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Swallowfeather

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A Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire, #1)

by George R.R. Martin

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Swallowfeather said: " I'm on p. 580 and I still like it a lot. I really care about the characters and am worried for them, I feel like it's a really well-done portrayal of what the personal fallout of medieval political intrigue would be and a good portrayal of what one r I'm on p. 580 and I still like it a lot. I really care about the characters and am worried for them, I feel like it's a really well-done portrayal of what the personal fallout of medieval political intrigue would be and a good portrayal of what one reviewer called the "bloody-mindedness" that prevailed back then. I like it for that reason. I'm into accurate history. I like Bernard Cornwell's Arthurian series because his Druids practice human sacrifice; not because I like human sacrifice but because I like the truth.

I just have two beefs, one small and one big.

1. When Ned dismisses what Arya has overhead so quickly, it just rings wrong, especially after his last scene with her was the Ultimate Great Dad scene where he takes her seriously, helps her with grief, inspires her etc. Seemed too plot-convenient, OK, so now we have dramatic irony, we know something he doesn't know, great.

2. OK, so we have a group of rangers discover two dead bodies, two of their own. Here are the characteristics of the bodies: Their skin is "blanched white as milk," except for their hands which have turned black. Their hair comes out when you pull on it, "brittle as straw." Their blood is dry and crusted and where a tame wolf tears at one as he lies dead, his blood comes out "like a black dust." They don't smell and are not rotting.

Our *experienced rangers*, including the *head of their order*, stand around theorizing about how and when these men were killed, including a generally approved theory that they were killed only a day ago because, hey, they're not rotting. They have to be corrected by this raw recruit who's totally scared of blood but was forced by his father to watch him dress hunting kills and apparently he's observed the blood more closely b/c he hates it so much or something. (BS. People who hunt, butcher animals, farm, build, etc are much better observers of such practical signs than people who mostly read and write and don't like to touch gross things. They have to be.)

WHAT ON EARTH. I have dressed maybe seven deer in my life, that's how darned experienced I am, OK, and if I cut one open that seemed fresh and didn't smell bad and its blood was "a black dust," it would creep me the heck out. (Also if its hair comes out really easy that's a definite sign of rotting, I would immediately start wondering why it doesn't smell even before I saw the dust-blood. Not to mention the CHALK-WHITE SKIN and BLACK HANDS.) In real life these men would be standing around going "What on earth DOES that?" not "must be the wild men, I bet they dumped the bodies here for a warning, yeah." ...more "

Oct 04, 2011 06:47AM · see review