Westeros

I woke up this morning with the name Westeros in my head. That shouldn't scare me so much except that the place doesn't exist, outside of five books and an HBO series. George R. R. Martin has held me captive for almost four months. I've read all five of the Song of Ice and Fire books back to back to back to back to back. I've watched almost no TV except for the first and half of the second season of the HBO series. Names like Arya and Tyrion come to mind faster than over half of my coworkers. To say that I've been a bit addicted is like saying that Houdini was a bit of a magician.

Last night I read the last word that has been written so far. I have five episodes left to watch before I'm forced to wait like the rest of the world for my Westeros fix. I'm sure Jeff will be happy to hear that I'm done for a while. This is all he's been hearing about for month. I talk about the Starks at dinner as if I'm sharing gossip about our friends. I'm trying to get him to watch the HBO series so I can discuss it with him (so far he's resisted). I have friends that I discuss the books with and I've been peppering them with questions and speculations for a while. It's really been a journey.

As I closed the book last night I had mixed emotions. I have no more Westeros to read (at least until the next book comes out). I'll miss these characters. I'll admit I was sad to see the series go. And at the same time I breathed a sigh of relief. I have books waiting to be read. I have stacks of stories that call to me. I even have library books that will need to be returned...soon. And for the last four months I've read almost nothing but Martin's words. I think I'm ready to take a break. I stopped reading series for a while. Now I remember the reason. Deep character development is wonderful, but I'm ready for a bit more variety. Now to tackle the stacks.