredibly well-developed and are all extremely emotional characters, acting out in anger, fear or despair, making them very realistic and very unpredicable.

I really enjoyed this book and can't wait for my bookstore to finally get the series back in stock so I can begin book two. I briefly mentioned at the start that the fantasy elements (i.e. magic, spells, dragons) are fairly backgrounded. It is more that these elements are so well written in that they seem completely natural to the story and don't take over from what the story is really about, the warring of families and general human-y things. So if you avoid fantasy because of the magic, dragons, elves etc then perhaps give this book a try and you may find yourself converted into a fantasy fiend soon enough!