WIJFR - Storm of Swords (spoilers)

[DarcyLongfellow]

Sorry about making another Game of Thrones post, but I did have someone ask me to come back when I finished Book #3 :-) For people that have no interest in the series, they're probably sick of there being 3 GOT posts on the first page!!

MAJOR spoilers for the book below. Don't read if you don't want to know what happens!!!


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As many people said I would, I LOVED this book!!! I've heard a Feast for Crows is slow, so I'm kind of sad to move on! I have some very disjointed thoughts that I'm just going to throw out.

I can't think of any way to organize my thoughts except by character, so that's what I'm going to do.

Jon -- I liked Jon in the first two books, but I didn't get the love for him that other people seem to have. NOW I get it! I really enjoyed him with Ygritte, although I wasn't particularly sad to see her die (I didn't want him to have to deal with the complications of her being around). I really fell in love with him when the blacksmith (I think?) left him in charge of the Wall during the fight with the Wildlings. I sort of guessed that he was going to be the next Lord Commander, but I still LOVE that I was right. I'm SO glad he turned down Stannis's offer. I didn't want him to have to give up the old gods, plus I just can't stand Mellisandre. I was SO happy when Ghost came back, and I love the use of metaphor to compare Ghost to a weirwood tree.

Tyrion -- He's probably my second favorite character. I just love him. I wonder if I'm the only person who felt this way, but I kind of loved that he and Sansa were married. I'm afraid they may never be together again, but I thought that union had real potential. A real high born lady for Tyrion, who secretly thinks he's not worth it, and someone who could really be an ally for Sansa. I know Sansa was disgusted by his appearance, but she's come a long way, and I really felt like if she'd opened herself up to him, they could have been happy. Oh well. I'm very curious to see what he gets up to next. I was furious with him for lying to Jaime and saying that he had really killed Joffrey, but I'm choosing to believe that at least a part of Tyrion was lying to protect Sansa (and not just to get back at Jaime for Tysha).

Cersei -- I'm fascinated by her character. I've heard we learn a lot more about her in the next book, so I'm interested to see more of her story. She truly is a selfish and shallow woman. I loved when Jaime turned her down in the Knightsguard tower.

Jaime -- I'm starting to really like him. How can Jaime and Tyrion be such decent people, while Cersei is so evil? I was very interested to hear the backstory on why Jaime killed King Aeron. I think Jaime has been immature all along, but I loved watching him really embrace his roll as Lord Commander. It's weird, but I even felt sympathy for Jaime loving his sister. As gross as it is to me, when you grow up in a world where your kings marry their sisters, it just must not seem quite as taboo.

Arya -- Poor thing. I so badly wanted her to see her mother and just feel loved and protected again. She's been on her own for so long, and she's so young. I'm sad she lost Gendry, but I'm sure we'll see him again (no way is the fact that he's Robert's bastard not going to come up again). I kind of don't want Arya to go off and train to be a really fierce fighter with the faceless man (I forget his name), but I suppose that's a good way for her story to go. I wanted her to get to be a child for a bit longer, but I guess there's no way for her to become a real fighter (which does seem to be her destiny) if she were to go back to her family. I keep expecting Nymeria to show back up, but I guess it will be a while before that happens if she's headed to the Free Cities.

Sansa -- Poor Sansa. I'm glad Lysa is dead and she won't have to marry Robert, but I am so afraid Littlefinger is going to make her become his lover, if not wife. Sansa was so annoying in the first book, but she's grown up a lot. I really wanted her to form a strong alliance with Tyrion. I don't like that she has to pretend to be Littlefinger's bastard daughter, but I suppose the idea is that everyone has to believe that all of Ned Stark's children are dead. I am curious to see what will happen to her.

Theon -- I'm guessing he's not really dead. But I have no idea how he will play into the story. He might decide to support the Starks after all if he doesn't decide Bolton (isn't that who has him) is really a Stark. He's also one of the only ones to know Bran and Rickon aren't really dead.

Catlyn -- Holy cow. How weird was the epilogue??? I really don't like undead Cat. I can't imagine that she'll be the same loving mother she used to be. Although, the Starks could really use some help, so if Undead Cat can help get some revenge for that side, I guess that's good! And poor Robb :-( I really loved him!!! I can see now why the HBO show didn't bother to follow the story of his marriage exactly.

I love Samwell more and more. Bran's story wasn't the most riveting, but I am curious to see how he's going to come back into the story.

Dany's story continues to bore me. I just can't make myself care about what happens to her. I really don't want her to become the ruler of Westeros. I think she's as much a Targaryen as her father. She's as barbarian as the people she's fighting. Her heart has goodness in it, but she's way too into being addressed in the proper way for a Queen. She doesn't believe she has any peers, so she has no one that she'll really listen to. Maybe she'll improve -- she did say that she doesn't know how to rule -- but I don't have high hopes for her. I felt sorry for Jorah. Dany was right to send him away, though.

[msmerymac]

I'm so glad you came back! When you were wondering about Robb's story line I was thinking to myself KEEP READING OMG!

I find Dany's storylines to be boring, too. IMO, they're always boring. Maybe because she barely interacts with anyone from Westeros, and therefore her story seems to tie in the least? I don't know. I also think, for a Khaleesi, she makes very poor decisions sometimes.

Zombie!Cat and Robb dying are the craziest parts of the book. Crazy!

I also like the Ygritte story line. I think Jon needed something like that.

[DarcyLongfellow]

Jun 12, 2012 11:07:45 GMT -5 msmerymac said:

I also like the Ygritte story line. I think Jon needed something like that.

I agree. I feel like, as cliche as it sounds, Jon needed to have a relationship with a woman in order to really grow up and become a man. I kept thinking about how when Jon first said he wanted to join the Night's Watch and Uncle Benjen told him that he needed to know a woman first because without doing that he couldn't really understand what he was giving up. Now Jon knows exactly what he's giving up, and he's reaffirmed his decision to give it up by refusing Stannis's offer of Winterfell.'

And yes -- I'm so glad now that Robb wasn't a POV character. Losing Ned was hard enough!!!