Like Atlas Shrugged, there is so much I wish to say, but do not know where to start. Atlas Shrugged would have sparked political heat so I'll defer until after the beginning of November, but I have not forgotten.
I have a no hold bars narrative here. Spoiler alert possible for anything up until a Dance with Dragons. Don't get too attached to the characters; this is the game of thrones and in the game of thrones you win, or you die.
In the beginning, the very beginning, before the book picked up it's story. There was a war that would shape future generations and bring about times so dire I cringe with thought. This was fought of a woman, most fittingly. A woman by the name of Lyanna Stark. Prince Rhaegar Targaryen has disappeared with her, though she was to marry Lord Robert Baratheon. Lyanna is wonderful, Robert Baratheon decides to go to war for her and for the deaths of the Lord Stark, her father and her brother Brandon. The King killed them when they got upset about the abduction of Lyanna. While we are on the topic of King Aerys II Targaryen, lets note that he is a pyscho. This may be for many different reasons but I'm going to chalk it up to inbreeding.
Long back story short, Robert Baratheon and Ned (younger brother to Brandon) Stark take names, kick butt, and win the rebellion. Robert Baratheon becomes the king and marries Cersie Lannister. Wait! Wait a minute! Wasn't there a war just fought for the right to marry Lyanna Stark? Why yes there was, but right after the war Lyanna dies of a cold or something silly like that. Keep in mind all of this happens before the books even begin. Martin of course does a beautiful job writing in little bits here and little bits there. Enough to keep you in the dark but enough to let you know that there is a huge picture you are not really seeing.
Now, let's be serious, the above isn't really that good of a story, but what follows is. This series is not a tale of one man or woman. It's narrative is diverse, many characters weave their tales together to form one epic. The first book alone is narrated by 9 different characters.
Before we get into all of that lets try to keep everyone straight from the beginning. In this fantasy land there are 9 Family Houses and a group called the Night's Watch. There is also the Dorkathi, a nomadic group.
The Houses include:
Baratheon
Targaryen
Stark
Lannister
Tully
Arryn
Greyjoy
Martell
Tyrell
The Night's Watch is a group of men that have taken life vow to protect the realm of Westeros at frozen wasteland called the Wall.
Our story actually begins north of the Wall with a ranging group scouting out the activities of the savage Wildings. The rangers of the Night's Watch come across from freaky undead people with creepy blue eyes. They are referred to later as "the Other's." The rangers are not particularly note worthy, the Other's kill all except one. The one that escapes is beheaded in the next chapter by Ned Stark for breaking his vow. You see in Ned Stark's nobleness, "the mouth passes the judgement must also wield the sword." Think about that in awe for a moment and mourn that men like these are few and far between.
After this action the Ned Stark and his children, plus others find these cute little direwolf puppies. One for each of Ned Stark's 5 children and his bastard. Two notes, one direwolves are rare, especially south of the Wall and two bastards (can't believe I'm using that word!!!!!) are treated completely unequal to their legitimate counterparts. Ned is a rare man that has his is being cared for and living his his children.
So as the story progresses and we are introduced to the children ages about 14-2 we start to gravitate to Ned Stark as the typical poster boy for the role as the "main character." He's put in a lot of tough spots, he has more honor than anyone we've met so far, and he's a very good father and ruler of his northmen. The children from oldest to youngest are Robb, Jon Snow (bastard), Sansa, Arya, Bran, and Rickon. His wife Catelyn is also important, she is strong and independent but everything is motivated to protect her children. This ends up as a surprise because in the beginning of the book she sits doing nothing for three weeks next to her child in a coma.
Now, keep in mind I've given you a wealth of information about the characters and the land. Martin did not spend narrative explaining customs. You just figured it out as went along, with exception of the Dorkathi which is explained when a curious foreign girl asks question about them. That alone makes Martin a genius.
Now before we get off onto the main action of the story. Let's put some names to faces (Yeah that's right! There is a TV series about this, which is only okay. But I love the way the characters look, even if most of them look too old.)
Eddard (Ned) Stark
Catelyn Stark
Jon Snow (If he's 14, I'm a monkey's uncle.)
Robb Stark (14? I think not!)
Sansa Stark
Arya Stark
Bran Stark
Rickon Stark (doesn't come into play often)
Simple enough, but that doesn't include any supporting characters or any of the other houses, and there are many.
So right after Ned beheads the traitor, he goes to pray in the godswood. While there his quaint wife brings news that the king is coming to Winterfell (where they live) and Jon Arryn has died. Arryn his second bff. His first bff would be the king.
So the king brings his wife and children. Queen Cersie has two brothers as well, her twin brother Jaime and a dwarf, Tryion. Jaime is called the Kingslayer, after killing the Aerys, the king he was sworn to protect. The children, oldest to youngest are Joffery, Marcella, and Tommen. Joffery is 12 in the beginning.
Complicated enough? Not really. This is about the first 30 pages of 600.
This is a world that doesn't have back story. It has history. Seriously, I'm sure there are super nerds out there that could write out the history of Westeros and such. And just like real history there are slight variations and skepticism to what is real and what is fiction. Martin is that good.
So maybe in the next post we can talk about the rest of the book. Or another house. Or you can comment that you just don't care and I'll stop writing about this fun series that you should really give a try.
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