Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Playing Catchup

Okay everyone, I'm starting this blog a bit late in the game, but the point of this blog will be to chronicle my journey through A Song of Ice and Fire, a series of books by noted fantasy author George R. R. Martin. I've already finished "A Game of Thrones," and I'm a good 200 pages into "A Clash of Kings," but after I catch up to where I am now, I'll spend the rest of my journey through this series sharing my thoughts, concerns, reactions and predictions as I read.

Of course, expect every post to be utterly rife with spoilers.

Now for the plot lines:

Arya: She's currently heading north with Yoren and the gang. I like that between her training with Syrio and her time on the road, she's getting to face the reality of the rough and tumble existence she's always craved. She wanted to be like the boys, and now she's living their lifestyle in the wild. Seems to me that this is the perfect opportunity for her to be reunited with Nymeria, and I really do hope it's a nice reunion, and not one where Nymeria tries to kill her. Given the rumors about wolf packs, it seems a perfect time. I also think that there's something going on with Arya and Bran as far as a deeper connection with the wolves. Magic seems to be slowly returning in many ways, and I don't think their dreams are just idle things.

Sansa: In many ways two sides of the same coin, Sansa always loved Court intrigue when she was in King's Landing, and like Arya she now faces the cold reality of what she wanted for herself. It's pretty depressing watching her kowtow before Joffrey and Cersei, and I have no doubt that Joffrey will reject Robb's peace proposal and keep Sansa close to him. I'm sort of dreading an attempt by Joffrey to rape her in the coming chapters. Hopefully he'll do what every king apparently does and visit a whorehouse instead. I'm hoping that she's the one to end Joffrey. It seems like out of all the characters, she's the one who had to grow up the fastest, even more so than Robb, who was at least groomed for his role. It was also a knife in my heart when they confirmed that Cersei only acted the way she did because of what Sansa told her. Dammit Sansa.

Not much to report about Robb yet, except his plan to march on Golden Tooth seems to leave quite a bit of land undefended between Riverrun and Winterfell, which leads me to...

Theon: Interesting to see him take up prominence as a main character. We're seeing a bigger development of what we only got hints at earlier. Namely, that despite his time in Winterfell, he's certainly no Stark. He's cunning, and I think a little underhanded. He seems to have a lot more in common with the Southrons than the northern men in that respect. I fear that his father's plan will be to invade the north and take an underdefended Winterfell to exact revenge on Eddard for what he and Robert did to the Greyjoy's during the rebellion. It'll be sad to see Robb rushing north to fight a battle against Theon. I hope it doesn't happen.

Davos: Hard to see where this one is going. Davos is there to give us a view into what Stannis is doing (which makes me wonder if we'll get a view into Renly's attempts at kinghood), but I think Stannis is the more interesting character for his rejection of the old gods for the new one god. The religious angle has been somewhat underplayed to date, but I think it will be more important in the future for a variety of reasons. The most important is that GoT and ACoK seem to be slowly ramping up the use and observance of the supernatural. We saw The Others in the very first pages of the first book, but there has been dark magic with Khal Drogo, attacks from the undead, a strange connection between the Starks and the direwolves, Bran's miraculous recovery and his vision during it (which I'm placing a lot of importance on), and his subsequent dreams, to say nothing of his personal fixation on the Children of the Forest. This leads me to believe the religious conflict is going to play an increasing role.

Catelyn: I think in the end she'll return to Winterfell, only because I think the Greyjoy's are going to attack there and someone more important than Maester Luwin needs to be there when it happens. Plus, there's a kingdom to be run with only nine year old Bran to see to the day to day hearings, which is no good. I'd like her to stay with Robb, since he's surrounded by men out to coerce him, and we've already seen him make a serious mistake in sending away Theon.

Tyrion: Maybe the most interesting character in the novel. I don't know what to make of him. He has a vicious streak, he can be cold, by God he's calculating, and a Lannister at heart, but there's also love in him, and kindness. His desire to be loved, both by his father (who he hates and loves) and by Shae (who he loves but refuses to believe could love him back) sets him apart from his cold-hearted family members who care far less about love than they do about power. At the moment, he's my anti-hero. I think both he and Varys walk a grey line between good and evil, and are capable of doing either so long as it serves their hidden motives. Varys proclaims that the stability of Westeros is his goal, but with it in pieces, how will he put it back together? And what is Tyrion's real goal? He seems genuinely interested in curving Joffrey's madness and Cersei's silly power plays, and he's not just in it for the money and hookers, or even just for raw power. He's a bitter man who holds serious grudges, and wouldn't blink at killing someone who pissed him off, but he's also the man that gave Bran a design for a saddle so he could ride, and this AFTER being attacked by dire wolves. Plus he showed affection for Tommen and Myrcella. And then there's the moments he had with Jon on the journey to the Wall that left Jon with a good impression of him. Tyrion, in his own way, gave Jon some sage wisdom in a time of great conflict. He seems to make easy friends for those who are willing to give him the chance, and wishes bloody deaths on those who don't. I think his journey will be the most interesting, and bears the most risk to a reader as far as potential for dismay versus hope for good.

I don't know what to make of Dany yet, so I'll leave this a little sparse. I think she's going to hang out in her city for awhile and let the dragons grow, but I'm positive she's coming back to the Seven Kingdoms at some point. Probably with Dothraki hordes and dragons, rather than just the latter. Someone I was talking about the novel with referred to them as being the Rohirrim of the novel, and I guess someone going for the cheap allusion to LOTR might think so, but to me, they're the Golden Horde of Ghengis Khan.

Jon: I think this finishes off the characters, but I'll be back with regular updates in case I missed anyone. While I think Tyrion is the most interesting character, I think Jon is the one everyone has a soft spot in their hearts for (well, most especially with Ned gone). I was shocked when he left his sword behind and went south. It clearly felt like the wrong move as a reader, because I felt how important the Wall was, and even I knew it was his place to be there. It was one of the few happy moments when his "brothers" came down to bring him back, and Mormont accepted him back without too much reproach. I also like that they've finally crossed the wall to look for Benjen, who I really hope they find alive, and not as a blue-eyed wraith. That seems far too easy though, and Benjen would likely provide far too much speed for plot exposition given the pace that Martin likes, so for that reason, I think he'll be dead, but I hope he's alive. Also, while I think that in many ways Tyrion's story is the most interesting, I think Jon's, for the moment, is the one that would best make a stand alone novel. His plot seems to be largely self-contained, and they've stressed multiple times how the Wall is immune to the care of the world's conflicts. I expect that to change though. I think Jon's story will end up the focal point for events in the future.

Well, now you're caught up to where I am. I'll probably update every few chapters, or after anything particularly pushes my buttons.

Here's to the journey!

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