It also strikes me that the Targaryens were the type of family that ‘customs bowed to’. Sure, they committed incest. You didn’t like it? Just stand in line in front of the executioner.
I think it’s a bit of a nod to the divine right: the normal rules didn’t apply to the Targaryens because they were the Targaryens. They were the kings. They weren’t entirely human, even; they had the blood of dragons. It might not have been literal, at least if you didn’t believe that one prince (one of the Aegons?) who thought he was a dragon.
It gets mentioned at some point: the dragon does not mate with the beasts of the field. Entertainingly, the Targaryens have a dragon on their coat of arms while the other families tend to have some animal or other – wolves, fish, bats… 
Well, Daenerys (sp?) had something inhuman going on if she could survive the pyre of of her sun-and-stars with nothing much more than a buzzcut. She also nursed the dragons, which takes some serious nerve, since I assume they were born with teeth.
And while we’re at spelling, it’s Arya not Anya.
Regarding Cersei, I don’t think you can ignore the role of Robert who appears to have been an uncaring and at times brutal husband. I think Cersei is not unlike Catelyn and had she married a decent man she would have turned out very differently. In GOT there is a passage where Eddard wonders what Catelyn would have done if she were in the same position as Cersei. For the reasons mentioned above she has every reason to be paranoid.
And of course speaking of Catelyn she literally becomes a monster after she has lost her loved ones and her own life. That further deepens the similarity between her and Cersei IMO.
Speaking of which, I have a very bad feeling about the whole Zombie Cat thing. It feels really off, and I’m worried it’s going to develope into a truely dreaful subplot.
Yeah on the whole I didn’t like it either. For one thing I like dead characters to stay dead. In fact a lot the magic stuff has been sub-par so far IMO. Mellisandre is a weak character and seems like someone lifted from a second-rate sword and sorcery tale. I am not too excited about the Others either. IIRC at one point Martin considered making SOIAF a historical novel without fantasy and I sometimes wonder if that wouldn’t been better. Of course some of the fantasy is pretty cool especially the dragons and the Faceless Men.
No memory at all of it. Can you…oh hell.
By Cat you meant Catelyn, didn’t you? I thought maybe we were talking about Ser Pounce or something.
-Joe
Your worse fear confirmed, Merijeek. Did you not read that far in the series yet? If so, I’m sorry.
I’d disagree with wanting to abjure (no pun intended) the magic. I rather -like- that magic is there as a ‘minor’ force. I suspect it will grow, but it will come down to the actions of people in a believable way. I don’t suspect huge armies of wizards and magic blades. I expect a few shadow assassins (like we’ve seen before), maybe a flaming sword or two, and some magical creatures (dragons, certainly… Although wouldn’t it be a cool twist if none of them actually survived to see the big battles?), but in the end it’ll be what human beings decide to do, and the allies they choose to make. That’s what I’d like to see. It also serves to make the magic… Well… Magical. Not just a contrivance or a mechanic. When every court has a wizard, wizards don’t mean as much. When there’s a tiny handful of people out there who can summon horrid things and make fire appear, that’s more impressive magic to me.
It seems as though raising the dead is a key element in Martin’s world - both Ice (the wights) and Fire are capable of it, which seems to indicate how similar the two sides are.
Predictions on the release of Dance with Dragons?
2009 (extremely ambitious)
2010
2011
2020
^ I’ve already started a ADWD pool on another forum. What say we do one here?
Uh, the relase date was set last week
10/29/2009
Go to amazon, you can preorder it already
The problem is, this isn’t the first time the release date for this book has been set. People have become justifably sceptical when it comes to release dates for books in this series.
Particularly when the Ice and Fire Update section of Martin’s own website says:
That page is dated 1/1/2008.
And you’ve been able to preorder from Amazon for over a year now, Captain Amazing
I’m in. I’d say… late 2010. Should I pick a month, too?
I’ve had mine on pre-order for months, and Amazon keeps sending me periodically emails about “the date has been changed. Do you still want this book?” YES, durn it!
Yep. Year and month.
I’m going for October, 2009. I’m optimistic.
Put me down for May 2010 then.