冰与火之歌第一卷

冰与火之歌第一卷
看了伍老师的《把你的英语用起来》，决定把以前看无聊网络小说的时间节省下来，狂看英文原著。透析法提倡少查单词的做法真是深得我心，只不过有时只关注剧情推进，一口气看好多页都舍不得花时间查个单词，完全忽略了学习英文的初衷。
书名：Song of Ice and Fire, Volume1
作者： George R.R. Martin
长度：29, 2326 words
阅读时间：断断续续看了一个月，50个小时左右
阅读工具：Kindle pw2，自带词典功能，很方便，但因为没有输入查询这一过程，印象不太深刻。自带的vocabulary builder，方便复习生单词， 但个人比较懒，往往惦记着剧情发展，舍不得花时间复习，以至于有时出现重复查询的现象，这点要检讨。
难度：没有查首万词不重复单词数，但蓝思值绝对是蛮低的，尤其是对话部分。生单词可能稍多，尤其是战争场景或环境、背景描述，古语或正式单词出现较频繁，地名都是有含义的，比较容易理解。还有一些单词查不到，原因如下：一、用的是《现代英汉词典》，比较陈旧；二、有一部分外来词汇；三、有些单词我深深怀疑是作者自己杜撰的。但是，生单词虽多，基本不影响理解，尤其是熟悉《权力的游戏》剧情，或是语法比较好的的读者。
推荐指数：四星。推荐阅读，但不建议作为第一部原著来阅读。因为实在是太长了，看了半天看不完，会没有成就感，有的读者会很容易放弃。
选书心得：建议读者一定按照自己的喜好来选书。之前看Quiet，Lean In，虽然也很简单，但从未这么废寝忘食过。看How to Study and Teaching How to Study，更是把我看得呵欠连天，不知所云。事实证明，对我来说，只要是小说，不管是英文的还是中文的，都能把我迷住。
透析成果：自己的词汇量好几年都没有长进，真是万分羞愧。这次查的单词很多都似曾相识，查了之后才恍然大悟，喔，原来以前都背过。词组什么的因为Kindle自带的字典查不了，自己又懒得用其他工具查，所以也没标注出来。
查询的单词：perilous充满危险的，implacable难平息的，poacher偷猎者，grizzled花白的，drowsy瞌睡的，insolent无礼的， acquiescence默许，grope摸索，sap树液，parry回避，scrawny骨瘦如柴的，deserter逃兵，flinch退缩，maggot蛆，nuzzle轻触，antler鹿角，squirm蠕动，albino白化病患者，redwoods红杉，anoint涂油，humus腐蚀质， shudder打颤，rueful悔恨的，tidings消息，Damnation该死，infestation侵扰，成群，teat乳头，slouch没精打采，silhouettes轮廓，quickening胎动，treachery背叛，bellow吼，chatter饶舌，dab轻抹，enraptured狂喜的，着迷的，pallid苍白的，unsullied无污点的，affront公然侮辱，menagerie动物园，crypt地下室，lurch倾斜，蹒跚，vengeful报复性的，viper毒蛇，namesake同名，brusquely粗鲁的，indisposed身体不适的，不愿意的，betrothal订婚，foreboding祸事的预感，flagon酒壶，relish喜爱，享受，sated完全满足，insipid乏味的，waddling蹒跚行走，carcass尸体，fang犬牙，venom毒液，怨恨，gargoyle怪兽状滴水嘴，sardonic嘲笑的，tapestries挂毯，loins下身，bluster 咆哮，adders毒蛇，brook容忍，furtively偷偷摸摸，steward管家， surmise猜测，derisively嘲笑的，frolic嬉戏，penance惩罚，stableboy马夫，labyrinth迷宫，vertigo眩晕，parchment羊皮纸，petulant任性的， perfunctory敷衍的，马虎的，timorously胆怯的，crooked 狡诈的，celibate禁欲的，grotesque怪物，curdle凝固，auburn赤褐色，absolution赦免，haunches后腿，platters盘子，omen前兆，berate训斥，whimper抽噎，consummation圆房，tingle感到刺痛，groggy眩晕的，vagabond流浪者，hedgehog刺猬，trepidation惊恐，fealty忠诚，squabble争吵，commotion混乱，castration阉割，gallantry殷勤，rumination反复思考，misshapen畸形的，guffaw大笑，tangle混乱状态，wick灯芯，stuffy不通气的，cacophony刺耳的声音，臭气stench，sniff嗅，villain无赖，conjecture猜测，impetuous鲁莽的，appease平息，betrothed已订婚的，rash疹子，wriggle扭动，prattle胡扯，gaunt憔悴的，stiffened严厉的，loathing厌恶，clearing林中空地，obscenities隐晦的言行，mangle损毁，glower怒视，perchance间或，niggardly小气的，brittle易碎的，kernel核心，dexterous巧妙的，nonplussed困窘的，frenetic发狂的，contrite悔悟的，salve药膏，solicitude关心，admonition警告， ineptitude笨拙，愚蠢，curtly简短的，eel鳝鱼，brazier火盆，fester溃烂，wager打赌，scour擦亮，gruff粗暴的，whoop高声叫喊，accost搭讪，insolence傲慢，wispy缕，prodigious巨大的，haggle争执，impersonation冒充，smirk假笑，lecherous好色的，saunter闲逛，moldering腐朽，maimed残废的，masquerade伪装，succulent鲜美的，armpit腋窝，scone烤小圆面包，争吵squabble，indigo靛蓝，magma岩浆，callused皮肤长老茧的，treacherous危险的，forlornly可怜的，querulously抱怨的，honeycomb蜂窝，bane祸星，persimmon柿子， purge清除，retinue一批随员，vigil守夜，paragon模范，throb抽痛，cajole劝诱，irksome使人厌烦的，respite缓解，trickster骗子，ribald粗俗的，mummer哑剧演员，ebony乌木，falcon猎鹰，journeymen雇工，sodden湿漉漉的，chisel凿子，cursory仓促的，impregnable难以攻破的，irascible易怒的，wizened干瘪的，airily轻率的，chagrin懊悔，avalanche雪崩，drab单调的，unison齐声，composure镇静，streak条纹，sapphire蓝宝石，demur反对，trout鳟鱼，goblet高脚杯，snuff熄灭，happenstance巧合，mirth欢乐，upend倒竖，uproariously令人捧腹的，disfigure毁容，rudiments基础，revels狂欢，forestall预先阻止，deformed畸形的，queasy感到恶心的，ebb衰落，abduction绑架，brigand土匪，bestir激励，maidenhead处女时期 ，enmities敌意，inanely无意义的，tomcat雄猫，cavernous大而深的，tractable温顺德，dungeon地牢，unkempt不整洁的，exasperated恼怒的，complacency自满，slaver垂涎，awning凉棚，ominous不吉的，glibly不假思索的，vouchsafe给与，deign屈尊，granary谷仓，garnets石榴石，hibernation冬眠，scurry急跑，stringy多筋的，deliverance解放，heartrending令人心碎的，haltingly吞吞吐吐，bulbous球茎状的，grimace做鬼脸，anteroom前厅，barbed有倒刺的，flex屈曲，trencher大木盘，ferocious凶猛的，fireflies萤火虫，tankard大酒杯，jape玩笑 ，demurely娴静的，jest玩笑，feign伪装，impertinence不礼貌，tendrils卷须，unfurl展开， murky黑暗的，gesticulate做手势， viscera内脏，remnants残余，congealing凝固的，rout溃败，undoing祸根，piebald杂色的，condoned宽恕，poultice膏药，leaden沉重的，delirium昏迷，tepid温热的，pus脓，scowl皱眉，ululate哀鸣，dirge哀乐，longshoreman码头工人，squirm扭动，entreaty恳求，granite坚毅，sepulchre坟墓，shred撕碎， stopper塞子，chastise惩罚，severed割断的，opal蛋白石，perspiration汗，grueling累垮人的，slander诋毁，emulate模仿，sortie突袭 ，poleaxed惊愕的，forage搜寻，pillage抢劫，privy厕所，rasher薄片，stocky粗壮的，somber忧郁的，tremulous战栗的，chide责骂，athwart横跨，laggardly落后者，ravage使荒芜，parched干枯的，zenith顶峰，enfold裹住，liquefy液化，hellish讨厌的，conflagration大火，smolder缓慢燃烧，cinder煤渣，sinuous弯曲的 
表示马或战马的单词：courser骏马，charger军马，stallion成年公马， steed骏马，mount乘骑用马， mare母马filly小雌马，pony小马
骑士装备或武器：helm头盔，greathelm巨盔，armor盔甲，visor面甲，breastplate胸甲，shield盾，sheath鞘，scabbard鞘，hilt柄，stirrup马镫，bridle缰绳，mace狼牙棒，lance长矛，longsword长剑，scythe长炳大镰刀，standard旗帜，quintain枪靶，jousting格斗，sigil图章，印记，emblazoned用徽章装饰的，bedecked华丽装饰的，medallion大奖章，gilded镀金的，whetstone磨刀石，sheath把...装入鞘，dismount下马
军事相关词汇：fastness要塞，battlements城垛，bailey城堡外庭，citadel城堡，barbican碉堡，portcullis吊闸，catapult弩炮，palisade栅栏，turret角楼，vanguard先锋，liege君主，man-at-arms士兵，sentinel哨兵，sentry哨兵，sellsword佣兵，tourney锦标赛，lists竞技场
有关打斗的动词： transfix刺穿，impale刺穿，whack猛击，shove猛推，wrench猛拧，pummel击，thump重击，clout猛击 ，brandish挥舞，vanquish征服，subdue制服
有关服饰的词汇：braided镶边的，编辫子的，tunic外袍，上衣， choker短项圈，bodice女士上衣，breeches裤子，raiment服装，girth腰围
个别有意思的表达也用Kindle的Highlight功能标示出来了。
There was small love between him and the queen’s family.
The color will bring out the violet in your eyes.
She felt a sudden chill, and gooseflesh pimpled her bare arms.
All that the gods had given to Cersei and Jaime, they had denied Tyrion.
Death is so terribly final, while life is full of possibilities.
He seemed to feel the weight of her gaze.
I have had rooms prepared, and you’ll find no lack of hot water to wash off the dust of the road. I hope you will honor us at table tonight. (Robb)
The woods pressed close around them, and the steady pattering of rain on leaves was accompanied by the small sucking sounds their horses made as their hooves pulled free of the mud.
Trying to cut their way out of this was a sure invitation to an early grave.
Fear cuts deeper than swords.
He has an old man’s caution and a young man’s ambition, and has never lacked for cunning. (Lord Frey)
Love is the bane of honor, the death of duty.
一些小知识点：
家族家训：Every noble house had its words. Family mottoes, touchstones, prayers of sorts, they boasted of honor and glory, promised loyalty and truth, swore faith and courage. All but the Starks. Winter is coming, said the Stark words. The name it bore was older still, a legacy from the age of heroes, when the Starks were Kings in the North.凛冬将至。
长城军事力量的描述：The Watch had built nineteen great strongholds along the Wall, but only three were still occupied: Eastwatch on its grey windswept shore, the Shadow Tower hard by the mountains where the Wall ended, and Castle Black between them, at the end of the kingsroad. The other keeps, long deserted, were lonely, haunted places, where cold winds whistled through black windows and the spirits of the dead manned the parapets. 长城沿线19个要塞，现在只剩下3个，其他都全部废弃。
Winterfell 的heart tree：A face had been carved in the trunk of the great tree, its features long and melancholy, the deep-cut eyes red with dried sap and strangely watchful. They were old, those eyes; older than Winterfell itself…It was said that the children of the forest had carved the faces in the trees during the dawn centuries before the coming of the First Men across the narrow sea…Here every castle had its godswood, and every godswood had its heart tree, and every heart tree its face. 原来树上的脸是森林之子刻的。  
有关Stark家族的一个冷笑话：They say it grows so cold up here in winter that a man’s laughter freezes in his throat and chokes him to death. Perhaps that is why the Starks have so little humor.
冰原狼外貌描写：A direwolf had a bigger head and longer legs in proportion to its body, and its snout and jaw were markedly leaner and more pronounced. There was something gaunt and terrible about them as they stood there amid the gently falling snow. 
Jon和Robb外貌、性格的对比：Jon’s eyes were a grey so dark they seemed almost black, but there was little they did not see. He was of an age with Robb, but they did not look alike. Jon was slender where Robb was muscular, dark where Robb was fair, graceful and quick where his half brother was strong and fast…Robb laughing and hooting, Jon silent and intent. Jon和Robb的性格截然不同，Start家，从长相来说，Jon和Arya比较像父亲，Sansa和Bran比较像母亲。提起Jon，文中Ned不断回想起他妹妹临终时他做出的承诺，也许映证了大家对Jon身份的猜测，俗话说，外甥像舅舅嘛。
Targaryens家族兄妹通婚历史悠久，原因是为了保持血脉的纯正：For centuries the Targaryens had married brother to sister, since Aegon the Conqueror had taken his sisters to bride. The line must be kept pure, Viserys had told her a thousand times; theirs was the kingsblood, the golden blood of old Valyria, the blood of the dragon. Dragons did not mate with the beasts of the field, and Targaryens did not mingle their blood with that of lesser men.   
马族血骑士的信息：Every khal had his bloodriders. At first Dany had thought of them as a kind of Dothraki Kingsguard, sworn to protect their lord, but it went further than that. Jhiqui had taught her that a bloodrider was more than a guard; they were the khal’s brothers, his shadows, his fiercest friends. “Blood of my blood,” Drogo called them, and so it was; they shared a single life. The ancient traditions of the horselords demanded that when the khal died, his bloodriders died with him, to ride at his side in the night lands. If the khal died at the hands of some enemy, they lived only long enough to avenge him, and then followed him joyfully into the grave. In some khalasars, Jhiqui said, the bloodriders shared the khal’s wine, his tent, and even his wives, though never his horses. A man’s mount was his own. 从这点看，bloodriders似乎比Kingsguard更为可靠，不会出现像Jaime那样的kingslayer，oathbreaker。
Old Nan 给Bran讲述异鬼的来历：Thousands and thousands of years ago, a winter fell that was cold and hard and endless beyond all memory of man. There came a night that lasted a generation, and kings shivered and died in their castles even as the swineherds in their hovels. Women smothered their children rather than see them starve, and cried, and felt their tears freeze on their cheeks. In that darkness, the Others came for the first time. They were cold things, dead things, that hated iron and fire and the touch of the sun, and every creature with hot blood in its veins. They swept over holdfasts and cities and kingdoms, felled heroes and armies by the score, riding their pale dead horses and leading hosts of the slain. All the swords of men could not stay their advance, and even maidens and suckling babes found no pity in them. They hunted the maids through frozen forests, and fed their dead servants on the flesh of human children. Now these were the days before the Andals came, and long before the women fled across the narrow sea from the cities of the Rhoyne, and the hundred kingdoms of those times were the kingdoms of the First Men, who had taken these lands from the children of the forest. Yet here and there in the fastness of the woods the children still lived in their wooden cities and hollow hills, and the faces in the trees kept watch. So as cold and death filled the earth, the last hero determined to seek out the children, in the hopes that their ancient magics could win back what the armies of men had lost. He set out into the dead lands with a sword, a horse, a dog, and a dozen companions. For years he searched, until he despaired of ever finding the children of the forest in their secret cities. One by one his friends died, and his horse, and finally even his dog, and his sword froze so hard the blade snapped when he tried to use it. And the Others smelled the hot blood in him, and came silent on his trail, stalking him with packs of pale white spiders big as hounds...可惜讲到这里被打断了……不过根据剧情可以知道，森林之子和先民铸建了长城，把异鬼挡在了北境之外。也正因为这个夏天时间太长，很多孩子一生中还没经历过寒冬，而夏天越漫长，下一个冬天也会越寒冷。所以，才为异鬼的出现提供了契机。
第一部唯一正面描写异鬼的段落出现在序言，与守夜人Royce的打斗中：A shadow emerged from the wood...Tall, it was, and gaunt and hard as old bones, with flesh pale as milk. Its armor seemed to change color as it moved; here it was white as new-fallen snow, there black as shadow, everywhere dappled with the deep grey-green of the trees. The patterns ran like moonlight on water with every step it took. 异鬼真是像幽灵一般的存在，他们的盔甲确实很神奇，会不断得变换色彩。The Other slid forward on silent feet. 异鬼手中的长剑：No human metal had gone into the forging of that blade. It was alive with moonlight, translucent, a shard of crystal so thin that it seemed almost to vanish when seen edge-on. There was a faint blue shimmer to the thing, a ghost-light that played around its edges, and somehow Will knew it was sharper than any razor. 对异鬼眼睛的描写：blue, deeper and bluer than any human eyes, a blue that burned like ice. They fixed on the longsword trembling on high, watched the moonlight running cold along the metal. 打斗场景：When the blades met, there was no ring of metal on metal; only a high, thin sound at the edge of hearing, like an animal screing in pain. His blade was white with frost; the Other’s danced with pale blue light. 异鬼的声音：His voice was like the cracking of ice on a winter lake…their voices and laughter sharp as icicles.总之是一种让人毛骨悚然的奇特生物。
有关森林之子和先民的传说：Old Nan says the children knew the songs of the trees, that they could fly like birds and swim like fish and talk to the animals… they made music so beautiful that it made you cry like a little baby just to hear it. They were people of the Dawn Age, the very first, before kings and kingdoms. In those days, there were no castles or holdfasts, no cities, not so much as a market town to be found between here and the sea of Dorne. There were no men at all. Only the children of the forest dwelt in the lands we now call the Seven Kingdoms. They were a people dark and beautiful, small of stature, no taller than children even when grown to manhood. They lived in the depths of the wood, in caves and crannogs and secret tree towns. Slight as they were, the children were quick and graceful. Male and female hunted together, with weirwood bows and flying snares. Their gods were the gods of the forest, stream, and stone, the old gods whose names are secret. Their wise men were called greenseers, and carved strange faces in the weirwoods to keep watch on the woods. How long the children reigned here or where they came from, no man can know. But some twelve thousand years ago, the First Men appeared from the east, crossing the Broken Arm of Dorne before it was broken. They came with bronze swords and great leathern shields, riding horses. No horse had ever been seen on this side of the narrow sea. No doubt the children were as frightened by the horses as the First Men were by the faces in the trees. As the First Men carved out holdfasts and farms, they cut down the faces and gave them to the fire. Horror-struck, the children went to war. The old songs say that the greenseers used dark magics to make the seas rise and sweep away the land, shattering the Arm, but it was too late to close the door. The wars went on until the earth ran red with blood of men and children both, but  more children than men, for men were bigger and stronger, and wood and stone and obsidian make a poor match for bronze. Finally the wise of both races prevailed, and the chiefs and heroes of the First Men met the greenseers and wood dancers admidst the weirwood groves of a small island in the great lake called Gods Eye. There they forged the Pact. The First Men were given the coastlands, the high plains and bright meadows, the mountains and bogs, but the deep woods were to remain forever the children’s, and no more weirwoods were to be put to the axe anywhere in the realm. So the gods might bear witness to the signing, every tree on the island was given a face, and afterward, the sacred order of green men was formed to keep watch over the Isle of Faces. The Pact began four thousand years of friendship between men and children. In time, the First Men even put aside the gods they had brought with them, and took up the worship of the secret gods of the wood. The signing of the Pact ended the Dawn Age, and began the Age of Heroes. So long as the kingdoms of the First Men held sway, the Pact endured, all through the Age of Heroes and the Long Night and the birth of the Seven Kingdoms, yet finally there came a time, many centuries later, when other peoples crossed the narrow sea. The Andals were the first, a race of tall, fair-haired warriors who came with steel and fire and the seven-pointed star of the new gods painted on their chests. The wars lasted hundreds of years, but in the end the six southron kingdoms all fell before them. Only here, where the King in the North threw back every army that tried to cross the Neck, did the rule of the First Men endure. The Andals burnt out the weirwood groves, hacked down the faces, slaughtered the children where they found them, and everywhere proclaimed the triumph of the Seven over the old gods. So the children fled north. 在我脑海中，森林之子一直是一种神秘的存在，看完这一段终于可以大致了解他们的情况和这片大陆的历史。
文中还有一些对话也相当精彩。
Ned将守夜人的逃兵砍头前说的话：In the name of Robert of the House Baratheon, the First of his Name, King of the Andals and the Rhoynar and the First Men, Lord of the Seven Kingdoms and Protector of the Realm, by the word of Eddard of the House Stark, Lord of Winterfell and Warden of the North, I do sentence you to die. 标注这一段是因为每个贵族在重要场合说话时，总要引用一大段话，表明他们的身份，听起来着实着急。
Syrio教Arya学剑时说的一番话： Opening your eyes is all that is needing. The heart lies and the head plays tricks with us, but the eyes see true. Look with your eyes. Hear with your ears. Taste with your mouth. Smell with your nose. Feel with your skin. Then comes the thinking, afterward, and in that way knowing the truth. 
Mormont在守夜人宣誓前说的一番话激情澎湃：You came to us outlaws, poachers, rapers, debtors, killers, and thieves. You came to us children. You came to us alone, in chains, with neither friends nor honor. You came to us rich, and you came to us poor. Some of you bear the names of proud houses. Others have only bastards’ names, or no names at all. It makes no matter. All that is past now. On the Wall, we are all one house. At evenfall, as the sun sets and we face the gathering night, you shall take your vows. From that moment, you will be a Sworn Brother of the Night’s Watch. Your crimes will be washed away, your debts forgiven. So too you must wash away your former loyalties, put aside your grudges, forget old wrongs and old loves alike. Here you begin anew. A man of the Night’s Watch lives his life for the realm. Not for a king, nor a lord, nor the honor of this house or that house, neither for gold nor glory nor a woman’s love, but for the realm, and all the people in it. A man of the Night’s Watch takes no wife and fathers no sons. Our wife is duty. Our mistress is honor. And you are the only sons we shall ever know. You have learned the words of the vow. Think carefully before you say them, for once you have taken the black, there is no turning back. The penalty for desertion is death.
守夜人的誓言也同样振奋人心：Night gathers, and now my watch begins. It shall not end until my death. I shall take no wife, hold no lands, father no children. I shall wear no crowns and win no glory. I shall live and die at my post. I am the sword in the darkness. I am the watcher on the walls. I am the fire that burns against the cold, the light that brings the dawn, the horn that wakes the sleepers, the shield that guards the realms of men. I pledge my life and honor to the Night’s Watch, for this night and all the nights to come. 长夜将至，我从今开始守望，至死方休。我将不娶妻、不封地、不生子。我将不戴宝冠，不争荣宠。我将尽忠职守，生死於斯。我是黑暗中的利剑，长城中的守卫。我是抵御寒冷的烈燄，破晓时分的光线，唤醒死者的号角，守护王国的铁卫。我将生命与荣耀献给守夜人，今夜如此，夜夜皆然。
文中的心理描写也很生动细腻。龙女最初在哥哥的暴政压制下相当弱势，在卖给马族的Drogo前，她的心理活动真让人心疼。His anger was a terrible thing when roused. Viserys called it “waking the dragon.” …For a moment she wished she could be out there with them, barefoot and breathless and dressed in tatters, with no past and no future and no feast to attend at Khal Drogo’s manse.不过这个倒是她命运的转折点。
也有很多感人细节。Catelyn 在Robb出征前的祈祷，慈母心思跃然纸上，语言虽然平实，却非常令人感动：Let him grow taller, she asked the gods. Let him know sixteen, and twenty, and fifty. Let him grow as tall as his father, and hold his own son in his arms. Please, please, please. As she watched him, this tall young man with the new beard and the direwolf prowling at his heels, all she could see was the babe they had laid at her breast at Riverrun, so long ago. 所以一想到第三季血婚的场景，就忍不住难过。作者对Stark家族实在太过残忍。
Ned被砍头后，Robb在北境起兵，Jon深夜离开守夜军团，想去帮助自己的兄弟，却被Sam发现，虽然Sam没有拦住，却通知了他们几个要好的兄弟。他们冒着被处置的危险，深夜追赶Jon，结果被Ghost暴露目标，气得Jon说了句“Small help you were”，而Ghost还用一双无知的眼睛瞅着他。最终他回到了守夜军团，而其实这一切Mormont都知道，“Do you think they chose me Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch because I’m dumb as a stump, Snow? Aemon told me you’d go. I told him you’d be back. I know my men and my boys too. Honor set you on the kingsroad and honor brought you back.” 这一部分情节描写语言非常流畅，他和Jon的对话情理交织，既有威严，也有温情，最后让Jon心服口服，死心塌地的留下来，并且重燃激情。非常喜欢这个睿智的人物，可惜他最后却死于叛徒之手。
第一季以龙女的三枚龙蛋终于孵出小龙作为结局：As Daenerys Targaryen rose to her feet, her black hissed, pale smoke venting from its mouth and nostrils. The other two pulled away from her breasts and added their voices to the call, translucent wings unfolding and stirring the air, and for the first time in hundreds of years, the night came alive with the music of dragons. 
剧中也有很多有趣的小细节，比如守夜人总司令Mormont那只呱噪的渡鸦，总是重复他的话，还毫不客气得和他抢鸡蛋吃。比如Stark家族的那几只冰原狼，很忠诚，名字也很好玩，Robb的Grey Wind，Jon Snow 的Ghost，Sansa的Lady，Ayra的Nymeria，Bran的Summer， Rickon 的Shaggydog。平时看他们和主人的交流觉得很萌很可爱，却忘记了他们作为野兽的本性。直到看到Bran被wildings俘虏时，Summer还是Grey Wind攻击对方，后来扭转局势时，竟然开始吃起尸体，顿时无语……Robb的狼和他一起出征，也是表现非常勇猛，吓翻了不少战马，撕咬了不少士兵。可惜Lady，死得太早，和Sansa一样，非常乖，非常淑女（文中Sansa总是提醒自己不要forget her courtesies）。而Shaggydog则非常野，Rickon和Bran同时梦见自己的父亲时，Lurwin带Bran去地下室映证Bran的梦，Shaggydog竟然把Lurwin的胳膊都咬伤了。
全书情节曲折，场面宏大，人物众多，每个家族背后都有错综复杂的关系，每一个出场的人物都有自己的名字，即使是一个小小的侍从，或一个普通士兵，都有自己的性格和故事。看到后来，作为读者的我已经眼花缭乱，不知道作者是怎么构建这么庞大的网络。虚构诚然是一种实力，值得称颂的却是如何使每个情节都显得那么合理，每个人物的个性都那么突出。合上第一卷，继续追第二卷。