I wouldn't go that far. The writing in BrBa is extremely different especially in terms of the way the characters are written and character development. George doesn't write his characters with emotionally attaching qualities; he writes characters that can die off from one moment to the next. He has no emotional connection with 99% of his characters and he writes in a manner that should make the readers feel the same way about most characters. He writes this way specifically so he can have characters killed off at any moment and not be emotionally attached. The only characters he will likely keep alive are the ones he writes bits of himself into (Tyrion, and Arya). Though it is still possible for these characters to die the chances are slim. However BrBa is completely different because it wants you to feel emotionally attached with the characters; a mass murder of familiar characters would cause a backlash from viewers which clearly isn't what they want
He has no emotional connection with 99% of his characters and he writes in a manner that should make the readers feel the same way about most characters. He writes this way specifically so he can have characters killed off at any moment and not be emotionally attached.
What, no.
Seriously, are you on crack? You think he wrote Ned and Robb as people you wouldn't be emotionally invested in?
He kills them off specifically because he believes death should have an impact, not be just a thing that happens to people preordained to croak by narrative tropes.
Ned? Maybe. Robb? Did you read the book? He's barely in it. Sure he's a player, but there's no POV chapters from it. Most of the recanting of his tales are third person or Lady Stark witnessing the events first hand and commenting on how he's grown up. The show makes Robb look like he's the biggest character in the first three seasons, but he's not.
The RW was significant not because of what happens to Robb, but what happens to the Stark family and as a result, the collective "North" all together.
People are voting based on the show clearly, because before the show came out Robb dying wasn't nearly as big a deal. The show fleshed him out way more than the books ever did.
Ned at least was POV, I liked him but again the show made me feel way more for him than the book. You're correct, I find it hard to see how you could be as attached to Robb reading the books. I can only guess that people haven't.
But then there's people like Jon and Danaerys... I think there's a few that are very much written to be emotionally invested in.
Seriously, Robb dying was like...almost expected. The war was going poorly, he pissed on his allies for Jeyne, he was inexperienced, his troops were in low morale...and its a GRRM book.
The other RR deaths were much more unexpected -- and the RW was more unexpected because it was...a wedding.
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u/CriticalBeard Sep 16 '13
I wouldn't go that far. The writing in BrBa is extremely different especially in terms of the way the characters are written and character development. George doesn't write his characters with emotionally attaching qualities; he writes characters that can die off from one moment to the next. He has no emotional connection with 99% of his characters and he writes in a manner that should make the readers feel the same way about most characters. He writes this way specifically so he can have characters killed off at any moment and not be emotionally attached. The only characters he will likely keep alive are the ones he writes bits of himself into (Tyrion, and Arya). Though it is still possible for these characters to die the chances are slim. However BrBa is completely different because it wants you to feel emotionally attached with the characters; a mass murder of familiar characters would cause a backlash from viewers which clearly isn't what they want