These Books are Often Praised as Being Realistic

[zamieo]

"Bad thing after another" doesn't make any sense to me, because obviously if something bad happens to someone, it's good for someone else, right? Therefore, there's mostly balance. Sure, I didn't enjoy seeing characters I love dying or being on the verge of death, but they mostly just lost at the Game of Thrones and because of their choices. I would say that the books are mostly "realistic" (I mean, it's a world where dragons live, how realistic can it be), I think the characters make very reasonable choices according to their personalities.

[mindchap]

Incidents like Sam slaying the Other, Davos rescuing Edric Storm and being rewarded for it, and Jaime saving Brienne from a bear aren't examples of something good and miraculously happening when it appeared all was lost ?

To me Jamie's change of nature was just as miraculous as Sam slaying the Other.

[Squire to Ser Pounce]

Actually, according to the Google Docs timeline, there was 25 days between Stannis leaving Dragonstone and winning the battle. This leaves him going about 135 km per day, which is possible with a strong tailwind.

Edit: the big margin of error in travel basically means that he lucks out most of the time.

I believe they mention that the ships did indeed get good winds for their trip. They burned a guy (the ex-Hand Florent, I think) for those winds. So hooray for magic/luck!

[valtolin]

I strongly disagree with this assessment. In Martin's world, there is certain balance between good and evil. Sometimes it's off, and evil prevails, but then thing or two happen that brings us hope. Look at ASOIAF like one long night. It's always dusk before dawn. And in a way, that's how I would interpret GRRM's work. No evil deed happens without reason, no matter how sinister and vicious it is, and no deed, good or bad goes unpunished. We are not ready to make this assessments, because we are not at the end of the road. Once we get there, we'll be able to establish whether the world of ASOIAF is indeed real. As far as to this point, IMHO, we are seeing fantasy genre through very real spectacles...

This.

[bloodofwinterfell]

A review on The AV Club of "The Rains of Castamere" episode answers this pretty well:

So is it time for despair and suicide, as some of the most histrionic reactions have suggested? More sensibly, should former fans just give up on the series? Plenty of newcomers to the Red Wedding have suggested that Martin is just a sadist himself, that he “has issues” or is some sort of psychotic bastard, twisting the knife in his viewers for his own sick reasons, and that they’re better off getting away before he can emotionally hurt them further. But I’ll let you in on a secret about him, one that suggests viewers should stick by the series to the end.

I have a long-brewing theory that Martin is the world’s most cynical romantic. I’ve never yet read a Martin novel or story that ended in utter despair for any character who hadn’t thoroughly earned it—and I’ve read him extensively, from his 1977 debut novel, Dying Of The Light, to his many short-story collections and the entire Song Of Ice And Fire series. His work has always embraced bleakness, loneliness, and hardship, with tough-minded people muddling through traumas that perpetually threaten to break them. His protagonists rarely get exactly what they want; often, they can consider themselves lucky if they become wise enough to realize they wanted the wrong thing. His characters often make hard, ugly choices to survive, but those choices make them stronger and fiercer, and more capable of protecting themselves from the hatefulness of the predatory worlds they live in.

Martin’s cynical side can be overpowering: Characters who start his stories with naïve faith in honor, loyalty, or love—especially their own one-sided, demanding love, as opposed to a mutual bond—are commonly punished for their beliefs. But his romantic side holds just as steady, with the most steadfast and worthy characters prevailing. As I put it in that Gateways, “For a man whose writing is so often ruthless and uncompromising, he has a hell of a sentimental streak when it comes to questions of injustice, honor, nobility, personal dignity against long odds, and wrongs that need to be righted at any cost.”

I’ve said this over and over when writing about Martin’s work. What he does better than any author I’ve ever encountered—what defines his writing for me—is his masterful skill at exploiting the tension between the desire for justice and the availability of that justice. But that doesn’t mean there is no justice, just that it’s always hard-won and thoroughly earned. Robb and Catelyn’s grotesque ends complicate the search for justice considerably, and move it far into the future. But it doesn’t make the quest impossible. It just means it’ll be that much sweeter and that much more satisfying when it finally arrives.

I'm sure that, while the next two books are bound to have some heartbreaking moments, good will prevail in some way, hence the bittersweet ending.

[Cruella]

The books are pretty cheery compared to real life, just read history books with more detailed descriptions. Martin just tries to get us all worked up so that we're dying for payback and root for our favorites with more passion, he's raising the stakes and needs more visceral darkness for it. If you don't put your heroes in real dire straits nobody's going to care.

[Ned's Epic Beard]

I never thought ASOIF books have anything realistic about them. I mean common! Dwarf like Tyrion fighting a full fledged battle & doesn't die horribly?

[Nephenee]

To me Jamie's change of nature was just as miraculous as Sam slaying the Other.

Yeah, it's insanely unlikely for someone who saved 500000 people to grow up, am I right? He was already a good yet troubled person.

Jaime is the most misunderstood character in the series. What happened to him was extremely realistic.

[danm_999]

Yeah, it's insanely unlikely for someone who saved 500000 people to grow up, am I right? He was already a good yet troubled person.

Jaime is the most misunderstood character in the series. What happened to him was extremely realistic.

I think the bear incident was a turnaround because he actually put his own ass on the line.

[LordStoneheart]

Yeah, it's insanely unlikely for someone who saved 500000 people himself and his fathers men to grow up, am I right? He was already a good yet troubled person. n oathbreaker by time he was 17 and criminal for most of his life afterward

Jaime is the most misunderstood fanboyed character in the series. What happened to him was extremely realistic.

There. I fixed it for you.

[The Red Melli]

We always have Daenerys.

[Silent_Hero]

A review on The AV Club of "The Rains of Castamere" episode answers this pretty well:

I'm sure that, while the next two books are bound to have some heartbreaking moments, good will prevail in some way, hence the bittersweet ending.

When I think of bittersweet I think of all the Others defeated at the cost of all of Westeros uninhabited with half of Essos destroyed.

The realism of the writing is reflected by the Gritty style GRRM potrays it. Ex: Dany sacks a city but kills off all children over the age of twelve.

[Hishatu]

There. I fixed it for you.

Jaime saved the entire of King's Landing, ruining his own honor to do so, and he never even told anyone about, so clearly he wasn't doing it for fame or recognition

[Silent_Hero]

Jaime saved the entire of King's Landing, ruining his own honor to do so, and he never even told anyone about, so clearly he wasn't doing it for fame or recognition

Probably because he didn't kill the Mad King to save the people.

[Nephenee]

There. I fixed it for you.

Evidence that he did it for them? If he wanted to he could've fled King's Landing and told Tywin about what Aerys was going to do. Aerys even allowed him to go meet with his father.

[LordStoneheart]

Jaime saved the entire of King's Landing, ruining his own honor to do so, and he never even told anyone about, so clearly he wasn't doing it for fame or recognition

I never said he was looking for that.

Probably because he didn't kill the Mad King to save the people.

More like this. I'd call Jaime a hero if he wasn't in the belly of the beast so to speak, when he killed the beast, that being the wildfire plot. i find it very hard to believe that the moment he finds out he's going to die in a giant explosion he thought "oh no! the citizens of kings landing are going to die! I'm going to selflessly save them!" He saved himself.

Evidence that he did it for them? If he wanted to he could've fled King's Landing and told Tywin about what Aerys was going to do. Aerys even allowed him to go meet with his father.

Meeting? Meeting? Is that what you think it was? Oh honey... No. I don't care how much you daydream about Jaime saving you from the evil starks and forum posters. Jamie was told by Aerys to kill his own father, and would not have had enough time to escape the wildfire explosion. That's not a meeting. Jaime would've been killed, negating his actions as some selfless heroic deed. He saved himself. It was still a good deed. Deal with it.

[Bel Lucia]

The medieval life in the world he created seems very real to me.

The hierarchy of Lords and Ladies with their servants, or slaves.. The torture, the way the kings are at war and the way they fight them. The young and week not making it through long and hard winters. I could go on..

The story line itself may not always be realistic.. But the culture seems pretty spot on with our history.

[Nephenee]

Meeting? Meeting? Is that what you think it was? Oh honey... No. I don't care how much you daydream about Jaime saving you from the evil starks and forum posters. Jamie was told by Aerys to kill his own father, and would not have had enough time to escape the wildfire explosion. That's not a meeting. Jaime would've been killed, negating his actions as some selfless heroic deed. He saved himself. It was still a good deed. Deal with it.

Do you have any evidence that Jaime didn't have time to escape the wildfire explosion?

[The Sleeper]

The characters, their relationships and the power dynamics are very realistic, almost real, and the plot unfolds for the most part in a logical and plausible manner. And it is a war he is writing about, so most of the things happening being crappy comes off very naturally.

[LordStoneheart]

Do you have any evidence that Jaime didn't have time to escape the wildfire explosion?

Yeah, the books. You should check them out some time. They're great.

Aerys ordered Rossart to ignite the wildfire and told Jaime to hold the Red Keep. That's when Jaime just killed them instead. Have you seen any of the city layout drawings? There is no way Jaime could have made it out of there by time Rossart ignited it, and from what we've seen in blackwater bay, the explosion would've been massive. He wouldn't have made it out. Its not made explicit in the text. These are the things we have to infer from the given information.