Well, that’s what mercenaries would like. But there’s a reason why Bronn and other mercenaries point out there’s no such thing as an old, bold sellsword.

I’ve read Abercrombie, but I dunno about fan necessary. 

Not sea dragons. AFFC references Nagga the Sea Dragon feeding on grey leviathans. 

My guess would be GRRM-sized blue whale analogues.

Well, at the time the Golden Company was under contract with Myr and the only thing that can get them to break contract is the grand scheme to get their lands back. Also, given that Tywin fought against them in the War of Ninepenny Kings, he’s probably not on their most valued customer plan. 

In fact, Tywin’s failure to recruit significant numbers of mercenaries (the Bloody Mummers are both small and have a bad reputation even among mercenaries) in the War of Five Kings is a bit odd. It’s mostly a logistical mistake by GRRM – he admits that he forgot about the mercenary company who turned cloak after the Camps, for example. But my headcanon/No Prize explanation is that Tywin has a reputation for keeping mercenary costs down by using them as arrow fodder, so more discerning mercenaries avoid working for him. 

On those terms, absolutely. If Balon wanted a crown, he’d probably say yes and then go to crush him later. 

Can you recommend some books/plays? Beginner, medium and hard difficulty? Thanks!

I don’t really think of literature in those terms. As someone who’s invested quite a bit of time in academic analysis of a genre fiction series, I’m not really much for the highbrow/lowbrow dichotomy and I think you can find intellectual engagement in a wide range of literature. 

So I’ll list what I’ve read recently for fun: Hilary Mantel’s series on Thomas Cromwell is excellent, I have re-read Steven Brust and Emma Bull’s Freedom & Necessity so many times the paperback fell apart, Ken Liu’s the Grace of King’s is a refreshingly non-Medieval European fantasy epic, I went on a huge Scalzi binge last year, re-read Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell again when the tv series came out, Ben Aaronovitch’s Rivers of London series is a rare urban fantasy that actually feels urban and fantasy, I love Robert E. Howard even though he’s massively problematic, Lauren Beukes I feel the same way as I do about Aaronovitch, etc. 

Obviously your main area of focus is British Medieval History. Do you have secondary field of interest ?

If we’re talking about my professional fields of study as a historian, my primary field is the history of public policy, followed by U.S history, followed by intellectual history, followed by labor history, followed by modern European history. 

But I’ve also studied medieval and modern Japanese history, Greek and Roman history, the Later Roman Empire, Medieval Europe, and economic history. 

Legally, Ned Stark could have tried and executed him, the same way he was going to do for Jorah Mormont when Jorah sold some people into slavery. 

No lifts? Wow, that’s a lot of stairs.

graphicpolicy:

People’s History of the Marvel Universe, Week 6: This Man, Magneto! #comics #xmen #marel

Face front, true believers! When it comes to the intersection of politics and Marvel comics, the X-Men’s “mutant metaphor” is justifiably at the forefront. Up until now, I’ve danced around the topic a little because I lost a detailed set of notes that I had made on the original Stan Lee and Jack Kirby X-Men and Chris Claremont’s entire run and am still in the process of reconstituting my…

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