The final broadside of the series returns to the theme of books, readership, and the interior life. The quotation, from A Dance with Dragons, is spoken by Jojen Reed to Bran Stark from the comparative stability of the cave of the Children of the Forest. It provides an interesting return to the second broadside, with its pronouncement of the ability of the mind to become a weapon if wielded skilfully. This statement also provides what I think is one of the series’ few continual values: the capacity to see the world from others’ perspective. This is a trait which is found in several of the books’ most compelling characters (from the green dreams of Bran to the wry self-reflexiveness of Tyrion), and is utterly lacking in the more obvious antagonists.
I’d been wanting to incorporate some of the large and imposing wood type from the Anise Press collection, and so worked out a composition in two columns, with the significant words in larger type (as before). In this case, I found some flexibility in the use of various typefaces on the rightmost column, though I once again used metal type in a single face to provide some stability to the text. My view is that the divergent type styles provide the quotation with visual energy, rather than irregularity, because of the the pennant type of “a reader” at the left.
More details about the broadside and its availability can be found on this page.
