Fanfic A worthy finale for A Song of Ice and Fire
This story is truly a gem, serving as a satisfying payoff to everything that the book series has built up to.
Any reader of A Song of Ice and Fire knows that George RR Martin's epic fantasy book series is intricately complex with Loads and Loads of Characters, Grey and Gray Morality, and a rich lore that includes many unique locations and an in-depth history. For any fan to capture all that is no easy feat, but SilverRavenStar does exactly that, and she does this perfectly.
One aspect that readers will quickly pick up on is the addition of many new POV characters. The author demonstrates a vivid understanding of the minds of every single character, even building on ones that we didn't know much about before. She brilliantly utilizes the complex lore and expands upon it in a unique and creative way, providing satisfying answers to many of the series' greatest questions and confirming some of the greatest fan theories. This gives reader the remarkably gratifying sensation of I Knew It, whether or not they will will be true in canon. Additionally, through reading this story, I now have a much clearer understanding of complex lore of the series.
Minus the relative lack of detailed descriptions of food and with the addition of a few often-repeated phrases, it would be hard to distinguish the vivid prose from something written by Martin himself. The writing quality is top-notch, and the story is engaging with plenty of action, intrigue, shocking twists, and profound, emotional impacts.
While many fans impatiently await The Winds of Winter, I could happily accept this as a suitable alternative for the a conclusion of this epic book series. In fact, there are many things that happen in this story that I would be ecstatic to see as canon. Just as fans compare the books to the show, when reading the next two books, I will have The North Remembers as a cornerstone for comparison.
This was a spectacularly gripping read, and I am both happy and sad to have reached the ending, which leaves me with the satisfied feeling that justice has been served in a world that had been long deprived of it. I encourage any fan of the series to give this a read, especially if you have been longing to see the villains receive their due and good things finally happening to the Starks. I can't do this amazing story justice.
Fanfic A Nice Work
A good work that does its best to tie together the various threads left from A Dance of Dragons and give a fitting end to all of the major characters from the works. Unfortunately, it does suffer a bit from some rushing near the end and it has trouble resolving everything in one book-length work that Martin himself intends to finish in two, but if you're fine with reading something as long as this on a computer, it still comes recommended as a ASOIAF work that really can understand the source material and write a complicated story that doesn't just go for the simpler interpretations that tend to be written in the fandom.
Fanfic Wow
I usually try to avoid words like 'perfect' when reviewing things because it should be incredibly rare to find something you'd call 100% flawless. Unfortunately, even though nitpicking unreasonably tiny flaws in things is kind of a gift I have, I genuinely cannot think of anything wrong - no, anything that could even be improved - in this fanfiction. Anything.
What makes the story work is that the author so brilliantly manages to emulate the writing style we all know and love from George R.R. Martin, but write a story which is frankly more fun to read. With shocking but believable plot twists, character insight and development that rivals George R.R. Martin himself, and chapters that each have a unique importance and direct relevance to the overall plot. There are plenty of incredible moments from good characters, but enough tragedy to keep the sense of sad realism that's kept 'A Song of Ice and Fire' in a different league to other pieces of literature for almost two decades.
My favourite chapters would probably be those narrated by Sansa, Theon, or Sandor, but every chapter is worth reading; there are characters I've been reading about in five books that I'm only just starting to gain interest in now due to nothing more than the development in this story.
All in all, this is quite possibly the best story I've ever read. The only possible flaw I can see with it is that I wasn't aware of it until recently, and so I haven't been able to leave words of encouragement to the author until now. Nevertheless, the kind of talent seen in the writing of this fanfiction is almost literally unbelievable. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to reread it again.
Fanfic My words can't do this fic justice.
There is a reason why Silver Raven Star's: "The North Remembers" is the top-rated ASOIAF fic on FF.net. Everyone is believably in character, periphery characters from the books like Edmure Tully and Jeyne Westerling are given a chance to shine, there is some fantastic character development, particular from Theon and Sansa, and the author plays upon many popular fan theories while providing her own twists and interpretations in a way that doesn't seem forced. Best of all, while it is definitely not light-hearted and plenty of people die (This is ASOIAF after all), the author prevents things from becoming too dark to the point of Darkness Induced Audience Apathy, providing a quiet sense of hope amidst all the death and despair gripping Westeros.
If you need something to tide you over until the Winds of Winter and Season 4, this will do it.
Fanfic A great fanfic, but not "a fitting end" to this series at all
It is good and enjoyable to read, but people who think this is a satisfying end to the series have missed the point of the story this is inspired by.
I do want to commend Silver Raven Star on her writing. She's got talent and effectively mimics George R.R. Martin's flowery yet sassy writing style without completely copying it. I also admire her utilization of available information from the current books, fan theories, and some ideas I hadn't considered, as well as the level of love she clearly has for this material.
However, I could not help but notice after awhile that this is mostly fanservice. It is wish-fulfillment. And that's okay, that's par for the course with fanfiction. Still, I can't help but not take it as seriously.
Because, if anything, this series is the opposite of fanservice and wish-fulfillment. Unpredictability plays heavily into the plot of A Song of Ice and Fire. What happens is supposed to blindside us and leave us dazed, not affirm our own theories and give us what we want.
That's not to say that some of what happens in The North Remembers isn't ever going to occur in some way in the actual series. It's just that some things feel way too out of place for this story and these characters. For example, things that would transpire over the course of days, weeks or even a month in the books get resolved in the space of one day here. The fact that the author is trying to resolve all these dangling story threads with nowhere the near the amount of words needed to keep it from becoming convoluted. Raven Star also seems to have decided that Sansa is the story's lead protagonist; the kind that stays alive, of course.
Her miming GRRM also gets kind of over the top at points. Throw back a shot every time the words "more than he/she could say" appear.
There are plenty of good elements too. Once again, very good writing. The author also gives us some cool new points of view from characters such as The Hound, Jeyne Westerling or Coldhands. She does a good job at tying up most of the loose ends from the last book's ending. And she comes up with some unique confrontations that would be cool to see in the canon.
This is definitely the fanfic to read if you're starving for Martin's last two novels. It is well-written by a true fan. But let's not mistake good fan-fiction for great literature.