A Dance with Dragons- Davos I

This week we catch up with Davos Seaworth, former smuggler turned Hand of the King to Stannis Baratheon. We know that Stannis is at the Wall now, with Jon Snow, but here we find out what Davos has been up to, on Stannis' behalf.

Davos is before Borrell, the lord of Sweetsister of the Three Sisters. He is picked up in the Belly O' The Whale where he was trying to get passage off island. Borrell asks why he was there- a smugglers' den-  and Davos explains he was trying to get to White Harbor, with a message from Stannis. Davos notices that Borrell has webbing between his fingers... hmm. Merfolk blood?

Davos thinks that the Three Sisters have been a favorite of smugglers for years, and a pirate den before that. He was left on a boat after Salladhor Saan abandoned Stannis' cause. Twenty nine ships left Eastwatch but they lost half the fleet or more. The galleys Oledo and Old Mother's Son had been driven aground on Skagos. The Saathos Saan had foundered off the Grey Cliffs, and Bountiful Harvest had to be towed but then sank and took one of the galleys towing her with it. Saan loses it, fed up with losing his ships and waiting for the gold he was promised. Saan asks Davos to go with him but Davos won't do that.

I knew the day would come, Davos told himself. I was fond of the old rogue, but never so great a fool as to trust him.

Borrell says that Saan's fleet was spotted from Littlesister and also by the Flint's of Widow's Watch, and wants to know where the pirate is. He says that by rights he should give Davos to Triston Sunderland, lord of the Three sisters- Borrell is his bannrman, as is Longthorpe on Longsister and Torrent of Littlesister. The Sisters were loyal only to themselves, even though they nominally are sworn to the Vale.

Davos learns of Tywin's death from Borrell, and thinks that this changes everything. He asks to send a bird to Stannis, but Borrell won't risk anyone saying he aided Stannis. He says the Sunderlands dragged the Sisters into two of the Blackfyre Rebelliosn, and they all suffered for it. Borrell's granddaughter brings bread, and Davos stares at her hand. Borrell says she has the mark- like all Borrell's for five thousand years. Borrell is a wrecker- they scavenge ships that run aground, and they used to be pirate kings before the Starks came down on them, but now they use false lights at times to draw ships onto the rocks. Borrell took a bunch of spices off a sloe-eyed maid that was bound for Braavos, but unfortunately crashed.

Borrell is skeptical, but then says that only winter is certain- that Ned Stark had said that in this very hall. Davos is surprised to hear that Stark was there, and Borrell explains that at the start of Robert's Rebellion the young Stark had been trying to get home to call his banners. A fisherman's daughter got him across in a boat and he left her some silver and a baby in her belly- she named the boy Jon Snow after Lord Arryn.

"That was when Stark said, 'In this world only winter is certain. We may lose our heads, it's true... but what if we prevail?' My father sent him on his way with his head still on his shoulders. 'If you lose,' he told Lord Eddard, 'you were never here.'" 

"No more than I was," said Davos Seaworth. 

COMMENTARY: I liked the atmosphere of this chapter- the descriptions of Breakwater, the keep of Godric Borrell, were very vivid. Davos is brought there in the midst of a storm, and the place is old and leaky and dark, with waves swirling through its dungeons. Borrell is described as treacherous, but shrewd as well and he wants to be on the winning side- so he lets Davos live. The big deal in this chapter though is the revelation about Ned Stark being there once- it doesn't really change the story, but it does provide insight into Stark and Robert at the time of the rebellion. And perhaps a bit of misdirection about Jon Snow's parentage?

I'm curious about the webbing on the Borrell's hands- is there a merfolk connection?

Salladhor Saan was fun, I enjoyed the glimpse of him that we got in A Clash of Kings- but he's just fed up with Stannis here after losing half his fleet. No doubt Martin is showing us that Stannis never has it easy- setback after setback. It will be interesting to see if Saan shows up again, and where...

We get a Skagos mention here as well, after a mention of a goat with a long horn in Jon I. Martin seems to be dropping hints that Skagos may be showing up at some point.

"You have friends here, I do not doubt," said the lord. "Every smuggler has friends on the Sisters. Some of them are my friends as well."

Bloodline

Bloodline is a Netflix original series that aired this past March. I sat down and watched  it this past week after hearing that it's one of the best shows on. The premise intrigued me- a tight knit family in the Florida Keys that has a lot of secrets. The family inn has been in operation for 45 years, and as they prepare to celebrate the anniversary the oldest son comes home. Danny is a mess frankly, he's been in trouble with the law and the other kids don't really want him there. John is the sensible son, the second oldest and a deputy sheriff. Meg the daughter is an attorney who is engaged to a police officer (and John's partner), but she is sleeping around on him a bit. And Kevin is the youngest son, a bit of a mess himself who works at refurbishing boats.

Once Danny comes home everything goes to pot. Danny is manipulative and harbors a grudge against the other kids- something happened in their past and the family was fractured. Something happened to Danny and over the course of the series we slowly find out bits and pieces as the puzzle is slowly put together. It's kind of interesting because we find out right off the bat what happens at the end of the story- the rest of it is the journey to get there.

The acting is great, and I especially liked Kyle Chandler as John and Linda Cardellini as Meg. We watch these characters grow as the show progresses and everybody has plenty of secrets (and lies). It's a fascinating melange of suspicion and deceit. The only real complaint I have is the slow pace- this has been described as a slow burn, and I have to agree. I was hooked from the get-go, but at the same time I often thought they just took too long to get certain places. And they perhaps lay it on a bit thick- there are some nasty reveals, but at the same time even though the truth is awful, I'm not sure it's THAT bad to justify what some of these people do.

The cinematography is stunning, frankly. Overhead shots of the Keys, crystal clear water, mangroves and even the opening title sequence is well done, with a time lapse of changing weather by day and night. This is an amazing show to look at, and the scenery and locations are almost a character of their own.

Teaser Tuesday #51

Teaser Tuesdays is hosted by MizB at A Daily Rhythm. To participate you grab your current read, open to a random page and share (2) teaser sentences from somewhere on that page. BE CAREFUL NOT TO INLUDE SPOILERS (Make sure what you share doesn't give too much away. You don't want to ruin the book for others). Share the title and author. 

I shook my head and whispered at Bobby, "Tell him I'm not here." 
"Sure," Bobby said. "She's right here." 
He handed the phone over. 

Frightfall Readathon Start Up

Welcome to the Frightfall readathon! This year it runs from Oct. 5-11 and is a celebration of all things scary. All the rules can be found here- and basically the only rule is you have to read one scary book (thrillers and mysteries count).

Twitter is #FrightFall.

This time around I'm shooting for 3 books. I usually read a book, maybe two, a week, so three will push me a bit. And it is a readathon, after all! So yeah... three it is.

 

Sunday Post #111

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimba the Caffeinated Book Reviewer

It definitely feels like fall now. We cooled off this week, with temps in the 70's in the afternoon but 40's at night. And of course it feels colder than it is, simply because after 80's last week even 70 feels chilly. We're in October now- the month of turning leaves, bonfires and apple cider. And things that go bump in the night. Frightfall starts Monday and runs all week- a scary readathon. And SciFi Month is coming in November- a month long celebration.

This past week I reviewed Tokyo Killand Continuum- I'm really liking that show. It's a Canadian production and if you aren't watching it, you should check it out. Good stuff. I also had my weekly A Dance with Dragons post and a Bookcover Spotlight. My Netflix binging continued, I finished up Bloodline - I'll need to find a new show to watch once I finish up Continuum.

Next week will be busy- I'll have my Frightfall start up post on Monday, and I'll be reviewing Bloodline as well. This week on A Dance with Dragons we'll check in with Davos, and another Bookcover Spotlight

SciFi Month runs all through November- you can check out the details here. #RRSciFiMonth and @SciFiMonth.


BLOGOSPHERE:

Afternoon Bookery has a nice review of The Girl With No Past.

Bookcover Spotlight

The Mysterious Planet is another book I used to see at used bookstores, and while I never read it, that cover art always appealed to me. It's another Dean Ellis piece- he had a way of evoking other worlds. An ice planet apparently- what are they up to? I don't know, but I love the cold feel of it, the ice with the planet or moon in the background.

Tokyo Kill

Tokyo Kill is a thriller about an American in Japan hired to protect a man who fears for his life. The protagonist co- owns a private investigation firm in the Japanese capital and also runs a high- end antique store back in the States. He's had run-ins with dangerous elements before and although this is the second book in a series, I didn't feel particularly out of water for not having read the first. I saw this one over at Bea's Book Nook a while back and the cover and the premise drew me in

Jim Brodie is hired by a man who is a veteran of the Japanese army and served in China during World war II. Someone is killing other survivors and it appears to be linked to atrocities that were committed during the war. Brodie takes the case and assigns protection to the man- but not even a day goes by before someone is found murdered, in a particularly gruesome way. Chinese gangs called the Triads are seemingly implicated, but as Brodie digs deeper he finds that the truth might be more complicated- and terrifying- than that. The PI soon finds his own life in danger, and the story takes a few twists and turns vefore we find what's really going on.

Most of the action takes place in Tokyo, but there are a couple other locations we visit as well. The pace is taut and the author is well versed in Japanese history and culture, and this plays a large role in the story. I enjoyed this story for the most part, the protagonist is engaging and the glimpses into Japanese culture were interesting. There is a bit of a romance with a Japanese policewoman, which was a nice touch, and I would have liked to see a bit more of her.

If you like thrillers that are fast paced and have a bit of an edge this would be a good choice.