Fantasy Literature

I'm reading the very same series and I'm just a little further along than you are, or were when you posted.

I think the characters are extremely authentic to a feudalistic culture, more authentic than almost all fantasy I've seen, which means a lot of what they do are going to be offensive to post-modern sensibilities. The nobles act like nobles, which is to say they have a unshakeable sense of entitlement, that's just how they were raised. They are constantly thinking about who their enemies and friends are, and who they could trust, because it's a matter of life and death. Historically, people in those cultures are, overall, terribly almost desperately protective of their positions.

Such as Prince Joffrey catching the butcher's son doing something above rank. The Prince needed to enforce the class system that placed he himself at the top. I actually expected him to be much more cruel in that scene.

I happen to think that Eddard Stark is a very good person to raise Jon with the rest of his family. You have to see that to Caetlyn, Jon is not just an affront to her, but he represents a threat to her children's position and even their very survival, yet, it doesn't create a rift between her and Eddard. Their relationship is still quite loving. I'm anticipating that Caetlyn is going to end up changing her mind about Jon.

Meanwhile, Arya doesn't seem to be aware of class at all, and so I don't anticipate her faring too well. If anything, she's almost like a modern child dropped into a medieval culture, like putting a baby in the middle of a busy street.

I don't have much respect for Robert, but he's absolutely saintly compared to the rest of his family, with the possible exception of Tyrion.

It seems to me that Daenerys is going to turn into the real antagonist now that she has married into that barbarian tribe. I wonder how much longer she'll tolerate her brother now that she's the one who has power. I anticipate her character changing to something monstrous after Martin gave us reason to have sympathy for her.

Her husband, by the way, showed a surprising amount and depth and deference for her. So, now she has emotional support, and she, not her brother, has an army behind her and will be socialized into a ruthless culture. Her power-hungry, faithless brother has made a huge mistake. This should be interesting.

In other words, I think you should stick to it.