Clash of Kings

This is the second in the series by George RR Martin about the goings on of the nobles within the fictional domain of Westeros. It describes the foibles and intrigues of people who answer to no one. As a result tyranny rules supreme and basically everyone is looking to usurp everyone. The minions, common folk, exist to serve and be fodder.

Once again I must state that this is a fantasy novel but must offer a caveat:in my humble opinion there are themes and inappropriate behaviour portrayed, sometimes graphically. This of course will make the books 'required' reading for teenage boys. In describing it as JRR Tolkien like is I think a misnomer and somewhat misleading. But they are well plotted, I believe historically believable, and still a good read!

There are two things guaranteed; each male nobleman wants to be king, and has a personally qualified reason why! The result of this overabundance of pride makes all the other characters run for cover and just try to survive. The survivability of any character, major or minor, is not

easily determined. Anything can happen, and does!

My opinion of nobility doesn't become enhanced at the end of this read, and some of my favourites within the novel weren't the ones I would have chosen after reading the first installment, 'Game of Thrones.' Surprisingly so I might add.

My suggestion before undertaking this series a romp through 'The Prince' by Machiavelli and 'The Screwtape Letters' by CS Lewis might be helpful!

I'm looking forward to undertaking the next in the series. From what I've read I'm sure it will be an adventure also!

Wonder by Robert J Sawyer

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This is the third volume of the trilogy of WAKE, WATCH and WONDER. It is an apt conclusion to the hypothesis of an emerging internet consciousness. Along the way Sawyer deals with our many very human foibles and depicts some morality plays.

Spoiler alert: there is no blood and guts however it is still very suspenseful and believable.

Without giving plot away they are a good read and well worth the time investment. I'm looking forward to his project!

Robert's other fictional enterprise became FLASHFORWARD became a series and I think this series could easily become a feature film. It would be very timely given all the real life scenarios present these days.

Well done Rob Sawyer!

Adjustment Bureau

Matt Damon was in this one. There's no killing in this one, no explosions, so that will filter out and bore a lot of the population. The plot is about futuristic central planners that control social aspects of our lives, not financial ones.

There is a moral to the story and since I like science fiction it's easy for me to "like" it. If I were to scale it between 1-10 I would give it a "6".

Valhalla Rising

Whatever it was I didn't get it!

I'm sure that it wanted to depict circa 1400 as a boring, violent, bloody time. But if you're into dialogue, heavy plot and action this is not for you. If there was a higher purpose to the film I wasn't astute enough to decipher that.

Perhaps this is another man's milieu, but not mine. I watched it in five segments of time hoping

for it to get better.

GoT 3

Just finished reading the first of the series. There's lots of twists and turns along with a few roundabouts added. It typifies the adage "if it wasn't true no one would believe it", but unfortunately, due to human nature, vastly understated.

Sprinkled within the tome are lots of approaching plots and intrigues. However in my searching to get hold of the second volume I read some plot spoiling summaries. But, I still can't wait to continue onward through his storytelling experience. George Martin's style here is through the individual characters and I've become connected. It shows in the details that he's involved as well.

The journey, so far, is well worth the investment of time.

game of thrones blog2

I'm well into the book now, 632 pages, and the plot is certainly thickening. It's not exactly what I expected, but then if it was I wouldn't be this far into the book. Maybe I'm a little slow but trends are appearing to me now. The problem is: that they might not go as I think. That's happened already a few times. Thankfully!

The machinations among the main characters are sometimes riveting because of their humanity or lack thereof. The twists may surprise you, maybe not. The characters, main and supporting, have changed for me as far as their likability to me. Some surprisingly so!

If I had of known the plot beforehand I might not have read it, but thankfully being naive has it's benefits!

Hopefully without any plot spoilers this has been helpful.