<P> Martin deliberately ignored the writing rule of never giving two characters names starting with the same letter . Instead, character names reflect the naming systems in various European family histories, where particular names were associated with specific royal houses and where even the secondary families assigned the same names repeatedly . The Ice and Fire story therefore has children called "Robert" in honor of King Robert of House Baratheon, a "Brandon" in every other generation of the Starks in commemoration of Brandon the Builder (of the Wall), and the syllable "Ty" commonly occurring in given names of House Lannister . Confident that readers would pay attention, Martin distinguished people sharing a given name by adding numbers or locations to their given names (e.g. Henry V of England). The family names were designed in association with ethnic groups (see backstory): the First Men in the North of Westeros had very simply descriptive names like Stark and Strong, whereas the descendants of the Andal invaders in the South have more elaborate, undescriptive house names like Lannister or Arryn, and the Targaryens and Valyrians from the Eastern continent have the most exotic names with the letter Y . </P> <P> All characters are designed to speak with their own internal voices to capture their views of the world . The Atlantic pondered whether Martin ultimately intended the readers to sympathize with characters on both sides of the Lannister--Stark feud long before plot developments force them to make their emotional choices . Contrary to most conventional epic fantasies, the Ice and Fire characters are vulnerable so that, according to The Atlantic, the reader "cannot be sure that good shall triumph, which makes those instances where it does all the more exulting ." Martin gets emotionally involved in the characters' lives during writing, which makes the chapters with dreadful events sometimes very difficult to write . Seeing the world through the characters' eyes requires a certain amount of empathy with them, including the villains, all of whom he has said he loves as if they were his own children . Martin found that some characters had minds of their own and took his writing in different directions . He returns to the intended story if it does not work out, but these detours sometimes prove more rewarding for him . </P> <P> Arya Stark, Tyrion Lannister, Jon Snow, and Daenerys Targaryen generate the most feedback from readers . Martin has stated that Tyrion is his personal favorite, as the grayest of the gray characters, with his cunning and wit making him the most fun to write . Martin has also said that Bran Stark is the hardest character to write . As the character most deeply involved in magic, Bran's story needs to be handled carefully within the supernatural aspects of the books . Bran is also the youngest viewpoint character, and has to deal with the series' adult themes like grief, loneliness, and anger . Martin set out to have the young characters grow up faster between chapters, but, as it was implausible for a character to take two months to respond, a finished book represents very little time passed . Martin hoped the planned five - year break would ease the situation and age the children to almost adults in terms of the Seven Kingdoms, but he later dropped the five - year gap (see section Bridging the timeline gap). </P> <P> Although modern fantasy may often embrace strangeness, the Ice and Fire series is generally praised for what is perceived as a sort of medieval realism . Believing that magic should be used moderately in the epic fantasy genre, Martin set out to make the story feel more like historical fiction than contemporary fantasy, with less emphasis on magic and sorcery and more on battles, political intrigue, and the characters . Though the amount of magic has gradually increased throughout the story, the series is still to end with less overt magic than most contemporary fantasies . In Martin's eyes, literary effective magic needs to represent strange and dangerous forces beyond human comprehension, not advanced alien technologies or formulaic spells . As such, the characters understand only the natural aspects of their world, but not the magical elements like the Others . </P>

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