The book: Game of Thrones (Song of Ice and Fire book 1) by George RR Martin
The song: “I Hate My Life” by Theory of a Deadman
I know I’m late to the party with this. I’ve never actually watched the show, but I’ve seen enough clips and analysis to know the basics of it, along with all the spoilers. I’m trying to read more, so I thought I’d give this a shot.
Overall, the writing is really good. Martin does a great job of building a very complex world, without overwhelming the reader with unnecessary details a la Robert Jordan. But that complexity is what made me decide to stop after book 1: there’s too many characters, and too many plot lines, and overall too much politics that I just don’t care about.
And maybe it’s the school social worker in me, I don’t know, but so many of the characters’ problems could be avoided if they just let kids be kids! “I’m 8, so I’m a grown ass man now!” Bran exclaims. “I’m 12, so I can be a grown ass king now!” Joffrey exclaims. No. These kids, and Sansa and Dany too, need to be at home playing with GI Joes and Barbies instead of getting married and starting wars. You know what happens when you let someone with the mentality of a kid rule you? He starts a major war when he beheads his political rival, and before you know if you have armed military members putting Portland protesters in unmarked vans while we all die of a containable plague.
The accompanying song doesn’t have much to do with the books, but the singer is pretty whiny in this song and it reminded me of the characters.
