Bad timing

As with any book of essays, some are better than others. Here there seem to be more clunkers than gems. There are a couple of reasons, I think.

First, the book was written in Season 7, before the series' shocking ended. Most writers are pretty cheery about the show's arc and at this late date their cheerfulness falls flat.

Second, and this is more problematic, the writers don't all seem to have this book's subtitle firmly in mind when they wrote. Rather than explain today's conflicts in terms of GOT, they explain GOT in terms of today's conflicts.

Beyond that, as is often the case when academics attempt explication of science fiction and fantasy, these authors forget that their readers often know far more about the book, movie, or series than the visiting academics. This came up with a book on weapons published in 2016 that I reviewed:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/R2Z44362MFZFCQ?ref=pf_ov_at_pdctrvw_s...

I suspect here that the people who have more direct experience with military strategy than I do will say the same thing from the other direction.

So my recommendation is not to buy this book. If you are interested, try to find it in a library. Test each chapter and read the ones you like.

I received a review copy of "Winning Westeros: How Game of Thrones Explains Modern Military Conflict" edited by Max Brooks, John Amble, ML Cavanaugh, and Jaym Gates from the publisher University of Nebraska Press through NetGalley.com. ( )