Bereft because HBO’s Game of Thrones is between seasons?
Miserable because George R.R. Martin’s next Song of Ice and Fire installment is still a figment of his imagination?
Pick up a copy of Beyond the Wall, read the essays, and argue with our opinions!
Beyond the Page
My essay in the collection, The Brutal Cost of Redemption in Westeros . . . or WHAT Moral Ambiguity, ended up being a journey I never expected to take. I had intended to write an in-depth exploration of Jaime Lannister, one of the more complex Noble Demons in modern literature. From aggressively negative and evil to more neutral character undergoing hardship to possible hero-in-the-making, Jamie’s fascinating path to possible redemption has been incredibly interesting to me. I never imagined I could like the guy. Seriously. If I had been a hero in a role-playing game, Jamie Lannister would have been my first target for slaughter. Now, many books and events down the road, I might stand beside him and draw my sword to defend him. The Kingslayer is one of many layered and nuanced characters in Westeros, and in tracing his development for the essay, I kept coming upon articles discussing the “moral ambiguity” present in George R.R. Martin’s world, like James L. Sutter’s guest essay in Suvudu.
I realized I had never perceived Martin’s Westeros as morally ambiguous–rather the opposite. To me, as the books progressed, the cosmology seemed to be clear-cut and even merciless, though based in different definitions of right and wrong than we use here in our world. In my opinion, good and evil in the land of Ice and Fire takes its definition from the inexorable reality that winter is coming, and with it horrors beyond imagination, and harsh threats to the survival of humanity itself. “Good,” then, is whatever will help people stay alive, and “evil” is anything that makes survival less likely. When that filter is applied, who sorts where on the good-evil axis has little to do with protagonist/antagonist/contagonist dynamics, and even less to do with rooting interests and who would be considered “good” in this world. In fact, the results of using this type of filter to explore morality in Westeros may surprise many readers. Who is walking the Summer Path toward redemption and survival? Who is taking the Winter Path toward division, chaos, and destruction? Check out the essay and form your own opinions.
And now for the good stuff! A giveaway! Leave me a comment that doesn’t constitute spam, and I’ll enter you in a drawing to win a copy of Beyond the Wall—on me! I’ll even spring for international shipping if you win, though I’m not promising to get it to Bora Bora overnight, you understand. I’ll draw from all responses I get by 9:00pm CST, June 27, 2012. Don’t worry if your comment doesn’t appear immediately. I have to approve them all, and I do have a day job!
Here’s a bit of fun for everyone:
Even i now find myself justifying Jaime pushing Bran out the window, i mean the conquences of Bran knowing what happens between him and Cersei could be quite bad indeed. Certainly Jaime Lannister is my favourite charcter though unlike quite a lot of people i actually didn’t dislike him early on. When i was reading A Game of Thrones i didn’t care much for the Starks cos at that time i thought they be the typical fantasy good guys which i was quite sick of from other fantasy books, so him pushing Bran out the window didn’t mean much for me and as for having sex with his sister well that was weird but i didn’t really mind it that much either.
Its really easy forget the threat of winter and the effects it will have since its not the threat of winter to the overall populace that i follow but how characters are dealing with their situations, or the various plots, prophecies, examination of various societies etc. Certainlly i had it in my mind what could this event or action could mean for when winter arrives but not quite so in a way that reflects back on the characters themselves heavily, so that is interesting way to view things. Reminds of that quote “Death of one is tragedy, the death of millions a statistic”
Back to Jaime and Bran though, i mean afterall he didn’t have much of a choice right.. :S
“The things I do for love,” has always been the phrase that’s the key to Jaime for me. Can’t wait to read your essay!
I like that about him though that path can get him in trouble, also like how he doesn’t much care for the whole ‘game of thrones’.
I think there is still some ambiguity left. It stems of course from the very nature of the statement “Winter is coming” which is pretty ambiguous in itself. When is winter coming? How long will it last? Is it really going to be so bad? Is it maybe possible that it might not come after all?
Without knowing all of these answers, how far can we really go justifying questionable actions taken in order to prepare for “Winter”?
I love how the characters in A Song of Ice and Fire are so complex. I;m with you: after Book I, I would have been in the party with pitchforks, eager for Jaime’s head. After finishing Book 3, I’ve certainly revised my opinion.
What a great idea to come up with an anthology! yet more great reading to do about my favorite fantasy.
I think Jaime Lannister’s transformation from villain to potential hero has been fascinating. To see him go from being in a privileged position, first born son of a well respected house, skilled swordsman, brother to the queen, head of the kingsguard to prisoner to fugitive to disabled shadow of his former self and betrayed by the only women he ever loved, has been great. I like the character and the exploration GRRM has done with him. Pushing Bran out the window was a bad thing to do, but it protected him, his sister/lover, and his three children, so I can totally see why he did it. His journey has been really interesting.
And the winner of my drawing is, Michael Gettel-Gilmartin! Thank you all for responding, and Michael, if you could email me with where you would like your book sent, I will get it in the mail! Happy reading–and of course, be careful because…
Winter is coming….
🙂
sv
Winter may be coming… but I’m very happy to have won this giveaway. Thank you, Susan, for hosting it–I look forward to reading your essay.