Winter is Coming

Posted August 19, 2013 by Sarah Barton

I watched the first episode of Game of Thrones on June 22 as an escape from the afternoon heat in Washington, DC. Fast-forward 24 hours, and I had watched five more. The only thing stopping me from completing the entire ten-episode season by dinnertime on June 23 was my flight back to Boston. I hurried home from the airport and immediately went to my library’s webpage to request Seasons One and Two on DVD. When I saw that there were 100-something holds on 90-something copies of each season (my library is part of a network of libraries in the greater Boston area, hence the large numbers), I added myself to both hold lists and vowed to start reading George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire, the book series upon which the Game of Thrones television show is based.

It didn’t take long to become so immersed in the books that I forgot about the queue for the DVDs. The novels initially intimidated me, as there are currently five (with two more forthcoming) that are each over 800 pages long and weigh as much as three pounds. I considered getting them on my Kindle, but while reading the first book in print I was often flipping back to earlier chapters (there are several plotlines) or forward to the appendices containing detailed family trees (there are many characters), so I decided to stick with print. That way, my brain could better process everything that was happening and my arms would get a modest workout.

Last Tuesday I hit the Game of Thrones jackpot, as the fifth book and (finally) Season One DVD arrived at the library with my name on them. That very night I watched the first three episodes, and was cursing the fact that I had evening commitments for the remainder of the week and would be out of town all weekend. But after waiting over six weeks for the DVD, waiting six days between episodes seems manageable. Plus, I have the fifth book to provide my daily fix while commuting. In short, Game of Thrones has kind of taken over my summer.

I would not have characterized Game of Thrones as a mild addiction until I realized that I had read the first four books, totaling over 3,200 pages, in six weeks and felt like a lottery winner when I snagged the Season One DVD off the hold shelf. My biggest concern, however, is what to do while I await the next installments. The sixth book is rumored to be published sometime in 2014 and Season Three comes to DVD on February 18, and my goal is to be first on the library hold list for both. I have considered reading the first five books again to really etch them into memory, but I think my arms might need a bit of a break. Moreover, winter is coming, along with classes, homework, and job applications – all distractions from my addiction, but likely not enough to fully silence the sweet melody of A Song of Ice and Fire that has been playing on repeat in my head.