Francis Buck

I just recently blasted through every GGK book on Kindle, aside from Ysabel (started it, didn't really like it). Out of Sarantium, UH, RoS, Lions, and The Last Light of the Sun, I think UH was my favorite. I agree with polishgenius's critique of Lions. The gimmick got old, quick. It's unfortunate too, because the only time he really should have used it, in my opinion, was the final fight, where it actually made some sense thematically, but by the time it got there I just kind of worn-out on the trick. I thought UH was almost perfect, but the ending fell a little flat. In particular, I didn't like how:

Shen Tai's sister (can't remember her name for the life of me) and the semi-undead Mongol-esque dude didn't somehow play a greater role in the ending. Their story was actually very interesting and well done, but the whole time I'm expecting some kind of crazy collision of plots...but, no, she just comes home. Even her marrying the Emperor's son could have been made to work out more interestingly, to intertwine with the greater plot, if so much of the ending hadn't been offscreen, as other's said. And yeah, a Roshan POV could have done wonders. He was an extremely interesting character to me, and was a great villain, but there just wasn't enough pay-off. All that being said, I still loved the hell out of it. The set-up was brilliant, I thought (Shen Tai digging graves and then getting the absurdly valuable gift), but unfortunately GGK didn't entirely stick the landing.

And I still want to read Tigana. It was actually my first choice after Lions, but there's no Kindle version, and it's not at my library, so I'll have to pick up a paper copy at some point.

Actually, I think several of GGK's books would have been a bit better if the villains had a little more of the spotlight. They seem to flutter around the edges, and then their real actions all happen in info-dumps of prose about wars and the various states of the civilizations involved, etc., which is something I generally can't stand. I just don't think it's compelling writing at all, in any of the forms I've seen it.

What's kinda sad is that that song is significantly better than 90% of rap on the radio.

Best episode yet. I honestly do not understand how someone can say these changes were negative; by doing so you're basically just claiming that GRRM's story is completely perfect and cannot be altered whatsoever in any way. Having the dragons be stolen adds an awesome boost to Dany's storyline that was sorely needed. You can tell that they're really going to be make the HotU intense and very important to Dany's story this season. And the alterations to Theon's subplot only served to make his arc even more tragic and powerful than it was. Alfie Allen's acting this season has easily been in the top five of the show; he really just adds a whole new dimension to that plot.

And beyond anything else...Ramsay has been confirmed! How can you not be fucking psyched about that?

Shadowbaby was nothing like I imagined...and far more awesome.

I have a question. Was the big guy at the end of the episode supposed to be Gregor? Not the bald Amory Lorch, but the dude that pushed over Yoren's dead body with his sword. He looked like a really big guy, but he was wearing Lannister armor and it was kinda dark. I hope it's not Gregor though, only because it would be weird for him to wear Lannister armor instead of his intense black super-armor, which is like half the reason he's so damn hard to kill. If that's the case, it'll probably be the first thing to really bother me at all so far this season (I mean it's hardly a big deal whatsoever, just a stupid little personal gripe, but still it doesn't make much sense that he wouldn't wear his own armor, since he's the lord of his own house and not a part of the Lannister family, just a bannerman).

I always had the impression that Margaery was a bit of a shcemer. Certainly not on the level of Olenna, but still more than competent. She easily holds her own against Cersei (which really isn't much, but still). I definitely wouldn't say she's totally "innocent" either, at least in the sense of a pawn being moved around while she's completely oblivious -- she definitley knows what's going on around her, and she knows the role she has to play.

I assumed it was because the color purple signifies royalty, and it was a royal wedding.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but don't they call it the Gray Wedding in the books?