A Storm of Swords
I've slowed down a lot in my read of these books. I think that by
reading slower I'm missing less. I have time to stop and think about
plot developments, theorize about what might happen, and make all the
connections that I missed in the first book. I'm enjoying my slower
pace.
Of course it also means that by the time I finish one of these books I forget what happened at the beginning. The stories start to bleed together. So here's a list of the things I wanted to talk about from this book. Though I probably missed several.
Sansa's Wedding
Who'd have known that Sansa's wedding to Tyrion would end up being one of the happier ones in the book? It took me completely by surprise. Still, I think that if they'd communicated just a bit better, they really could have been happy together. Or happier than they were anyway. They had more in common than Sansa ever realized. I definitely get where she's coming from - a thirteen year old girl married off to a man who's family killed her entire family. My heart still broke for Tyrion every time she hid behind her armor of courtesy.
The Red Wedding
After I finished A Clash of Kings, I went looking for some information on Brienne. The producers for the television show had just cast an actress for this part and I was checking that her height was similar (or something). At any rate, I came across the sentence "After Catelyn dies, Brienne travels with Jaime" or something to that effect. So I knew Catelyn was going to die eventually. Then Brienne goes off with Jaime in the very first chapter of A Storm of Swords and I was just convinced Catelyn would die any minute. Every time I got to one of her chapters I was a ball of tension waiting for her inevitable death. And then I was completely sideswiped by it. Because Arya was right there! She was going to get to see her mom one more time at least! But she didn't. And then Robb died, too. And the entire thing was so much worse than I was expecting it to be.
Joffrey's Wedding
I knew something was going to happen from the structure of the book. During the Red Wedding, GRRM started alternating between Catelyn and Arya's viewpoints, ignoring everyone else, until that whole, long scene was over. So when we started alternating between Sansa and Tyrion, I knew something big was going to happen. And the Joffrey died! And Sansa escaped! And everything was happy, except for Tyrion getting accused of the poisoning.
You Know Nothing, Jon Snow
I have to say, I kind of love Ygritte. She was a great foil for Jon, teaching him about sex and the world. I wish Jon had been able to see things a bit more from her point of view. Honestly, in the early days with her, I didn't like Jon Snow all that much. He's so dedicated to honor and duty and nobility and he can't see any of the benefits of freedom. Of course, he lives in a very different world than I do, but I can't help but think that Jon would be a member of the Tea Party if he were alive right now. Of course, I did come around to love him again by the time he escaped from the wildlings. He was awesome when he was commanding the wall against Mance Raydar's forces, as good a leader as ever there was. But I still sort of wish he and Ygritte has run off together.
The Reveal of Barriston Selmy
Alternatively titled "Ser Jorah's Betrayal"
I was so excited about the reveal of Barriston Selmy! I was starting to think we'd never see him again. But now he's back across the sea serving Dany. And Ser Jorah was spying on her the whole time! I knew this, but not because I'd picked up the clues in the book. The TV show was slightly more obvious, but I still didn't quite put it together until my friend pointed it out. This is why I need to read these books slower, I miss too much of the obvious otherwise.
Jaime and Brienne
I'm starting to like Jaime more. But what really cemented it was when he saves Brienne from the bear. He loves and respects Tyrion more than I had imagined when I was just seeing things from Tyrion's point of view. And now that he's lost his hand, they have some more in common. But I really like the moment when he asked himself what Tyrion would do and went back to rescue Brienne. The two of them have great chemistry and it would have been sad to see that get cut short
Melisandre's Prophecy
Ok, so Melisandre has this prophecy about the future ruler of the Seven Kingdoms that she believes Stannis will fulfill. The interesting thing is the most of the signs have already been fulfilled by other characters. Dany awoke the dragons from stone. And I'm pretty sure this caused the comet to appear that led Dany and her people across the wasteland so she could rebuild her army. And Beric Dondarrion got the flaming sword and resurrection abilities. So I wonder if this prophecy is even about one person? Though I still think Dany's going to win the entire damn war. In the meantime, Stannis managed to sort-of cause the deaths of Balon Greyjoy, Robb Stark, and Joffrey Lannister. I'm still a bit miffed that Balon's death happened off-page. It took me nearly half the book to really accept that he was dead because of that. And actually, I sort of wish that we still had Theon POV chapters for this reason. Or a POV from someone in the Greyjoy camp. I don't imagine being held captive and flayed would actually make for a story I'd want to read. There are so many characters that it's becoming impossible for GRRM to actually tell all of their stories concurrently. Which is possibly why so many of them die all the time and why the next "section" of the story is spread over two 1000-page books.
Tyrion's Trial
The Dornish Prince fighting Gregor Clegane really reminded me of Inigo Montoya. The way he just kept repeating his accusations over and over and over. Very Princess Bride of him. Except not exactly intended for kids
The Elopement
Christ there was a lot of marriage in this book. And no one died when Littlefinger and Lysa got married! Though Sansa did nearly get raped. Again. I'm surprised she's stayed a virgin as long as she has. But I think I'm glad she's under Littlefinger's protection now? He seems to have really loved her mother. And he was more honest with her than he's been with anyone else throughout the series. I was worried that she was going to be torn between Littlefinger's advances and Lysa's jealousy, but then Littlefinger killed Lysa! I was not expecting that at all. So now we have to wait and see what happens next book.
I Hate the Lannisters Round Up
I love Arya. But I was starting to wonder where she'd end up. Her adventures with Beric Dondarrion's band were, though I was sad that she left Gendry behind. And then her alliance with the Hound was all sorts of interesting. I can't wait to see what scrapes she gets into in the free cities. Or how her plot line eventually comes back and ties in with the rest. I mean, it has to eventually. Otherwise she would have just died during the Red Wedding. Maybe she teams up with Dany. Or maybe she wins everything!
Up On The Wall
Sam has grown so much! He's so much braver and smarter and take-charge. And he, Jon, Pyp, and Grenn are all reunited! I have this theory where they're basically the four hobbits from the Lord of the Rings. Jon is Frodo, Sam is Sam, and Grenn and Pyp are Merry and Pippin. Anyway, I'm glad to see the all together. And Ghost is back! And Jon is Lord Commander of the Watch. Things are looking up up north!
Holy Crap, Catelyn's a zombie!
Of course it also means that by the time I finish one of these books I forget what happened at the beginning. The stories start to bleed together. So here's a list of the things I wanted to talk about from this book. Though I probably missed several.
Sansa's Wedding
Who'd have known that Sansa's wedding to Tyrion would end up being one of the happier ones in the book? It took me completely by surprise. Still, I think that if they'd communicated just a bit better, they really could have been happy together. Or happier than they were anyway. They had more in common than Sansa ever realized. I definitely get where she's coming from - a thirteen year old girl married off to a man who's family killed her entire family. My heart still broke for Tyrion every time she hid behind her armor of courtesy.
The Red Wedding
After I finished A Clash of Kings, I went looking for some information on Brienne. The producers for the television show had just cast an actress for this part and I was checking that her height was similar (or something). At any rate, I came across the sentence "After Catelyn dies, Brienne travels with Jaime" or something to that effect. So I knew Catelyn was going to die eventually. Then Brienne goes off with Jaime in the very first chapter of A Storm of Swords and I was just convinced Catelyn would die any minute. Every time I got to one of her chapters I was a ball of tension waiting for her inevitable death. And then I was completely sideswiped by it. Because Arya was right there! She was going to get to see her mom one more time at least! But she didn't. And then Robb died, too. And the entire thing was so much worse than I was expecting it to be.
Joffrey's Wedding
I knew something was going to happen from the structure of the book. During the Red Wedding, GRRM started alternating between Catelyn and Arya's viewpoints, ignoring everyone else, until that whole, long scene was over. So when we started alternating between Sansa and Tyrion, I knew something big was going to happen. And the Joffrey died! And Sansa escaped! And everything was happy, except for Tyrion getting accused of the poisoning.
You Know Nothing, Jon Snow
I have to say, I kind of love Ygritte. She was a great foil for Jon, teaching him about sex and the world. I wish Jon had been able to see things a bit more from her point of view. Honestly, in the early days with her, I didn't like Jon Snow all that much. He's so dedicated to honor and duty and nobility and he can't see any of the benefits of freedom. Of course, he lives in a very different world than I do, but I can't help but think that Jon would be a member of the Tea Party if he were alive right now. Of course, I did come around to love him again by the time he escaped from the wildlings. He was awesome when he was commanding the wall against Mance Raydar's forces, as good a leader as ever there was. But I still sort of wish he and Ygritte has run off together.
The Reveal of Barriston Selmy
Alternatively titled "Ser Jorah's Betrayal"
I was so excited about the reveal of Barriston Selmy! I was starting to think we'd never see him again. But now he's back across the sea serving Dany. And Ser Jorah was spying on her the whole time! I knew this, but not because I'd picked up the clues in the book. The TV show was slightly more obvious, but I still didn't quite put it together until my friend pointed it out. This is why I need to read these books slower, I miss too much of the obvious otherwise.
Jaime and Brienne
I'm starting to like Jaime more. But what really cemented it was when he saves Brienne from the bear. He loves and respects Tyrion more than I had imagined when I was just seeing things from Tyrion's point of view. And now that he's lost his hand, they have some more in common. But I really like the moment when he asked himself what Tyrion would do and went back to rescue Brienne. The two of them have great chemistry and it would have been sad to see that get cut short
Melisandre's Prophecy
Ok, so Melisandre has this prophecy about the future ruler of the Seven Kingdoms that she believes Stannis will fulfill. The interesting thing is the most of the signs have already been fulfilled by other characters. Dany awoke the dragons from stone. And I'm pretty sure this caused the comet to appear that led Dany and her people across the wasteland so she could rebuild her army. And Beric Dondarrion got the flaming sword and resurrection abilities. So I wonder if this prophecy is even about one person? Though I still think Dany's going to win the entire damn war. In the meantime, Stannis managed to sort-of cause the deaths of Balon Greyjoy, Robb Stark, and Joffrey Lannister. I'm still a bit miffed that Balon's death happened off-page. It took me nearly half the book to really accept that he was dead because of that. And actually, I sort of wish that we still had Theon POV chapters for this reason. Or a POV from someone in the Greyjoy camp. I don't imagine being held captive and flayed would actually make for a story I'd want to read. There are so many characters that it's becoming impossible for GRRM to actually tell all of their stories concurrently. Which is possibly why so many of them die all the time and why the next "section" of the story is spread over two 1000-page books.
Tyrion's Trial
The Dornish Prince fighting Gregor Clegane really reminded me of Inigo Montoya. The way he just kept repeating his accusations over and over and over. Very Princess Bride of him. Except not exactly intended for kids
The Elopement
Christ there was a lot of marriage in this book. And no one died when Littlefinger and Lysa got married! Though Sansa did nearly get raped. Again. I'm surprised she's stayed a virgin as long as she has. But I think I'm glad she's under Littlefinger's protection now? He seems to have really loved her mother. And he was more honest with her than he's been with anyone else throughout the series. I was worried that she was going to be torn between Littlefinger's advances and Lysa's jealousy, but then Littlefinger killed Lysa! I was not expecting that at all. So now we have to wait and see what happens next book.
I Hate the Lannisters Round Up
- Joffrey tried to have Bran slain while he was in the coma back at the beginning. What a little shit
- Tywin melted down Ice to have a new sword made for Joffrey! One he doesn't deserve. Ugh
- Jaime and Cersei has sex right next to Joffrey's corpse. There was so much wrong with that scene
- I know Joffrey's a little shit, but I was still kind of bothered by how little Jaime cared that he died. And then he was all, "well we can just have another son. It's not hard. Oh wait it is hard. Ha ha ha." And Cersei's all "You're an asshole. Leave me to my grief. But fuck me first."
I love Arya. But I was starting to wonder where she'd end up. Her adventures with Beric Dondarrion's band were, though I was sad that she left Gendry behind. And then her alliance with the Hound was all sorts of interesting. I can't wait to see what scrapes she gets into in the free cities. Or how her plot line eventually comes back and ties in with the rest. I mean, it has to eventually. Otherwise she would have just died during the Red Wedding. Maybe she teams up with Dany. Or maybe she wins everything!
Up On The Wall
Sam has grown so much! He's so much braver and smarter and take-charge. And he, Jon, Pyp, and Grenn are all reunited! I have this theory where they're basically the four hobbits from the Lord of the Rings. Jon is Frodo, Sam is Sam, and Grenn and Pyp are Merry and Pippin. Anyway, I'm glad to see the all together. And Ghost is back! And Jon is Lord Commander of the Watch. Things are looking up up north!
Holy Crap, Catelyn's a zombie!
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