Initial Rating: Recommended with Reservations (How I Rate Books)
Genres: Nonfiction, A Song of Ice and Fire
Similar books:
- None
Previous books by the author/in the series I’ve reviewed:
- None
Here’s the TL;DR for my review (SPOILERS!):
- Pros
- Lots of fascinating subjects were discussed
- Mixed
- Cons
I’m keeping this review short because this is a work of nonfiction about a work of fiction, meaning this book’s appeal is reduced to a fraction of a fraction of a large audience. If you are in that fraction of a fraction (namely, if you’re a fan of the A Song of Ice and Fire series and you want to read about scholars examining it’s merits from a nonfiction perspective), then check it out.
‘Beyond the Wall’ is an anthology of nonfiction articles, discussing topics featured in the ASOIAF series. For example, it talks about the Romantic literary tradition and how GRR Martin plays with it’s tropes. Another example would be how Arya and Theon display two different versions of PTSD. All of the topics discussed were well written. I particularly liked the ones on PTSD, Religion, Moral Ambiguity and Magic.
