Two New ASOIAF AU Stories for You

The alternate-history discussion forum has spawned two more interesting alternate-universe stories set in the realm of George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire. One of them is a do-over story with an interesting twist, while the other is a more conventional what-if.

"The Northern Giant"-In this story, Sansa Stark poisons Petyr "Littlefinger" Baelish with the strangler poison she had in her hairnet at the lethal wedding of Joffrey "Baratheon" to Margarey Tyrell sometime after he says her father was a good man but a poor player in the game of thrones. This is something I've seen in fan-fic and in predictions for the next book before (the remaining poison is a Chekhov's Gun waiting to be fired), but not what happens next...

The dying Littlefinger wakes up nearly two decades earlier...in the body of Eddard "Ned" Stark the morning of his wedding to Catelyn Tully during Robert's Rebellion.

Now Littlefinger has everyone and everything he's ever wanted--power, respect, and Catelyn as his wife. He's also got all of Ned's experiences and memories, which could have some interesting consequences. He might find himself with honor and a conscience not deadened by years of bitterness and scheming, something that could make his evil-masterminding more complicated.

Plus the Battle of the Trident is looming. Hopefully his knowledge about what's to come will come in handy...

The Falcon's Last Cry-This diverges from canon when the dying Jon Arryn manages to warn King Robert Baratheon that "his" children are really bastards produced by incest between his wife Cersei Lannister and her twin brother Jaime. Robert is fortunately intelligent enough not to immediately warhammer them both, but this is something that needs to be dealt with quickly. Shenanigans and bloodshed within the Red Keep will be coming soon.

I like what the author does with Littlefinger in this story. Littlefinger's master plan is to sow strife in order to advance his own position (in addition to whatever it is he's been doing with the kingdom's money), not simply "keep Stannis off the throne" (his reason for betraying Ned in canon) or supporting the Lannister regime that has given him honors and power. Who knows the slippery little twerp will be up to this time around?

The Falcon Has Flown--What If Jon Arryn's Poisoning Is Delayed?

Another day, another A Song of Ice and Fire alternate-universe fan-fic from the Internet forum for you. This one is entitled "The Falcon Has Flown." It diverges from canon on the smallest of matters--Jon Arryn, the Hand of the King to the neglectful Robert Baratheon, agrees to see one more petitioner. It turns out it's the ambitious, loquacious Justin Massey. He's intent on getting some lands and keeps talking for an hour, delaying Jon going to lunch. This delays Jon getting poisoned by around a day or so, allowing him to send his sickly son Robert Arryn to Dragonstone to be fostered by Stannis Baratheon.

At this point he's aware that Robert's children aren't actually his, but he doesn't intend to tell Robert until after his son is safe on Dragonstone with Stannis, who also knows what's going on. Once "Sweetrobin" is safe, he thinks a confrontation with the Lannisters is coming and is counting on his protegee Petyr "Littlefinger" Baelish to keep the Gold Cloaks on the right side.

Well, we all know how trustworthy Littlefinger is when there's the possibility of the rigid, hands-on Stannis becoming king. From the end-note in the first chapter, it's clear Jon Arryn is going to die before he can share his suspicions with Robert. I'm guessing that the events of A Game of Throneswill generally follow their canonical course rather than Robert flipping his lid, going after Jaime and Cersei with his warhammer, and starting a war with his evil-mastermind father-in-law Tywin Lannister.

However, once the War of the Five Kings begins, Stannis has an advantage he didn't have in canon--the sole Arryn heir as a hostage. In canon Yohn Royce led a group of nobles who wanted to intervene on the side of Robb Stark against the Lannisters, but Jon's wife Lysa managed to maintain the neutrality of the Vale, ostensibly to protect her son. With her son as a hostage and much of the Vale nobility wanting war with the Lannisters, Stannis might find himself with a very reluctant and difficult (but given his situation, welcome) ally. And then there's Littlefinger, Lysa's lover, who most assuredly does not want Stannis to become king. Treacherous doings are afoot...

The author says he updates slowly, but my experience with fanfiction.net and my own writing groups, having a lot of readers is a strong incentive to update more regularly. Prove my theory right by following and reviewing!