(no subject)
A Dance With Dragons is finally out and quickly consuming my life. Dad offered to pick the book up for me yesterday, but I would have none of it; I and I alone would receive such precious cargo. And receive it I did, as soon as Barnes and Noble opened. I actually arrived too early and had to sit around in the parking lot for a little bit. Breathing heavily. I was the first person to get one at our Barnes and Noble--they had to crack open the box of preorders for me, which made me ridiculously happy. Then I sat around the store for a little bit, making strange noises of delight (and breathing heavily) until I had calmed down enough to drive home. And then I had to continually chasten myself for driving too fast. I generally drive like a senior citizen, but I was risking a ticket at times to get home and read Dance. And from that time on, I've just been reading.
So far, the book has been almost entirely Dany, Tyrion, and Jon, with a smattering of Davos. I thought this would make it fairly slow going for me--Dany, Jon, and Davos chapters have slowed me down in the past, but not so much this time. Shit is happening 100% of the time in this book. The first thing that hit me off guard was twenty or so pages in, when Dany finds out that Drogon has eaten a child. It felt like a punch in the gut. I've been reading through the Temeraire series this summer, so I suppose I was lulled into a sort of dragons-are-nice complacency (despite those asshole bunyips), and this relevation really caught me off guard. Dany's storyline so far has been really riveting--she has such steel in her.
Jon's story is surprisingly interesting as well. He's such a Stark; I love to watch him butt heads with Stannis. I still don't like Melisandre--not that I particularly dislike her, either, she's just one of the few characters in the series that doesn't do anything for me. And I don't like her going around burning Wierwoods, hmph!
Tyrion's story is interesting so far, but it's only just beginning to heat up. I didn't see the princely reveal coming at all--do they plan to marry Young Griff to Dany, I wonder? And what will that mean for Quentyn? Will Dany accept either of them and lose the possibility of making non-Westerosi connections by marriage?
The biggest surprise for me so far, though, was Theon Greyjoy. When the first Reek chapter came around, it took me a while to remember who Reek was--and then I remembered that he was dead and wondered what the fuck was going on. Then GRRM dropped the first hint about krakens, and I flipped a shit. I know Theon is basically a shitstain on the face of the Seven Kingdoms, but I still feel bad for him--the descriptions of the tortures he suffered made my skin crawl.
Now for my speculations at this point: I think Coldhands may be Benjen Stark back from the dead. At least, that is my hope--I've got a soft spot for ole Benjen, and it becomes increasingly less likely that he is for real alive the longer the series goes on.
I am convinced Jaqen Hagar is Syrio Forel returned. I actually thought this was a Fact for a long time until I started rereading parts of the book--I'm not sure where I thought the proof of this was, but now it is part of my personal headcanon.
As for the end game--I know we're a good two books off, but I'm expecting a queen on the Iron Throne in the end. Not sure who--Myrcella, Sansa, Dany, Margaery, Shireen...there are way too many kings stirring up shit; we need a woman to get the Seven Kingdoms back in order. I'm hoping it's not Dany, though--I like Dany, certainly, but what does she know of the Seven Kingdoms? All she has going for her is birthright and dragons. I feel it would be too obvious for GRRM at this point, but it is also pretty obvious that he loves Dany a ton so I really just don't know at this point. Ah well. In the end, we shall see.
The only things I have to complain about so far are: not enough King's Landing intrigue and way too many Teats. GRRM used the word "teats" four fucking times in the first hundred pages. No uses since then, but it is still overkill. Calm your shit, George. Call them breasts once in a while, would you?
So far, the book has been almost entirely Dany, Tyrion, and Jon, with a smattering of Davos. I thought this would make it fairly slow going for me--Dany, Jon, and Davos chapters have slowed me down in the past, but not so much this time. Shit is happening 100% of the time in this book. The first thing that hit me off guard was twenty or so pages in, when Dany finds out that Drogon has eaten a child. It felt like a punch in the gut. I've been reading through the Temeraire series this summer, so I suppose I was lulled into a sort of dragons-are-nice complacency (despite those asshole bunyips), and this relevation really caught me off guard. Dany's storyline so far has been really riveting--she has such steel in her.
Jon's story is surprisingly interesting as well. He's such a Stark; I love to watch him butt heads with Stannis. I still don't like Melisandre--not that I particularly dislike her, either, she's just one of the few characters in the series that doesn't do anything for me. And I don't like her going around burning Wierwoods, hmph!
Tyrion's story is interesting so far, but it's only just beginning to heat up. I didn't see the princely reveal coming at all--do they plan to marry Young Griff to Dany, I wonder? And what will that mean for Quentyn? Will Dany accept either of them and lose the possibility of making non-Westerosi connections by marriage?
The biggest surprise for me so far, though, was Theon Greyjoy. When the first Reek chapter came around, it took me a while to remember who Reek was--and then I remembered that he was dead and wondered what the fuck was going on. Then GRRM dropped the first hint about krakens, and I flipped a shit. I know Theon is basically a shitstain on the face of the Seven Kingdoms, but I still feel bad for him--the descriptions of the tortures he suffered made my skin crawl.
Now for my speculations at this point: I think Coldhands may be Benjen Stark back from the dead. At least, that is my hope--I've got a soft spot for ole Benjen, and it becomes increasingly less likely that he is for real alive the longer the series goes on.
I am convinced Jaqen Hagar is Syrio Forel returned. I actually thought this was a Fact for a long time until I started rereading parts of the book--I'm not sure where I thought the proof of this was, but now it is part of my personal headcanon.
As for the end game--I know we're a good two books off, but I'm expecting a queen on the Iron Throne in the end. Not sure who--Myrcella, Sansa, Dany, Margaery, Shireen...there are way too many kings stirring up shit; we need a woman to get the Seven Kingdoms back in order. I'm hoping it's not Dany, though--I like Dany, certainly, but what does she know of the Seven Kingdoms? All she has going for her is birthright and dragons. I feel it would be too obvious for GRRM at this point, but it is also pretty obvious that he loves Dany a ton so I really just don't know at this point. Ah well. In the end, we shall see.
The only things I have to complain about so far are: not enough King's Landing intrigue and way too many Teats. GRRM used the word "teats" four fucking times in the first hundred pages. No uses since then, but it is still overkill. Calm your shit, George. Call them breasts once in a while, would you?