like sands in the hourglass, these are the games of our thrones ...

Both book and television spoilers lurk within ...

A Dance with Dragons, the fifth novel in George R. R. Martin's epic A Song of Ice and Fire series, was published in 2011, after a five-year gap between it and the previous entry, A Feast for Crows. The series started with A Game of Thrones in 1996. The series has had an interesting evolution. Originally intended to be a trilogy, Martin soon realized that his fictional world of Westeros and beyond was expanding and would require first, four, than six, now seven, and possibly even eight books to complete. As the time between the published novels stretches, his devoted readers fret that their author may never reach a conclusion. After completing A Dance with Dragons I can understand some of the reader-panic. In his latest entry the world and its characters have continued to expand. How can Martin possible polish off this series in just seven books?

Dany (played by Emilia Clarke in Game of Thrones) with her dragon, Drogon

I discovered Martin and his world like many, after watching the first season of Game of Thrones on HBO. A huge Sean Bean fan, I was shocked when the axe fell and ended both his character Ned Stark, the presumed "hero" of the show, and any expectations I might have been harboring of where the narrative would take me next. As soon as the first season ended I dove into the books — A Game of Thrones, A Clash of Kings, A Storm of Swords, and straight through until A Feast for Crows. In the meantime, I had purchased A Dance with Dragons not long after it came out, and even read a few chapters before I set it aside. I wasn't ready to get to the end of whatever Martin had written so far.

When the second and third seasons of the television show aired, I was, I thought, prepared for what would be depicted onscreen. But show runners David Benioff and D. B. Weiss have managed to add a few twists and turns of their own, especially in the recently ended fourth season, to keep both book readers and the "Unsullied" jumping. Once the fourth season recently ended it finally seemed like a good time to pick up the threads of the story and see where Tyrion and Arya and Daenerys and Jon Snow and all the others were headed next. I got those answers. Sorta.

If you browse Amazon or any other site that reviews A Dance with Dragons the number one complaint is that nothing happens, that Martin is treading water. At a glacial, even soap oper-like pace. There are a lot of pages devoted to ships traveling on the sea. Slowly. It's not an incorrect critique, if what one was hoping for was a lot of physical movement of the main characters, like pieces on a chessboard. Martin may be playing chess, or cyvasse, as Tyrion does, but with a different, longer game in mind. Which is why I think that to truly sum things up, he'll need three more books. Hopefully we can all get there.

Martin may spend what some consider an inordinate amount of time describing what his characters are eating and how they are dressing, but can anyone deny that they don't know the difference between conditions at The Wall versus Meereen or the Dothraki sea? He also manages to get in quite a bit of backstory, to expand on what happened before the first novel took place, the motivations of people that are casting long shadows on their younger generations. And the horrors of war, and difficulties of governing, which could easily be compared to some very contemporary problems and issues. I will admit that I didn't necessarily need to be reminded multiple times of Meereen's many-colored brick pyramid walls. But I think Martin may have acquired the same problem with his editors that plagued J.K. Rowling towards the end of her Harry Potter series. They don't cut a damn word.

Reek (Alfie Allen) gives his master Ramsay Snow (Iwan Rheon) a close shave

Some characters may seem to have evolved only slightly in A Dance with Dragons, but appearances may be deceiving. Let's examine.

Daenerys. The Queen of Meereen and all her other numerous titles, is still in the east, and seems no closer to getting to Westeros, which is very frustrating for readers. As she likes to say (a lot) she is just a young girl. This young girl does spend a lot of time mooning over a certain sell-sword named Daario, but when the goings get tough outside her adopted/conquered city (plague, famine, attack from many enemies), she doesn't take the easy way out as all her advisors want her to do, but stays put and tries to make a better life for her people. She even agrees to marry the noble Hizdahr, someone she neither trusts note ives, because she thinks it will bring peace. And towards the end of the book she finally gets to do what I had been waiting, hoping for for ages — she hops on her dragon Drogon's back and takes flight. Truly the Mother of Dragons, Daenerys may be temporarily a bit lost in the Dothraki Sea, but she will still be a force to be reckoned with.

Tyrion. His chapters may have been the most frustrating for readers (and Martin). A fan favorite, how are we supposed to feel about him, after he has killed his father and his lover and fled, presumably in search of "where whores go"? Martin's answer was to send him on a circuitous journey, teasing us with his reaching Daenerys to join her council. But he never really does. Instead he meets another Targaryen no one knew was still alive, also interested in taking the Iron Throne, gets captured by Jorah Mormont, then both are later sold into slavery where he meets a female (and fairly annoying) performing dwarf. As always Tyrion uses his considerable wits to get them out of that predicament, but what next? Another cliffhanger.

"You know nothing, Jon Snow" (Kit Harington)

Jon Snow. His character showed the most growth. He had to contend with King Stannis, his Red Witch Melisandre, and his Queen and her court while simultaneously trying to breach a peace with the Wildlings. A decision that was most unpopular with his men of the Night's Watch, Jon let the Wildlings not only cross to their side of The Wall, but allowed some to don the black cloaks of the Night's Watch. Heresy. Jon understands that the old prejudices must be set aside if they are truly going to survive the winter that is coming, and the Others and otherworldly threats that lurk beyond the Wall. At the same time, he can't seem to let go of his allegiance to his old home of Winterfell, and a decision to try and defend the castle opens the door for his men to pull a Caesar-style execution move. Or did they? Cue Melisandre and the Lord of Light's magic in 3,2,1 ...

Those are the three central characters of the narrative at the moment, but there was a lot more going on as well, with Arya, and Bran, and Asha Greyjoy, but most especially with Reek, now back to calling himself Theon. Theon has become a fascinating character, one which I never expected to sympathize with. When we first meet him in A Game of Thrones he was clearly a callow youth. Some might even have called him a jerk. It comes as no surprise (except to the Starks) that he became Theon Turncloak. But Martin threw Theon and his readers for a loop when he introduced an even more vile character in the form of Ramsay Snow, the Bastard of Bolton. Ramsay tortured, castrated, and mutilated Theon, turning him into the sniveling Reek. The unpleasant Reek gave us a view into Ramsay and his father Roose Bolton's doings (much like his sister Asha functions to show us what Stannis and his army are up to). But once Ramsay takes Winterfell in A Dance with Dragons, Reek slowly transforms back into Theon. His memories of his childhood there and his vists to the weirwood tree (and possible coaching from greenseer Bran) restore, at least mentally, his manhood. A character I used to loathe reading about, Theon has become one of the most interesting characters in the series.

A Dance with Dragons visits King's Landing for just a few chapters, which may have worked better in A Feast for Crows, but why quibble? Cersei is as awful (and fun to read about) as ever. Her uncle Kevan had a slam-bang chapter of his own, which featured another favorite face from the past, Varys. But these brief visits are just previews of the next book, The Winds of Winter. And there, lies the rub, of course. Martin has such a way of making us interested in his characters, that one can't help but be frustrated when one nears the end of the massive tome and realizes that just ten more pages aren't going to reveal what happens next to Tyrion, Daenerys, or in a way-too-short tantalizing peek, Jaime and Brienne (!) So here we sit, hoping for scraps and previews that Martin is posting on his blog. And maybe rewatching select episodes of Game of Thrones until The Winds of Winter comes out. This year? Next year?

game of thrones: the quality of mercy

Beware of spoilers if you haven't seen the latest episode, “The Rains of Castamere,” or read A Storm of Swords ...


As I watched last night's penultimate episode of Game of Thrones I couldn't help thinking of this snippet from Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice:

Portia:

The quality of mercy is not strain'd,
It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath: it is twice blest;
It blesseth him that gives and him that takes:
'Tis mightiest in the mightiest: it becomes
The throned monarch better than his crown;

There were so many opportunities last night for characters to show (or not show) mercy to their fellow man. Arya, who was still on the road with The Hound, asked him to show mercy to a hog vendor after they hijacked his cart. The Hound's first instinct was to kill the man, but he let Arya talk him out of it. She may have saved the man's life, but she is also capable of being ruthless, reminding her captor/delivery man later that she still planned, on her first opportunity, to kill him. She will never forgive him for killing her young friend Mycah at Joffrey's behest. The Hound later showed mercy to Arya by getting her safely away from dangerous and deadly situation.

In a similar scene, Jon Snow tried to convince the wildlings he has been traveling with to show mercy to a horse tender for the Night's Watch. Like the Hound, they don't believe in leaving witnesses to their crimes. Ygritte and her traveling companions thought he was being weak, or "being a crow," but it was also because he is a good man. Ygritte killed the man with an arrow and Jon killed Orell, who is a Warg, a person with the ability to enter the mind of an animal and control its actions. Orell was able to transform into an eagle as he died, and attacked Jon before he took flight.

Bran is showing mercy to his younger brother Rickon, and to the wildling Osha as well, as he sends them to a safer place while he continues his journey with the Reeds beyond the Wall. Bran is also a Warg, and was able, through his direwolf, to see that Jon was alive and headed back towards Castle Black.

In Yunkai Daenerys's crew attacked the city. Although Ser Jorah, Daario Naharis, and Grey Worm showed no mercy to the city's protectors, they do to the rest of the inhabitants — slaves who knew that she would show mercy to them and free them from slavery.

It's a nice day for a red wedding ...


Unfortunately for Robb Stark and his followers there was no mercy to be had at The Twins. Lord Walder Frey neither forgives nor forgets, and he teamed up with Roose Bolton and (in the book) Tywin Lannister. The Freys were out for revenge, and the King of the North was caught neatly in a trap. The Freys and Co. killed every last one of them, including Robb's direwolf. It was incredibly brutal to watch, and all the more poignant as we watched Catelyn try to bargain in vain for her son's life and then watch him die.

Although I never particularly liked the character of Cat — in either the books or the television series — I shed a tear for her both times at the red wedding. Michelle Fairley brilliantly captured her stubborn, sometimes bone-headed decision making, as well as her fierce protective mothering instincts. Cat is such a frustrating character, as she is truly a loving mother, who nonetheless left her two youngest children in the care of servants to go on a political/revenge mission.

With only one episode left to go, Game of Thrones is certainly upping the ante. I'm not sure who had it harder last night watching the red wedding. Readers of the books who knew what was coming, or watchers of the show who were blindsided by the slaughter. Book purists may quibble that some events and characters have been changed, but there's no denying the fact that the show's creators have taken George R. R. Martin's saga and created a hold-your-breath kind of show to watch. Can't wait until next week.