Thrones

Last year I was possessed by the a certain series of books and spent many an hour with my nose deep within them. The series was A Song of ice and Fire by George RR Martin. I had never heard of the series I must admit, before I began seeing posters for the TV adaption dotted around town (Sean Bean posing moodily with a big sword), but when I started to read the first novel, I quickly decided to read the whole thing before even watching the TV show. From then on, the books have come a firm first for me. The TV show is pretty good but constrained by its budget, faithful in some sequences, taking shocking liberties with the plot in others.
'A Song of Ice and Fire' is a huge sprawling saga with a cast of thousands. It takes place in an invented world heavily influenced by medieval Europe, with a story at least partly inspired by the Wars of the Roses. Think of a Europe stuck seemingly forever in the 14th Century, with supernatural creatures stalking its borders and you will not be too far from the atmosphere of the books. Unlike more ethereal fantasies (yes JRR, I'm looking at you), A Song of Ice and Fire does not shy away from the dark, gritty and messily physical aspects of life in a medieval world. You know what I'm saying here.
It's a mark of just how possessed by these books that when I was faced with prospect of reading the fifth and currently most recent book in the series, A Dance with Dragons - (the sixth of a planned seven books, to be called The Winds of Winter, is not due before 2014 at the earliest), I procrastinated for several months until I could hold out no longer. But then I stopped reading at the end of the penultimate chapter. Several months on and I can wait no longer to read the final chapter. When I'm done with that in a couple of days, that really will be it, the TV show aside, for another two years or so. A disconcerting thought :(
This is my scale model of the Iron Throne, bought in a moment of extreme geekiness a few months back. It is supposedly made from the swords of those vanquished by Aegon the Conquerer, fashioned to be uncomfortable, because no conqueror should sit too easily upon his throne....