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[zenmasterzeno]

Alright! I can't take it anymore! This post has been percolating inside me for weeks. I can no long keep it in. You may have heard that the epic fantasy author George R. R. Martin has announced that he has completed and will be publishing the next volume, A Dance With Dragons in his series A Song of Ice and Fire this summer. Additionally, the HBO

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tl;dr response PART 2, SINCE I EXCEEDED THE COMMENT LIMIT

[psychopeg]

Going in without particular expectations for High Fantasy (since I haven't really read any, other than The Hobbit, which I hated BOTH times FUCK YOU ANDREW BEAN) probably helped. If I went into a book expecting Romance Novel and got this, I would probably also be put off.

I'm interested to see how the TV series handles this--the POV thing and the Ned tragedy and the complicated/disconnected plots and the lack of GOOD vs EVIL all seem like things that could fuck up a TV show, since, again, people are coming in expecting an arc.

By killing off the only character who has been acting according to some kind of an ethical code, and particular by killing him in such a capricious fashion, Martin solidifies the fact that the universe in which his story takes place is essentially amoral and random.

See, I would argue that it's not capricious--well, fucking Prince Assholeface is capricious, but I think it fits into the universe that Martinis building--"When you play the game of thrones, either you win, or you die." And Ned didn't bring his A-game----he didn't WANT power, didn't try to amass it, balls-out; he relied on morality/uprightness to protect him, but what you need in Kings Landing is *force.*

Anyway, I know I can't talk you into liking it if you don't, and you've given very clear and reasonable reasons for NOT liking it. I guess I just fell into the category of RABID GRRM FAN and word-vomited all over your LJ about it, haha.

And maybe it's just too long for you--a lot of the things you're pissed about (Littlefinger having no real motivation, the incest thing not being important) DO actually come up later. I'm not sure what summaries of the books you read, but those things do come into play.

I like the mix of planning/judgement/plotting and emotional outburst and how BOTH of those things shape the world they live in. It's like in "To Say Nothing of the Dog," which--have I made you read that yet?--has as one of its recurring devices an ongoing argument between two history professors, one who argues that history is shaped by large systems and forces, not individuals, but things like disease/chance/weather, and another who keeps yelling things like "Brutus' morality! So-and-so's love of his wife! King John's allergy to eggs!" and arguing that history is the individual; the POV character comments that the professors' problem is that "they're both right; they're just a century too early for chaos theory, which would incorporate both of their theories." ANYWAY. I like that there, and I think it's realistic--think of the Presidents Bush and how their family relationship ended up shaping world events, etc--and I think it shows up in Martin's books as well, in a way that I love. Westeros is shaped by geography, weather, White Walkers, extinct dragons, Ned's moral rectitude, Joffrey's capricious bastardy, Dany's desire to find a place where she belongs, Robert's whoring, Cersei's incestuous obsession with her brother, Tyrion's deformity, Littlefinger's old, old grudge against Ned Stark and his brother/lust for Catelyn Stark/own desire for power, etc. etc. etc.

And I looooooooooooove that!

But I guess I can see why you don't. :)