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fifteenthjessica's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I'm still invested in a lot of the characters, both ones who played a major role in this book and ones who don't play a major role or even appear until later, but reading it when you know a lot of the shocking moves,
I have heard a lot of people praise his world building, and as an aspiring writer/actual dungeon master who has dabbled in world building her own fantasy settings, Martin's quality is very inconsistent at best. Daenerys spends a lot of time with the Dothraki over the course of five hefty books, but the culture comes off as very one dimensional and most members of it are forgettable. I don't think I'm alone in remembering all Dothraki characters except Khal Drogo exclusively in terms of their relationship to Dany and maybe a name because they are very unimportant. Heck, there's a short paragraph in one of Dany's later chapters that feels like Martin is just dumping the personality of the youngest of her future bloodriders (Aggo? The three of them really blur together) on us in place of letting it unfold naturally as he interacts with Dany. The culture is mostly a combination of raiding and horses, almost to the point of impracticality (how many horses do they keep if they need them for transportation, fighting, clothing, and meat, plus burn horses in the funeral pyres of their leaders so they have a mount in the afterlife? There's a reason real world horseback nomadic cultures usually herd other animals). This is especially bad if you compare them to the equally raiding focused Ironborn, who in later novels are fleshed out through four point of view characters and with a number of memorable side characters that show that not everyone is raiding every waking hour of the day.
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Incest, Physical abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, War, Alcoholism, Death, Kidnapping, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, Sexism, Sexual content, Slavery, Adult/minor relationship, Domestic abuse, and Death of parent
Moderate: Racism, Alcohol, Abandonment, Torture, Rape, Injury/Injury detail, and Infertility
Minor: Self harm and Trafficking
sailorpulsar's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Torture, Bullying, Death of parent, Rape, Death, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Violence
Moderate: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Slavery, War, Ableism, Alcohol, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, and Trafficking
Minor: Animal death, Fire/Fire injury, Homophobia, and Infertility
sidtheincrediblesloth's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.25
Graphic: Blood, Bullying, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, and War
Moderate: Alcohol, Body shaming, Child abuse, Fatphobia, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, and Vomit
elizlizabeth's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Child abuse, War, Violence, Rape, Adult/minor relationship, and Blood
Moderate: Pedophilia, Incest, Miscarriage, Trafficking, Slavery, and Torture
Minor: Sexual content, Fire/Fire injury, and Animal death