Themes in A Song of Ice and Fire

A Song of Ice and Fire takes place in a fictional world, primarily on a continent called Westeros, and additionally on a large landmass to the east, known as Essos.

The style varies to fit each character and their setting; Daenerys's exotic realm may appear more colorful and fanciful than Westeros, which is more closely based on the familiar medieval history of Europe.

[7] The world of A Song of Ice and Fire is primarily populated by humans, although giants, the so-called "Others" and the Children of the Forest appear as other sentient species in the extreme North of Westeros, beyond the Wall.

Mythical creatures such as mermaids, unicorns, manticores, kraken, leviathans, basilisks, and most prominently dragons (although their description is more akin to wyverns) also appear or are mentioned.

At the beginning of the story, they are considered extinct until late in A Game of Thrones when Daenerys hatches her three dragon eggs in the funeral pyre of Khal Drogo.

[2] Comparing the dragons to modern-day nuclear arsenals, Martin questions whether supreme power enables the user to reform, improve, or build society.

[30] Since Martin drew on historical sources to build the Ice and Fire world, Damien G. Walter of London's The Guardian saw a startling resemblance between Westeros and England in the period of the Wars of the Roses, where "One throne unifies the land but great houses fight over who will sit upon it.

There does not seem to be a single living soul in the land of Westeros that Martin does not have insight into, from the highest king to the lowest petty thief.

"[31] Writing in Foreign Affairs, Charli Carpenter noted that "leaders disregard ethical norms, the needs of their small-folk, and the natural world at their own peril.

Jockeying for power by self-interested actors produces not a stable balance but sub-optimal chaos; gamesmanship and the pursuit of short-term objectives distracts players from the truly pressing issues of human survival and stability.

[32] Si Sheppard of Salon found this problematic, as it conformed to the prevailing trope in fantasy fiction whereby political agency is the exclusive right of a hierarchical elite.

[35] Whereas The Lord of the Rings had succeeded with externalizing villainy through ugliness, Martin felt that Tolkien's imitators oversimplified the struggle between good and evil into stereotypical clichés.

[32] Just like people's capacity for good and for evil in real life, Martin explores the questions of redemption and character change in the Ice and Fire series.

[37] "What [marks Martin] as a major force for evolution in fantasy, is his refusal to embrace a vision of the world as a Manichaean struggle between Good and Evil.

[39] The Wall's Night's Watch, whom Martin described as "criminal scum [who] are also heroes and they wear black", was a deliberate twist on fantasy stereotypes.

[9] James Hibberd of Entertainment Weekly saw Martin's ruthlessness about killing beloved characters as a hallmark of the series, leading "fans to throw their books across the room—only to go pick them up again".

[42] Bill Sheehan of The Washington Post noted that the characters' vulnerability and possibly impending death "lends a welcome sense of uncertainty to the proceedings and helps keep the level of suspense consistently high throughout".

[44] Martin prefers a hero's sacrifice to say something profound about human nature, and points readers not wanting to get upset or disturbed to the plenty of books for comfort reading.

[48] However, Rachael Brown of The Atlantic said that Martin's penchant for unpredictability may make the reader grow increasingly skeptical of apparent deaths, alluding to Jon Snow's fate in A Dance with Dragons.

[50] Martin was also fascinated by medieval contrasts where knights venerated their ladies with poems and wore their favors in tournaments while their armies raped women in wartime.

[12] USA Today's assessment that HBO added "so many buxom, naked prostitutes that TV's Westeros makes Vegas look like a convent" earned Martin's reply that there were many brothels in the Middle Ages.

Taylor also lauded HBO's "admirable choice ... that its nonconsensual sex scenes are deeply unarousing, in marked contrast with shows on other networks that use a historical setting as window dressing for prurient depictions of rape".

This is best exemplified in the character of Arya, who goes through a number of identity changes as she makes her way from King's Landing to Braavos: Arry, Nymeria, Nan, Salty and Cat of the Canals, among others.

As bloodline and succession are the quickest and surest way to assert strength in Westeros, Cersei takes advantage of motherhood by procreating with her brother Jaime and having children fathered by her hated husband Robert aborted, thereby leaving him without a true heir in revenge.

[58] Ilana Teitelbaum of The Huffington Post responded in an article called "Dear New York Times: A Game of Thrones Is Not Just for Boys", claiming that Bellafante's piece was not only rife with inaccuracies, but also patronizing to female readers.

[49] According to Martin, the Mother, Maiden, and Crone were inspired by mystic views of womanhood, while the Father, Smith, and Warrior as traditional Christian masculine elements were added later.

[62] The fictional backstory gives the Children of the Forest as the origin of this religion, who worshipped trees, rocks, and streams when Westeros was still populated by many non-human races.

[62] In A Song of Ice and Fire, ancient prophecies suggest that the struggle between the two deities will come to a head when the messianic figure 'Azor Ahai' wields the sword Lightbringer against the invasion of the Others (a superhuman species living north of Westeros).

[72] By fans' count, the first four novels name more than 160 dishes,[73] ranging from peasant meals to royal feasts featuring camel, crocodile, singing squid, seagulls, lacquered ducks and spiny grubs.

[72] Adam Bruski of The Huffington Post said the vivid descriptions of food do not just lend color and flavor to the fictional world but almost appear as a supporting character.