MTG Salvation

One of the aspects of Martin's writing I appreciate is the distinctiveness of his characters, and the craftsmanship of how they interact with shaping the world around them. You can imagine the following was a shock to me, then:

Body Count:

King Robb Stark
Catelyn Stark
Lord Tywin Lannister
King Joffrey "Baratheon"
King Balon Greyjoy
Prince Oberyn
Lysa Arryn-Baelish
Lord Jeor Mormont, Night Watch Commander
Ygritte
Greatjon Umber
Donal Noye
Shae
Sandor Clegane (dying)
Ser Gregor Clegane (dying)
Vargo Hoat (dying)

This novel was thrilling, well written, and also heralds a sea change in the series. With Tywin dead, much of the power of King's Landing is gone. Petyr Baelish is clearly looking out for himself at this point, and is now an independent threat as he is lord of the Eyrie now. Dany now has an army -- a sizeable, tested one -- as well as a city filled with riches. Roose Bolton, as I suspected, has come out on top, legitimized his son, and became Warden of the North.

My favorite scene of this novel was probably the Sansa chapter where she and Tyrion get married. The fact that she loathes it, and is only thinking of herself (while the reader already knows Tyrion dislikes it as well) provides a unique perspective and allows the reader to imagine Tyrion's reactions to everything. Sansa picks up on Tyrion's distaste for the wedding, but she isn't 100% perceptive. She can't get past his appearance, and Tyrion can't get over his own appearance as well. He's mocked throughout the wedding and Sansa feels sorry for him, but that's all she feels. Beautifully written.

Another favorite series of scenes was the trial when Prince Oberyn approached Tyrion, and then fought Ser Gregor for him. Martin writes duels well (the Bronn/Ser Vardis fight remains my favorite in the series) and I really did not expect Oberyn to die. What I did expect was Gregor to die (eventually) when Oberyn drew blood, because he IS the Red Viper after all!

On a side note, Bronn continually amuses me. He began the series in a tavern as a sellsword, at the end of book II he was knighted, and now he's married to Lollys and has a claim to some land. It's a shame Tyrion and Bronn had to part ways. Maybe he'll be able to given Bronn two wives and two castles some day for his service.

Daenerys
These chapters are consistently great; I still enjoyed the Khal Drogo chapters better from Book I, but Dany's conquest of old Ghis was entertaining as well. Ser Barristan was a surprise, even though I had been waiting for him to show up somewhere. And apparently Strong Belwas IS strong, since he demolished Mereen's (mounted!) champion.

I DID NOT LIKE Ser Jorah being dismissed though! Okay, he betrayed Dany, and yes, he very nearly got her kid killed. But it was pretty darn clear that he was loyal to her now, despite his overly conservative nature. It was his idea to purchase the Unsullied. Ser Barristan advised against it. It makes sense that she banished Jorah...but...I don't know. I don't feel right about it. She can trust Barristan well enough though.

Tyrion
Wow, he got continuously screwed throughout this book, didn't he? Daddy Lannister took away all of Tyrion's power -- made him the master of coin and made him marry Sansa. The big bombshell with Tysha actually not being a *****...I don't blame Tyrion for overreacting towards Jaime and his father. "My only crime was being born a dwarf"...

Jon and Samwell
You know nothing, Jon Snow! These scenes were much improved from the past two books. He ended up "betraying" the Night Watch, but also became Lord Commander. The scenes with Ygritte were magnificent. Her death was likely the saddest in the novel. And with the continuing trend of "no black and white, just grey," Mance Rayder wasn't actually that bad of a guy. Apparently he'll be given a bit of power by Stannis, now.

Samwell was interesting, but felt like a cowardly Jon. Maybe I didn't give him enough credit because I was less interested in his role than other characters.

Jaime
One of my favorite "new characters," Jaime had some funny scenes with Brienne, particularly when he turned around and rescued her from the bear pit. I don't know why, but his sex scene with Cersei in the sept made me laugh. I liked that he gave her the sword, now called Oathkeeper (dual meaning - Brienne's oath, and Jaime's broken oath because he killed Aerys). He DOES have honor, but it's just his own brand of it.

Davos
Apparently I was wrong about him dying! And hey, those leeches worked, eh? He convinced Stannis to go take over the wildlings and the Night Watch. Looks like Stannis and Roose will be fighting soon enough. Davos didn't grow much in this book, still comparable to Eddard except a bit craftier. Magister Ilyrio has apparently been visiting Dragonstone, or at least giving ships to Salladhor Saan.

Arya
After every single chapter, I thought to myself, "And now, finally, Arya will get back home." That was up until "The Red Wedding," at which point I said screw it, she'll never get home. Sure enough, she's off to Braavos to, I guess, become a "faceless man?" We shall see...

Anyway, excellent novel, and by far my favorite of the series. I would write more, but there was so much I liked, I would be going on for pages and pages.