girl power — a feast for crows

A Feast for Crows, the fourth book in George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series, is in a very different tone from the previous thrill-a-minute and bloody good (figurative and literally) A Storm of Swords. Its pace is a bit more leisurely, more in common with the first book in the series, A Game of Thrones, than either Storm or A Clash of Kings (book two) — with one significant difference. A Feast of Crows focuses on the women of Westeros, and how difficult it is for them to attain or maintain power in the primarily misogynistic medieval society they live in. The book follows both male and female characters in different parts of the kingdom, but the women, both familiar and new, provide the most interest and intrigue.

Cersei Lannister  Queen Cersei has been a major character from the very beginning of the series, but this is the first book where Martin lets us in on her point of view. It knocks her down to size, showing that her evil ambitions can be traced back to childhood hurts, but also shows how easily and rapidly she lets her vulnerabilities translate into lethal edicts. She spends most of her life inside the castle in King's Landing, like the Red Queen, yelling "Off with his head!" Cersei can't stand that because she is a woman no one, especially men, will take her seriously as their ruler. Any woman can relate to her frustrations, as sexism is still prevalent in the modern workplace, but Cersei has been so warped by her upbringing and thwarted desires that everyone is right to want to send her packing. She is completely stupid about people, which is not a good trait for a queen to have. She misinterprets everything and everyone around her, including an old prophecy that haunts her. She is a terrible ruler, female or not.

Brienne of Tarth Good-natured, loyal and brave Brienne is on a quest to bring the only living Stark (she thinks) Sansa, safely to ... where, exactly? Brienne is immensely likable, but also a tragic figure. A woman on a quest but without a plan. Her large frame and un-princessy looks have kept her out of the traditional world of women of her time, while the attitudes of the men's club of knights prevent her from being taken seriously as a warrior. She still carries a torch for almost-king Renly Baratheon, who, for more reasons than her innocent nature could realize, could never have loved her. And she is slowly but surely transferring some of her feelings for Renly to Jaime Lannister (Cersei's brother) — another unsuitable choice, but for different reasons. Like Samwell Tarly, she doesn't quite fit into Westeros society.

Arianne Martell  This is the reader's first introduction to the princess in Dorne. Arianne is beautiful, but also vulnerable, as she has watched, she believes, her seemingly meek father pass her over as his successor for her younger brother. Like Cersei and many of the other characters, childhood slights inform much of her adult actions. Her solution to regain power? She intends to crown young Myrcella Baratheon, Cersei's daughter, in a woman-power bid for control of Westeros politics.

Asha Greyjoy Another daughter who aspires to a throne,  this time on the Iron Islands, Asha is a fierce warrior, and was King Balon's, her father's, favorite. But now Balon is dead and no one can seem to confirm whether her brother and Balon's rightful heir Theon Greyjoy is dead or alive. Balon's two brothers are in a battle for her father's crown and Asha is watching her status lower before her eyes.

Sansa Stark Sansa is under the "protection" of Lord Petyr Baelish (Littlefinger), who is having her pose as his daughter Alayne. Sansa is as trapped as she was previously in King's Landing. She is slowly gaining confidence, but she also still desperately wants a father figure/protector. By observing Littlefinger's politics of manipulation she will hopefully start to develop some skills to deflect Lord Baelish's "fatherly" love.

Arya Stark Arya is still a little wolf girl without a pack, scrabbling and fighting her way through the world, trying to survive. Now in Braavos, she is also looking for a safe haven, but has she chosen the right one? She might be batter off if she just accepted her true (wolf) nature.

Stoneheart In Westeros, most of the time, dead is dead, but Stoneheart, who once walked the land as Catelyn Stark is not alive or dead, but reanimated. She is leading a group of followers on a path of revenge and death. But Catelyn dead is as frustrating and boneheaded as she ever was alive. She is far more dangerous than the zombie Wights of the North beyond the Wall.

Other important female characters:

Gilly The Wildling girl who knows more of life and love than Samwell

Margaery Tyrell The "little queen" of Westeros, and despite what Cersei might say or think its true queen, at least for now

The Sand Snakes Three bastard daughters of Oberyn Martell of Dorne, who are bent on avenging their father's death, declaring war on King's Landing, and destroying the Lannisters

Taena Merryweather Queen Cersei's friend and confidante, or is she?

Martin takes the reader on a tour through some of the lands of the Seven Kingdoms only visited briefly or hinted at previously — Braavos, Dorne, the Eyrie. As much as his characters have been far-flung since his first novel, they are starting to come together, with characters converging. With all of these strong women in A Feast for Crows, what about Daenerys Stormborn, etc., etc., Targeryen? She is a rallying cry in this novel, but is back as a main character in the fifth book, A Dance of Dragons, which has just been recently released. Martin plans two more books to come after that to finish off the series.

A Feast for Crows was a different experience from the thrill-a-minute A Storm of Swords, but just as satisfying. By keeping the focus on what people are thinking and feeling, and how the women of Westeros are warring, maybe not with swords, but just as fiercely, Martin has deepened his story and his characters. And by only referring to series favorites like Tyrion and Daenerys and Jon Snow, it makes one all that more ready to jump in to A Dance with Dragons.

shades of grey — a storm of swords

I am continuing to enjoy George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series. A Storm of Swords is the third book, and as brilliant as the first two were, this one is even better. Martin manages to foreshadow without being obvious, so even if you guess an upcoming plot twist correctly, you don't feel superior or bored, but just caught up in the overwhelming inevitability of how his characters' lives and fates are intertwined. Throughout the book Martin has readers on their toes. Not knowing what is coming on the next page, he is daring you to turn it, even if you are afraid that a favorite character might do something stupid or die. But the story and the compelling characters are irresistible, even when you know that in Westeros and in Martin's books no one is safe.

"You know nothing Jon Snow" (from Jon Snow Caps)

The main action centers around the forces that are marshaling in the seven kingdoms of Westeros. War, the War of the Five Kings, came to the land in the last book, A Clash of Kings, when young and horrible King Joffrey Baratheon took the throne in King's Landing. In A Storm of Swords Joffrey's grandfather Tywin Lannister is the real power behind the throne and doesn't trust that the war is over. Young Robb Stark is still King in the North. Joffrey's uncle, Stannis Baratheon, backed by a powerful sorceress, Melisandre, suffered a major defeat, but his belief that he should rule is as strong as ever. Balon Greyjoy of the Iron Islands holds Winterfell and much of the North. In the East, Daenerys Targaryen is slowly making her way west, to reclaim Westeros for her family, which was deposed and annihilated by King Robert Baratheon and the Lannisters years ago.

Tywin Lannister and his son Jaime don't see eye-to-eye on Jaime's future (from  The Inner Bean)

While all the political wrangling continues, a more dangerous foe gathers its strength in the North. Wildlings, or the free folk, as they call themselves, are about to attack the Wall, led by Night's Watch deserter Mance Rayder. The motto of the Starks', Martin's epic's family of focus, is "Winter is Coming," and no one has had closer evidence of that than Eddard "Ned" Stark's bastard son Jon Snow and his friend Samwell Tarley, who are among the few left to guard the North at the Wall. Wildlings of all shapes and sizes — men, giants, mammoths — join forces to take down the Wall and invade the kingdom. But are they on a path of conquest or are they fleeing something too terrible to face — wights (zombies who rise as the temperature drops) and the Others, extremely lethal creatures, thought to be the stuff of legend, but proving themselves to be real and on the move.

Life in Westeros and its surrounding lands is bloody and brutal and oh-so-entertaining to read. Martin's characters are well-drawn. In A Storm of Swords previously "bad" characters like Jaime Lannister, whose nickname, aptly earned, "Kingslayer," and Sandor Clegane, or "The Hound," as he is more commonly known, become sympathetic, as the world they live in is composed of myriad shades of grey. Favorite "good" characters like Tyrion Lannister, a clever dwarf who has never been appreciated by his family, and Arya Stark, a young girl who has had to see her father die and is shuttled from one group of brutes to another as a hostage to ransom, see the world in black and white, which may not be the wisest of courses. Arya has been through so much that it is easy to forget that she is still a child, and children do not see in shades of grey. Tyrion has been so abused by his family and everyone around him that he is soon unable to see anything but revenge. Still, it is troubling to see favorite characters head down dangerous paths.

Sansa is just a kid, a pawn being buffeted and manipulated from one house to another (from gameofthronescaptures)

As much as there are swords and duels and men fighting aplenty in A Storm of Swords, the female characters are as interesting and complex and certainly as ruthless (Queen Cersei) as many of the males. Sansa Stark is a character that many readers have trouble with, considering her weak or uninteresting. She can certainly be spoiled and silly and meek and whiny. It is easy to forget that she is just a girl of twelve and has been trained from birth to mind her elders and behave like a young Lady. Not everyone can be a surperhero, but that doesn't make Sansa a negative character. She had to watch her dreams of handsome knights be crushed in the person of Joffrey and stand and watch her father die. Part of Sansa's inherent weakness is that she lost her direwolf, Lady (in the first book, A Game of Thrones). Her brothers and sisters have at times been separated from their wolves, but are still inexorably connected. But not Sansa, who must make do with trying to commune with a tired old dog one evening.

Some of my favorite aspects of the book, while not giving away any major plot points, are still a bit SPOILERY, so be warned. New and interesting alliances are formed in A Storm of Swords, between characters, mostly unwillingly, but creating great tension and even at times, teamwork:

Jon Snow and the wildling girl Ygritte

Jaime Lannister and Brienne of Tarth

Arya Stark and The Hound

Sansa Stark and Littlefinger

Sansa Stark and Tyrion (if she had given him a chance to even be just her friend or protector)

Tyrion Lannister and Oberyn Martell

There were also some vividly rendered scenes, featuring the Moon Door at the Eyrie, the Brotherhood Without Banners utilizing the power of R'hllor, Jon and his fellow Night's Watch brothers and their defense of the Wall, Bran Stark the warg (shapeshifter) seeing the world through his direwolf Summer.

Martin has drawn his characters and their countryside so well that like Sansa and Jon and Arya I wanted to go back to their childhood home of Winterfell, too. Hopefully they will get their chance. The passage where Sansa built a snow castle of Winterfell was beautiful and sad. Less convincing or sympathetic in this book was Daenerys Targaryen, who seems to be developing quite a bloodlust. But her wondering who to trust and her handling of advisors Arstan Whitebeard and Ser Jorah Mormont was realistic for a teenage Queen, a bit out of her league.

But the most impressive and shattering chapter in the book was the Red Wedding. According to an interview, Martin put off "writing the Red Wedding until the very last," which I was interested to read, because it was truly one of the most unforgettable, disturbing scenes I've ever read, in any book. It was also hold-your-breath-as-you're-reading-it brilliant, as if it occurred in slow motion. It occurs about halfway through the book, and haunts the rest of it, with the repercussions echoing.

A Storm of Swords is a wonderful read and Martin a wonderful storyteller. There are truly haunting passages that may give the reader nightmares, but they will still be glad they have continued on this journey. Everyone in the book is in motion, although not necessarily bound for the destination they originally intended. Will all roads lead to the Wall, or King's Landing, or an early death? As we learn from the wights, death is not necessarily the end. We can only wait and see, and thankfully, it's possible to grab the next book in the series, A Feast of Crows and get reading.

a clash of kings

All my intentions to avoid diving right into George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series went right out the window about a week after I finished the first book, A Game of Thrones. I caught a rebroadcast of the first three episodes of the HBO Game of Thrones series (the new season based on second book, A Clash of Kings, starts on April 17, 2012) and then saw the paperback of A Clash of Kings at our local non-big-box bookstore and just went for it. Got to support independent bookstores, right? I couldn't help it. I wanted to find out what happened next to Tyrion and Arya and Daenerys and Bran and Jon Snow and those amazing direwolves and ravens. That large pile of to-read books that have been haunting me all summer would just have to wait.

Peter Dinklage as Tyrion Lannister in HBO's Game of Thrones

A Clash of Kings picks up right where A Game of Thrones left off. Everyone wants to rule in the land of Westeros, home of the Seven Kingdoms. King Joffrey Baratheon currently rules in the capital, King's Landing. Brothers Stannis (aided by a witch, Melisandre) and Renly Baratheon are massing their forces, and Robb Stark has been proclaimed King in the North. Unbeknownst to those four, Balon Greyjoy, who has been joined by his son Theon, is calling himself King of the Iron Islands, and is about to invade the North, and in the East, Daenerys Targaryen wants to sail west, with her Dothraki warriors and three dragons, and reclaim her family's rightful throne.

I don't really want to do a total recap and spoil it for anyone who has yet to read the book, so I'll try to focus on aspects of Martin's storytelling that I like. His characterization is phenomenal, from the large "leading cast" who provide alternate third-person narratives throughout the novel, to the many, many supporting characters, each drawn in exquisite detail, whether they last throughout the story or disappear after just a page or two.

As blood-and-gutsy as it gets at times, I never feel like Martin as an author has a bloodlust. War is hell, and the Seven Kingdoms are involved in a fierce war, with multiple kings vying for control. Violence is realistic and inevitable. Medieval weaponry delivers brutal wounds and deaths, and then when you throw magic into the mix ... Martin does frequently up the ante by having children like Arya, Sansa, and Bran Stark bear witness to some of the most savage behavior that soldiers indulge in — and not just against other soldiers, but civilians, or as they are called in the series, smallfolk.

Maisie Williams as Arya Stark

Sometimes it feels like there are no good guys. We are made to root for the Starks, but depending on whose point of view is telling the story at the time, the colors quickly fade to gray, which makes for very interesting reading. Catelyn Stark is the mother of many beloved and "good" characters — Robb, Arya, Sansa, Bran, Rickon. She frequently gets things the wrong way around, and some of her stupid actions have put her family in danger and contributed, not in a good way, to the wars they are waging. The Lannisters are the resident bad guys in King's Landing and elsewhere, but the dwarf Tyrion Lannister, called insultingly the "Imp," is put in charge of the city (and his nephew, rogue King Joffrey) by his father, pater familias Tywin Lannister, and it is impossible not to cheer his plans and hope that his wits can save him and the city. Theon Greyjoy is a character easy to hate, but he brings to the story a whole new angle, giving readers a glance at the Iron Men and their quest for the throne.

Just when you think that Martin has introduced more than enough people to keep track of, new and wonderful characters like the brother and sister Meera and Jojen Reed from the swamp lands of Greywater Watch appear at Winterfell to help young Bran Stark find his third eye. Martin also fleshes out familiar characters — we get to know better some previously subsidiary people like Osha, Varys, and Shae.

One of the most complicated characters that I can't help but like is the Hound. I wouldn't call him the Severus Snape of this book, but he is definitely not simply a bad guy, either. As the horrible King Joffrey's right hand he can be brutal and frequently evil-acting — but at other times he is wounded and gentle and even protective of someone like Sansa Stark. No matter what harsh words he may use when he is around her, he is most definitely looking out for Sansa's best interests. Arya Stark has an equally dangerous and creepy but also oddly likable champion, Jaqen H'ghar. These are two characters that I hope to see again in the series.

Rory McCann as The Hound

A Clash of Kings is a full-tilt adventure, plunging everyone into deeper danger, without respite. It is also beautifully written. Luckily, the library had my reserve copy of the next book in the series, A Storm of Swords, ready just as I was finishing this one. I have a few things to read first, and then I'll be diving back in. Oh who am I kidding? As dense as Martin's books are, it's impossible to just read one chapter and set it down. Excuse me ...

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game of thrones ... the joy of adaptation

I watched the first season of HBO's Game of Thrones and loved it. I tuned in initially for Sean Bean and the medieval vibe, but kept watching for the great acting and wheels-within-wheels intrigue. I hadn't read the series of books by George R. R. Martin that the series is based on, and didn't really intend to.

Once the first season drew to its emotional and startling close I found myself actually missing the characters. So one day I found myself staring at a picture of Sean Bean seated on the Iron Throne in a paperback reissue of the first book of the A Song of Ice and Fire series, A Game of Thrones, and picked it up. I literally have a stack of books next to my bed that I have to read, but I pushed them all aside as soon as I cracked the cover. It was nigh impossible to put down. Not only is Martin's book as good as all and sundry have claimed, but as each chapter progressed it was clear that HBO had done a fantastic job of adaptation. [Note: after reading A Game of Thrones, I have re-watched the first few episodes on-demand and I am really impressed on how much they packed in and that I missed the first time around viewing the story as an uninitiated newbie.]

How did book differ from television? While reading A Game of Thrones it was nice to have a lot of the characters more fleshed out. There were also many subsidiary characters that there was clearly never time for in a 12-episode television series. Martin writes very well and the settings, characters and supernatural histories are meticulously rendered. The character of Jaime Lannister was also a strong, but frequently shadowy, character in the book. His actions, or potential actions, influence a lot of the other characters, but he was rarely seen.

Obviously the show creators were also big fans as they managed to convey much of Martin's world. Through the power of the visual, a lot of the details that work so well in the book — the explanation of Dothraki power structure and Khal Drogo's blood riders, a deeper explanation of Catelyn and Littlefinger's early days, how remote the Eyrie actually is, etc. — still work as well, or even better when shown in images. Eddard "Ned" Stark's character and ultimate fate is actually more emotional onscreen than in the book, not just because of the visceral nature of images, but because in a filmed close-up the audience can get closer to Ned, feel with him. And Sean Bean was right-on in hs portrayal of the honor-bound, out-of-his-league ex-soldier.

Martin has worked as a screenwriter in the past for the television shows Beauty and The Beast and Twilight Zone. He also wrote the script for the Game of Thrones episode "The Pointy End," which was one of the best of the season. While reading A Game of Thrones the sense of visual is also there, but at no time does one feel as if they are reading a spec script. Martin creates a world, with a complicated history. The geography of Westeros is extremely well depicted. As much as there are the inevitable comparisons to J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings trilogy, one of the sore points for me while reading those books was that for all of Tolkien's endless descriptive prose about the places the Fellowship was walking through, I never felt the reality of the geography. I never "saw" it. Martin's Westeros not only feels like a real country, but from Martin's descriptions of terrain, from The Wall to Winterfell to King's Landing to the Eyrie to Vas Dothraek, I had a real feel of the land. The mysterious creatures that live in these places seemed real as well.

The book is structured by character, with the story being told progressively through various people. This deepens all of the characters, because we get to see Ned, for example, not only through his eyes, but also through the eyes of his wife, his children, his enemies.

Did I mention direwolves? They are in the television show, but in the books the reader gets a better sense of how important the wolves are to the Starks, and how immense and powerful they are. Martin's inclusion of all of the various Westeros ruling families and heraldry gives the reader a sense of how medieval knights might have chosen their emblems.

from The Road Less Travelled

There is sex in the book, but nothing near as gratuitous as in the series, which added some HBO After Dark-like encounters that were totally unnecessary. As this was the most consistent complaint from viewers, and practically the only real complaint anyone could have with the show, it will be interesting to see if HBO tones it down a bit next season, or at least depicts sex as Martin does in the book — as serving the story, not just for titillation.

Favorites in the television show also were favorites in the book. Tyrion Lannister, or the Imp, as he is more frequently called, is just as sympathetic and witty as Peter Dinklage's wonderful portrayal of him. It is as great to read about Daenerys going from an abused-by-her-brother meek bartered bride teenager to the kick-ass woman that she becomes once she realizes her true potential as a Khaleesi of the Dothraki people, a lover of her husband, Khal Drogo, and the last dragon of the Targaryens. If Daenerys is the heroine of A Game of Thrones I suspect that Jon Snow, Ned's bastard son, will become the hero. We will see how things play out as Daenerys makes her way west across the sea and Jon goes up against the Others and whatever else lurks beyond The Wall. Because winter is coming.

I loved A Game of Thrones as much as I did its televised adaptation. But now I have a real dilemma. It is so tempting to dive into the next book in the series, and Martin has even recently released the latest entry, the fifth book (of seven), A Dance with Dragons. But do I want to spoil myself for what is to come before the series next airs (in Spring 2012)? And what about my neglected stack of to-read books?

he'll always be siːn biːn to me

[major plot spoilers and phonetic pronunciations abound]

The first time I think I saw Sean Bean (siːn biːn) was in the movie Stormy Monday. It's a nice little '80s noir, with a great cast. Probably not many have seen it. I walked in for Sting, but walked out adding Bean to my list of interesting actors to watch. I know he played a hero in the Sharpe series of movies in the '90s, but they ran on public television when I didn't have a TV, or wasn't around most nights. I know he was in the Derek Jarman film, Caravaggio.

I started calling him Siːn Biːn sometime after Stormy Monday and before Caravaggio. It was a joke that I shared with my best movie buddy Mary, and we basically infected everyone else we came across with our special pronunciation. It was geeky and nerdy and an in-joke that was funny and understandable to probably no one but us, and we loved it. It cemented him as one of "our" actors. I know that other friends started referring to him with all long vowel sounds as well. It became such a habit that I frankly can't pronounce his name correctly anymore. I have to catch myself when taking to someone new about him — not that I do talk about him all that often, but Game of Thrones has caused his name to come up a bit more frequently of late.

Post-Caravaggio, the next time Sean Bean made an impression (although I know that I must have seen him in other things) was in the great thriller Ronin, where he played what has become his signature character — a weak man who aspires to be a big man but is hopelessly out of his league. Bean's character was pathetic and at times icky, but his portrayal was always downright wonderful.








More recently Bean was also wonderful as Boromir in Lord of the Rings. He was the absolutely perfect person to play that character, a conflicted, almost-hero who wants to do what's right, but just can't. His death at the end of The Lord of The Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring is tragic, and also one of the best scenes in director Peter Jackson's trilogy. It's a much more emotional scene than Gandalf's fall into the abyss. Because even if you haven't read Tolkien, every literary and filmic trope tells the audience that Gandalf will be back. But Boromir's death, and Bean's portrayal, are achingly human. He ends up dying a hero's death — the moment his eyes clear from the spell cast by the Ring he gives his life to save his hobbit friends.

So I should have known, should have been prepared, for what was coming in Game of Thrones to Bean's Eddard "Ned" Stark. But like Ned, I was hoping that somehow, some way, he would get a last-minute reprieve before the sword blade came down. But Ned's death was the perfect book-end to his execution of a deserter in the first episode of the series, "The man who passes the sentence should swing the sword." Ned's philosophy of life was in direct opposition to just about everyone in King's Landing, especially Joffrey Lannister.

I absolutely love the HBO series, which is based on the books by George R. R. Martin. I haven't read the books. Apart from reading Dune way back when I haven't really read much fantasy. I haven't missed the genre for any particular reason. I just have so many books to read all the time. I do have Ursula K. LeGuin's Earthsea trilogy waiting in the wings. (Since the series ended I picked up the first book in the series, A Game of Thrones, on sale at Target, but after I read it, I really don't want to read ahead. It's going to be a long wait for the second season, which doesn't begin until next spring. Maybe I'l get a chance to finally read Earthsea in the meantime.)

So I wasn't in the know about Ned's fate, although as the first season progressed, it seemed more and more likely that not just Ned, but no one might get out of Westeros alive. But for once Bean seemed to be the clear-cut hero of the piece. His character was stubborn and clueless, a Bean specialty, but he was also a leader — strong and brave, with a sense of honor. Unfortunately, he was also the only character who talked and walked that way. Poor Ned.

His stint is over in Game of Thrones, but he has a bunch of movies in the pipeline, and there are plenty of movies to watch from his catalogue in the meantime. Bean is a go-to guy for screen villains in action movies, too. Some of his better known bad guy parts have been in National Treasure, GoldenEye, and Patriot Games. Whether he's playing a terrorist, or a would-be hero, or an abject failure, or even a dramatic role as the stubborn son of Richard Harris in the magnificent film The Field, Sean Bean always fascinates. That's Siːn Biːn ...