Two months ago I began the herculean task of reading these books. It is a herculean task because most of the books are in excess of 1000 pages. These books are extremely captivating so once you actually begin reading them, they have your rapt attention. Often I will stay up at night until 1AM or 2AM reading as I just can't put the book down. I am currently on the 3rd book and hope to finish it within the next week or two.
(The contested throne from the Game of Thrones. All pictures are from HBO.)
"A Song of Ice and Fire" is in the fantasy genre and is based upon a world in a medieval state. There are castles, knights, princes, kings, and epic battles. There is also a bit of imagination at play as there are also dragons and undead creatures called the Others. The world of Ice and Fire is a very challenging place to live due to the fact that the seasons will last for years. When the story starts the world is in the midst of one of the longest summers that has ever been. As the story progresses hints of autumn begins to arrive and every knows that the longer the summer - then the winter will be even longer and the entire world will be covered with snow and ice.The main story line through the first few books is how 3 different families are vying for the control of the "Seven Kingdoms". There is much treachery, murder and other horrible acts that eventually plunge the world into full-scale war between the three different camps. Unfortunately for the people who inhabit this world, these wars and conflicts couldn't come at a worst time as winter is coming and the real threat to the world lies in the frozen wastes of the north where the "Others" are gathering their strength to attack the kingdoms of mankind.
These books are a very captivating read and many people have compared them to the "Lord of the Rings" Saga by J. R.R. Tolkien. Additionally, when you start scratching below the surface of the books there are many lessons and important messages that you can pick from them. Two of these lessons are represented by the declared bywords of two of the great houses that are battling each other - The Lannisters and The Starks. The Lannisters are by far the most devious and evil family vying for power. Their maxim is "a Lannister always pays their debts". Unfortunately for those who are owed the debts it usually means a grisly ending to their lives. Given the Lannisters represent evil or the antagonists in the book, you start to look at the meaning of paying your debts. For me it caused me to think about what it meant to put someone in your debt and having to pay your debt. I think the saying fits in very well with the overall theme of the fight between a good side and bad side.
For the Stark's their maxim is "Winter is Coming". This is particularly apropos given the real danger in the story isn't the warring families, it is the common enemy of them all - "The Others". The other point that this phrase means is that you always must prepare for the future. Though things can be sunny and bright now, the challenges in the future will always come and you need to prepare for them.If anyone is looking for a good series of books to read, I highly recommend these books. However, keep in mind that once you start you are making a fairly substantial time investment to get them all completed. I hope if anyone does start reading these books on my recommendation that they like them.
I wish I had a lot to write about from my personal life, but there really isn't anything to go into right now. The holiday and our weekend were very slow as my leg was hurting significantly. Tomorrow I am supposed to lose the "boot" that I have been wearing for the last month to help stabilize my leg. I have physical therapy and I will work with my therapists to determine if I can let go of the boot for good. I won't see my doctor for another week, but her timeline from my last visit had me losing the boot this Monday.
There is a lot on my mind that I wish to write about in the coming days. Life continues to present me with many unusual and unique challenges. I have been facing one of these challenges for the better part of a month and I really need to figure out what I wish to do. Why can't heavy weighty issues resolve themselves?!
Oh well - I should sign off for the night. I hope everyone has had a great long weekend and is prepared to face work/school/whatever tomorrow.
Thanks and peace to all! ~J.
(My favorite book shelf with all my most precious books.)
I thought I would write a little bit about what we are reading these days. Zack is usually working his way through a pre-teen or teenager series of mysteries or adventures. He is currently reading two different series. The first is called the “39 Clues” and it is still being written. Zack got interested in this series in the fall when the author of Book 1 – Rick Riordian came to his school and did a presentation. So far 3 different books in this series have been written with each book being written by a different author. Zack is reading “Book Two – One False Note”.
Another series that Zack is reading is called Fire Dragons by Chris D’Lacey. It is a series about dragons (of course). I haven’t read any of them myself - I frequently try and read at least one of the books in a series that Zack is reading. So I can’t do a plot summary. The books are very long and look like pretty good reading material. Zack is very into them and we spent a fair amount of time searching for the latest book today during a trip to Borders.
My reading is focused on a series and the latest book by one of my favorite authors. The series I have been reading is the “No.1 Ladies Detective Agency”. It is the ongoing story of Precious Ramotwse the proprietor of the No 1 Ladies Detective Agency in Garbonne, Botswana. The series consists of ten books of which I am presently reading book 7. It is an interesting look at day-to-day life in Botswana. I have no idea how accurate the portrayal of the Botswana is, but it makes for an interesting and lively read.
The latest book I am now reading I purchased today. I didn’t want to get it until it came out in soft cover, but I couldn’t resist. It is the latest book by Paul Theroux. He is one of my most favorite authors. Though he is well known for his fiction writing, I am a huge fan of his travel writing. I have been reading his books since I discovered them in 2002. His current book – “ Ghost Train to The Eastern Star” is the story of him traveling a route he took in the early 1970’s when he wrote his first travel book, “The Great Railroad Bazaar”. His books have inspired some of the travels I have taken and hope in the future to explore even more of the places which he has written about. If you are interesting in traveling or travel writing – I high recommend everything written by Paul Theroux as he is the best travel writer I have ever read.
As for our doings of the day, we woke up on the later side of things this morning. Though the night hadn’t been exactly pleasant for me, I was determined to have a good day, no matter how bad I felt. Nancy made some cinnamon rolls for Zack for breakfast this morning. After that we got moving with the day-to-day stuff.
Around noon we went out to do a little shopping. I am in the process of looking for a new bookcase and since I had gotten my 2008 bonus payout from IBM with my paycheck on Friday, I decided we were going to take a gander at what is out there. So we went out and stopped at a furniture store near Park Meadows. Unfortunately they just don’t have anything. I have a particular bookcase in mind of what I want to get, but it has been temporarily discontinued and new version is not supposed to be put on the market until June. Oh well – I guess I am just going to have to wait.
After that we did some book shopping at Borders at Park Meadows and I gave in and brought the Paul Theroux book that I discussed above. I normally like to buy my books in the same format (i.e. soft or hard bound) once I start a series or buy books by an author, but I just had to give in. (All my other Paul Theroux books are in soft-cover format.) I was also looking for cake mold at Williams Sonoma. Given that Celinde is going through chemo this year, I am planning to host the Easter get-together at my house. One of the special things I want to make is a “Lamb Cake”. When I was a kid we would always have a lamb shaped cake on Easter and I really want to do that this year. I think it will be a lot of fun.
On a brief side note, once I am feeling better I really want to step up the entertaining in my home. I love having people over and I love the feeling of lingering over a good dinner while you talk about everything under the sun. It may seem weird but I always look at the “salon society” of New York City in the last 1800’s and look upon it with desire. (I don’t know if desire is the right word, but it is the closest thing I can think of.) I don’t mean the silly social life that they had, but I mean the more serious kinds of groups that would gather where authors would discuss their works and there would be interesting conversations about the happenings of the day.
A quick lunch at the food court was needed to keep my young man happy and then we were off. I decided that we were going to go out for a drive somewhere. Since I don’t feel 100% up to hiking I thought I would at least explore a little bit and find some trailheads that I have read about. So we headed off towards Castle Pines North as I wanted to find a newly opened trail head on the East-West Regional trail.
We drove down into Douglas County and went looking for Coyote Ridge Park. We found it without too much difficulty. After parking the car, Zack promptly took off for the playground area of the park, while I went looking for the trailhead. The trailhead located, I hung out for the next half hour and watched Zack play. He was having a good time and enjoying playing with some of the other kids.
(Zack on the playground at Coyote Ridge.)