Page 46, Jon: Ghost remembers five wolves suckling at the cold milk of the mother, and only four remain. Jon thinks this is because Ghost can tell that Grey Wind died with Robb, but takes heart that Summer and Shaggydog are still out there so at least they didn't die with Bran and Rickon.
This is wrong.
If this was right, Ghost would also know about Lady, who was the first of the direwolves to die.
That's not Ghost sensing the other dire wolves. That's JON, sensing Arya, Sansa, Bran, Rickon, and Robb. And only Robb is dead.
Hmm. I'll have to go back and look, but I think he meant that four out of the six remain, including himself. Summer knows about Lady; that was clear from his POV sections in Storm. I'd be astonished if Ghost doesn't, given that he was on the right side of the wall when it happened.
This is prompted by The Law Of Conservation Of Characters, and also by how the Children seem to have a connection to the Starks. If anyone's going to be all "Frozen zombie? Frozen zomb-THIS, asshole!" it's a Stark.
You know, Frances and I had been wondering where Jeyne Poole got to after the rebellion in King's Landing that put Joffrey on the throne and killed Ned Stark. We figured she was lowborn and pissed off Cersei and thus was probably dead.
Turns out: Nope! She's gone up in the world, kind of.
I can't remember which book it was in (see above re: not having re-read), but I recall a scene wherein some girl referred to as Arya Stark was being led off to the north. I can't even remember whose POV the scene was, but whoever it was could tell that the girl wasn't Arya. I think. Memory is unreliable.
But there was also a scene with Sansa wondering what had happened to Jeyne, so I concluded that !Arya was Jeyne.
"the men aren't accustomed to women. There will be fights, rapes..."
"These women have knives and know how to use them."
"And the first time one of these spearwives slits the throat of one of our brothers, what then?"
"We will have lost a man, but we've just GAINED sixty-three. You're good at counting, my lord. Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't that still leave us sixty-two ahead?"
"Westeros is torn and bleeding, and I do not doubt that even now my sweet sister is binding up the wounds.... with salt. Cersei is and gentle as Maegor, as selfless as Aegon The Unworthy, as wise as Mad Aerys."
I am officially ambivalent about the introduction of Prince Aegon, who may or may not be who he's claimed to be. He feels like an unnecessary plot complication.
Bran Stark vs the Winterfell Heart Tree is enough to make me want to read more Bran chapters, and that's weird. Normally I skip those because they're boring and I don't care.
Related: Man, numbers in Martin's first book WERE NOT his strong point, and he seems to feel the need to double-down. In addition to the 200m Wall and the 6K (8K?) year reign of the Starks, he's now added A MILLION YEARS to the Children Of The Forest.
Also: "Scratch a Karstark, find a Stark" - yeah, kind of no, dude. Although "Point at a Karstark, find a short-sighted small-minded treasonous lout who can't do basic math and would be right at home in The Twins", maybe.
No, in fact, Mr Martin, that is NOT the Epic Fantasy Series you want people to be thinking about as they read the half-decade delayed fifth book of yours.
Final summary: Yeah, okay, this is the other half of the book from 2005. Good to have... but now I want *book five*. This was book four-and-a-half, and spent almost its entire running time playing catchup in situations where I *knew* nothing major could happen because if it had, we would have seen it in book four.
Catching up on Tyrion, yay! Catching up on Daenerys, sort of yay, mostly not because the most interesting thing about her is the dragons and they are Sirs Not Appearing In This Book for 95% of it. Which means we spend a ton of time on Daenerys being *boring* and reactive and not accomplishing much. Also not appearing in this book: Sansa! WHOOOOO! Best Ice And Fire book EVER, just for that! And things actually went less wrong (because, no Sansa) but still went wrong DESPITE no Sansa, so it is remotely possible that my theory that everything bad that happens to anyone in Westeros is directly and personally her fault may need a slight adjustment.
People are still remembering her and thinking about her, though, so that might be why bad things are still happening.
1) Almost nothing happens in the early parts of the book, 2) A few things of note early... do not get played out (Jaime / Brienne) 3) We get several major things crammed in late of seemingly great import. 4) Almost all of those things either re-write prior events (Davos, Quentyn), or set us up for repeats of events I don't want to see (Crazy Cersei again, some more). 5) Really, we needed another Targaryen? Or to bring Connington back? Or to start killing Connington off? It's a cast of 1,000 + 1 now 6) As much as I understand Varys' plan, and think he is absolutely correct that the longer Cersei is in charge, the better it is for the dragon loyalists... I don't really need the callback to the Dark One letting the Lord of Chaos rule.
It is, almost completely, a set-up book, with a little sprinkling of spice at the end to make it seem like it's worth the wait. Not sure I think it was. And, while I'm interested in how things all play out... I can't say that I'm interested in any of the *characters* all that much anymore. The deconstruction of Tyrion is interesting... but not if it doesn't lead anywhere.
Funny summary I saw elseweb:
"omg there's so much snow" "omg Meereen's in trouble" "omg what are we going to do with these Wildlings" "omg how am I going to get to Dany" "omg there's so much snow" "omg Meereen's in trouble" "omg what are we going to do with these Wildlings""omg how am I going to get to Dany" "omg there's so much snow" "omg Meereen's in trouble" "omg what are we going to do with these Wildlings" "omg how am I going to get to Dany" "omg there's so much snow" "omg Meereen's in trouble" "omg what are we going to do with these Wildlings" "omg how am I going to get to Dany" "omg is Stannis really dead?" "omg those slavers are going to get what for!" "omg is Jon really dead?" "omg how am I going to get to Dany" The End
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(no subject)
Date: 2011-07-12 07:06 pm (UTC)Ghost remembers five wolves suckling at the cold milk of the mother, and only four remain. Jon thinks this is because Ghost can tell that Grey Wind died with Robb, but takes heart that Summer and Shaggydog are still out there so at least they didn't die with Bran and Rickon.
This is wrong.
If this was right, Ghost would also know about Lady, who was the first of the direwolves to die.
That's not Ghost sensing the other dire wolves. That's JON, sensing Arya, Sansa, Bran, Rickon, and Robb. And only Robb is dead.
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Date: 2011-07-12 08:13 pm (UTC)(no subject)
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Date: 2011-07-12 07:47 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-07-13 09:10 pm (UTC)THAT kinda made me go O_o
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Date: 2011-07-13 02:24 pm (UTC)(no subject)
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Date: 2011-07-13 09:28 pm (UTC)Am I just swapping that Lh for an N because of the phrase "Lamb Men" and the rhyme, or is there a Christian referen....
Lazarus.
So, you have the Lamb Men, whose name is a conflation of Lazarus and Nazarene.
What's up with that?
(no subject)
Date: 2011-07-13 10:07 pm (UTC)This is prompted by The Law Of Conservation Of Characters, and also by how the Children seem to have a connection to the Starks. If anyone's going to be all "Frozen zombie? Frozen zomb-THIS, asshole!" it's a Stark.
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Date: 2011-07-13 10:33 pm (UTC)I've assumed that from the moment he showed up.
Which makes me either brilliant or just as looney, I guess.
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Date: 2011-07-18 04:11 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-07-13 11:02 pm (UTC)You know, Frances and I had been wondering where Jeyne Poole got to after the rebellion in King's Landing that put Joffrey on the throne and killed Ned Stark. We figured she was lowborn and pissed off Cersei and thus was probably dead.
Turns out: Nope! She's gone up in the world, kind of.
(no subject)
Date: 2011-07-14 02:02 pm (UTC)But there was a brief segway before her elevation where she was, apparently, forced to be a whore.
Speaking of: Is it just me or is there more sex in this book than any of the previous ones?
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Date: 2011-07-14 08:17 pm (UTC)But there was also a scene with Sansa wondering what had happened to Jeyne, so I concluded that !Arya was Jeyne.
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Date: 2011-07-13 11:13 pm (UTC)"These women have knives and know how to use them."
"And the first time one of these spearwives slits the throat of one of our brothers, what then?"
"We will have lost a man, but we've just GAINED sixty-three. You're good at counting, my lord. Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't that still leave us sixty-two ahead?"
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Date: 2011-07-18 04:12 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-07-13 11:31 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-07-15 04:38 pm (UTC)(no subject)
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Date: 2011-07-14 11:40 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-07-15 12:17 am (UTC)Also: "Scratch a Karstark, find a Stark" - yeah, kind of no, dude. Although "Point at a Karstark, find a short-sighted small-minded treasonous lout who can't do basic math and would be right at home in The Twins", maybe.
(no subject)
Date: 2011-07-15 05:50 pm (UTC)(no subject)
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Date: 2011-07-15 07:48 pm (UTC)And I know he's pulled that trick before, AT LEAST TWICE. Wow, I'm dumb.
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Date: 2011-07-15 08:24 pm (UTC)No, in fact, Mr Martin, that is NOT the Epic Fantasy Series you want people to be thinking about as they read the half-decade delayed fifth book of yours.
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Date: 2011-07-18 03:13 pm (UTC)(no subject)
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Date: 2011-07-15 08:59 pm (UTC)This will.... not be pretty.
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Date: 2011-07-16 12:34 am (UTC)(no subject)
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Date: 2011-07-16 04:44 pm (UTC)Catching up on Tyrion, yay! Catching up on Daenerys, sort of yay, mostly not because the most interesting thing about her is the dragons and they are Sirs Not Appearing In This Book for 95% of it. Which means we spend a ton of time on Daenerys being *boring* and reactive and not accomplishing much. Also not appearing in this book: Sansa! WHOOOOO! Best Ice And Fire book EVER, just for that! And things actually went less wrong (because, no Sansa) but still went wrong DESPITE no Sansa, so it is remotely possible that my theory that everything bad that happens to anyone in Westeros is directly and personally her fault may need a slight adjustment.
People are still remembering her and thinking about her, though, so that might be why bad things are still happening.
(no subject)
Date: 2011-07-18 03:12 pm (UTC)1) Almost nothing happens in the early parts of the book,
2) A few things of note early... do not get played out (Jaime / Brienne)
3) We get several major things crammed in late of seemingly great import.
4) Almost all of those things either re-write prior events (Davos, Quentyn), or set us up for repeats of events I don't want to see (Crazy Cersei again, some more).
5) Really, we needed another Targaryen? Or to bring Connington back? Or to start killing Connington off? It's a cast of 1,000 + 1 now
6) As much as I understand Varys' plan, and think he is absolutely correct that the longer Cersei is in charge, the better it is for the dragon loyalists... I don't really need the callback to the Dark One letting the Lord of Chaos rule.
It is, almost completely, a set-up book, with a little sprinkling of spice at the end to make it seem like it's worth the wait. Not sure I think it was. And, while I'm interested in how things all play out... I can't say that I'm interested in any of the *characters* all that much anymore. The deconstruction of Tyrion is interesting... but not if it doesn't lead anywhere.
Funny summary I saw elseweb: