Reflection on Cibola Burn (The Expanse #4) by James S.A. Corey

These books just keep getting better. Last time I said that the third one was the best but I like this one even more. The author introduces us to a few new perspective characters, but I found two characters to be especially interesting. Elvi is a scientist who goes to the newly discovered planet of Ilus, far outside of our solar system, only accessible by a mysterious alien ring. She is written so well as an awkward genius, and you can really feel how self-conscious she can be but also how absorbed she can be in discovery and she is such a good character. I just love parts where she "felt immediately uncomfortable with her phrasing" and when she doesn't know what to do with her hands. They got her just right. And then Murtry is a sort of security chief who ends up as a really good villain, probably the best of the series because he is the villain who is the most present that we have seen so far. He is totally committed to protecting his company's claim to scientific research on Ilus, and he will stop at nothing to ensure it. He doesn't care about living or dying and he makes some pretty interesting points for a villain about bringing civilization to the galaxy. His self-assuredness really stands out and he is like a fanatic dedicated to his mission.

My favorite thing about this series continues to be the constant discovery of alien artifacts and ruins and the unraveling of the mystery of disappeared alien life. SPOILERS. Ilus turns out to be a sort of giant gas station used to mine lithium billions of years ago, and the ruins on the planet seemed to have been used for that. Interestingly, one character notes that things weren't really evolving on Ilus until about 1.5-2 billion years ago, which is about the time the designers of the ring disappeared.

Another great part of this book: constant use of the word "carapace."

Reflection on Fire & Blood by George R.R. Martin (Reread)

So in the hype of House of the Dragon next year, I had to do a reread, and damn I am so excited to see how they bring the Dance of the Dragons to screen. It's gonna be awesome.

I forgot how good the beginning of the book, before the Dance is. Like Area riding Balerion to Valyria. And like Elissa Farman's journey west (where they went even farther then the hairy men of Ib). I would also love to read a whole story about Johanna Swan, who was sold into a Lysene pillow house and eventually became the ruler of Lys.  I also feel like there's a story that could be made about Thaddeus Rowan's squire, who got his ear cut off for bearing steel to the Kingsguard.

Here's a little hint of what's gonna be in the Dance of the Dragons in the new HBO show, straight from the book itself: 

Those who sat at the black council counted themselves loyalists, but knew full well that King Aegon II would name them traitors. Each had already received a summons from King’s Landing, demanding they present themselves at the Red Keep to swear oaths of loyalty to the new king. All their hosts combined could not match the power the Hightowers alone could field. Aegon’s greens enjoyed other advantages as well. Oldtown, King’s Landing, and Lannisport were the largest and richest cities in the realm; all three were held by greens. Every visible symbol of legitimacy belonged to Aegon. He sat the Iron Throne. He lived in the Red Keep. He wore the Conqueror’s crown, wielded the Conqueror’s sword, and had been anointed by a septon of the Faith before the eyes of tens of thousands. Grand Maester Orwyle sat in his councils, and the Lord Commander of the Kingsguard had placed the crown upon his princely head. And he was male, which in the eyes of many made him the rightful king, his half-sister the usurper.

Against all that, Rhaenyra’s advantages were few. Some older lords might yet recall the oaths they had sworn when she was made Princess of Dragonstone and named her father’s heir. There had been a time when she had been well loved by highborn and commons alike, when they had cheered her as the Realm’s Delight. Many a young lord and noble knight had sought her favor then…though how many would still fight for her, now that she was a woman wed, her body aged and thickened by six childbirths, was a question none could answer. Though her half-brother had looted their father’s treasury, the princess had at her disposal the wealth of House Velaryon, and the Sea Snake’s fleets gave her superiority at sea. And her consort, Prince Daemon, tried and tempered in the Stepstones, had more experience of warfare than all their foes combined. Last, but far from least, Rhaenyra had her dragons.

“As does Aegon,” Maester Gerardys pointed out.

“We have more,” said Princess Rhaenys, the Queen Who Never Was, who had been a dragonrider longer than all of them. “And ours are larger and stronger, but for Vhagar. Dragons thrive best here on Dragonstone.” She enumerated for the council. King Aegon had his Sunfyre. A splendid beast, though young. Aemond One-Eye rode Vhagar, and the peril posed by Queen Visenya’s mount could not be gainsaid. Queen Helaena’s mount was Dreamfyre, the she-dragon who had once borne the Old King’s sister Rhaena through the clouds. Prince Daeron’s dragon was Tessarion, with her wings dark as cobalt and her claws and crest and belly scales as bright as beaten copper. “That makes four dragons of fighting size,” said Rhaenys. Queen Helaena’s twins had their own dragons too, but no more than hatchlings; the usurper’s youngest son, Maelor, was possessed only of an egg.

Against that, Prince Daemon had Caraxes and Princess Rhaenyra Syrax, both huge and formidable beasts. Caraxes especially was fearsome, and no stranger to blood and fire after the Stepstones. Rhaenyra’s three sons by Laenor Velaryon were all dragonriders; Vermax, Arrax, and Tyraxes were thriving, and growing larger every year. Aegon the Younger, eldest of Rhaenyra’s two sons by Prince Daemon, commanded the young dragon Stormcloud, though he had yet to mount him; his little brother, Viserys, went everywhere with his egg. Rhaenys’s own she-dragon, Meleys the Red Queen, had grown lazy, but remained fearsome when roused. Prince Daemon’s twins by Laena Velaryon might yet be dragonriders too. Baela’s dragon, the slender pale green Moondancer, would soon be large enough to bear the girl upon her back…and though her sister Rhaena’s egg had hatched a broken thing that died within hours of emerging from the egg, Syrax had recently produced another clutch. One of her eggs had been given to Rhaena, and it was said that the girl slept with it every night, and prayed for a dragon to match her sister’s.

Moreover, six other dragons made their lairs in the smoky caverns of the Dragonmont above the castle. There was Silverwing, Good Queen Alysanne’s mount of old; Seasmoke, the pale grey beast that had been the pride and passion of Ser Laenor Velaryon; hoary old Vermithor, unridden since the death of King Jaehaerys. And behind the mountain dwelled three wild dragons, never claimed nor ridden by any man, living or dead. The smallfolk had named them Sheepstealer, Grey Ghost, and the Cannibal. “Find riders to master Silverwing, Vermithor, and Seasmoke, and we will have nine dragons against Aegon’s four. Mount and fly their wild kin, and we will number twelve, even without Stormcloud,” Princess Rhaenys pointed out. “That is how we shall win this war.”

All in all, great book, and I'm glad I reread it to refresh myself before the show comes out. I highly recommend. 

Miscellaneous Facts:

• After the civil war that happened in the Iron Islands after Harren the Black died, Martin mentions that krakens appeared by the hundreds to eat the dead. So that, in addition to all the mentions of krakens in the narrow sea in ASOIAF, makes me think that GRRM really wants to bring krakens into the main series.
• Apparently Maegor Targaryen went to the Stepstones to kill a pirate named Sargoso Saan, who must be an ancestor of Salladhor Saan. 
• I forgot that when Aerea rode Balerion to Valyria that Balerion came back with wounds. Like what the fuck could have actually done that? He had a "jagged rent down his left side almost nine feet long..." I think another dragon that was even bigger is most likely. 
• In 115 AC, Daemon Targaryen's wife Rhea Royce fell from her horse and died, freeing him to marry. That is suspicious...
• There is a dragon named Morghul- clear reference to Tolkien 
• The Battle of the Kingsroad (The Muddy Mess) is clearly supposed to be like the Battle of Agincourt, literally with longbows and all.