Ice and Fire and Roses and Capets

The Red Wedding. I waited for three years to see this scene. It drove me crazy not being able to spoil anything. So that said, spoilers ahead. This show reminded me why I hate the Freys. I've read the books through at least four times, and by now, I think that I began to view the Red Wedding with an almost surgical detachment. One thing that I have to say is that GRRM is one of the best storytellers that I have ever had the pleasure of reading. I would have to say that my favorite sagas are the Lord of the Rings, A Song of Ice and Fire, and the Accursed Kings by Maurice Druon. Iggulden's Khan and Emperor series are fantastic as well. I love the Dragonlance series (not to mention Forgotten Realms), but it doesn't quite have the literary cache of the others. I love Jack Whyte's Templar and Camulod chronicles as well, even though they tend to fizzle near the end. It's strange to me to see the parallels between historical fiction and fantasy. Especially when you have gritty realistic fantasy like the Godless World by Brian Ruckley. The main thing that I have noticed is that history, legend and myth are so interchangeable. I think that fantasy and historical fiction are under appreciated, consigned to the science fiction ghetto, when in actuality they are far more enjoyable reads. Not to hate too vigorously on science fiction, there are quite a few enjoyable science fiction novels as well. The main thing that I LOVE about ASOIAF is that it has so many parallels to the real world and real history. You can see the influences of Maurice Druon in the intrigue and the violence, and the worship of Tolkien in the fantastic elements and some of the story parallels (Maedhros and Jaime's hands). What is fantastic to me is the nature of the characters, as anyone with knowledge of English history will know that the House of Lancaster and John of Gaunt were the inspiration for the inimical Tywin Lannister and House Lannister. I love the fact that if the Rhaegar and Lyanna = Jon Snow theory is true, then we have Jon analogous to Henry VII, who ended the Wars of the Roses, upon which the series is based. I guess there weren't really any spoilers, just my ramblings, but I love to read.