A Storm of Swords stays interesting the whole of its length, though, and I actually started liking the series towards the end. But truly liking any of the characters is still quite challenging. It seems everyone has some stupid flaw or two, which makes them vulnerable. And either they can't do anything about it or just don't want to.
For instance, Robb Stark marrying some random lady and breaking his alliance with the Freys was just dumb. The king who won all his battles but lost everything else, including his own life in the end -- mistakes are costly when you play the game of thrones. I found it curious that he never was a viewpoint character, when the other important Starks are or were, except for Rickon who was actually completely missing from the book. But he's so young that I doubt anything comes of him anyway.
At least he has kept his wolf alive, unlike Sansa who's easily the most useless (viewpoint) character in the series. She has absolutely no power at all. Same level of dislike I have for Daenerys, though not for the same reason. She certainly has power now however silly and chancy the acquisition of the army of the Unsullied was. But her strength is far away from the Seven Kingdoms, and she even decides to stay awhile in the whatever lands. While all the excitement is happening on the other side of the world.
I'd imagine Joffrey's death made many readers happy. And of course Tyrion is blamed. Lord Petyr plays the Game quite masterfully indeed, and he's actually a character with very few flaws. I'm very interested to see what schemes he has now that he has taken over The Eyrie. Varys is probably next to Littlefinger but I think he might have made a mistake in aiding Jaime to help Tyrion escape. Even though during his departure Tyrion killed his father, someone else might suspect Varys as well. Might be the end of the eunuch if Cersei comes to the same conclusion as her father.
Tyrion is good-hearted and has always supported the House Lannister but as everyone is constantly blaming him for everything, I think he has now decided become the monster everyone wants, like he said himself at some point. Killing Lord Tywin and Shae certainly hints to that. I wonder how big role the dwarf will play now that he cannot return King's Landing; where will he even go.
Magic on the other hand is definitely creeping into a bigger role. I like how the various gods actually seem to exist and are not just imagined things. They and magic remain vague and subtle, however, which suits the series. Although, healing magic would certainly help things. It seems a simple sword cut is lethal more often than not. And I doubt Jaime would complain if he could get his hand back. ASoIaF is grisly and people are ugly. I guess it's realistic but damn if it's dark.
And winter is coming. At least Stannis Baratheon has acknowledged that and his arrival to scatter the wildlings was a very nice surprise. The King Beyond the Wall didn't manage to blow the Horn of Winter and The Wall remains to stop the Others. I think Stannis now truly deserves to become the Lord of the Seven Kingdoms and Protector of the Realm. But rights mean very little if one doesn't have the strength to claim them.
The title of the next book, A Feast for Crows, suggest lots of dead people. And this time I'm actually anxious to see how the story continues.
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