Best to get back to this eventually, eh? Summary will be a rough gloss over of what's happened so far, and whilst I'm less bothered by not including something on the first post of the series (because that was six chapters, and six chapters is virtually nothing), this post is going to delve far deeper into the book. Therefore, there be spoilers to a 15 year old book in this here post. Don't say I didn't warn you.
Also, if you're going to stop reading here, allow me to very highly suggest the series. It's a book (and hopefully series) that is more concerned with how it's characters are pushing ahead the plot rather than the plot itself. Each of the focal characters have their own role and their own actions, each of their actions have been fairly in character, and it's easy enough to like 90% of the cast, regardless of their foibles. Anyway.
What's Happened So Far:
Well, everything I talked about here, for starters. That, then, lay the groundwork for what followed. It turns out that the King's Hand (the royal who metes out the King's punishment) was recently made to be dead. We already heard all this, from Catelyn (Eddard Stark's wife). What we hear more of is that there are certain suspicions behind the old Hand's death. Suspicions that involve the Lannister family. The Queen just so happens to be a Lannister.
So it goes all the way to the top.
The bulk of these chapters are more involved with setting up the world and the rest of the main characters. The Stark's are all set to split up, with Papa Stark taking his two daughters and son, Bran. Bran, however, has the misfortune to find the Queen and her brother somewhat entangled. This wouldn't be a problem, except that the foolish child nearly falls to his death. Luckily, the Queen's twin brother Jaime Lannister saves the boy from falling to his death, only to push him out the open window.
Bran survives, but the ramifications for the Stark family are fairly huge. Each of the members takes it rather poorly. Catelyn becomes nearly catatonic, and stays with the poor boy in all her free time. Papa Stark takes all the blame onto himself. His daughters become depressed, and Robb Stark steps up his game as oldest son and begins to assume control of Winterfell, in order to ease into leading the northern lands in the abscense of Papa Stark.
Jon Snow, Stark's bastard son, decides to head to the Night Watch, an old army that maintains the Northern Wall, a huge structure that acts to keep all the nasties away from the good people of Westeros. The army (and wall by extension) has fallen into disrepair over the years, and there's only a small portion of the forces left. Tyrion Lannister, a misshapen dwarf who is the best character of the book. Jon stays at the wall and begins training for a life of misery, and Tyrion makes it back to Winterfall to head south with the rest of the King's party.
On the way south, Sansa Stark flirts with Joffrey Lannister, who will become both King and her husband, later on. This flirtation is cut short when they happen upon Arya playing at swords with a peasant. Joffrey decides it's time to take up the Lannister mantle of Huge Douchebag and bother the two of them, up to the point where Nymeria (Arya's Direwolf) attacks Joffrey, lightly wounding him. This throws everyone in the camp into a tizzy, and the Queen puts out an order for the Direwolf's pelt. Nymeria can't be found, but Sansa's wolf was. Papa Stark put down the big puppy himself, and everyone was all emo.
Arriving to the city didn't make things any easier either. Catelyn was waiting for Ned, with news that Bran was awake and alive (yay) but that one of the Lannisters had paid to have him killed (boo). Arya is taking fencing lessons. And yeah. It's all pretty crazy.
Oh, and the ex-princess Dany from across the sea married the leader of a great tribe of wandering horsemen and came into possession of some dragon eggs. This will only end well, clearly.
Thoughts
I don't think I'm going to wait so long to do another recap post. That's a pain in the ass. Let's see... I discussed the use of politics last time, and that's actually more evident here. How about this. Westeros is a place where good things don't happen on a large scale. The old, insane, inbred king was deposed by an all together better person, yes. Except the new king later descended into a pit of gluttony, and the kingdom overall is millions of gold in debt. Stark may have been promoted, but his son was defenestrated and then nearly killed. A Song of Fire and Ice is not interested in making you happy.
And yet, this is a book that seems to relish in giving the characters little snippets of happiness. Dany has lived with an incredibly abusive brother, but is now married to a man that seems to care for her and has finally found a place where she "belongs". Arya has gotten permission from her father to maintain her own identity without falling into the classic princess mold. Jon finally has a place that he can succeed at based on his own strengths and weaknesses, and is starting to make friends. Overall, the story is moving into a far more deadly and unstable chain of events (Winter is coming, after all), but Martin seems determined to give the characters (and the reader) their own personal victories and celebrations.
And what's more, these are personalized to the characters. Dany's heard all her life that she's a princess, but never had anything to go along with it. Arya has rebelled all her life against the stereotypically female role, and has finally achieved some balance now that she's away from home. Jon has been a perpetual +1 all his life, important enough to be around based on his father's wishes, but never enough to truly succeed or carve out his own niche. These are all great personal victories for each of the characters in their own unique way. It's nice. It's really nice to see. Honestly, I'm enjoying the hell out of this read. So huzzah for that, I guess.
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