What did you guys think about that epilogue?

 

Lady Stark ain't Lord Stark though. That was part of the animosity and fear she felt towards Jon; Ned raised him as a trueborn son. He was taught by the same maester and master at arms, andand the same lessons. A point is made of how Catelyn was bitter whenever Jon bested him in training AND classes.

This isn't ASOIAF Jon Snow, it's GOT Jon Snow, and I've made my peace with that. This is still a 3.5-4/5 story. And it's finished, which is pretty amazing.

 

Definitely true that this Jon isn't, or wasn't, as competent as canon Jon. But that's largely, if not entirely, fixed by the story's end.

 

I've been reluctant to give this a read.

A tagline of "Jon wakes an ice dragon" and "future Jon X Danny" was a premise that would require meticulous execution. Dragons are a weapon of mass destruction, and GoT is at its best when magic is relegated to sidelines, just enough to remain important, but not steal the show. Else, you start solving magic problems with magic and it becomes - not truly GoT.

I digress. I had doubts, I had fears and I went out to read a guilty pleasure story.

It is not such. It is good.

I am glad I've stumbled upon this story, for it has delivered a lot more than I expected and in clever ways, too. Yes, there's a drop too much magic, and all sides of the conflict have been given a dose of magic to help along, but it's handled reasonably well.

Jon seems to be given an overpowering weapon, yet things tend to go wrong, and like in asoif, the differance between ability to destroy and to conquer or rule is made very clear with the events as follow. Also, this is the first asoif story to play against the trope of "introducing a service for people where everyone can become part of it, even wildlings and commoners" and it being way more successful than it should be. Jon makes judgmental mistakes, gets into trouble because he doesn't follow the traditional paths.

Roose Boltom makes a plan that is too well executed, but it remains, barely, within the realm of possibility.

In later chapters, I enjoy the character of Howland Reed, from the way he considers Jon before revealing the secret to his behavior overall.

4/5, would read more and again.

 

Great story. Very creative, though I'll agree with the critique that the Others being childish is one of my least favorite things about the fic.

The rising of magic is done reasonably well.

However I think Euron Greyjoy is just over-the-top evil. He's literally a cartoon villain. Why doesn't he have a mutiny every other day? Giving him glass candles that can supposedly see conspiracies against him is a dumb explanation. Makes magic too powerful.

The kraken story line is creative. But I can't get over how stupidly evil Euron is. To be fair, he's like that in the books too .



The whole Others raising fish storyline also rubs me the wrong way. Makes them too OP. If they can go through the water they've already won.

Still, maybe the best ASOFAI I've read.


5/5

 

For those hoping Serpentguy was going to continue this, he's just revealed in the comments for the last chapter that the fic is now officially abandoned. Pretty much another hammer blow for me as an ASOIAF fan, given the awful last season of the show.

 

Damn. That really sucks. Has he posted his plans for it anywhere?

 

He hasn't as of yet, though a couple of people asked him to after he made the announcement. Though there's a fair chance he won't, as he seems to be quitting fanfiction and fandom in general. If you're interested, here's what he said on A03 about his decision, as well as his thoughts on season 8 :​

 

That's unfortunate, but I didn't expect the story to continue. More disappointed his batman in Westeros story won't continue.

 

So, Serpentguy has now put up an outline of what book 2 was going to involve, and has answered a few questions about a number of characters' fates. If people are interested, they can be found in the comments section for the story on A03.

 

For those who don't feel like searching, here is what Serpentguy said:

Spoiler

 

Sad to hear it's abandoned. Interesting plot outline. Not a fan of the Dragon sacrifice idea or a treaty with the Others. I thought the story was hinting towards a real change in setting-- a 'breaking of the wheel' by actually defeating the Others, or something along those lines.

Also not a huge fan of how prominent magic had become in the story, but it was still among the top 3 or 4 ASOIAF stories out there.