Wednesday, June 12, 2013

Differences between Feasts and Dances

There's a pretty even share of female characters between the settings featured in A Dance with Dragons and A Feast for Crows. However, there's way more sex in A Dance with Dragons - both implicit and explicit. But it isn't overblown nor does it come across as cheesy. It's written with a straightforward and minimalist description, touching on only the essentials of such encounters.

It's quite accurate the way that Martin has his female characters getting into arrangements that are politically or socially beneficial, but much less so for love. Insofar as the world of A Song of Ice and Fire is a reproduction of medieval Europe. Dany's turning Daario away, for example. Or Asha's being wedded to Erik Ironmaker. Both actions are strategic in some way or other, but certainly not done out of love.

Setting A Dance with Dragons apart, though is the number of characters going by nicknames or epithets, even perspective characters. For some such measures make sense, Sansa for example, or Theon, are so much changed from what they were, a new name is fitting. But some come across as merely stirring up intrigue.

"The Wayward Bride" (Asha), for instance, at first intrigued. But, once it was clear that it was just Asha, the nature of my interest changed. It went from the desire to solve a mystery to curiousity. I'd like to say that not presenting such chapters with characters' given names suggests that they're immune to harm, that they aren't on Martin's kill list. But by that logic Syrio Forel must be alive and well, since he was but a side character, and not even the face of his own chapter.

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