A Storm of Swords by George R.R. Martin

[meganbmoore]

Dear George R.R. Martin…do you hate the Starks?  Do you have it in for them?  Would two seconds without constant pain and suffering be too much to ask?  I’m almost glad we don’t see what’s happening with Rickon, given what his mother and siblings are going through.

Even if you count this as 2-3 books, this is possibly the most hectic, plot-stuffed book I’ve ever read(ignore the logic and go with the meaning)  The other two books were far from slow, but in comparison to this, they were nice, light, leisurely reads.  I feel drained just reading 50 pages of this(much less 300-400 a day, 2 days in a row…)

Those who’ve been reading my posts know that my primary interest is the Starks.  Everything else, ever Jaime and Sandor, who seem to be the favorites of most of my flist, are distant seconds (except Gendry, who I adore…but then, a large part of why I adore him is his relationship with Arya)

Before I get to the Starks(well, mostly)…

Two of the “must diediedie” characters-Lysa the Ranting Loon and Joffrey the Hideous Little Monster- are gone.  Which?  Major bonus, along with a few other deaths(Castor, Tywin, Shae…now for Theon, Cersei and the Freys…and Joreh, just to be on the safe side.  Oh, and Bolton.)

Now, compared to his daughter and grandson, Tywin’s just a jerk on the evil scale…and Shae, really, I think we all knew that she’d betray Tyrion…my main reaction to their deaths was just pity for Tyrion.  Really, the only one to ever love the poor guy is Jaime (Cersei is incapable of loving anyone who isn’t as pretty as she is…and frankly, I don’t think she loved her other children until Joffrey-her symbol of and claim to power-was dead)  And, of course, Jaime was the only one Tyrion ever really trusted to love him and not betray him but, while Jaime did love him(the only selfless love Jaime’s ever felt, imo, at least before it became mixed up with guilt because of Tysha) he had betrayed him, and the betrayal was the thing that shaped Tyrion’s life the most.  I think it’s possible that Sansa would have eventually developed a sort of love for him-she realized that, appearances aside, he was good and wasn’t a monster like the rest of his family, but he was still a Lannister and she’s a child who’s endured one horror after another and had to pretend gratitude at each, and thus in no condition to really appreciate it-but it never would have been the kind of love he wanted her to feel.  Like with Sandor, in her way, Sansa treated Tyrion more like a human than anyone else(except Jaime, in Tyrion’s case)  Even though she was spoiled and shallow, Sansa has an almost impossibly good heart, and as a result, even though both men physically repulsed her, she couldn’t help treating them like humans, and neither had ever really experienced that before, and that combined with her sheer helplessness is a rather potent combination.

I know a lot of the ASoIaF fans on my flist are huge Jaime fans, but, while I do find him an extremely interesting character, I’m not sure I like him.  There’s a certain self-centeredness that defines him (just look as his justification for what he did to Bran) that he’s going to have to start getting past(a fair bit past) before I can like him, no matter how interesting his story is.  His relationship with Brienne is very interesting…looks like it could head down the romantic path-though never get fulfilled, I’ll bet-right now it’s important because it gives Jaime his first bit of humanity.  Until now, the only woman he’s probably ever really spent time with is Cersei.  And, let’s face it…beautiful on the outside, but a scheming, manipulative, adulterous, possessive liar(who doesn’t seem to love him half as much now that he’s not quite as pretty as she is anymore) on the iside.  In comparison, you have Brienne, who’s ugly on the outside, but honorable, honest and steadfast to the point that she redefines “to a fault”(she’s worse than the Starks that way) and incapable of…well…any of Cersei’s personality traits.  Her effect of Jaime is rather the same(or rather, opposite) of Cersei’s on Sansa, who assumed that, as Cersei was beautiful and nice and a mother, just like her own, then she’d be just as good as Cat, and she learned about evil that way.  Except that while Cersei(and Joffrey *stabbity stab stab*) made Sansa aware of evil, Brienne makes Jaime aware of good, even if he isn’t aware of it yet.

Then there’s Sandor.  Like I said before, I think the first time anyone ever treated him like a human since his brother scarred him(which is why he is NOT dead and how I knew how the duel at Tyrion’s trial would turn out…Sandor will kill Gregor…NO other option is acceptable…and Sandor, I think, will die for real protecting either Sansa or Arya)  Even though it was far from kind in execution(though, as Sansa say, he wasn’t unkind) protecting Sansa, even to the limited degree he did, is likely the first kindness he’s ever shown…until then, his life seems to have been about what will cause people the most pain and let him stick it to people.  He was, I think, as kind to Sansa as he’s capable of being to anyone, and was almost as kind to Arya.  He would have taken Arya for ransom no matter what, but I don’t think he would have taken care of her after the Red Wedding if she hadn’t been Sansa’s sister, and lets face it, even if she’d been elsewhere, Arya probably wouldn’t have survived Cat and Robb’s deaths, no matter when or how she learned about it.

Frankly, her family aside, Sandor and Gendry are the only good things that’ve ever really happened to Arya.  Sandor, of course, she (justifiably) hates-even if she had been able to get past his killing Mycah, he made sure he’d hate her(just like he tried to make Sansa hate him-he says only fire scares him, but I think being loved or liked scares him even more) by throwing Sansa’s treatment in her face and making it sound like he approved, as opposed to his being the closest thing to a defender Sansa had.  Hating him, though, gave her a reason to live after Cat and Robb’s deaths (and I think that was his goal) and hopefully she’ll eventually realize that.  Gendry, of course, is the best friend she’s ever had, even if she can’t appreciate that, either.  Gendry may be old enough to realize that his feelings for her will probably be romantic one day (but given their ages, I don’t think he quite does…at least suspects, probably, though) but Arya has no idea and doesn’t realize that most of her anger at him is jealousy and she pushes him away, and, I think, his desire to protect her reminded her of Jon and Robb and made her want to feel protected, but that would be weakness, which also made her angry…she accuses him of abandoning her, but doesn’t realize that he’d protect her forever if she’d let him.

I like Gendry a lot...AsoIaF is interesting to me in this regard…usually I find the morally complex characters and the ones that could go either way on the good/bad scale the most interesting, but here, I’m all about the straightout good and honorable people (hence my near obsession with the Starks) and, while I do like the more complex ones, I don’t like them as much.  Gendry is so forthright and honest that he may as well be another of Ned’s sons, really.  He’s a simple guy who just wants to be able to choose his own way and take care of Arya.  He has no idea why anyone is after him, and I don’t think he cares.  If they won’t leave him alone at his forge, then he’ll become a soldier to protect himself, and have fellows.  The only reason he didn’t stay by Arya’s side is because she wouldn’t let him.  He’s also exactly what Arya needs, as his stability is exactly what’s needed to temper her anger.  Except I don’t think that Arya will ever really be able to be Arya again until she’s reunited with Nymeria, because she won’t be whole until then *points to post from yesterday* and I don’t think she’ll be reunited with any of her family until then, either, especially Sansa, which is probably the most important one(anyone else get kinda nervous when Sandor and Arya talked about hating a sibling enough to kill them?  I think Arya started to turn savage the moment she chased Nymeria off, it just took us a while to notice)

Speaking of which, when he was separated from Ghost, Jon started to be like Arya and Sansa both…he seemed to start to lose his focus and goal, like Sansa, and his anger was becoming a more prominent trait, like Sansa.  But, the moment he was near Ghost again, the experience was rather like the bond between Bran and Summer, and bam, he was Jon again, harder and more jaded than when he came to the wall, and when he went beyond the wall, but Jon.

Sansa remains the character I consistently worry about the most.  She was spoiled and indulged the way good parents with too much to do and the ability to indulge tend to do, yet she is, I think, the kindest(not nice, but kind) person in the series.  In a way, her innocence and childhood were stripped away even more cruelly than Arya’s…Arya, at least, was aware of the evil around her, Sansa thought that because her parents were good and honest and honorable, other adults were as well (I’ve always wondered if she even really realized what she was doing when she lied for Joffrey…I honestly think that, because she was told she was to marry Joffrey, it meant that he HAD to be right, and that because her parents loved each other, then marrying Joffrey meant she had to love him and that he’d always be right…she really was hopelessly naïve, and still is in some ways…but then, her ability to cling to a degree of innocence and naivette despite everything she’s been through is part of why I like her.)  There’s this inherent goodness to her the remains true despite everything she’s been through, yet, this is the child who not only can’t express any grief over the deaths of her mother, brothers and father, but has to pretend that they’re GOOD things or she’ll be beaten, or worse.  The rest of her family is allowed to grieve their losses, but Sansa has to stand there and apologize for the “crimes” and inconveniences caused by her family…she can’t even mourn the supposed deaths of her 8 and 4 year old brothers.  And frankly, she just went from the hands of one monster to another, the only difference is that she’s not being beaten now.

Then there’s the Red Wedding, which, frankly, all I can say about is $%$&^%^*%*%&*(%()*&)%&*.  Just like I figured Ned was too honest and noble to survive in the first book, I’ve always figured robb was too much Ned’s son to live long.  But, just like I wasn’t expecting Ned to die so soon, ESPECIALLY without FRIKKING REVEALING JON’S PARENTAGE (and I still haven’t quite recovered from Ned’s death, btw) I certainly didn’t expect Robb to die the way he did-the when, the where, the who, etc…especially the HOW *shudders* nor did I expect him to take Cat with him *sniffle.*  And they let Cat rot for over a day before stripping her and throwing her in the river, and they sewed Grey Wind’s head on Robb’s body?  *shudder*  Much as I get WHY the Frey’s killed them, they all just need to die terrible deaths for that(ZombieCat agrees with me…though I worry about what she’ll do to Jaime and Brienne, considering what Bolton said when he killed Robb)

I liked when Robb brought up the idea of making Jon his heir, and Cat’s reaction.  I’ve always thought that Cat’s problem with Jon wasn’t so much that he’s Ned’s bastard(like she said in this book, she and Ned barely knew each other when Jon was born) but rather, that his keeping Jon’s parentage a secret gave her the impression that he valued Jon more than their children, even if she likely knew it was illogical.  When Robb brought it up, he was thinking in terms of “I’ve lost two brothers and my sisters may be lost forever, but at least I’m not completely alone” Cat, who’s always had that fear, could only possibly hear “well, they’re gone…at least I’ve got a backup.”  Incidentally…when did Cat find out Cersei didn’t have Arya?  It seemed that in one Cat chapter she thought Cersei had both, and then in the next, she knew she only had Sansa.  I went back looking for it, but didn’t see the reveal…am I just missing it(with so much happening I think I’m missing some little things…I went to the wikipedia page about 1/3 through this book to help myself keep track of events, but I accidentally spoiled myself for a couple things and fled in terror) or did it slip through the cracks somehow?

Also?  Jeyne almost HAS to be pregnant…it’s like a rule.  And you know, my first thought for Jeyne after Robb’s death was that she needed to head for the Wall so Jon can take care of her…which, bizarrely, has been my thought every single time one of the Starks has been in need, even Cat.  It’s completely illogical as he’s hundreds of miles away and, until the last few pages of this volume, absolutely in no position to be taking care of anyone, yet I keep having that reaction.  I guess it just means that GRRM is doing his job right with Jon.  Incidentally, WHY can’t Jon know Bran is alive?  Is one Stark having 2 seconds of happiness too much to ask?  I mean, I completely get why Arya couldn’t be reunited with Cat and Robb, and even why Jon and Bran couldn’t be reunited, but WHY can’t Jon at least knows his brother’s are alive?  Must every single Stark live in constant pain in a deep pit of angst(except Rickon…maybe it’s a good thing we aren’t seeing him lately…)?  

(Yes, I repeated myself...it bears repetition)

Ok, must read something lighter before the next book…

Incidentally, has anyone else seen this?  It's a "casting call"(non-spoilery) website for the series.  A lot are really good, though A) I don't think Sandor would have been nearly as pretty as Richard Armitage without the scarring and B) a lot of 20~ and such year olders playing 12-16 year olds.