Well no spoilers here but one of the things I truely loved about the series is how you can become very 'attached' to a char only to have them die on you.. example being Ned without giving anything away.

I too have been reading this series from the time of being just a kid in like middle school lol..

I'm tempted to re-read the first 2-3 books again but I know how long they are & I dont exactly have the time to tackle em.. I will sugjest to anyone that has not read them to do so as they really are that fucking good