Prologue

First, and this should go without saying (and will henceforth), spoilers for all four A Song of Ice and Fire books, as well as the television series A Game of Thrones, will be everywhere from here on in.

Second, I've decided that I will not write one of these blog post for every chapter in the book. Just the ones I actually have something to say about. This will make it seem like less of a chore or job, and make it more enjoyable (for me, at least).

Now, on to the actual reflection part of the post.

The prologues of these books have become somewhat predictable by now. They tend to set up a major threat or plot point in the book via killing off a one-time POV* character. But, even predictable, it's still damn good storytelling. Martin is a terrific writer, and even though no less than a half-dozen new characters were introduced in this chapter (most of which I'm sure will never be seen again), I never got any of them confused with one another, and within a few pages knew their personalities and a couple of backstories. Though bit players, they're all fully developed.

The main point of this introduction was probably to tell us that news of Dany's dragons has started to spread to Westeros. I'm sure that this will be built on more throughout the story, and it'll be interesting to watch Cersei sweat with news of the last Targareyan seemingly growing stronger.

Speaking of Cersei, I wonder what her next step will be. With both Joffrey and Tywin dead, and Tyrion on the run, she'll be in full control of King's Landing via Tommen. This would be a great time for Stannis to strike, but I doubt he'll do so, as it seems he'll be pretty busy up at the wall with Lord Commander Snow for a while. This would also, by the way, be the best time for the Greyjoys to decide on a replacement for Theon's father (his name escapes me at the moment, but I think it was Balon).

It will also be interesting to see what will happen with that Alchemist.

Oh, and how stupid is Pate? I mean, wanting to get laid is one thing, but is stealing from the Citadel so he could afford a whore really the best solution? He was too stupid not to be killed. Maybe if he hadn't demanded to see The Alchemist's face he would've let him live. (Nah, prolly not)

Also, I've heard that two of my favorite characters, Tyrion Lannister and Dany Targareyan, aren't in this book at all, and that the third, Jon Snow, only gets a few POV chapters. That's a bummer, but Martin's books are anything but disappointments, so I'm sure he'll introduce new characters just as interesting.

This post has become much too long now, so I'll end here. Thanks for reading.

*Point of view