Game of Thrones: Prologue

[fajrdrako]

My plan: to reread A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin. For three reasons:

1. Because it's fun, and meaty, and well worth a reread
   
2. Because there is soon to be a TV miniseries made of it
   
3. Because one of my Dunnett mailing lists is starting a discussion of it

So this morning I read the Prologue.

1. I was struck once again by how beautiful the writing is, and how precise the use of words. "Destrier" and "garron" for the horses. The description of the weather, both in dialogue and visual detail. The contast between the three featured charactes, making each very distinct.
   
   
2. The characters:
   • Ser Waymar Royce - I kept seeing his name on various character lists, or the casting for the TV show - he'll be played by Jamie Campbell Bower. And I couldn't place him. One of the knights on the Wall? Well, no wonder I couldn't remember. Duh! He dies in the first few pages. But makes a rather interesting presence beforehand, especially as seen through the eyes of Will, who doesn't trust or respect him. He thinks Royce is an inexperienced young kid. So he may be, but we see both intelligence and courage in his acts over the first few pages. If he were more experienced, might he have survived this expedition? ...Probably not, not in this book. Brendan Stark was plenty experienced, and he never came back.
     
     
   • Gared, the old, experienced man of the Night's Watch. Turkey Mat? But he's argumentative with Royce, his superior officer. Perhaps scornful.
     
     
   • Will, the younger one. Frightened, has no faith in Royce, mocks him, but not to his face.
   
   
3. Aphorism: "Never believe anything you hear at a woman's tit." But the aphorism that's referring to is more interesting still: "My mother told me that dead men sing no songs," says Will. That's the kind of thing people say when they're going to kill people. Perhaps Will's family didn't just poach animals.
   
   
4. Nice bit of dialogue:

   Gared: Night is falling.
   Royce: It does that every day about this time.

5. I like the way Royce doesn't want to believe things without evidence, and uses his brains to work out that the dead men weren't just dead of the cold. Still: it got him killed. And weather changes fast. His logic wasn't really so sound.
   
   
6. The Others: very spooky. explodedteabag calls them Zombies, but that isn't quite right too me: they're too ghostly and not fleshy enough for zombies, even though they are physically solid. I like to call them wraiths.
   
   
7. We see mention of people and things we'll meet again or learn more about later: Maester Aemon, Mormont, the Night's Watch. Just hints of the society, so far, though it has a feudal flavour.
   
   
8. Love the use of swords, and the whole sword fight. The Other technology: a thin crystal sword that shines with blue light, makes a shrill sound, and shatters steel.