I heard of the song of Ice and Fire series when I was a young, wide-eyed middle schooler playing the bagpipes. I thought it seemed cool but I didn’t want to give my bullies any more reason to come at me so I didn’t read it (yes I got my ass kicked for reading, once). However, most of those bullies are dead or in a house full of illegitimate children because I cursed them with my magic powers…just kidding. I’m not that loopy. Anyway, I held off reading the series and once Lord of the Rings came out, I gave up on fantasy. Then HBO adapted into a series and I thought: Finally, I don’t have to read! So I started watching it and it’s AWESOME! It juggles a bazillion storylines beautifully. It also makes some pretty neat side characters who die horribly. It’s like a ren faire gone terribly right full of kickass swords and ominous threats. However, as the show went on, I got tempted to make spot and constitution checks.  It’s really D&D heavy. I used to play, but that’s another story. Anyway, the show is cool because their are strong women in it who exist in a place where strong women are uncommon but they’re not mary-sues. Oh no, they are filled with flaws, emotions, and desires like any other woman in any place or time in the world. I like this show. There’s no one I want to win in this world they created…but there’s no one I want to die either. However, as Queen Cersei says, “There is no middle ground. In the Game of Thrones, you win or you die.”