Monday, November 5, 2012

A Dance with Dragons - George R.R. Martin

Date Started: 10/8/12
Date Finished: 11/2/12

A big thanks to Frankenstorm Sandy, without whose help I would not have had last week to devote to finishing this book. Thanks also goes out to the Con Ed explosion at 14th street, whose tenacity ensured that I had no electricity and thus nothing to do BUT read last week.

And so, it is finished...at least until the next book comes out... sometime in 2018, right?!

I knew I would get sucked into this series which was why I delayed starting them for so long. But I have to say, having finished what is currently available, I'm happy I dove in. This is a great series. Truly entertaining and fun to read. That said, this probably wasn't my favorite of the books for a couple of reasons, which I'm mixing in with my other observations:

1. Ok, first off, finally we get some of our favorite characters (like Tyrion) back! Yay!

2. BUT there are a bunch of new characters mixed in and it does get hard to keep track of them. The lineages and houses breakdown at the end of the book is markedly less helpful in the kindle version of the book!

3. I HATE the names of the folks in the Daenerys storyline. I can't pronounce them and just kind of glaze over them. Too many z's.

4. Is Brienne actually alive? It seems so but only from one sparse line where she runs into? returns? to Jamie. I want to know!

5. Theon is alive! Crazy!

6. Jon Snow can't actually be dead, right? Although the book ends with that cliffhanger, I can't see him being killed off.

7. And what about Stannis? It seemed pretty clear from the letter Jon received that Stannis and his host is dead. But the letter also demands Reek back (i.e., Theon) which means that somehow he must have escaped because last we saw him, he had reunited with his sister in Stannis' camp.

8. Hello, Catelyn Stark? She is brought back from the dead, sentences Brienne and Podrick to death in the last book and then we hear nothing of her in this one?! What is going on?

9. Bran - what is going on there? I'm confused. What is he becoming? A warg, yes, but is he also going to be  confined to that cave for the rest of his life?

10. What about Rickon and Osha? I'm dying to know what happened to them! So excited Davos is going after them on a quest (oh, and that he isn't dead. I kind of knew that would be the case in the last book but was happy to be right).

11. ARYA - I love her! So glad she isn't blind but what is she doing and where is her story going? There wasn't enough of her in this book, in my opinion.

I'll be waiting (and waiting) for the next installment but am happy to know that George R.R. Martin has apparently told the producers of the HBO show the main plot points in case anything happens to him before he is able to finish the last two books (this according to Wikipedia, so taken with a giant grain of salt).

In the meantime, for those Game of Thrones addicts, I came across these gifts the other day and thought they were pretty funny. Click here.

Winter is coming.... (that's especially true when you're without power for a week after Sandy; I felt like I was at the Wall).

No comments: