like TNT...
Sep. 3rd, 2011 10:06 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
verbicideGRRM knows drama.
GOD. Spoilers for past half the book--around 70%.
So. Robb and Catelyn are dead. Seen from the convincing view of Catelyn's POV. GRRM can set up some serious apprehension. I mean, you KNEW that something was reallyreally wrong. Everything you know about Walder Frey makes the skin crawl, but to murder THE KING at his daughter's wedding. That's some serious fucked up shit. I read through those chapters with such dread. And it still shocked the hell out of me.
Though I must say, I no longer mourn the dead. I think I would much rather be dead than alive in Westeros. There is just no good there, man.
I've cheated a bit in that I look at the TOC to see who is still POVing to the end, so when The Hound hurls an axe at Arya's head, I don't think she's dead, because I see she has another POV chapter ahead. But, damn. That was fucking cruel. To have Arya outside of the Twins, so close to being reunited with her mother and brother. I hadn't worried overly much when The Hound absconded with Arya, even though I hadn't quite immediately realized that he was going to try to ransom her back to her family again.
One of the saddest things though, I think, is that Catelyn and Robb will never know that Bran and Rickon are still alive. I'm sad for Jeyne, too. God, I fucking hate Walder Frey. I wish Catelyn had managed to kill him instead of his half wit grandson.
Glad to hear that Balon Greyjoy is dead, and that Theon is being flayed somewhere.
At this point, my brain is just racing to understand if the plot in Dance with Dragons is STILL a conflict for the Iron Throne. (Don't tell me if you know, obviously.) Things are just getting more and more fucked up. And I'm so PISSED at all the different factions for not working together and outsing Joffrey and the fucking Lannisters.
Though, it's a mark of GRRM's brilliant writing that I can actually care for JAMIE. I don't understand how this is possible. He's a kingslaying, sisterfucking, CHILD KILLER (well, attempted). But I am SO sorry that he lost his hand. And I will love him forever for keeping (thus far) Brienne from being raped and then JUMPING INTO A PIT AND SAVING HER FROM A BEAR ATTACK. As an aside, my hatred for Hoat cannot be any greater--I felt so awful for that bear!!
Speaking of Lannisters I don't hate--Tyrion. So grateful he didn't (essentially) rape Sansa on their wedding night. So sad for him, so sad for her. What a fucked up situation. And dammit, I would like to see Cersei shackled off to someone loathsome. I have such an ominous feeling about the welcome Jamie's going to get from her when/if he does ever make it back to King's Landing.
I love Davos though, as much as Stannis gives me the creeps. What the fuck is going to happen? Is he really going to murder Edric Storm? Is Melisandre really going to keep controlling that guy? Jon Snow made it back to the Wall (that was fucking amazing) and warned them, but how are they going to stand against the hordes of wildlings?
Last seem, Sam jumped onto an elk and then noticed the rider had black hands, and we don't hear from him again for like TWENTY THOUSAND CHAPTERS. Resisting urge to read ahead.
And of course over There, we have Daenerys making some great battle victories of her own. And she's got Dragons, which everyone seems to feel is the impossible key to victory. And the fifth book is called, well, we all know what it's called. SO IS THAT WHEN DAENERYS CONQUERS THE IRON THRONE? OMFG.
I'm sorry to be so shrieky and all-caps-y, but I keep shouting FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK outloud while reading the book.
Shit is INTENSE. And wtf is going to happen to Arya, now that according to almost everyone except the two frogeaters, she's totally without any family. And omg, Jon and Bran were like 20 feet apart and didn't know it, and Summer (infused with Bran-ness?) saved Jon's life and helped him es-cah-pay!
It's preemptively killing me that the series isn't over and no matter how fast I read, at some point I'm just going to have to wait another SIX YEARS (maybe) for another book with the rest of you sorry bastards.
GAAAAAAAAAAAAAH.
Though I suppose I should be grateful at the moment. I hear that Feast of Crows only has half the POVs and fuck at least I didn't already have to wait six years for the other half. But GOD.
I love this series. A little bit too much.
Okay, back to Jon Snow, now conscious and limping on the Wall with his friends, waiting for DOOM. And possibly a letter saying he's the heir to Robb? But without the men Robb promised in exchange for freedom from Jon's oath?
GOD. Spoilers for past half the book--around 70%.
So. Robb and Catelyn are dead. Seen from the convincing view of Catelyn's POV. GRRM can set up some serious apprehension. I mean, you KNEW that something was reallyreally wrong. Everything you know about Walder Frey makes the skin crawl, but to murder THE KING at his daughter's wedding. That's some serious fucked up shit. I read through those chapters with such dread. And it still shocked the hell out of me.
Though I must say, I no longer mourn the dead. I think I would much rather be dead than alive in Westeros. There is just no good there, man.
I've cheated a bit in that I look at the TOC to see who is still POVing to the end, so when The Hound hurls an axe at Arya's head, I don't think she's dead, because I see she has another POV chapter ahead. But, damn. That was fucking cruel. To have Arya outside of the Twins, so close to being reunited with her mother and brother. I hadn't worried overly much when The Hound absconded with Arya, even though I hadn't quite immediately realized that he was going to try to ransom her back to her family again.
One of the saddest things though, I think, is that Catelyn and Robb will never know that Bran and Rickon are still alive. I'm sad for Jeyne, too. God, I fucking hate Walder Frey. I wish Catelyn had managed to kill him instead of his half wit grandson.
Glad to hear that Balon Greyjoy is dead, and that Theon is being flayed somewhere.
At this point, my brain is just racing to understand if the plot in Dance with Dragons is STILL a conflict for the Iron Throne. (Don't tell me if you know, obviously.) Things are just getting more and more fucked up. And I'm so PISSED at all the different factions for not working together and outsing Joffrey and the fucking Lannisters.
Though, it's a mark of GRRM's brilliant writing that I can actually care for JAMIE. I don't understand how this is possible. He's a kingslaying, sisterfucking, CHILD KILLER (well, attempted). But I am SO sorry that he lost his hand. And I will love him forever for keeping (thus far) Brienne from being raped and then JUMPING INTO A PIT AND SAVING HER FROM A BEAR ATTACK. As an aside, my hatred for Hoat cannot be any greater--I felt so awful for that bear!!
Speaking of Lannisters I don't hate--Tyrion. So grateful he didn't (essentially) rape Sansa on their wedding night. So sad for him, so sad for her. What a fucked up situation. And dammit, I would like to see Cersei shackled off to someone loathsome. I have such an ominous feeling about the welcome Jamie's going to get from her when/if he does ever make it back to King's Landing.
I love Davos though, as much as Stannis gives me the creeps. What the fuck is going to happen? Is he really going to murder Edric Storm? Is Melisandre really going to keep controlling that guy? Jon Snow made it back to the Wall (that was fucking amazing) and warned them, but how are they going to stand against the hordes of wildlings?
Last seem, Sam jumped onto an elk and then noticed the rider had black hands, and we don't hear from him again for like TWENTY THOUSAND CHAPTERS. Resisting urge to read ahead.
And of course over There, we have Daenerys making some great battle victories of her own. And she's got Dragons, which everyone seems to feel is the impossible key to victory. And the fifth book is called, well, we all know what it's called. SO IS THAT WHEN DAENERYS CONQUERS THE IRON THRONE? OMFG.
I'm sorry to be so shrieky and all-caps-y, but I keep shouting FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK outloud while reading the book.
Shit is INTENSE. And wtf is going to happen to Arya, now that according to almost everyone except the two frogeaters, she's totally without any family. And omg, Jon and Bran were like 20 feet apart and didn't know it, and Summer (infused with Bran-ness?) saved Jon's life and helped him es-cah-pay!
It's preemptively killing me that the series isn't over and no matter how fast I read, at some point I'm just going to have to wait another SIX YEARS (maybe) for another book with the rest of you sorry bastards.
GAAAAAAAAAAAAAH.
Though I suppose I should be grateful at the moment. I hear that Feast of Crows only has half the POVs and fuck at least I didn't already have to wait six years for the other half. But GOD.
I love this series. A little bit too much.
Okay, back to Jon Snow, now conscious and limping on the Wall with his friends, waiting for DOOM. And possibly a letter saying he's the heir to Robb? But without the men Robb promised in exchange for freedom from Jon's oath?
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no subject
Date: 2011-09-03 06:03 pm (UTC)I felt so bad for Tyrion, and in a way even for Sansa, that she was so blind to the opportunity that Tyrion presented. Not that she should've gone ahead and Done It™ but because Tyrion is as clever as Littlefinger and way less creepy. I keep expecting Sansa to emerge as this Machiavellian political manipulator thanks to the people she's been hanging around with. Team Tyrion/Sansa would be unstoppable in that scenario.
no subject
Date: 2011-09-03 09:01 pm (UTC)I think Sansa--even now--remains so frustratingly naive. I feel terrible for her, but what a wasted opportunity. It's not like being a woman in Westeros offers a lot of choice and joy anyway--I wish she would show some appreciation for his kindness, considering that he both offered her an out (via Lancel) and hasn't been a raping monster as many others would have been in his place. (And now I think I sound like a rape/forced marriage apologist and that it sounds like I'm saying that Sansa should be grateful for not having any choices in her life. Hrm.)
no subject
Date: 2011-09-03 09:46 pm (UTC)Yes, Walder Frey didn't take well, after all, to Robb pissing on the treaty and marital pacts that Catelyn made for Robb (and Arya!).
The side-ways knocking part I was referring to is coming right up now. Pay careful attention to what Nymeria sees.
... anyway... my sense of plot chronology grows weak with the years - where was Sansa when you last left her?
no subject
Date: 2011-09-03 11:10 pm (UTC)GOD. I don't know if I can even handle being knocked any further sideways without falling off the grid.
Sansa and Tyrion have just wed. Tyrion has promised not to touch her until she's okay with it, and her response has been,"Even never?"
Tywin and the rest of the court is taunting Tyrion to bed her and produce an heir.
I'm hoping that the lack of bedding will equal an annulment for Sansa, because as much as I like Tyrion, I wouldn't be willing to be married to anyone in that family. And I'd rather Wintefell go to someone worthy.
BECAUSE THEY HAVE TO REBUILD WINTERFELL OKAY?
no subject
Date: 2011-09-04 03:09 pm (UTC)GOD. I don't know if I can even handle being knocked any further sideways without falling off the grid.
Upon reflection, I may have slightly oversold the sideways knock effect, but since you have experienced the Red Wedding, Nymeria shows Arya a bit of the aftermath that took me a while to realize what she was looking at....
no subject
Date: 2011-09-04 03:17 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-09-04 02:44 am (UTC)Sansa and Tyrion's storylines get really interesting, to me, in book four. I hated Sansa for her naivte and general spinelessness and I can't remember if she finds a spine in book 4 but she must be on her way. It gets odd in book 4, imho.
I found in book 4 my opinions on characters really changing. I don't remember details but I remember being less traumatized, if that helps. I enjoyed book 4 more than I thought I would.
To me, part of the genius of GRRM is how characters are not totally evil and not totally good. Look at Jaime. We end up feeling something other than total hatred of him even though he's a pretty despicaable human being. At some point I have to re-read the books. Maybe once book 5 is out.
no subject
Date: 2011-09-04 04:26 am (UTC)Book 5 is out here--is it not out where you are?
no subject
Date: 2011-09-04 06:42 am (UTC)Rob and Catelyn's deaths really upset me and still do. I think it was then that I realized that I was reading a new sub-genre of fantasy. I mean, really, GRRM has completely blown apart the paradigm of most fantasy novels, most of which are based on the LoTR script.
Another author I'm reading is Steven Erikson. His intent with his series was/is pretty much to do the same as GRRM. . .which is to confront/throw out our expectations of story/character archetypes. I read an interesting blog entry by Erikson about one of his characters and how we typically expect barbarians to be noble savages. In his books, we are not sure if this character is a noble savage or just savage. The character has both qualities. GRRM does that too. We want to hate Jamie for his disgusting qualities then he shows a humanity that we didn't expect. Now, what do we do about Jamie and our feelings towards him?? Same with Rob. We expect him to be the hero and to win the battle for the Iron Throne and GRRM kills him off before Rob even has a chance to really make the attempt. Wow, how anti-heroic is that??
One thing I've learned from GRRM is to not make predictions or assumptions about what is going to happen.
no subject
Date: 2011-09-04 03:12 pm (UTC)... and course, up North FROZEN ZOMBIES and friendsssssssssssss.....
no subject
Date: 2011-09-05 12:36 am (UTC)