Review--A Dance with Dragons by George R.R. Martin

A Dance with Dragons

George R.R. Martin

Bantam, 2011

(For those that haven’t read the book, an attempt has been made to make this review as spoiler-free as possible.  Still, read at your own risk).

Where Have all the Heroes Gone?

After what had become for A Song of Ice and Fire fans a seemingly interminable delay, George R.R. Martin’s A Dance With Dragons was finally released on July 12, five years and eight months after the release of the previous book in the series, A Feast for Crows.  In that nearly six-year absence, the series took on fans like a submarine made out of wiffle balls takes on water.

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What Makes a True Science Fiction Fan?

I sponsor a science fiction and fantasy club at the local high school, but to be quite honest, I’ve done a pretty poor job the past few years.  About ten years ago, the club was one of the most active at school.  We held meetings twice a month, hosted movies after school, held contests so students could win signed books and memorabilia.  Last year, I think I called meetings maybe four or five times and probably the same for the year. 

I always have a big turn out for the initial meeting and sign up, but after that attendance drops off drastically.  I think I had thirty people sign up; five came to the last meeting.  I really believe it’s the survey I have them fill out during the first gathering that scares them off.  I mostly use the survey to get a feel for what the members like and want to do with the club.  I ask them to list their 5 favorite books, movies, and games.  Truth be told, it’s the survey that keeps me from committing to the club the way I used to.

The game column fills up first anymore.  Of course, the names of games changes every year as members want to list the newest games as their favorites.  This column generates the most fervor and excitement.  I created the games list thinking they might put down Dungeons and Dragons or some other paper and pencil rpg.  Nope, not in the last ten years or so anyway.  The only rpgs my members no are computer or console games.  Collectible card games haven’t even made the list in five years. I’ve been playing for over twenty years now so it’s always exciting to discuss things with the next generation.  Even when the 3^rd and 4^th editions came out, I expected to see a lot of interest generated, but what was there didn’t last very long.  When members started listing nothing but video games, I realized that paper and pencil games were becoming a thing, maybe not of the past, but of a very select audience. 

The new gaming trend saddened me.  Oh, they saw it as great advancement in technology and entertainment, which I do not deny.  What they don’t see is what the new games are doing to them, or rather to their imaginations.  With D&D, we had to immerse ourselves in the game, visualize it, invent it with our thoughts and words.  Video games will not allow that.  Games have taken all the imagination out of play.  You just react to it, not create.

But I let that go.

Movies.  Well, again most members typically put what’s current.  It’s like they have no conception of “past” or “classic.”  I suppose classic is a relative term.  To me the classics mean The Forbidden Planet, The Thing from Another World, The Day the Earth Stood Still, and even Star Wars and Blade Runner.   Star Wars episodes I-III they’ve seen and enjoyed.  They don’t like the original trilogy because the special effects look fake, or even worse, they’ve not even bothered to watch it because it’s “old.”  How do you convince someone that a movie is good because of its story or characters when all she cares about is how the movie looks?  Again, today’s audience seem to focus on the look over substance.  There is no willing suspension of disbelief, only the will to be dazzled. 

Very frustrating, but I let it go.

The book column, however, was the straw that broke this fan’s back.  They don’t read!  Most of them haven’t read a book in their life.  And their proud of it!  The ones that do read, read mostly media tie-ins.  According to the recent crop, the first Halo book is the best book ever written.  What?  Now, I don’t have anything against media tie-ins.  I’ve read my fair share, but how do you even begin to justify that a Halo book is better than Foundation or Ringworld (both of which my current members have never heard of).  If I’m lucky, I have a few, and not just the girls, that think Twilight, or any of its recent trendy rip offs, is the best book ever.  (Probably the only time I’ve ever missed Anne Rice – but they don’t have a clue who she is either, so what difference does it make?)   When I do manage to convince one of them to check out a book, they don’t read it because it’s boring or it’s confusing or it’s not as good as the movie.  (I, Robot and Starship Troopers are the usual victims of the latter excuse.) 

Am I old fashioned in thinking that, to be a science fiction fan, one must be a fan of its literature?  Seems to me that the whole basis of being a fan began with the stories,   The Lensmen or Fahfrd and the Mouser – there’s too many to think of.  Sadly, all of them are fading from memory.  Of course, publishers aren’t helping.  Where is the Mouser on bookstore shelves?  Where is Doc Smith?  Where’s Burroughs?  We do have great talent putting out great stuff today, so no one can argue that there’s nothing worth reading.  You got McDevitt and Gaiman and Gibson and Card and Martin and Scalzi and on and on.  There’s a lot to love about genre fiction today. 

Am I too demanding?  I personally do not think so.  I refuse to give in on this point.  Fandom began with literature, and to me, to be a true fan you have to read, not necessarily older stuff but read quality to work, the successors to the greats, the ones who followed in the footsteps of the giants and the ones who have made their own. 

So, there’s the root of my club problem.  It’s not that I cannot connect with the new generation, it’s that I don’t consider them true fans.  Science fiction and fantasy literature is a celebration of the imagination.  True fans know that.      

A letter from a nerd in need...

At Nerdbloggers, we offer many services to the nerd community.  One of our most popular and most needed is our Nerd Therapy service which we use to address the many, many psychological problems seen throughout the nerd community.  If you have a problem you would like out help with, please don't hesitate to write.

Dear Nerdbloggers, How can I recover from having my childhood memories raped by an out-of-control film director?  --John in Burbank

     John, as a nerd therapist, this is one of the most common issues brought before me.  Since your letter doesn’t go into specifics, I’ll have to make some assumptions based on past experience.  Common sources of Childhood Memory Rape Related Anxiety (CMRRA) include the Star Wars prequels, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (George Lucas, serial childhood-memory rapist), and The Transformers movies.  I'll assume that you aren’t one of the men and women who grew to adulthood between the release of The Matrix and The Matrix Revolutions as those poor bastards never even had a childhood to speak of. 

     The temptation in cases of CMRRA is to go with GOI (or “Get Over It”) Therapy.  This is where the therapist screams “Get Over It!” at the patient as loudly as possible while hitting them repeatedly with a plastic lightsaber. (A variation for those traumatized by the J.J. Abrahms re-launch of Star Trek is to poke the patient with a plastic Bat'leth while screaming  "tlhap Dung 'oH!" at them in Klingon).  Though satisfying and fun for the therapist, I've seen little evidence that GOI actually works.  Instead, I'd like to suggest a therapy I've had good luck with in the past. 

     The problem with recent sequels, re-makes, and re-launches isn't necessarily that they are bad films.  The problem is you are not seeing them with the same naive and wide-open eyes that you watched the original films with.  When we are young, everything seems new and fresh.  We don't realize that this awesome new film is a regurgitation of centuries old archetypes, themes and motifs.  We are so willing to suspend our disbelief that we ignore glaring plot holes, sub-par acting, and unrealistic dialog in exchange for neat gadgets, cool special effects, and daring adventurers--especially if some of the adventurers are chicks in metal bikinis.  Heck, I remember coming back from seeing Star Crash as a child and telling my parents it was the best movie ever made.  It wasn't.  Wasn't even close, but to my young eyes it was fresh, exciting and funny, and Caroline Munro was the hottest woman in the world  (not sure that last part wasn't true--see photo evidence below)

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    So, try re-visiting whatever film(s) that caused your trauma with a young, innocent person by your side (a brother, sister, cousin, etc.  I'm not recommending kidnapping a small child and making them sit through G.I. Joe). You just may find that the experience allows you to see the movie in a different light.  That you can begin to appreciate that it isn't bad, just different and that, just maybe, you are no longer the audience the film was intended for.  If that happens, move on.  Avoid re-makes and sequels and seek out fresh, new franchises not built on the brittle skeletons of past successes.  Or, just maybe, you will still think the film sucks and it will drive you deeper into your depression.  If that happens, write us back, maybe we can write you a prescription for some Soma.