Which concept of the story matter most to you?

[Tannim]

The psychological depth of the characters. No one is good or evil, mostly, everyone is flawed to lesser and far greater degree, and everyone has a reason for what they do. Might be selfish one moment, chartable the next, complete sh*ts by the end, all in one chapter. Further, the evolution, or devolution, each character goes through fascinates me to no end.

[Lord of the Dreadfort]

House Bolton and LF

[Nerevanin]

I like all the intrigues and secret plans etc the most. I also like the element of sudden death. I'd never expect the death of Ned, Catelyn and Robb, definitely not at such an early stage of the story.

[~~~~~~~~~~~~~]

Mystery, intrigue, conflict, good, evil, who is who? Hidden nuggets that make me grin like a kid when I find them.

The characters though are the most intriguing. I want so much to find out more of Arthur Dayne & Ashara too. Howland Reed and Rhaegar and Lyanna.

I'd like to the know the real deal about Viserys & Dany. What happened while they were growing up? It seems so odd to me that Illyrio has come to their rescue now but did not before. Why is that?

What are the Other's swords made of and what is it makes the seasons so crazy? I'd love to hear more of Ashai too. There are no children there. I find that so odd.

There are other dragons in the world so why couldn't they have been used by the Targaryens after the Doom, or after the Dance of the Dragons or after all of their dragons died out? Is there something special about the Targaryen dragons or is it that the Targaryens are dragon lords with specific dragon blood in them.

Who fathered Ashara's child and what happened to that child? Was it really a daughter and did she really die? What is going to happen once the plague of grey scale hits Westeros?

Any way, the anticipation to read more is always present. So, I am rooting for GRRM to get as inspired as he makes the rest of us and finish. Then again, once its over, what will I do then?

[The_Noctua]

How the Game of Thrones will end. Or rather, it's 'status' at the end of the series, because the game of thrones never ends.

[Ser Pounce FTW]

I love the world building he does. It's why I like fantasy and sci fi books. So I enjoy the magical story line as much as the political one. I maybe one of the only ones that appreciates the descriptions of the homes, weather, clothes, food and everything else Martin likes to describe but it really brings the story to life for me. I also like what I think he'll become famous for: his characterization and arcs. The focus on everyone's greyness is refreshing since most people are not "good" or "bad" in the real world. I also like his foreshadowing and "hidden" events that we catch on the second time around, which will probably also be something he's remembered for.

What I dislike: being dead and then not being dead. I have no patience for reanimated undead and for fake outs.

ETA: I also really like his realistic way of events playing out. Most books have the hero get their vengance on the villain and antagonists fall by their own actions. But in the real world, antagonists often succeed and go unpunished and the good guys sometimes fail despite their intentions.

[Lord Damian]

The North, the Starks and the rebirth and consolidation of the Northern Kingdom, independent under house Stark with Brandon as its lawful King or Rickon if not Bran. Jon is a Targ, wall or iron throne but not Winterfell, not after what his father and his family did, no.

[Ser Arthur Hightower]

Hate to come off as too fanboyish, but my answer is all of it. I am happy to read the story he is writing, and trust that something in the books is building up to something important or is interesting enough in its own right. I just read the books and hope that the war/social structure is written in at least a somewhat plausible way.

If I had to say one thing it would be the interactions between 2 interesting characters, as others has said up thread: Stannis and Davos, Stannis and Theon, Catelyn and Jaime (well I don't find Catelyn that interesting but Jaime makes up for it), Tyrion and Tywin. The fact is that battles and other exciting events that are good for games and films don't work as well in print, the best part of a good book is interactions between 2 characters.

[Woman of War]

There are many aspects that fascinate me.

It's the mystery beyond the wall, I want to get lost in what is beyond any possible link to our world, the high fantasy fascination with its tempting escapism. The Night Queen and Nothing.

But just as much, and maybe even more, I am intrigued by compelling characters, by their glorious, pathetic, miserable, hopeless or funny stories, by their development. There are Tyrion, Jaime, Dany, Arya, Theon and so many more, characters I love and root for. And I do not care if they will ever win the jackpot in forums' morality competition.

What I care less about: the fate and future of Houses. I care about people, not names. If House Stark, Lannister or Targaeryen cease to exist, so what?! If Arya,Tyrion or Dany have a a positive fate or not , that's what I'm interested in. Of course I am aware that bloodlines, their magic and and their arrogance are closely linked to the topic of mythology in the books, but they are means to an end to me.

And I am hugely fascinated by The Game since I am very interested in politics, economics and history in RL as well. Though I would certainly love to see it marginalized by forces beyond any rational approach. At the same time I would like to observe how those characters with a pre modern approach like Tyrion or Varys react confronted with events they cannot grasp intellectually alone.

What about religious fanaticism? I hate it thoroughly, be it drowning or burning people, a gruesome parallel to the breaking news. Or humiliating a woman in the name of the Seven, and its cute parallels to RL christianity. All those religious fundamentalists disgust me me In RL like in the books. And yet, at some point of his childhood even Tyrion wanted to be a septon, he knows the Seven Pointed Star by heart and has a hatelove relationship with religion. And the speech of Septon Meribald is one of the most touching parts in the books.

An onlook on religion by Martin who is an agnostic like me is very interesting to read.

What I dislike: being dead and then not being dead. I have no patience for reanimated undead and for fake outs.

:agree:

[HexMachina]

Anything Essos. And the Targaryen history, especially when it.comes to the Dance of Dragons and Blackfyre Rebellions

[BalerionTheCat]

The world is full or mysteries. We are lacking critical information and what we know could be incorrect.

Common knowledge is sometimes wrong, inaccurate interpretation by misinformed people.

Others are blatantly lying, for their own benefit, those they support, or to hide their crimes.

We have to filter and consolidate news in an attempt to build an accurate picture of what is really happening.

So many people attempting to deceive each other.

And also the medieval political system and corrupted chivalry. With smallfolk suffering of the wars and bickering of the nobles.

[zeppelincheetah]

The characters and how perspective is changed with different pov. If the whole series was just about Daenerys I wouldve never made it through the ADWD material. GRRM shines most with the variety of characters and how each feel very different than the next. But also the complex ways story arcs are loosely connected and the moral paths that certain characters go down. I like that it feels like reading 10 series at the same time...and he couldve broken it up that way and it still wouldve been a hit.

[Ser Duncan The Average]

I love the fact that all actions have repercussion, meaning that sometimes there is no right choice. When you add that to that the fact that even the minor characters have their own ambitions and desires it really fleshes out the world and makes it feel real.

[Blazfemur]

I love the fact that all actions have repercussion, meaning that sometimes there is no right choice. When you add that to that the fact that even the minor characters have their own ambitions and desires it really fleshes out the world and makes it feel real.

wait til you see the repercussions of the Stark's breaking contract and there NOT being one in Winterfell to serve as blood ward.. :)

[roxWolfox]

Since I read this for the fantasy aspect, my interest is in The Others, The Land of Always Winter, direwolves and dragons. Unlike most of the readers, I dislike about 99% of the people in Westeros and Essos, and have zero interest in politics that have no bearing in my life, so I am champing at the bit whilst waiting for the final battle.

[Just Maid]

Character development: how Martin is able to built characters who are not simply good or evil. They are just people with virtues and defects trying to survive in their hard world.

I love the political scheming and the magical part of the story. But what I like more is the warging, profetic dreams, prophesys, freaking dragons and direwolves.

[The Dragons Hand]

What Westeros looks like at the end of the series, who is in what position.

[Petyr's Little Finger]

I'm really interested in the game, the plots and the schemes. Also how the game will interact with the song, so I'm keeping a close eye on Mel, BR etc.

[RainGhost]

For me, it's the politics that makes the story so amazing. The magic adds to it and I love GRRM's world building but as far as I'm concerned, the events beyond the Wall are an interesting side show. I don't particularly care who wins the Iron Throne but I love the intrigues, the lies, betrayals, feuds and loyalties.

I also love the characters, how they all seem so real because they're so well developed and all have flaws. I have so many favourite characters, so I still have plenty to root for even though GRRM keeps killing off my favourites. Lots of my favourites are secondary and even really minor characters. I love how even characters that don't appear much can make an impact and even have their own character develop and depth.

[Hear Me Roar!!]

As much as I adore GRRM for not creating black/white characters but various shades of grey, at the moment I cannot wait for the ultimate 'The North Remembers'. So many things building up to the ultimate badass climax matters the most to me atm.