Reading with Pops: A Feast for Dragons, A Dance with Crows

~post by Bosco

About ten years ago, my Mom met and fell in love with a straight up nerd whom she later married. My mom is an academic. She has a doctorate. She chaired the department where she taught English at a small state University. I grew up in a kind of dorky intellectual environment. We read a lot. In Junior High, I learned to play Scrabble with my mother’s doctoral student friends. It was the kind of raising that will set you on the path for teasing in small town East Texas public schools. It wasn’t full blown nerd-dom on its own, which is a whole other level. Before Gene, my mother had never dated a serious Nerd. I mean there were dudes who probably read Lord Of The Rings or the occasional Science Fiction novel, but zero Nerds. Gene read fantasy series novels like Wheel Of Time and Sword Of Truth. He could quote from them. He did. He collected chess books. He was a high school math and computer science teacher. He programmed his own text-based computer games on early PC’s. He saved old puzzle and gaming magazines. He played strategy and role-playing games. Homeboy was deep in the realm of nerd.

I liked Gene from our first meeting. He was smart. He was funny. He was the only man my mom ever loved who treated her in the way she deserved. They were in fact, perfect together, as near as I can tell what perfect is. He was a blessing and gift to her as she was to him. They fit together like they were designed that way.

Gene had encyclopedic knowledge of books, music and movies. He was always on top of what was coming out. He was quick with recommendations for all sorts of entertainment. Many of his recommendations became my favorites. Family gatherings were always the setting for discussions of what was being read, listened to or watched. I tried most everything he ever recommended, most of which was good to great. He had an excellent track record because he rejoiced in being the guy who found something good first so he could share it with others.

Somewhere around 2008, Gene got sick, bad sick. The kind of sick where quality begins to be discussed as opposed to quantity. In the face of the inevitable, he never balked. He continued on with his life in his way as if almost nothing had changed. He lived well before illness, pursuing many interests. With minimal allowances for small things, he lived with illness in mostly the same way he lived before illness. He and my mom traveled a lot. They arranged for his chemo treatments in the places where they traveled. He was not daunted. For a while it was easy to believe they might go on like that forever.

One of the best recommendations Gene ever gave to me was The George R.R. Martin series, The Song of Ice and Fire which most folks know as Game Of Thrones. These are large, complex books with a lot going on. They are technically Fantasy in genre, but a chapter or two into the first book, it becomes apparent they are much much more. Even my mom read and loved them. She is about as far from a Fantasy Literature fan as you can get.

I read the first three the books in the series back to back. I needed a break after that. It’s a busy, complex story. There is an enormous amount of detail to keep up with. Last winter, we were sitting around their apartment in Dallas. They were planning a move as their rental had been sold. It was a taxing time for everyone. Serious illness and moving are a difficult combo. During one of our many book talks that week, I mentioned my hesitancy to move in to A Feast For Crows and A Dance With Dragons. Gene made his final reading recommendation to me. “Read them together,” he said. He pointed out that both books take place at the same time in the story. The characters are split between the novels. It was originally planned as one book but became so large that Martin divided that part of the story in half. My first thought was that it seemed doubly daunting. Gene was so right so often about books that I decided to trust his suggestion.

Last spring, Gene began his final turn for the worst. He made the move to the new apartment. He and my mom loved the new place. They had a custom built bookshelf installed and all their beloved hardcovers sit on that shelf right next to his recliner. For Gene, a decline was inevitable. He wasn’t going to keep up the hard fight forever. He fought bravely. He was pernicious in that sense. He knew cancer would win but he would lose on his terms. He did so with a grace that I found more than remarkable and inspiring. He passed this summer.

A couple of months after the funeral, I decided to take the man up on his suggestion. I read through Feast For Crows and Dance With Dragons, alternating each book chapter by chapter. I found it took only a short time to get used to the alternating chapters, though at first the process required some extra focus and attention not usual with genre fiction. A Feast For Crows and A Dance With Dragons are the more controversial of the series. Some fans get lost with these books. There are many criticisms about flow, characters, drag in the story, among other things. Read together I found that none of the criticisms seemed to apply. Together they are a smooth, fluid tale. I never lost any characters. I never missed any story points. It all came together like magic. The books bound together for a seamless read. I enjoyed them both immensely. I think they are as good as any of the previous three. In fact, a month or so after finishing, I can’t distinguish between the stories in the two books. It feels like a single, excellently written, masterfully crafted tale.

The Game Of Thrones books are as fun as anything I have ever read. Hands down one of the best recommendations Gene, the man known to me as “Pops,” ever made. If you are considering them, I offer my enthusiastic recommendation. Gene described the series to me as “Historical fiction in a country you’ve never heard of with some fantasy flourishes.” I think that’s pretty accurate. If you make it to Feast For Crows and Dance With Dragons, read them together. That’s solid advice from a straight up Nerd. Thanks Pops. As usual, you were right.