Fanfic "Something so ridiculous have no business being so good"
The title of this review was a comment left by another reader of the story on FanFiction.net, and it captures my feeling on this story perfectly. When I first read the plot summery of this story on the Fan Fic Recommendations page, my thought was something along the lines of 'What have the author been smoking when he came up with an idea like this?" However, after reading for a few chapters, I found myself completely hooked and added this story to my list of best fanfics of all time list.
The simplest way to describe this story is that it is basically GalaxyQuest IN WESTEROS!. Just the the film, while this fanfic is an Affectionate Parody of the GOT/ASOIAF series, with it endlessly making fun of all the tropes that appear in them, the story also takes itself completely seriously and examines what will realistically happen if an actor in the show finds himself getting put into the Dark Fantasy universe dreamed up by GeorgeRRMartin, and tries to survive it by taking advantage of him literally having knowledge of how everything that is going to happen from the Word of God.
Just like the actual series, this story runs the entire spectrum of emotions, with you laughing with Sean Bean as he lampshade just how messed up the world that he finds himself in is like, then holding you breath in genuine suspense in a few of the more intense and dramatic scenes.
The only complain that I have is that the story is no told chronologically, with frequent flashbacks and flash-forwards, with can make things confusing at times for first time readers.
Overall, I highly recommend this story to any fans of the GOT/ASOIAF series, as long as you get get over the story's admittedly ridiculous premise (But hey, if you are ok with a story with dragons and ice zombies, a little bit of trans-dimensional body swap really shouldn't be that much of a problem for you).
Fanfic It sounds like crackfic, but it's so much more.
WARNING: some spoilers.
"Sean Bean Saves Westeros" is exactly that: Sean Bean severely ameliorates the War of the Five Kings, meaning that the common people aren't going to suffer the far-ranging atrocities of the canon conflict. The Starks are vital and powerful supporters to King Stannis. King Justin Bieber—I mean Joffrey—is very definitely dead, And There Was Much Rejoicing. Roose Bolton is "Ned"'s most loyal lieutenant. Robb is Happily Married. Sean is working on modernizing Westeros's economy and society.
Not everything's good, though. Renly, Stannis's arrogant usurper brother, is preparing a giant army to attack King's Landing. Balon Greyjoy is preparing to attack the North because he's stupid. Melisandre is up to something. Oh, yeah, and there's an army of ice zombies getting ready to kill everybody.
This fic is Pure Awesomeness, and manages to be Better Than Canon, optimistic enough to appeal to those who don't like ASOIAF's grimdark and Deconstruction of fantasy tropes, while still being realistic enough (multiple major character deaths, including fan favorites like Tyrion Lannister, Sean losing his hand, and Joffrey having Sansa brutally beaten, scarred, and tortured.
Read it. Read the hell out of it. If you've read the original books and like the Starks, this fic is everything you love while still being gripping (with completely unexpected plot twists), terrifying (Roose is hanging out with Qyburn!), and making you cheer (that moment when Sandor kills Littlefinger...).