Lee Hunts

In the A Song of Ice and Fire series, Tyrion is given a thought experiment by Varys, one of the more mysterious characters in the story. Here is the quote: “In a room sit three great men, a king, a priest, and a rich man with his gold. Between them stands a sellsword, a little man of common birth and no great mind. Each of the great ones bids him slay the other two. ‘Do it’ says the king, ‘for I am your lawful ruler.’ ‘Do it’ says the priest, ‘for I command you in the names of the gods.’ ‘Do it’ says the rich man, ‘and all this gold shall be yours.’ So tell me—who lives and who dies?" After Varys leaves, it is immediately suspected that the rich man would be obeyed by Shae, which says something. But Tyrion comes away with a somewhat more nuanced view, saying that it cannot really be answered directly, at least not yet, because there is not enough information, which implies an answer of its own. “All depends on the man with the sword.” But Varys has his own response to that: “[Y]et...

This Day All Gods Die: Book Review and Discussion I just finished reading This Day All Gods Die, which is the fifth and final entry in Stephen R. Donaldson's The Gap Cycle. Finally, we have reached the climax of the series and get to see the resolution of the plotlines that have been built up from the beginning of the story. Things have escalated in terms of scale and tension to a stunning degree, especially in relation to the isolated, but interesting, first entry of the series. So, what did I think of it, and the series as a whole? Let's get started. No Spoilers There were good things, and there were bad things, but fortunately I found that the positives outweighed the negatives for this entry, and especially the series overall. Story Structure I found that I really appreciated how the whole series fit together. The Gap Cycle starts out very quick and simple. The Real Story was a compelling vision all on its own. The world, the atmosphere, the grim nature of the story—all of ...