68 replies to this topic

[SeaSiren]

There just seems to be too much injustice... I dont know how much I can bear !

[Caz]

I just read about the 'red wedding' last night.  I had to stop, take a breather and go to bed!  I'm pretty sure that whole scene occupied my thoughts before I nodded off to sleep.  I picked up the book again today and have just read about another wedding and now I'm having to take another breather.  Half the characters I've come to know over the course of three books have just been wiped out!   It's just brutal...but compelling!

[DebMc]

Don't lose heart - there will be some "payback" in subsequent books.

[LadyMondragon]

This chapter made me so so so sad. I had to put it down and walk away for a day to let it really sink in. The Starks really remind me of the Kennedy's. What a cursed family!

I had a bad feeling going into the whole thing. Walder was being entirely too nice, considering his pride.

[Olorun Sand]

I've read SoS twice and I had to put the book down even after the second reading.  If you like or have any kind of investment in these characters I believe it's a natural reaction.

It's so worth it to keep reading.  Although the emotional roller coaster does'nt stop.

[LadyMondragon]

That's what I hear. I have so many unanswered questions!!! I hope we get some sort of resolution!

[Caz]

No way will I stop reading!  I don't doubt for one minute that I'll be sitting with my mouth agape on many more occasions yet, but I need to carry on to have questions answered and at least some small amount of payback!  There's been some recompense already with the 'other' wedding but even that's small comfort at the moment.  I have to say though, ASOS has been my absolute favourite of the series so far, despite the horrors!

[Wightman]

Seriously, I wonder how many readers stopped reading after "The Red wedding" for good, never to pick it up again, and how many came back?

[Caz]

I've finished ASOS now and there were more moments of and some payback!  I don't think I've stopped reading a book since (suitably shamed) Lord Of The Rings (it didn't half ramble on!)  and I don't think I could stop reading these books if my life depended on it...they've got me hooked good and proper, despite the sheer brutality of it all!

[leroy_harford]

Was I the only one who was OVERJOYED AND ESTASTIC after the Red Wedding? I was completely uplifted, when Walder Frey turned out to be the biggest traitor. If I needed more proof that he is one of my favorite characters, that was it. He literally got his WHOLE FAMILY in on it. I was so impressed. If I needed any encouragement to finish this series, that was it. Nothing makes me happier than seeing Starks get taken out two at a time.

Spoilers for rest of book:

On the other hand, the very end of the book for me was what the Red Wedding seems to be for everyone else. When Catelyn turned out to be alive, I shouted, "MAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRTIIIIIIIINN!!" I should have know it was too good to be true. As long as she never finds out that Bran, Rickon and Arya are alive, I'd still be happy though. Anyways, I felt that was a disapointing final page, when a character believed dead turned up alive (if it was Viserys doing that, on that other hand, I would be overjoyed). AND, if ROBB comes back to life somehow, after his decapitation, and his wolf being sewed to his head, THAT would be the thing that makes me not completely happy.

[Bastard Walder]

iheartseverus, on 08 August 2011 - 08:12 PM, said:

Fab, believe me, all of us came to a dead stop after the Red Wedding.  I read it years ago and I think every aspect of it is still burned into my brain.  But, there is soooo much more come, huge new universes to explore, well worth the journey.  Take a breath, take a break, settle your mind, and then dive back in.  I'd suggest you read the thread in this section 'The Wedding at the Twins', from beginning to end to see other new readers' reactions (many very similar to yours) and what they have to say and how they moved on from this incredibly disturbing point in the series.  

I'm curious that you say 'HBO is willing to save characters that died in the books.'  Uhhhh, not in this series...

Speak for yourself. That event only made me read faster.

[richardya]

Robb was always destined not to last, if he was to be king he would have been more prominent. This is Arya's story, most of your original feelings about these characters stem from Arya.Ned, Joff, Cat, Stansa, Jon even the Lanisters in a way.
Jamie is not a bad guy, I am invested in him. Secret hope that he and Brienne run away together. However, I see Brienne and Arya joining up at some point.

[femon]

I didn't understand why the characters were saying that Cat gone mad because she kills the Walder Frey's son. I mean, it's gonna happen something in the future about this? She was trying to defend Robb, so, why more then one character commented the fact like she was beside herself? For me, it seem a polemic for nothing in the book.

[Thor The Andal]

I just finished the third book a week or so ago. To me the Red Wedding is very important and a reminder that no one is safe in this series. As much as we'd like to have Robb be king, it keeps us honest as readers to really have no idea where all of this might go. The series could easily slip into a cliche fantasy series if Robb lived on.

[Elyrica]

After I read about the Red Wedding I thought "Well now I have to read on to see who will then sit the Iron Trhone - and avenge Robb"...well, it still counts as motivation.

[utecifa]

It's something that had to happen.

It's tough if you have never been spoiled on it and read it, literally having no clue, but nonetheless an evil necessity of this tale.

[One of Three]

I wish the Red Wedding had more of an impact on me, but, as I am one of those who saw the TV show first, happened to glance a youtube comment where the guy had named every major character death from CoK to DwD, so unfortunetly I'll never have that initial shock of reading it for the first time.

[Real Heir of Bear Island]

My buddy read the book years before me. After Ned died he told me more would happen. He mentioned at one point in the third book he stopped to throw the book accross the room and didn't pick it up for a few days.
I was kind of able to predict it would be Robb next. I read a little closer, knowing something was coming and the foresahdowing was strong. It still hurt a lot, I just reread it this morning and it still hurts.
The end of the next chapter really scared the crap out of me on my first read too.

[Real Heir of Bear Island]

femon, on 01 December 2012 - 05:50 PM, said:

I didn't understand why the characters were saying that Cat gone mad because she kills the Walder Frey's son. I mean, it's gonna happen something in the future about this? She was trying to defend Robb, so, why more then one character commented the fact like she was beside herself? For me, it seem a polemic for nothing in the book.

Read a little closer. She clawed her eyes out and was screaming and crying. She totally lost it.

Edited by Real Heir of Bear Island, 13 December 2012 - 01:24 PM.

[tom_saxon]

Fab, on 08 August 2011 - 07:59 PM, said:

Spoilers warning - I don't know how to use the spoiler tag.

Hey,

  So I just read the red wedding catelyn chapter and the following arya chapter all set at the twins.  I haven't been able to pick the book back up since.  I give GRRM credit for being willing to buck the mold where certain characters are untouchable (and I thought I wouldn't be so cliche) but I'm just having trouble who I'm reading this for now.  What characters am I suppose to like and be excited about?  I haven't even gotten to the part where something happens to their remains.  

  Basically, I'm hoping people can encourage me to keep reading.  I've been enthralled in the books.  It's almost like veral books in one as each storyline could be almost it's own book.   Please no spoilers but should read on?  Part of me is willing to just wait till HBO continues cause they have been willing to save characters that died in the books (Lafayette in TrueBlood think).

Thanks in advance,

Mike

P.s.  Please, no spoilers past where I am in SOS.  Vague encouragement would be appreciated.

I felt this same exact way when I read the RW even though I knew what was going to happen.  I am not going to reassure you that there are great new worlds with different exciting characters (even though there are) because like me, you are invested in the characters that already are.  

I can tell you this though- the RW is NOT the last we hear from the Starks.  I am only a little further along than you (about 1/4th through affc) and already get the sense that the injustices visited upon the Starks will eventually be seen as what unleashes the true Dire Wolf that is the spirit of the Stark clan.

Greive  for characters loved and lost, and then read on.  The story is far from over.