Winter has come

These past few months have seen me wallowing in emotions and journeying through the fantastic lands of Ice and Fire. I first encountered this world through the HBO series "Game of Thrones." And though I'm quite wont to reproaching myself for having discovered it just now instead of years and years earlier, I am still glad to know, experience and learn more about the exquisite and vivid world crafted by George R. R. Martin. In the shuttle on the way to work, during lunch breaks, while waiting in line, before going to sleep, and basically whenever I had free (and actually not-so-free) time, I found myself reading each of the current five books of the saga "A Song of Ice and Fire." All of them are almost a thousand page apiece and all of them gripping, intriguing and... addicting.

"'The north remembers, Lord Davos. The north remembers, and the mummer's farce is almost done. My son is home.' Something about the way Lord Wyman said that chilled Davos to the bone."

The line is from "A Dance with Dragons," the fifth book from the saga. And all the five books are filled with such breath-stealing moments and utterly captivating plot lines that flow seamlessly through the pages. I did feel cold fingers down my back when I read that line spoken by Lord Wyman Manderly, even before I got to the part about Lord Davos. "The north remembers" resonate so well to us readers who have journeyed and empathized with the northern men, and the sequence of the dialogues in this part just set the delivery of the line at its most affecting. 

"I think it passing odd that I am loved by one for a kindness I never did, and reviled by so many for my finest act." 

-- "A Clash of Kings" (Book II)

It has been known that the dynamic in "A Song of Ice and Fire" is not the usual good versus bad. In this land of continuous power struggle and betrayal and personal ambitions, every single character is capable of fighting his way through the labyrinthine quasi-medieval society of Westeros and the lands beyond the Narrow Sea. Each book in the series is bursting with action and twists that don't let go, and the high fantasy elements of dragons, skinchangers, and prophecies add more fervor in the events that transpired. 

In stories of the scale such as "A Song of Ice and Fire," there are bound to be a dazzling array of characters--from knights to sorcerers, from bards to sellswords, from kings to slaves, from bastards to lords, I have met their kinds. And what's so addicting about GRRM's world is that every single character he cared to introduce ends up being a personality that sticks in the mind even if his/her appearances in the books are hundreds of pages in between. It's easy to get lost in the tangled plot and subplots set in many wondrous places. But when a character you thought you don't exactly know or care about appears again, something clicks in your head and everything amazingly snaps into place... and you're just... awed. It's such a thrilling experience and one I can't get enough of, honestly.

"'You lie,' (the kindly old man) said. 'All men lie when they are afraid. Some tell many lies, some but a few. Some have only one great lie they tell so often that they almost come to believe it... though some small part of them will always know it is still a lie, and that will show upon their faces.'"  

-- "A Feast for Crows" (Book IV)

I know I'm not really an expert reader to generalize literary expositions, but another thing I liked about "A Song of Ice and Fire" is that GRRM seemingly deconstructs the ideological foundations of the character tropes. Knights and princesses, mothers and kings--they're not always what we might know them to be. Suddenly the soiled fighter is actually a man of honor, a woman becomes more of a knight than any anointed ser in the kingdom, the child soldier transforms into a vengeful and dark warrior, the domestic ladies find strength in their grief and are actually able to wield more power than their male counterparts. Every character is so well-made for me, and it's really thrilling to watch them struggle to achieve what they want or battle it out against one another.

Another thing I liked about GRRM's chef-d'œuvre is the exquisite imagery of places and people, of culture and myths, of the lands' own histories and heroes. I find it really amazing how fluid the ideas flow from one to another. I have probably said this, but I love how unapologetic GRRM is in his writing. The chapters are filled to the brim with tales from this fictional world so vividly written I can't help but feel it's real. The symbols are so deftly constructed, the ideologies (be it religion or other societal norms) so innate in every character you end up reasoning with yourself defending and contending their actions. 

"She loved the sea. She liked the sharp salty smell of the air, the vastness of horizons bounded only by a vault of azure sky above. It made her feel small, but free as well. She liked the dolphins that sometimes swam along beside Balerion, slicing through the waves like silvery spears, and the flying fish they glimpsed now and again. She even liked the sailors, with all their songs and stories."  

--"A Storm of Swords" (Book III)

I have never been this obsessed in a fantasy series, or any material for that matter, before. I thought maybe it's because I'm older when I started being enthusiastic about it (contrary to, say, being obsessed years ago with "Harry Potter") and that I am more capable to act upon this fascination. (I actually actively searched for fanfictions because I. Just. Can't. Get. Enough. Of my favorite characters.) I also thought maybe it's because I have friends I could fangirl with over the books. I also thought maybe because "A Song of Ice and Fire" is so different from anything I have encountered yet, that even the languages used fascinate me. And I have never felt this attached to this many characters. GRRM has a gut-wrenching way of dealing with characters and their fates (and deaths), and as a reader, the emotional torture can sometimes be quite disconcerting. But in a sick way, you can't really stop and give up, can you?

"A craven can be as brave as any man, when there is nothing to fear. And we all do our duty, when there is no cost to it. How easy it seems then, to walk the path of honor. Yet soon or late in every man's life comes a day when he must choose." 

-- "A Game of Thrones" (Book I)

More than anything though, I think I'm so deeply obsessed because the whole saga is a really rich narrative that saying it's a complicated tale is an understatement. Every reading, every character you root for, every chapter makes you think. GRRM's world is so convoluted it leaves so much room for discovery. And it's exhilarating to analyze things you might have missed the first time, and realize its effect to the whole story. I think it's one of the irresistible factor of the series--you're never ever sure so you have to keep reading (or wait for the succeeding books and discuss theories with fellow fans while at it).

Honestly, I didn't know what I have signed up for when I began my journey first in Winterfell, beyond the Wall, and then through Westeros and then father away into the lands beyond the Narrow Sea and in the Free Cities. My thoughts are a train-wreck for weeks now because of "A Song of Ice and Fire" and gods know what I'm supposed to do with my life while waiting for the sixth book "The Winds of Winter."

Currently the most beloved pieces in my book collection. :))