Welcome to Litsy!

Bracket number two. I like the flexibility of more wildcards in this one. It‘ll be interesting how they turn out since this one is so different from my other even picking same books in the month. @CSeydel thanks for the bracket.

August was easy because I only read one book. I probably wouldn‘t have picked it if I had finished one of the other books I was working on but still 4 more months I‘m the year. And makes for easy choices moving further in the bracket. I love how different the two brackets I have are turning out. Upper left was a tough decision for Lincoln Highway shadow more staying power for me. @Catsandbooks Thanks for the bracket!

I'd forgotten now different the ending of this book was from the HBO series. Other differences as well, but the worst cliffhangers. Sigh... Never gonna get the rest.

Thanks @5feet.of.fury for the group read.
#ReadingWesteros

Ser Kevan meets with the council, absent are Cersei, Margaery &Tommen. Ronnet Connington is there disavowing Jon Connington, the Golden Company & “the Targaryen pretender”. Kevan remembers that the boy presented to Tywin was unrecognizable.
They downplay Dany, calling her “queen of Slaver‘s Bay”
They ponder Cersei‘s champion, Ser Robert Strong, the silent giant
Later he goes to Pycelle, but is attacked with a cross bow. For the good of the realm…

Tough one to rate. Ultimately most of it kept me entertained & enthusiastic to see what is next, but seeing how few things are resolved (I can only think of 1 character arc really completed) with time spent on things of little consequence (I‘m looking at you Quentyn)…
Oof.
But when it‘s good it‘s great (Jon, Arya, Jaime, THEON, the prophecies and possibilities)

Dany has been with Drogon on her own personal Dragonstone. She knows she must return to Meereen & Hizdahr. Her dragon is reluctant to return, so she starts the journey on foot.
The foraging makes her ill. Her moon blood starts, but seems different. She think of her friends &enemies &hears their voices. When she can go no further she calls for Drogon. They feast.
Khal Jhaqo finds them.

So many thoughts. I love Westeros which is why it gets a so/so instead of a pan. My gosh did GRRM lose his way with this one. That‘s why we don‘t have a new book- he‘s mucked everything up and doesn‘t know how to fix it 😂 Not to mention parts of this just felt self indulgent vs actually moving the plot. Oy vey. I have to reconcile that neither he nor Rothfuss will ever finish :/ #ReadingWesteros

Barristan is acting as Hand &leading the council. The Sons of the Harpy have resumed their killings
Belwas has recovered
Quentyn‘s accomplices are imprisoned. Some would send them to fighting pits but that might attract the dragons. Barristan will give them a ship to return home if they arrange the Tattered Prince (in exchange for Pentos) to help the hostages
The Yunkai‘i declare war & use trebuchets to launch corpses into Meereen.

@IMASLOWREADER @Bklover @tdrosebud @Sargar114 @Roary47 @HeyT @BookwormAHN @BethM @BooksNBowls @majkia @Lizpixie @StayCurious @mjdowens @Gissy @Doppoetry @Captivatedbybooks #GOTChapterADay #ReadingWesteros #JonSnow

3✨This sure wasn‘t my favorite in the series. There was a lot going on with lots of random characters and only a few on the main storyline. Sadly, I was hoping for more being currently the last book in the series. I hope the next one will come out to tie up all the loose ends. #Readingwesteros @5feet.of.fury

With much trepidation, they move forward with their plan, dressed as Brazen Beasts; Quentyn, Gerris & Arch proceed. Quentyn has a whip, as Dany used on Drogon.
The code word they give the guards doesn‘t work, they fight, win & break in.
The dragons have broken their chains. They try to placate the beasts with meat, but they are too wild.
The other Windblown enter &are burned.
He tries again to tame Viserion, but is burned by Rhaegal

Barristan makes it his mission to protect the dragons. His plan is to capture Hizdahr without breaking the peace. Others want a more ruthless approach, threatening Dany‘s cupbearers -only children
He reminisces over Ashara Dayne &the tourney at Harrenhal before confronting Hizdahr. He takes care of the guards and captures Hizdahr. Reznak sends a messenger for Hizdahr to come outside. The dragons are loosed.

Tyrion signs his agreements with the Second Sons, paying gold to the Sons &lordship to Brown Ben Plumm
Penny is unusually tired, Tyrion worries she is getting sick
He &Jorah are outfitted at the armory. He teaches Penny the basics of swinging a sword, she‘s regretting her decision to follow him
Jorah &Tyrion both know that the Second Sons are on the losing side, with the dragons & Unsullied in Meereen. Tyrion will help them turn their cloaks again

Cersei has chosen atonement, Margaery has chosen trial. Restless, she wonders if the choose correctly. She must walk through the smallfolk back to the Red Keep
They cut her hair
The crowd yells insults &becomes unruly but, bleeding & horrified, she makes it to the castle. Tommen is not there, only Ser Kevan.
She is lifted by 8 ft tall “Ser Robert Strong”. Qyburn presents her champion saying he will drive enemies from the realm

She is still trying to prove herself, disguised as Cat of the Canals again. She is to give the gift to an old man, but he is nervous &well guarded. The kindly man grows impatient as she questions & rationalizes, but she makes a plan
She is given a new face. Ugly.
She robs a shipowner doing business with the old man, replacing a coin with her own. The old man‘s heart gave out soon after. Her apprenticeship starts

The Iron Fleet runs down a trading ship, Ghiscari Dawn. Victarion is relying heavily of Moqorro‘s prophecies. The other ironborn fear the red priest
Victarion races to Dany even as the Ghiscari say she is dead. Feeling both the Drowned God & R‘hllor are on his side, he makes sacrifices to both
Moqorro tells him he must claim Euron‘s hellhorn to bind the dragons to him

They have been 3 days from Winterfell for 19 days. People are freezing, 2 that resorted to cannibalism were burned for it. Asha wonders when she will be sacrificed
Marching to Winterfell seems futile with the men so weak
When looking for Justin she hears horses approach. They think it is Roose, but the riders identify themselves as friends: Tycho of the Iron Bank, a woman with frostbite & who she first thinks is an old man

Jon Connington &Golden Company arrive Cape Wrath. He looks over his lands ®rets not killing Robert Baratheon, blames himself for Rhaegar‘s death. Vows not to fail both father &son
Potential for allies as Lannisters‘ relations fray. They have incentive of a marriage with Prince Aegon, but saves that for Dany
Hides the greyscale on his arm
He wants the Prince to stay safely in the Roost as they attack Storm‘s End, but the young man wants to lead

Quentyn doesn‘t want to leave empty handed, he tells his companions to leave without him, they stay.
He is over the marriage pact with Dany, the real prize is her dragons. His friend doubt the dragons will sense his Targaryen blood.
He meets with the Tattered Prince who taunts him, Quentyn negotiates, he needs help stealing a dragon. The Tattered Prince will help if he gets Pentos.

Ser Barristan watches Hizdahr hold court. He thinks of the poison locusts: maybe they were intended for Hizdahr, a plot to ensure her marriage to Quentyn. Yunkai demands the dragons be killed, Hizdahr dismisses the court
Barristan tells Quentyn to go back to Dorne. Now. Stressing the poisoning, the danger to his life or him as a scapegoat. Quentyn won‘t leave without Dany, fearing returning empty handed.

4,000 wildlings will come through the wall today. As hostages come through, Jon takes Tormunds son Dryn as his page. Jon says the Horn of Joramun was burned, Tormund says they never found the real horn
Wildlings ring their camps with fire to keep back the Others. They get everyone through by nightfall.
He gets a letter from Cotter Pyke at Hardhome, Braavosi would only take women &chdren, he is stranded, “dead things in the wood and the water”

Penny &Tyrion‘s master Yezzan is suffering of the flux. They are concerned if he dies they will be killed to serve him in the afterlife or be inherited by his heirs or back to the auction block
Tyrion makes way across the camp with Jorah &Penny to meet with Brown Ben Plumm of the Second Sons. House Plumm is sworn to Casterly Rock. Second Sons need fighters & Jorah seals the deal.

Victarion had sailed with 93 ships but now there are only 54. The rest lost or sunk.
The injury to his shield hand festers, the Maester tells him he may lose it. He suspects poison, but doubts it‘s from Serry‘s blade. He grows suspicious of the maester
The ship Grief says they plucked a wizard from the sea. The wizard (in reality, Red Priest Moqorro) uses magic to fix Victarion‘s hand
Victarion sacrifices the maester to the Drowned God & they sail

No one has found a trace of Dany since Drogon flew from the city. Most think she is dead. But Barristan refuses to believe it.
Hizdahr is guarded by pit fighters as he negotiates with the Yunkai‘i.
He checks on Rhaegal &Viserion, who are underfed then goes to see Skahaz who says Hizdahr‘s peace is a sham, Sons of the Harpy poisoned the locusts Belwas ate which were intended for Dany.
Hizdahr rules now, but Barristan swole no oath to him.

Cersei is in her cell, she hopes for Jaime to arrive, wonders if Loras has died
The septas seek her confession, waking her at night. She decides to give it, pleading a version of events. High Septon still insists on a trial, but she is allowed visitors
She calls on Kevan, who tells her Jaime is missing from Riverlands &rode off with a woman. The case against Margaery is weak. Myrcella is injured. She leaves filling the Kingsguard vacancy to Qyburn

Discussions with Tormund start off rough, but they come to terms. In 3 days the 4000 wildlings will come through the gate
Val offers to play the role of Princess &help Jon. They go to Queen Selyse, who is displeased at the compromise. Shireen‘s greyscale upsets Val, she wants the baby moved away from Shireen, calling her the dead girl
Many of the Brothers do not support Jon‘s plan
He remembers again the prophecy

Dany goes to the reopened fighting pits at Hizdahr‘s side. The people cheer,but she resents it
They watch the matches, &a folly:a pair of jousting dwarves. The humor is lost on her. Hizdahr tells of a surprise, 3 lions will be loosed, the dwarves unaware
Dany forbids it
Seeing Barsena slain by a boar is overwhelms. as Dany tries to flee Drogon arrives to feast on both Barsena &boar. Dany approaches him, after a test of wills, flies off in his back

Dany regrets her decision, even while she reminds herself they have peace with Yunkai. She resents that the slave trade is reopened in front of her
They traded hostages before the feast
Brown Ben of Second Sons makes no apology for their defection. Dany plots revenge.
She brings Quentyn to meet her children. Warns him he has made an enemy of Daario
She & Hizdahr consummate their marriage, she is restless, asks Missadei to comfort her with stories

#Bookreport

📚Currently reading:

📕Fire & Blood
📕Akechi Kogoro
📙The Witness for the Dead
📙Project Hail Mary

Progress:
finished ADWD. I am reaching the end of Project Hail Mary and the other palette cleansers I've picked up. My next BIG read is F&B and then I need to find time to start the other ones I've been wanting to start. When will my motivation come back from the war?

Melisandre leads the prayer as Alys & the Magnar of Thenns are wed.
After Alys had arrived, Jon took Cregan Karstark& his men prisoner.
Melisandre has been unable to see Stannis or Mance in the flames, all she sees is Jon, “daggers in the dark”
He speaks with Cregan, &joins the feast, but seeing it he worries about shortages. Alys, a woman wed now, with a wildling army plans to take back the Karhold.
Val returns w/Tormund

Riverrun secured, they turn to Raventree -last remnant of the Young Wolf‘s kingdom
Then he can return to KingsLanding where he will have to face Cersei.
He sets terms with Lord Jonos &Lord Tytos. He leaves with Tytos‘s son Hoster as hostage.
Pennytree locks the gates, they camp outside the walls, a rider brings Jaime a familiar captive, she tells him her quest will fail -she‘s found, but the Hound will kill her if they don‘t hurry.

The remaining crewman are sold into slavery in a Yunkish camp. Tyrion &Penny are sold together to Yazzan xo Qaggaz. Jorah had fought against the slavers, but hearing of Dany‘s marriage defeated him. Tyrion encourages Yezzan to bid on Jorah.
Tyrion faces Plumm, of the Second Sons, in a game of cyvasse &wins.
Tyrion is told he &Penny will joust in the Great Pit of Daznak

A dead man is found in Winterfell, some claim Stannis has men in the fort, Roose laughs it off
Holly, the singer‘s girl requests to tour the crypts,he wonders what they want from him
Some want to bring the fight to Stannis, others start to quarrel. More corpses are found,Reek is blamed, Lady Dustin notes the folly
He hears the warhorn, walks to the godswood, prays to die as a man. he sees Bran‘s face in the weirwood. The singer‘s girls come to him

She was the night wolf when she dreamed. Now she calls herself Blind Beth. The kindly man asks her for 3 new things &she continues to her lessons &duties
Blind acolytes are not uncommon, but none as young as her
In disguise, she thinks even Jon wouldn‘t recognize Blind Beth.She goes to do her begging, to Pynto‘s, where through the tomcat she sees &hears of Lysene ships&wildlings from Hardhome
She awakens the next day to see a candle flame dancing

Jon meets Queen Selyse, Princess Shireen &Tycho from the Iron Bank. Selyse demands to stay at Nightfort feeling Eastwatch will be attacked &unsafe for Shireen
Tycho tells Jon that Lannisters have stopped making payments, the debt is owned by the Iron Throne &whoever sits on it. Jon makes a deal for Tycho‘s ships &gold to feed men until spring
Ser Axell asks to see Val
A highborn girl arrives on a dying horse. His hopes build as he thinks of Arya..

Daario sleeps next to Dany while she frets. Only 2 days until the wedding
Daario introduces guests from Dorne with gifts for Dany, they say the 3 are knights. The one called frog presents a gift- a secret pact for a Targaryen/Martell marriage, Viserys to Arianne did not come to be. Frog reveals himself to be Quentyn Martell& proposes to Dany
She recalls Quaithe‘s prophecy “the sun‘s son” leading to deception &goes on with her wedding to Hizdahr

The King‘s host departs for Winterfell, predicted 15 day march. Asha is injured &chained in the baggage train. She knows she will be a demonstration that Stannis can vanquish the ironborn
She worries for Theon, unlikely he will survive regardless of the victor
Snow &lack of provisions quickly becomes a problem. Stannis doesn‘t allow a sacrifice to R‘hllor to stop the storm. In 32 days they were still marching with a trail of their dead behind

Lady Arya has not been seen out since the wedding. Reek sees her bruises &reminds her of their roles
He wonders if Stannis will storm the castle,or use stealth as he had:the snow will encourage quick action
Lady Dustin asks to see the crypts, notes that Northmen will not want Arya mistreated. She was with Brandon before he was betrothed to Cat,she was settled with Lord Dustin who died under Ned‘s command,she‘ll never allow Ned‘s bones to rest here

Tyrion practices jousting on a pig with Penny for their performance for Dany. Tyrion pieces together why Jorah was no longer with her, he goads Jorah that this won‘t win her heart
As a storm hit, Tyrion shares an awkward kiss with Penny, Tyrion reminds her he is a married man
The ship barely stays afloat, they drift for 19 days, finally they see a ship on the horizon, but Jorah notes it‘s a slaver ship

Val is sent to find Tormund, Jon‘s broken vow to Stannis to keep her close weighs on him.
Bowen March confronts Jon, the men have concerns about Jon‘s taking in wildlings, splitting men to other forts, selecting Satin as his squire… & guarding corpses that will rise as wights
They call his offer to Tormund treason, but Jon says if they defeat the enemy in the wildlings, they will rise again as a worse enemy.

Balon Swann arrives with The Mountain‘s head. They toast to Tommen. Areo Hotah watches those who do not drink, including Obara, Nymeria & lTyene
Doran proposes to send Tristane &Myrcella to KingsLanding, his nieces have concerns, they seek vengeance, &Ellaria pleads for peace
Doran discovered that Cersei is planning an attack on Tristane that will frame Tyrion
They decide to gram Darkstar for Myrcella‘s attack & send Nym with Myrcella

Reek reminds Ramsay‘s bride that she must only think of herself as the role she‘s in, even as she tries to get him to remember who he was.
As the “closest thing to kin”, he is to give her away. But he knows this isn‘t so. By using him no one will question her
Reek thinks back on all the things that happened at Winterfell
He is asked to escort her to the bedding, to unveil her & “help” He feels it‘s a trap, a test… so he does

Dany visits the Astapori camp outside Meereen. She feeds them ignoring warnings. They help bury the dead & wash the sick
Later Dany dresses to dine with Hizdahr, she grudgingly agrees to their betrothal rituals but refuses to open the fighting pits
Daario‘s return interrupts dinner. The Second Sons have gone over to Yunkai. The have to close the gates & arm the walls -locking out the Astapori. She gives in to her desire for Daario

This quote just leapt off the page at me. Love it. #readingwesteros

Jon goes beyond the Wall to take new recruits to the weirwood. Wildlings are camped nearby, Jon says he does not want battle here, most of them are wounded, Jon encourages them to shelter at the Wall but they heard wildlings were burned. He curses Melisandre &promises them safety
He has a letter from Stannis telling of Bolton‘s plans for Arya & Winterfell. Jon tries to reconcile Arya‘s situation with Melisandre‘s vision &what he is doing to help

Bran learns to warg into a raven,but he feels another presence.A woman,long dead,part of her remains in the animal
When the others go to the river,Bran slips into Hodor‘s mind, Hodor allows it easily now
Jojen is ill, Meera is sad,Bran feels useless
Bran puts himself in the weirwood, he can see the past-present-future.Visions of young Ned, a boy &girl child (looks like Arya),a woman asking for a son to avenge her,a white haired woman with a sickle

On the ship Moqorro looks into the flames seeing a small man with a big shadow.
Tyrion frets about Penny &feels badly that someone killed her brother for Cersei‘s reward for Tyrion‘s head, but refuses to take the responsibility or guilt. As she works through her grief they become friendly
Moqorro has a vision of a twisted thing with 1 black eye & 10 arms, sailing on a sea of blood

Ramsay returns in a foul mood, as does Roose who reports the Freys that were with Lord Wyman are gone. Wyman stopped to feast &the men disappeared
Roose &Ramsay try to keep stories straight about the Starks/Winterfell, Reek struggles with the repressed memories
Roose takes Reek &reveals he knows about Ramsay‘s wickedness. He offers to clean Reek up, but Reek is terrified. He is brought before Lady Barbrey &announced as Theon heir to iron isles