I didn't care too much that he died, but the fact he didn't communicate his findings to anyone (that I noticed) felt like a sucker punch. So many pages unraveling the mystery, then boom, headshot! The least he could've done was kept notes... I hope Martin does something to continue Ned's legacy, but it'd be hard to do so without making it cheesy.
Sansa = Dumb Bitch?
I couldn't get the thought out of my head whenever I read her chapters. If Martin can make me like her, he's a genius.
WinnArs!
Tyrion, Arya, and Jon rock. Therefore, they probably will die :(
Multiple perspectives good
However, not even having a unique number or table of contents to distinguish chapters makes finding information a real pain in the ass.
Case in point, I took a while to find Arya's castle diving adventure. I'm still not sure who were the two people she eavesdropped on, and I'm not sure I'm supposed to know. The fact one is scarred makes me think it's the hound. As for the affluent "wizard" "juggler" that mentions Dany, I had a sneaking suspicion he'd be Illeryio (sp?), but he's across the sea. Then again, the concept of time in that book wasn't constant. It was difficult to determine real world time at any given moment.
Blatant cliffhanger fun
I guess "A Clash of Kings" is appropriate. I "think" there are four:
Renly Baratheon in the South
Stannis Baratheon from Dragonstone
Robb, the King in the North (about time!)
Boy-King Joffery, who should've been Nymeria food
Also, it's about damn time those eggs hatched, although that was the most deus ex machina moment of the book for me.
All the children have a lot of growing up to do. I think the point of the series is to be found within the first chapter. This was only apparent after my third rereading.
As for the fifth king, should I know and I missed one foolishly, or will that been revealed in A Clash of Kings? I should be getting that this weekend or the next.
Don't worry, a lot more characters you will like will die before the end and very few of the characters you hate will.
If you want to borrow them, I have Clash of Kings, Storm of Swords, and a Feast for Crows sitting on my bookshelf. Although, this series is worth buying.
There's two snippets from the next novel that alternate at georgerrmartin.com. I had read the first one a long time ago, but the Jon one was new to me.
