Maybe my favourite book series! Intelligent dialogue dealing with consequences of even minor decisions. The hierarchy is criticised constantly, shown for being trivial, hypocritical and based almost entirely in violence and threats based on strength in numbers (implied and real).
I can't choose a favourite character or arc, but I really love ADWD for really elaborating on and setting up new goals for stories that had more or else finished their first act.
I also enjoy that while GRRM indulges in 'pure evil' characters such as Joffrey, The Mountain, Ramsay and Euron (Read that TWOW preview chapter- it's Godly!) he still establishes that most people commit horrific acts while being actual complex people in a shit system (Theon, Jamie, Stannis).
Main two characters also should be noted are a staunch abolitionist (Dany) and a man who sacrifices himself for refugees who he successfully migrated (Jon). Considering the ramifications they both faced for their decisions they both managed to be awesome, intelligent and compassionate, despite the consistently horrific implications and threats.
What are your favourite characters, arcs, worldbuilding or quotes? Any real life political figures you'd like to compare to ASOIAF characters?
Hello, friend! I also love ASOIAF. I really enjoy Brienne's chapters because in many cases she acts as a camera for the smallfolk of Westeros in a way that no other character does. We get to learn a lot more about the world from the perspective of people who aren't royalty or children of lords or otherwise people with supposedly great destinies. I find Bran's chapters to be interesting, too, especially if you interpret some of his arc in the botched TV show in a darker way, with the hopes that George will give him more of a role in the actual plotline of the novels. I really hope that the Others have a goal besides "complete eradication of humans", we eventually get a hint at some of their motivations, and Bran will be involved in whatever action is taken to negotiate or defeat them.
A lot of people dislike all the Meereen politics, but I like it. Dany has to rapidly grow up from a pure idealist into someone who has to make actual policy and attempt to balance her desires and ultimate goals with the reality of being thrust into a position of great power. She's attempting to mend relations between factions that have never been allied, even after all her upheaval and attempts to eradicate slavery, and she is also struggling to manage the equivalent of three nukes gradually growing larger. It's a pretty chaotic situation.
Her difficulty in banning slavery was such hamfisted liberal propaganda. "We all agree slavery is bad, but we cant ban it because it's just not realistic". Its the same lie they tell themselves for why Obama cant stop bombing weddings or why we cant have healthcare.
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She needed to liquidate the slaver class and radically redistribute wealth and restructure society
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Yeah she tries to compromise and pisses off everyone. She should have just sided unflinchingly with the slave class
I see it more like "Radically restructuring society will come with consequences". That's not a libby argument of "Guess those slavers should have stayed in power!" or "The Meereenese can have little a slavery, as a treat", but rather just a natural consequence of extreme action. Dany didn't want to outright slaughter everyone in support of slavery, but leaving behind the sympathizers has its issues, and simply removing the slavers without providing safety nets means that some of the slaves are either desperate or deluded enough to wish things were back to the way they were used to. You're being naive if you think it could have gone anywhere else with Dany being who she is - a fucking fourteen year old girl with a handful of advisors, not a hardened strategist and revolutionary architect.
No revolution is going to come without struggle. No revolution is going to come without consequences. That doesn't mean the takeaway message is "We should leave things as they are."
No I think it correctly showed the slaver class being counterrevolutionary terrorists. Dany was being a lib and didn’t want to liquidate their class. She should have went with her instinct to kill every single slaver.