Before I begin my usual sarcastic and often snarky book commentary, I want to take a moment to acknowledge the passing of my Uncle Al, a WWII war hero, a father of two amazing daughters, the only brother to my Dad and an overall great man. He was 90 so his passing is no big surprise but he was the last remaining sibling of my Dad's and there is something so sad in that. I can't imagine how I would feel being the last of my clan living. I guess there comes a time in life where death is an accepted, inevitable thing but I'm certainly not at that point in my mind. I'm glad he had a long, prosperous life and passed surrounded by the people who loved him most. I guess you can't really ask for a better way to go. Seeing so many young people pass in my life has made me feel grateful when someone who has lived a long life passes in such a peaceful fashion. Rest well, my dear Uncle Alby, you were loved.
Now onto the book...I have finished the second book in the "A Song of Fire and Ice" series and have started the third. Despite the fact that the second book was 960 pages, I finished it in a week. I would have taken longer honestly, but I want to be ready for the inevitable Easter discussions of the books with my in laws. Its amazing what I can do when I feel pressure. My critique of the second book is the exact same as the first: TOO LONG, TOO MUCH DESCRIPTION, TOO MUCH OF NOTHING! The 960 pages could have been 500 easily. There is so much idle time. What the hell happened on the wall in the second book? I'll tell you...NOTHING! I love Jon Snow - he is honestly one of my favorite characters, he is driven by emotion and fire and I can totally relate to that but he is wasted in this book. Until the very last chapter from his point of view, they are in route. I can only read so much about how cold and hungry they are and where the hell is Benjen Stark anyway? He has been missing for close to 2000 pages...can we find him already and move on?
With my rant out of the way (and I have a feeling I will have a similar rant after every book) onto the things I liked. I found all of the chapters in King's Landing fascinating. There are a myriad of interesting characters surrounding the King and there is a constant dance of who is scheming who. Tyrion is one of my favorites one because his word play is brilliant and two because he is the consummate underdog and who doesn't want to root for that? He doesn't trust anyone and rightfully so and I loved reading about his various methods of weeding out the lies from the truths. I'm rooting for him at the same time I'm rooting for Cersei and Joffrey to meet ugly, drawn out, gruesome ends. This may be the only time I want the author to elaborate. I hated Sansa in the first book for all of her whiny, girly ways but now I just feel bad for the girl. I also weirdly like the Hound - I'm sensing he is much more complex than he initially appears to be. Arya is also brilliant and I want more of her. She is some serious bad ass 9 year old girl. I have a similar list that I recite every night of all the people I want dead. Mine goes something like this: Kim Kardashian, Tim Tebow, my stupid boss, my apartment manager, Berkley college idiots, my apartment building, ESPN, the obnoxious red headed girl on Celebrity apprentice, and my apartments front desk staff. I also am so pissed at Theon. I told my husband I did not trust him from the get go. I knew he was slimy bastard. Is he dead? I certainly hope so. I'm also really glad that HBO decided to turn these books into a series because it really helps with picturing what this fictional world looks like. It is also brilliantly cast with so many characters populating the books, it is nice to put faces to names.
So far the third book already has started off with more action than the second book had up until this point so I have high hopes. I've been reading at a pretty constant rate since I started so I'll be caught up quite soon I think. If I start having dire wolf dreams tho, someone needs to take the book out of my hands. Although I would not mind having one of those for a pet. Not sure the cats would like it tho. Well, I leave you until the next book or until I feel the need to rant about the endless food descriptions. For dinner there was roasted pheasants and onion pie and apple crisps and mead and spiced wine and...
Now onto the book...I have finished the second book in the "A Song of Fire and Ice" series and have started the third. Despite the fact that the second book was 960 pages, I finished it in a week. I would have taken longer honestly, but I want to be ready for the inevitable Easter discussions of the books with my in laws. Its amazing what I can do when I feel pressure. My critique of the second book is the exact same as the first: TOO LONG, TOO MUCH DESCRIPTION, TOO MUCH OF NOTHING! The 960 pages could have been 500 easily. There is so much idle time. What the hell happened on the wall in the second book? I'll tell you...NOTHING! I love Jon Snow - he is honestly one of my favorite characters, he is driven by emotion and fire and I can totally relate to that but he is wasted in this book. Until the very last chapter from his point of view, they are in route. I can only read so much about how cold and hungry they are and where the hell is Benjen Stark anyway? He has been missing for close to 2000 pages...can we find him already and move on?
With my rant out of the way (and I have a feeling I will have a similar rant after every book) onto the things I liked. I found all of the chapters in King's Landing fascinating. There are a myriad of interesting characters surrounding the King and there is a constant dance of who is scheming who. Tyrion is one of my favorites one because his word play is brilliant and two because he is the consummate underdog and who doesn't want to root for that? He doesn't trust anyone and rightfully so and I loved reading about his various methods of weeding out the lies from the truths. I'm rooting for him at the same time I'm rooting for Cersei and Joffrey to meet ugly, drawn out, gruesome ends. This may be the only time I want the author to elaborate. I hated Sansa in the first book for all of her whiny, girly ways but now I just feel bad for the girl. I also weirdly like the Hound - I'm sensing he is much more complex than he initially appears to be. Arya is also brilliant and I want more of her. She is some serious bad ass 9 year old girl. I have a similar list that I recite every night of all the people I want dead. Mine goes something like this: Kim Kardashian, Tim Tebow, my stupid boss, my apartment manager, Berkley college idiots, my apartment building, ESPN, the obnoxious red headed girl on Celebrity apprentice, and my apartments front desk staff. I also am so pissed at Theon. I told my husband I did not trust him from the get go. I knew he was slimy bastard. Is he dead? I certainly hope so. I'm also really glad that HBO decided to turn these books into a series because it really helps with picturing what this fictional world looks like. It is also brilliantly cast with so many characters populating the books, it is nice to put faces to names.
So far the third book already has started off with more action than the second book had up until this point so I have high hopes. I've been reading at a pretty constant rate since I started so I'll be caught up quite soon I think. If I start having dire wolf dreams tho, someone needs to take the book out of my hands. Although I would not mind having one of those for a pet. Not sure the cats would like it tho. Well, I leave you until the next book or until I feel the need to rant about the endless food descriptions. For dinner there was roasted pheasants and onion pie and apple crisps and mead and spiced wine and...
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