... Still Lost in Westeros (#5 Songs of Ice & Fire, Continued)

The fifth book in the Song of Ice and Fire was recently released.  As soon as was possible, I downloaded the 1100 page novel on my Nook.   I have a new hero: Daenerys Targaryen.  Dany, as she is called by those who love her most, is an honest young lady who, although life has handed her nothing but trying times, has grabbed life by the dragon wings with all of her will.  She comes from a family known for marrying off siblings and for having tendencies to insanity.  When she was a child, all of her family, except one brother were murdered by the "Usurper," a man named Robert Baratheon who, soon after, named himself King of Westeros. 

Some things you'll need to know about Dany's family: House Targaryen's coat of arms is a dragon, their words are "Fire and Blood," and they ruled Westeros for nearly 300 years.

Dany finds herself traveling all over the world when her brother sells her to a tribe of Dothraki people who treat her like a queen.  Her surviving brother is murdered (Finally. Sorry, he was a terrible person.), her husband is murdered, her unborn son is murdered, and Dany finds herself alone again.   Alone, that is, except for her three newborn dragons.  She manages to find some old friends, and some new enemies, on her travels, and decides to make her way back to Westeros to claim her rightful seat as queen.

At the end of "Dance of Dragons" Dany has yet to make her way to claim her seat.  Instead, she has traveled from land to land releasing slaves on the Bay of Slavers from their servitude.  She chose to help hundreds of people, rather than take what was her own.   At the end of the novel, she is maybe seventeen years old.   Her character is interesting and conflicted, yet mysterious and caring.  Every thing she does is for her "children" - the slaves she has worked so hard to free.

I understand that another book will eventually be released.  I hope it's soon.  My poor friend Dany is (don't read further if you aren't caught up...) stuck in a desert and, potentially, being kidnapped by an old friend.  My hope is that this hero - a true hero in the sense of the word - who gives up all of her own needs for those of people she doesn't even know, can rule the realm and that everyone else (ahem, Cersi) gets what he or she deserves.