A Feast For Crows Comment

Almost, but not quite, through the second go-round on A Feast For Crows (first was in print, second is in audiobook.)

An interesting idea that's come to me is that, more than Dragons or Magic or the bizarre elliptical/irregular orbit-induced multi-year seasons, the world of George R.R. Martin's series varies from the historical events on which it is loosely based in that there exists an extremely safe and reliable means of female birth control and early-term abortion.

What makes it odder is that it is not only not condemned by any of the (highly patriarchical) power structures, but in fact actively abetted by at least one of them (the Maesters.) Given how important the production of an heir is to so many people out there, it's stunning that nobody has yet seized power by means of an anti-Moon-Tea campaign...