A Song of the Republic of Ice and Nothing

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Reading.

I do a lot of it.  Sometimes, I worry I read too much.  What if I take in so much information from books that I forget my first Christmas.  Haha, not truly, but you never know, it could happen.  

Other times, I worry that I’m not reading productively.  Should I be reading more Hemmingway and Wollestonecraft and Marx instead of more modern writers?  Probably.

Lately, I’ve been religiously rereading George RR Martin’s fantasy epic, “A Song of Ice and Fire.”  Are series’ supposed to be quotationed or italicized or underlined?  I’m not sure.  Anyway, Martin’s series is nothing short of amazing, and it blows any traditional fantasy shamelessly out of the water.

I know, I know.  You’re probably thinking, “Who fucking reads fantasy?”  And I agree; the genre is pretty dead.  The original men and women of fantasy; Shelley, Tolkien, Lewis, all wrote the genre and distorted reality and literature as the world knew it.  Tolkien flippin’ invented entire languages to bring his series to life.   He compiled notes and notes of backstory, despite the fact that no one would ever see or read it.  What I’m saying is that the original intention of fantasy or science fiction literature was to take a unique take on the real world, on the human experience.

Not anymore, though.  Now, the pages of fantasy literature are little more than buxom, Amazonian-esque Half Elves travelling with wizened, Obi-wan figure #9 and Christ-figure #6 to defeat trecherous villain #5.  It’s a whole load of BS, where the protaganists can do naught but succeed, where every plan comes to fruition, and success is only a training montage away.

George RR Martin has, thank all that is holy, shattered these rules and thrown them out the window in his series, “A Song of Ice and Fire.”  Set in a quasi-medieval, polytheistic (but not really) society, A Song of Ice and Fire is everything fantasy was meant to be originally, and more.  Martin continues the legacies of writers like Shelley, Tolkien, and Lewis while others only bastardized the latter’s works until their collective iconic corpses rolled restlessly in their graves.

A Song of Ice and Fire is gritty, dirty, and mean.  It’s a sharp kick in the balls from a size-16 foot.  The world of A Song and Ice and Fire is one where a pretty little girl has her notions of chivalry and honor destroyed by a burnt-faced knight who relishes in slaughter and alcohol; where an innocent eight-year-old boy is thrown from a tower window for merely climbing around and accidentally stumbling on high treason and incest.  A world where a man plagued with dwarfism falls in love with whores who only love his coin.

The world of ASOIAF is one where seasons last for years, sometimes decades.  It is a world brewing with political intrigue, warfare, and romance.  Martin effortlessly juxtaposes scenes depicting crude violence and lewd sex with those that remind us of the innocence of childhood and the love and importance of family.

The series is unique in many ways.  What you’ll first notice is the unique way in which Martin presents his story.  Each chapter is from the point of view of a different character, allowing for a seamless story where over twenty very different (yet refreshingly three-dimensional) characters are all protagonists in their own right.  The range of characters is pleasantly broad, from the aforementioned dwarf, Tyrion Lannister, who makes up for his stunted frame with his quick wit, quicker tongue, and unsatiable taste for political intrigue to the Lady Catelyn Stark, matriarch of the Stark Family, the veritable “good guys” of the story (for the first few chapters anyway) with a whole slew of loveable and hatable men, women, and children in between.  In addition, no character is safe in Martin’s series.  Heroes and honorable men die while those guilty of crimes as horrible as rape and infanticide continue to thrive, and Martin makes no apologies.  This makes Martin’s work all the more exciting and enjoyable, his realistic, believable writing slaps traditional fantasy in the face, starkly reminding it that, in the real world, the ruthless and vile usually triumph.

As of this writing, A Song of Ice and Fire has four books released, with a fifth long overdue and likely to be out within the next few months.  The titles are (with the last two being tentative):
- A Game of Thrones
- A Clash of Kings
- A Storm of Swords
- A Feast for Crows
- A Dance With Dragons
- The Winds of Winter
- A Dream of Spring
I highly reccomend that anyone with a mature vocabulary and a strong stomach pick up the first book.  You’ll likely get hooked.  Just note that the books are rife with foul language, and descriptive scenes of both sex and violence.  Sometimes, even I find the books too intense and have to put them down.  Also, be aware that the books are typically in the range of 900 pages, so be prepared for a lengthy addiction.

 

The other bit of reading I’ve been doing is Lesley Choyce’s, “The Republic of Nothing.”  I’ve never read this novel before, but I’ve heavily indulged in Choyce’s other works many times.   His coming-of-age, thin novels such as “Good Idea Gone Bad,”  “Wave Watch,” “The Dark End of Dream Street,” and many other similar works, (banded together, atleast in the additions I read, by their similar, colourful title pages and artistry.)  These books were critical aspects of my formative years, opening my young, pre-teen eyes to issues like women’s rights, environmental concerns, drug abuse, and poverty.  It seems to me that “The Republic of Nothing” is simply an extension of those previous novels of Choyce’s, and I mean that in the most positive way.  It explores similar issues, albeit in a more poetic, mature manner.

Set on the fictional (?) locale of Whalebone Island, Nova Scotia, the Republic of Nothing opens with Mr. Everett McQuade, a simple, fisherman-turned-anarchist commemerating the birth of his son, Ian McQuade, by declaring the tiny Whalebone Island an independant nation, affectionately called “The Republic of Nothing.” 

As the years go on, and protagonist Ian McQuade grows, more and more people come to the island to settle; pseudo-doctor Ben Ackerman from New York City, heartbroken and disturbed by the fact that he could not save the multitudes of sick and dying waifs in the concrete jungle of NYC; loving family of three, the Phillips:  the ingenious nuclear physicist Tenessee Phillips, his movie-star wife, and their daughter, the lifetime love interest of Ian, Gwendolyn Phillips. 

While the immigrants of the Republic are loveable and refreshingly believable, this is no less true of her native denizens.  The McQuade Family are a tapestry of eccentricities:  Everett and his desire to “save the world,”  Ian and his saint-like nature, Mrs. Dorothy McQuade, lost as her Oz-ian namesake; a mermaid of a woman, washed up from sea years ago without a memory to speak of, and Casey McQuade, the esoteric daughter who speaks to the moon and dreams of dragons and becoming a singer, (an African-American one, no less.) 

The novel talks about issues like creating and destroying, love and hate, freedom and slavery, conformity and individuality. It speaks of abortion, women’s rights, elderly old men who dream of being privateers, the anti-war movement, and the civil rights movement.  But most importantly, the novel is about the sea, and as a Nova Scotian lad, I simply can’t get enough of it.

I highly reccomend Lesley Choyce as an author; go pick up the Republic of Nothing from a bookstore, a friend, or a library.  Whether or not you grew up near the ocean, you’ll appreciate it.

If anyone feels I haven’t done these books justice in my rambling of a review, then, please feel free to comment your little hearts out.  If anyone has any questions regarding these books, again, feel free to comment or reach me by e-mail.  I simply would love to talk about them.

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Tags: Choyce, Fantasy, Literature, Martin, Republic