I finished AFFC on Monday and got ADWD that evening, so that was perfect. And then I tried to be deliberate and keep reading ADWD at the same pace I'd been doing the reread (a couple hundred pages a day) because I was picking up details at that pace but making good time, but pretty soon I was just reading all the time whenever I could, must find out what happens next.

One night, sumi? Wow!

That is a good point about Davos being good for Rickon. I feel bad for Dorne, nothing they do works like they want it to. I am intensely curious about what Asshai and the Shadow are all about and why they might care about Daenarys. I don't think I like the Penny rumor. Jojen seems doomed (I mean he seems to think he is doomed and he is usually right, so) but I am hoping Meera isn't. A) she is fantastic and B) I really want to meet Howland Reed. Oh, how good would it be to get the wolves reunited? Very good.

There were fleeting mentions of unicorns, I think not just fanciful or heraldry-related. I may be wrong in putting them on Skagos but that's what I remember.

Oh yeah, I seriously upset my sleep schedule. I don't know when I went to bed Tuesday night - but I did. However, I was sooo tired that I had coffee at noon and therefore, did not sleep Wednesday night leaving me exhausted on Thursday. Thank goodness we're in Summer hours and I didn't have to work on Friday.

So I finished Specials yesterday. I don't know about this series. I know the comparison is unfair, but all I can think is, "This isn't The Hunger Games ." It may be objectively exciting, but it's not subjectively exciting. Even when cool things seem to be happening, I'm not really into it. And Tally is a maddening protagonist. She does have her badass moments, though.

I wasn't even sure if I would read Extras, but since it's not about Tally, maybe I'll like it more. I'm a little interested to see what the world is like post-trilogy; the ending resolution felt a little rushed.

So I finished Specials yesterday.

I'm still angry about Zane. I own my dysfunction. I just loved him and have no use for David (wait, was that even his name? Daniel? you know, dude from the Smoke who all the girlies loved).

I know the comparison is unfair, but all I can think is, "This isn't The Hunger Games ."

I think if I read the Uglies/Pretties/Specials trilogy for the first time *after* The Hunger Games, it would pale in comparison. On the other hand, Westerfeld doesn't bludgeon the reader to death with the message that War! Is! Bad! No! Really! I! Mean! BAD!!!

I also think he is much better at worldbuilding than Suzanne Collins is.

I wasn't even sure if I would read Extras, but since it's not about Tally, maybe I'll like it more. I'm a little interested to see what the world is like post-trilogy; the ending resolution felt a little rushed.

I was really iffy about it for the first quarter or so, and then I got sucked in.

The Westerfeld books that I *really* love, though, are the Midnighters books.

I'm still angry about Zane. I own my dysfunction.

Yeah, that was sad.

I just loved him and have no use for David (wait, was that even his name? Daniel? you know, dude from the Smoke who all the girlies loved).

David, yep.

I think if I read the Uglies/Pretties/Specials trilogy for the first time *after* The Hunger Games, it would pale in comparison.

Near the end, I wondered whether my issue was the POV. Maybe it would have been more effective in first-person.

I also think he is much better at worldbuilding than Suzanne Collins is.

I still don't understand this. I thought Collins's worldbuilding was great, and I thought this world was a little too simplistic in the way it painted the human race. It was just operation after operation and brainwashing after brainwashing. I thought the Hunger Games world was more complex and interesting, although I did find some of the ideas about standards of beauty, social hierarchy, and our Rusty way of living that Westerfeld played with cool. It was subtler than I expected.

I think I went in expecting something very different from this series than what I got, so it just bugged me the whole time, even thought what I got was still pretty good.

I was really iffy about it for the first quarter or so, and then I got sucked in.

That's good to know, thanks.

-t - about Skagos - you're right about the unicorns. Apparently, that information comes from one of Jon's dreams.

I so totally need to reread.

BTW, did you think that it's possible that Ashara Dayne's lover was not Ned but Brandon Stark? Apparently, there is some speculation on this topic.

sumi, yes I was starting to think that about Ashara Dayne. Brandon was a player. Though I partially want her to have liked Ned better, in the Young Ned and Friends drama in my head.

I'm firmly in the Jon is really Lyanna and Rhaegal's kid camp, too. And I'm tinfoil hatting my way to think they got married somehow because Targaryens can be bigamous as well as incestuous so he's a legitimate heir

edited for wayward apostrophe

Hrm, that might actually work as long as she had her brother's coloring, since it's already been estabished that in this world dark coloring is dominant over fair. Tho how the Lannisters managed to remain blonde while intermarrying with darker families falls outside my understanding.

it's already been estabished that in this world dark coloring is dominant over fair.

Was it? It seemed clear to me in AGOT that this was only established for Baratheon/Lannister pairings. If it were true across the board, all of the Stark children would have looked like Ned.

It's been noted that Arya looks a lot like Lyanna, fwtw.

Pretty sure there were Targaryens with non-Targaryen dark-haired mothers with the trademark Targaryen hair. Also some with dark hair. Bit of a crap shoot, genetics.