Winter is Coming read the words on the Stark family's direwolf-blazoned insignia, but in a world where seasons last years, in the midst of
a decade-long summer under a hero king who usurped the Iron Throne from the cruel dragon-blooded Targaryen house, nobody wants to believe it. After all,
the great ice Wall to the north of the Stark home in Winterfell, home of the black-robed Night's Watch, has protected the lands of men from the Others
and the true heart of winter for ages untold. But the Wall is melting, the Watch deteriorated, and few aside from Lord Eddard Stark truly believe in the
coming dangers to all men, northern and southron, dangers greater than the eternal quarrelling between the noble houses of the land. As Stark's friend,
King Robert, crumbles under the weight of his crown and conniving schemers from his unfaithful wife to the eunuch in charge of the royal spy networks
vie for power, a winter full of monsters out of legend is about to fall on a divided and unprepared land.
Review
I've seen this book recommended in many places, and I finally located a reasonably-priced (under two bucks) copy in a local used book store, so I
figured it was worth a try. This is a sweeping saga, an epic fantasy worthy of the name, and as such takes some time to get off the ground. The tangle of
similar-sounding names and houses and lineages overwhelmed me at the start, but, not unlike Tolkien's works, it sorted itself out once I stopped worrying
about the details and let the story unfold as it would. Martin's world has many conventional fantasy trappings, but manages to create original twists and
interesting characters through which to tell his tale. Each chapter is told from a different key character's perspective in different parts of the world,
many of whom never cross paths (at least not knowingly or directly); separating the action like this helped me sort out who was who and what was what, and
cut down on repetitious retellings of events from slightly altered viewpoints. By the halfway point, I was hooked, and willing to forgive it the occasional
foray into dry histories and lineages which, I'll admit, I still had some trouble with by the time I reached the appendices at the end. These outlined the
origins and members of each noble house, which didn't do much to clarify things but did at least demonstrate a concrete structure underneath it all. The
only drawback is that now I'll have to track down the rest of the series. Dang it.
The realm has fragmented after the ascent of the cruel boy king Joffrey to the Iron Throne in King's Landing. The deceased King Robert Baratheon's
brothers, genial Renly and brittle Stannis, each lay claim to the throne, claiming Joffrey is no true son of Robert and is but a puppet of House
Lannister. Even young Robb Stark of Winterfell, son of the slain King's Hand, Lord Eddard Stark, aspires to a crown... as do the sea raiders of the
Iron Isles, who were temporarily yoked when the land was united but now seek to place their own bloody mark upon the Seven Kingdoms. But as great men
and women fight for power, for justice, or just for their own lives, none heed the warnings of the coming winter or the ancient threats it brings,
threats long since lost to legend and tale-teller... nor do they know of the last heir to the dragon-blood line of Targaryen, who fled across the sea
with her horse-lord husband and now seeks to reclaim her throne, and has reawakened three dragon eggs to aid her: the Mother of Dragons, Deanerys
Targaryen.
Review
The epic begun in A Game Of Thrones continues in a splendid sequel, the tales of the various houses and people continuing to wind their way
through alliances, betrayals, loves, losses, and wars. In books like this, with so many characters, one tends to find a few favorites, but even the ones
I wasn't particularly sympathetic with had interesting tales to tell, and kept me reading (rather than skimming) their parts. I look forward to the third
book.
The contest for the crown of the Seven Kingdoms has narrowed considerably, through battle and treachery and dark sorcery. The cruel young King Joffrey
still sits on the Iron Throne, tool of his manipulative mother Cersei Lannister and his hard-hearted grandfather Lord Tywin. King Stannis, back at the
forbidding castle of Dragonstone, broods with his advisor Melisandre, priestess of the fire god R'hllor and a dangerous sorceress. The ironmen still press
their own claims in the north, while the Young Wolf, King Robb Stark, sits at his mother's father's castle in Riverrun, brooding over the fall of the Stark's
ancestral home Winterfell to treachery. As opposing armies clash and retreat and alliances among the land's countless lords form and dissolve and reform again
seemingly by the hour, most everyone has lost sight of the very real threat of winter... and the unheeded warnings from the depleted Night's Watch on the
Wall, where the wildling armies of a self-styled king and the inhuman forces of the devouring Others - who can even raise the dead from their graves to fight
again - stand poised to sweep down on the divided lands. As autumn wanes, more blood will spill, more crowns will topple, and more dark magic will walk the
battle-scarred lands.
Review
I'd be lying if I said I could keep track of even half of the peripheral names and families and places thrown around here, but I still enjoy Martin's
increasingly vast epic. His style of featuring a different character per chapter keeps things moving nicely, and allows one to visit far more corners and
broader echelons of his world than sticking with one person or intrepid band. It also lends itself nicely to short bursts of reading, rather like tuning in to
a serial story after dinnertime, rather than having to dig in for a long haul. Not that I don't like spending a whole day absorbed in a book, but sometimes it's
also nice to be able to do dishes or fold laundry or eat. No character is safe, no matter how established or sympathetic, and as old names drop out, new ones find
voices to take their place. I really do need to get back to these, though part of me wants to wait until the last book finally appears.
When a researcher sets out to prove the truth behind a galactic legend, he hires the enigmatic vessel Nightflyer for the journey deep into
interstellar race. The captain, Royd, is a recluse who never mingles with the crew or even leaves his quarters, appearing only via hologram or as a
disembodied voice on the comms. As the trip stretches into weeks, tensions among the crew rise, making some question just why the man is so elusive...
questions that take a turn when people start dying.
Review
This novella takes the premise of many a haunted house or ghost ship tale and transports it to the depths of space, raising the stakes considerably;
you can't just run out the door or grab a life boat when you're surrounded by hard vacuum. It generally works, establishing the basics of the crew, the
mission, and a sense of foreboding early on, as well as the general "rules" of the far-future society where gene-modders create "improved" humans and
telepathic abilities are recognized and studied, if still rare; one of the crew's telepaths is the first to raise the red flag about the danger on
board. Some of the crew blend together around the edges, but the important ones are distinct enough to keep track of. The danger builds even as the
culprit remains elusive, with a subplot about the mission - to establish the truth of a race known as the volcryn, whose vast ships have been
reported in numerous species' mythologies but have never been confirmed and never made contact with any who claimed to see them - competing at times
for attention. Things come together at last for a reasonably satisfying conclusion. It came close to losing a half mark for some dithering in the
buildup, plus sometimes the characters grated and felt a little dumber than they should be about certain things. On the whole, though, the overall
horror atmosphere carried it.
