A GAME OF THRONES

                                                    

Framer my favourite cousin, who is a serial movie freak introduced me to “A Game of Thrones” and from the word go, its storyline reeled me in like I was a hapless cod. That is how it usually works for me, for a serial to thrill me it has to appeal to me right from the very start, just run off with me. I think that is why “Rome” is still my best till date. No matter the ratings, if it doesn’t grab me from the beginning, it would most likely never move me. I also said in an earlier post that I know a movie or a book has sunk its fangs into my veins when I see, smell, taste and dream it. It saturates me like a cloud of garlic (it’s just that in this case, the saturation is redolent of something more fragrant than blossoms from the Garden of Eden). Such experiences are epiphanic and make me proselytize with the vigour of an early apostle. It was during such proselytization that my brother mentioned that the film was actually adapted from a book. That triggered a faint awareness which made me search my library to discover that I have two out of the seven series of “A Song of Ice and Fire” from which the stories came. Following this I stopped watching and started reading. I usually prefer reading because most movies usually come short of great books with the “Godfather”, Lord of the Rings” and “Shawshank Redemption” being a few of the exceptions.

The book was exceptional and contrary to my usual pattern, I immediately picked up the second one in the series, “A Clash of Kings”. I get bored easily so I try not to read tomes by the same author back to back but “A Game of Thrones” broke my habit, I just couldn’t stop at the first book. As I traverse the pages, I find myself in an enchanting magical world. With a dollop of mysticism, a sprinkle of the mythical, a dash of the historical, a pinch of the medieval, a spoonful of heroism, a portion of wizardry, a seasoning of chivalry, a mix of warfare and everything peppered with fantasy, George R.R Martin cooked up a literary sumptuous fare. His books are finger licking sweet. It is actually a wonder I have not gotten to the point of chomping on the pages. It is in the league of the “Lords of the Ring”. It’s just that I think the J.R.R Tolkien’s is more poetic with a wilder and crazier imagination but like the journey of the hobbits somewhat harder going. George’s is simpler especially if you can remember all those names and houses. There must be something about the letters R.R that equates to literary genius. I have been wondering whether I should add them to my initials. His descriptive powers enthroned him amongst the kings of imagery like Wilbur Smith, Dean Koontz and J.R.R.Tolkien and if we had to add a queen to this pantheon that would be Chimamanda Adichie of course. All in all the collection of books and movies of “Song of Ice and Fire” that I have seen so far are divine (even the motion picture is as good as the book).  The musical score of the movie is heavenly; I could listen to it all day. Ramin Djawadi the composer was at his beautiful best.

In the past few weeks, I have been amazed at the absolutely mindboggling creativity of Mr. George and have been thinking that that is how human beings are supposed to be and function. The taste of divinity in his books is actually scriptural. Kudos to GRRM, a Caesar of literature, I salute thee “Ser”.

First thing we know about God before any other is that he is creative. Genesis 1:1 tells us that “in the beginning, God created……”  Before we get to know anything about Gods might, His love, His power, His wisdom, His grace, name it, the first thing that is brought to our attention is His creativity. Since we are made in His likeness, that means we have the innate ability to be creative. If a monkey’s kid cannot swing or climb, it’s an aberration. If we cannot create, it’s an anomaly. When we create, we exhibit the divine; we assume the celestial and manifest the heavenly. When we write something on an empty page, form art on blank easels, build on bare land, design with formless materials, cook gourmet meals out from raw ingredients, bring what has never been to be, we become like God our father who created a beautiful world out of nothing. We bring the eternal to bear on the ephemeral; we bring divinity to impact on the earthly. We conjure light out of darkness. Of course this is when we create something good that benefits mankind. Creativity makes the creator rule, IT GIVES DOMINION. Little wonder Times Magazine named George R.R Martin one of the most influential people of 2011. It also does not come as a surprise that countries where inventiveness is the order of the day are perpetually in the limelight and rule over those who do have such culture. One of the things that enabled the Romans to conquer the world was the building of roads and incredibly some of those roads are still standing today after hundreds of years. In Nigeria, it’s a miracle if our roads last for a couple of months. For Nigeria as a country to progress, we need to pay more attention to creation of things.

In my last post, “http://ekpoeze.blogspot.com/2012/08/apples-of-seduction.html”, I mentioned how Esau traded his birthright for Jacob’s food. Esau traded and Jacob created and at the end, he who traded was left holding the short end of the stick. That sounds familiar, does it not? It is exactly the way our ancestors sold the future of a continent for mere trinkets that were created by foreigners. Same way we trade our time to work for organizations created by others, at the expense of all that we hold dear sometimes. Creators own the world; the earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof. God could lay claim to the cosmos because He created it. Let us work towards the creation of good homes, schools, businesses, industries, healthcare facilities and we will end up with a better country. Creativity is one of the chief ways in which to make Gods mandate for man a reality.  It was the way the renaissance brought Europe out of the dark ages. I am sorry to burst someone’s bubble but the words below are not only for procreation of babies…

BE FRUITFUL, MULTIPLY, REPLENISH THE EARTH, SUBDUE IT, HAVE DOMINION……