tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7703856341303488608.post8221773938304491823..comments2024-03-22T19:07:21.790+00:00Comments on The Wertzone: The Princess and the Queen by George R.R. MartinAdam Whiteheadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11383677312079611311noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7703856341303488608.post-46420092488028973352013-12-13T16:16:22.209+00:002013-12-13T16:16:22.209+00:00That sounds like the war between Mathilde and Step...That sounds like the war between Mathilde and Stephen for the English crown, now with Extra! Dragons. :-)Gabriele Campbellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17205770868139083575noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7703856341303488608.post-45169849623317907922013-12-12T12:55:15.025+00:002013-12-12T12:55:15.025+00:00Rhaenyra probably had the stronger claim to the th...Rhaenyra probably had the stronger claim to the throne, but agreed that you quickly lose sympathy for her (or either side, really) after the Blood and Cheese incident.<br /><br />As for Dany, the small size of her dragons will likely be offset by the enemy not having any dragons at all. Other dragons showing up is also not impossible: Nettle's dragon Sheepstealer is young enough to still be alive, and maybe a couple of others (Silverwing is also unaccounted for, though she was decades old at the time and likely dead now, if 200+ is old for a dragon like Balerion or Vhagar).Adam Whiteheadhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11383677312079611311noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7703856341303488608.post-23216404654014347612013-12-12T04:30:44.128+00:002013-12-12T04:30:44.128+00:00One thing I noticed that Martin has established in...One thing I noticed that Martin has established in the novella that significantly changes the ASOIAF storyline is that Dany's dragons will need to be combat ready to overcome their small size and youth against large armies. Unless of course she finds a hundred year dragon like Vhagar lying around...<br /><br />Chrisnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7703856341303488608.post-43750260831411546762013-12-11T21:23:16.506+00:002013-12-11T21:23:16.506+00:00I didn't find Rhaenyra's cause the least b...I didn't find Rhaenyra's cause the least bit sympathetic, especially after Blood and Cheese. Did you read any of the other stories in Dangerous Women? I've been wondering what the stand outs are.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7703856341303488608.post-22085135689319490552013-12-11T15:43:29.610+00:002013-12-11T15:43:29.610+00:00I was also struck at how Martin was able to invent...I was also struck at how Martin was able to invent a whole new set of interesting (if not sympathetic) characters, making the Dance, as you say, seem like a condensed and more brutal version of the War of the Five Kings. Oh yeah, how could it be more brutal? They have dragons and mercilessly burn out the countryside: the Riverlands are like a lunar landscape by the end.<br /><br />The problem of course is that it's only an edited fraction of the total story of the Dance that he wrote in one great burst. Over on Westeros.org Ran has been explaining stuff that simply got cut for time.<br /><br />So it's a "glass half full" situation: these new revelations about "The Dance of the Dragons" era are outstanding, I mean you get mentally drunk on all of this new information. On the other hand, "The Princess and the Queen" in its current format is a short and heavily edited account of the full story - so on the one hand you're happy for this new story, on the other hand it can be choppy and obviously, doesn't go to the end of the war. Well, with full knowledge that we'll get the whole story a year or so from now, I choose to see it as "half full" and I'm just glad for what we have.<br /><br />The other thing which might frustrate some, but which I thought interesting, is that this *is not* an objective third person POV -- it seems like a historical text but Martin is careful to emphasize that even even authors trying to be objective have to deal with conflicting accounts.<br /><br />You have to be paying attention to notice this, but there are many points when the maester writing TPATQ will use signal words that he's using a source that might not be reliable for a specific fact: "well, I actually have three sources for how that major character died, each completely conflicting with each other."<br /><br />Ran over on Westeros.org confirmed that at least several of these are indeed pure propaganda: specifically, the idea that Aegon II started out as an unwitting pawn who didn't even want to take the crown until his mother talked him into it? Pure fabrication by Aegon II loyalists.<br /><br />The question I was left with after enjoying this so much is: can The Dance of the Dragons sustain its own TV project? Maybe not a "TV series" but as a miniseries? Or two or three "miniseries" back to back? (consider that Game of Thrones itself is technically sort of a very long miniseries - the lines blur). <br /><br />Or we could think outside of the box: what about some sort of animated project? (Think Animatrix or Halo: Legends). <br /><br />They did mention Rhaenyra - briefly - in Season 3 of Game of Thrones. I wonder very much what the upcoming Season 3 blu ray "Histories and Lore" animated featurettes will say about the Dance - probably not much after such a brief statement.<br /><br />At any rate the real heroes of the Dance are, of course, the Dragons. It is *brutal* hearing about one of these majestic beasts dying - at the end of the day they're just big animals being forced to fight. They even make you feel bad for *Aegon II's* dragon Sunfyre, which gets really beat up as the story progresses (my favorite was Caraxes). <br /><br />--The Dragon DemandsAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com