Chapter 10 - Jon Snow - The King(?) Beyond the Wall is dead

Mance Rayder finally dies in this chapter.  He dies in one of the more horrific ways, too, as he is burned alive inside of a wooden cage.  Once again, this situation proves to me that Stannis is too unbending to be a good king.  Jon makes very valid points to him.  They need Mance Rayder.  He knows the area beyond the wall better than anyone and while he is a traitor, he is more valuable as a tool than as a dead man.  But, Stannis is too unwavering in his need to dish out justice.  I imagine Melisandre's desire to burn Mance as a king is also influencing him as well.

So, Mance dies as the flames engulf his cage.  Jon mercifully has his men put a few arrows into his chest to end his suffering.  Personally, I want to know more about Mance's actions as he is brought to his execution.  When he sees the cage, he freaks out and starts to beg and scream.  His words are: "No.  Mercy.  This is not right, I'm not the king, they-", but we never hear the end of that sentence.  What was he going to say?  Who is "they"?  Are these just the screams of a man panicking as his death approaches or was Mance not what he seemed?  Was someone controlling him perhaps?

Stannis then has the Wildlings choose to bend the knee to him or leave and return to the forest where they will most certainly die.  Stannis refuses to accept anything but a bent knee because he doesn't think that he needs the Wildling's love, just their swords.  I know that this is going to come back to bite him in the end.  Stannis is loved by no one and no one is going to care when it's time for Stannis to die.  I think that Stannis is going to meet his end at the hands of the Others.  He'll end up serving a noble purpose for the realm, but it will not be as it's king.  That's Dany's job.  I am still so interested in Melisandre's powers as Stannis reveals Lightbringer. The sword glows blazingly bright.  Where is this power coming from?

At the end, Jon continues his actions from the previous chapter as he "kills the boy" even more.  He sends his former friends to other parts of the Wall thereby removing the last remnants of his former life.  Things are going to keep getting harder for Jon, which is awful, because he's such a great character.  I think there are going to be more problems on the wall as the men think that he is being too friendly with Stannis.  But what is Jon to do?  He's stuck between Stannis and destruction.

Chapter 9 - Davos - Davos is back (but not in pog form)

Yay!  Davos is back!  It was so uncertain if we were going to see the old smuggler turned knight turned lord again, but here his is.  I love Davos' character.  He's so focused on the reality of the world.  He doesn't dream or wish about things that will never be.  He just deals with the things that happen.  I respect that.  He's much different from someone like Stannis who I think is kidding himself into thinking that he's this supreme king.  Even with Melisandre telling him that he's some legend reborn, he's got to know that he's just the brother of a guy who managed to take a throne by force.

So, Davos washes up on shore in a small boat having been sent off by Salladhor Saan.  It really was only a matter of time before Saan left Stannis.  Davos is right...the guy was never to be trusted.  Stannis was placing way too much on the shoulders of a guy who wants nothing more than gold in his pockets.  When the gold runs out, Saan runs away.  You have to respect Davos for sticking to his mission even when he could have stayed with Saan and headed south.  Davos reminds me of Ned Stark in regards to his firm loyalty and desire to do the "right thing".  I think that's why I like him.  It does make me nervous that he's going to end up missing more than his fingers before these books are done.

Saan's betrayal is a rough blow to Stannis.  His plans just keep getting swept away.  I liked that there was a glimmer of hope when Davos found out that Tywin was dead and then it was gone when he found out that White Harbor was all but lost because of the Freys.  I also liked the story of how Tyrion tore Tywin to pieces and was covered in blood.  It's funny to see how rumors travel in Westeros.

It looks like Davos will be off to White Harbor to stop a wedding.  I keep picturing some romantic comedy where he accidentally interrupts a different wedding before getting to the real one in the nick of time and stopping it.  I highly doubt there will be anything romantic or comedic about what Davos is about go through.

Finally, the story about Ned Stark was interesting.  Was there any truth to that?  Was it a fisherman's daughter that gave birth to Jon Snow?  I wonder if Martin threw in the exaggerated story of Tyrion into this chapter to hint that Lord Godric tends to believe anything he hears including ridiculous stories.  Personally, I am still a believer in the R+L=J theory.

Chapter 8 - Tyrion - Duck, Duck, Dwarf

This chapter sees Tyrion and Illyrio finally parting ways.  I wonder if we'll see Illyrio again or if he'll be long dead before that time arrives.  I kind of hope he lives so we can find out exactly what he's been planning and scheming with Varys for these many years.

Duck and Haldon are interesting characters if for no other reason than they are so rough around the edges.  Ser Duck really is a horrible name.  I think it's a worse name than Dunk.  At least Dunk goes by Ser Duncan the Tall when he is trying to be a proper knight.

I liked finding out that Tyrion wanted to be a septon at one point in his life and now he is quite the opposite of being a holy man.  Granted, many of the septons we have seen have been quite far less than holy.  So many things would be different if things had gone differently for Tyrion.  What if he had become a septon?  What if he had stayed married to Tysha?  What if Tywin had allowed him to tour the Free Cities as a youth?  What if he hadn't been born a dwarf?

It sounds like Tyrion is getting very close to meeting Dany.  This guy Griff sounds like he's going to be a pain.  I think he'll be a hindrance even once Tyrion has proven his worth and been accepted by Dany.  And, yes, I think Tyrion will be accepted by Dany.  She's too smart to turn him away.  Tyrion presents a very persuasive case to his worth.  He knows everything about his family.  He knows how to break them.  He wants to break them.  Part of me is very excited for the day that Tyrion and Cersei meet again.  That will be quite interesting and I fear it will be the last thing that Cersei ever experiences.

Chapter 7 - Jon Snow - Kill the boy

Well, if I thought that Jon was having trouble acting as Lord Commander with his men before, I feel a lot better now.  The main point of this chapter was clearly Jon battling within himself and trying to force down the boy he was to become the man he must be.  I liked how Jon's thoughts of "kill the boy" are ambiguous in the beginning and that you don't realize that he is speaking metaphorically until the end.

Jon was never the most fun-loving of the male characters in the series.  He always had a more serious air about him most likely due to his life growing up as Ned Stark's bastard.  But, despite that, he could still afford to share a cup with his friends or joke around with fat Sam Tarly.  Now, he can do none of those things and he must make the hard decisions that he never had to make before.

The way he handled Gilly was crazy.  This is not the Jon Snow we knew before.  He can't apologize or second guess the decisions he makes and that's clear with how he forces her to take Mance's child and leave her own going as far as to force her to touch a flame to understand the pain.  Likewise, with Sam he refuses to deal with his pathetic whining and forces his decree unswervingly.  He even agrees to sign his name to a letter hoping to appease the Lannisters when he really wants to murder them all.  He is making the tough decisions and he's not hiding from them.

When he executed Janos Slynt at the end I must admit that I smiled.  I hated Slynt ever since he was involved in the betrayal of Ned Stark.  Jon was clearly in his rights to kill Slynt, but I wonder if there will be any rumblings that this was payback for Ned.  Or perhaps it is not common knowledge what Slynt did and nothing will come of this.  I especially likd that Slynt was so strong and defiant until just before the sword was about to fall and then he turned into a coward.  The comparison between Jon and Ned cannot help but be made.  One of the first things we see Ned do is to execute a Night's Watch deserter with his Valyrian blade.  Now, Jon is doing basically the same thing with his.  I suppose that Jon was content to hang Slynt and then remembered his father's own rules.  If you pass the judgment, you should swing the sword.

Jon swings the sword and with that swing, I believe that the child is dead.

Also, it was awesome hearing Maester Aemon mention Egg a bit more since we know just how much of a child he was from the Dunk and Egg tales.

Chapter 6 - The Merchant's Man - Our first view of Quentyn

So, we finally get our first glimpse of Doran Martell's son Quentyn and it is quite an interesting one.  He and his companion are desperately trying to book passage on a ship to take them to Dany, but no one wants to do it and even gold cannot persuade them.  The only positive response they get is from someone they are sure will murder them as soon as possible and steal their gold.  Nice people in this city.

We learn a couple of things about Quentyn from this chapter.  First, he is not a confident guy.  He's almost like Bizarro Jaime Lannister.  He's short and stocky and his hair is the color of mud.  I bet Quentyn was a chubby kid when he was a boy growing up in Dorne and had to wear Dornish garb in size "husky".  Second, we see that he is determined to marry Dany and he even refers to her as the "most beautiful woman in the world" despite the fact that he hasn't ever seen her.  He is also under the impression that she is waiting for him in Meereen yet our last chapter with Dany didn't include her thinking about Quentyn at all.  I have this feeling that he is not up to the task of wooing and marrying someone as majestic and powerful as Daenerys Targaryen.  And I think he knows this, too when he thinks that he "never asked for this."  Alas, Quentyn, whether you asked for it or not, this is your role now.  Will you be the man that Dany needs (if she even needs a man) or will you just be a pathetic suitor who has only his name and title to win Dany over?

Chapter 5 - Tyrion - The Imp's Interesting Escort

Tyrion's journey with Illyrio has offered up some tasty morsels for us to digest.  Granted...none of it sounds as tasty as the food that Illyrio manages to stuff into his fat face.  Tyrion, too, manages to gorge himself on many fine dishes as they make their way to some mysterious destination.

It's clear that Illyrio is sending Tyrion to Dany.  The thought of this excites me very, very much.  These are two of my favorite characters and they are finally going to meet!  Joy!  Tyrion is so sarcastic and snappy and Dany is so serious and queen-like.  I cannot wait for their first meeting.

I imagine we will eventually learn of Illyrio's true reasons for supporting Dany.  He claims that it is merely because he wants to do something good, but I think we all know that's a lie.  He does mention how he would love to be the Master of Coin.  I can't help but picture a fat Illyrio wearing a dark blue coat and a top hat diving through his mountains of coins.  (And, yes, that was a reference to Duck Tales)  Obviously, Tyrion doesn't buy it either and if Tyrion doesn't believe something, then we, as readers, probably shouldn't either.

I liked that Tyrion used to dream about riding a dragon.  I wonder if this is a bit of foreshadowing.  Will Tyrion be one of the three who rides a dragon back to Westeros destroying everything in his path?  Or maybe he'll end up a bag of charred bones in a bag...

Another interesting thing about the two Tyrion chapters is how focused he is on a few specific things: murdering his father, murdering his sister, murdering his brother, and Tysha.  He consistently rolls these four things around in his head over and over again.  We have never seen Tyrion quite so obsessed.  This can't be good for any of them (well, except for Tysha perhaps).

Chapter 4 - Bran - Who is Coldhands?

This chapter gives us a nice taste of just how cold it really is beyond the Wall.  This is something we haven't had since Jon Snow and the other Night's Watchmen ventured out to find the Wildlings and their king.  Bran and his companions are frozen half to death.  Jojen is nearly ready to die, but they march on led by the mysterious Coldhands.  I love Coldhand's name just because it's such a descriptive one.  All we know about this guy is that he has ice cold hands, thus he is Coldhands.  It's funny in a way.

Bran, like Jon, is clearly comfortable warging inside of Summer, but he's also fine warging inside of Hodor when he feels like it.  I wonder what it feels like to have someone else controlling you like that.  I suppose it's not something most people can have happen since they aren't as dumb as simple Hodor.  I still wonder if there is a danger to becoming too comfortable jumping inside the body of an animal.  Is this why Martin gave us a prologue with Sixskins - to show us where Jon and Bran might be headed?

The fight between Summer and the other wolves was pretty cool though it left me with a very nagging question.  Did the other wolf know that Bran was inside of Summer?  It certainly seemed to when the wolves' eyes met.  If so, was there someone inside of it?  It was the only one of the three not afraid of Summer.  Perhaps it was thinking with a human brain instead of an animal one.

This chapter left me desperately wanting more information about Coldhands.  He's been a mystery for a while now, but this was the first time (that I can recall) where we were told flat out that Coldhands didn't breathe or eat or do anything that would prove that he was alive.  I was surprised it took Bran and the others this long to stop trusting him, but perhaps it took these kinds of circumstances to do so.  I wish Coldhands had removed the covering of his face.  I really want to see what he looks like.  Personally, I still think it's Benjen Stark under there and that's why he won't let Bran see his face.

If it is Benjen, then how did he turn into an Other while keeping his humanity?  Was it the Stark blood or their connection to the Old Gods?  Did he really keep his humanity or is he just a puppet of this greenseer that is related to the three-eyed crow?  We have so many characters going in so many different directions and yet Martin really has me deeply interested in each of their paths.

Chapter 3 - Jon Snow - Between a rock and a wall of ice

This chapter starts off with Jon warging with Ghost for a few brief moments before being woken by Mormont's raven.  These moments where Jon and Bran enter their direwolves have started to become so commonplace that it's almost like Jon and Bran are their wolves.  We've very briefly seen Arya warg with Nymeria even though she didn't realize it.  I wonder if Sansa would have ever entered Lady if she had survived.  I wonder if Robb ever entered Greywind before they were both murdered.

As I read this chapter, one thing that struck me was how I viewed Jon as Lord Commander differently throughout.  Whenever he is alone or with his men I have trouble believing that he is actually the Lord Commander of the Nights Watch.  When he is with Stannis, however, it feels like he was made to do the job.  I thought that I would have felt the opposite.  Stannis is a hard, unbending man who wants things to go his way.  He wants the Night's Watch towers.  He wants the Gift.  He wants Jon to do as he says.  When Jon is with him, however, Jon holds his own.  He knows when to give in and he knows when to stand firm and he interacts with Stannis as the Lord Commander.

When Jon is with anyone else, he still feels like a kid who is too young to handle the job.  This really struck me when Stannis' man mocked him openly and wanted to fight.  They have no respect for this young Lord.

Jon meets with Stannis and Melisandre at the end of the chapter and Stannis spends a lot of time complaining about the lack of respect shown to him by those who are his subjects.  The more I see Stannis, the more I realize that he should not be king and the more I hope for Dany to take back Westeros.  I am also glad that Jon did not give in and give the castles to Stannis.  Jon reminds me so much of Ned in his scenes with Stannis that it is scary.

The chapter ends with Jon and Melisandre walking and talking.  I don't know what to make of her still.  She seems to have power, but it is real?  And if it's real, where does it truly come from?  Her words to Jon to finish the chapter are "Then you know nothing, Jon Snow" and they practically gave me chills.  Does Melisandre know that those are the words that Ygritte used to say to Jon or is it coincedence?  I'd lean towards the former.

Chapter 2 - Daenerys - You Must Feed the Dragon

Dany's chapter was excellent.  It's been so long since we've seen from her.  I loved seeing her ruling as a queen. She has come such a long way from being the scared little sister of a megalomaniac-wannabe king.

She is such a drastically different type of ruler from any of the ones we've seen so far in the series.  Even if you count the characters who declared themselves king, she is totally different from each of them.

Robert was fat, lazy, and a terrible king.  He did what was easy regardless of the cost to those around him.  He wasn't ever fit to rule.

Joffrey was twisted and cruel.  He loved to rule only because he loved the power.  He was nothing more than a terrible, spoiled child playing at being a real king.

Renly was the "lovely" king.  He was only around for a short time, but it was clear that he had no idea what he was doing.  He played king well.  He looked the part, in fact.  He reminded me of Isreal's king Saul.  His royal parties would have been amazing, but a true king he was not.

Robb was my favorite of the kings if only because I love the Stark family.  However, he was in over his head. He couldn't handle making the hard decisions and doing the difficult things that a king must do.  When he slept with Jeyne Westerling and then married her, he signed his own death warrant because he was naive enough to think that Walder could be trusted.

Stannis is the most just of all the kings, but he is too hard and rigid.  He is incapable of bending and flexing to the changing situations around him.  It is this lack of flexibility that makes him a terrible and unloved king.  He can never have the people.  Therefore, he can never be the needed king.

Thommen isn't even worth mentioning as he is so young.  Needless to say, calling Thommen a king is like calling Samwell Tarly a lady's man.

Balon Greyjoy and Euron Greyjoy are two characters who can never be king over anyone more than the sad excuse for a people in the Iron Islands.  The people are tough and they can fight and sail, but they know nothing more than that and neither do either of these men.  Neither of them are true kings because they are, at their essence, just pirates.

Daenerys Stormborn, however, is a true queen.  She seeks to be loved, but she also seeks to rule and her word is law.  She is not naive.  She is not cruel.  She is strong, but she can also bend to handle what comes her way.  She is just, but she is also compassionate.  These traits and more are clear from this chapter and I cannot wait to see what happens.

The end was fantastic, as well.  When the man clutching the bag did not leave her court, I knew what was going to happen.  It was only a matter of time before her dragons acted like the beasts they are.  I cannot wait to see how she handles these new problems.

Chapter 1 - Tyrion - The Dwarf's Journey Across the Sea

What's the best way to start a new book in the A Song of Ice and Fire series?  Make the first chapter be a Tyrion POV chapter, of course!  I can't think of a more interesting character to start this book and this is especially true since we haven't heard a peep from him since his...unfortunate situation at the end of A Storm of Swords.

It appears that it's been a decent length of time since Tyrion fled Westeros after murdering his father and Shae.  Clearly, he's been thinking about nothing else as he recalls the event a few times during this chapter.  I suspect his habit of remaining drunk while on the ship is also related to him wanting to drown his memories in wine.  I really want to see where Tyrion goes from here.  He wants Cersei's head on a pike.  Of that, I am not surprised.  However, he is also prepared to place Jaime's head beside hers, which did surprise me.  I know that Jaime was involved in the situation with Tyrion's wife Tysha, but I would have thought that Tyrion would at least forgive or try to forgive Jaime.  It'll be interesting when they meet again.

I also think Tyrion is right on the money when he decides to mistrust Illyrio.  I think there is going to be some interesting action in the near future.  Will Tyrion try to escape his beautiful prison or will he trust Illyrio?  I think he will hear Illyrio out because his words about a "dragon" who is the true ruler will interest Tyrion too much to ignore.  This is also leading to something that many readers, including myself, have been waiting for: the allying of Dany with another important player from Westeros.  Many people thought that Dany and Tyrion would eventually meet and it seems that this will be happening soon!

Prologue - Varamyr Back to Oneskin

So, I have eagerly begun my reading of A Dance with Dragons.  I'm thinking I'll try and savor this book instead of devouring it as if I were a starving dog and the book was a delicious steak.  (mmm...steak)

The book starts in Martin's typical style...with a prologue that doesn't seem to connect directly to anything else that has happened in the books.  It was interesting getting a PoV from Varamyr Sixskins though.  That was highly unexpected.  I was sure that he was dead considering the bird he was controlling got SET ON FIRE.  So, we now know that a warg can survive it's host animal getting SET ON FIRE (as well as getting an axe through the skull and other things).  Good to know in case Jon Snow is ever warging in Ghost and Ghost gets SET ON FIRE.  Ahem...anyway...

What was clearly the most interesting part of this chapter was the end when Varamyr let his human body die and he permanently joined one of his wolves.  I wonder if these wolves are ones we have seen before or have any relation to other characters.  When Wolf-Varamyr looked down on the scene of the Others and Thistle's empty sockets were still glowing blue I gots me a chill.

I suspect the Others will play a big role in this book especially since we'll be getting Jon Snow chapters.  Hooray!