[Andorion]

Finished A Feast For Crows

This book heavily reminds me of Crossroads of Twilight from WoT in the sense that it is mainly setup with little progression.

At first I was a bit dismayed to find that the main PoVs would be Brienne, Cersei, Jaime and Sam. But I figured Jaime would be good, Cersei would probably be good too and I wanted to know more about Brienne.

Turns out that it didn't work out very well

Cersei's PoVs were fascinating in the sense they made clear how ambitious and paranoid she is. Also it was quite compelling to read how the edifice constructed by Tywin was crumbling so easily. Almost every decision she made was bad, every appointment laughably weak. But as the book wound on and on Cersei became monotonous. There is only so much vitriol and bile that can be crammed into a PoV. The Sparrow storyline seems to make much more sense in the book than in the show. Interestingly the common people of Kings Landing don't seem to like them a lot

Jaime on the other hand started out bland and got interesting, I enjoyed his PoV the most and it was very interesting to see how that one throwaway line from Tyrion about Cersei fucking everybody when he was gone drove a deeper and deeper wedge between him and Cersei. The way he has to adjust because of his hand, that he can't simply go charging into a fight anymore and instead has to be diplomatic made his character more interesting.

Brienne was ok. Her straight as an arrow type of personality can be very boring very fast but her fight scenes were good, here memories were interesting. On the other hand what would have been an awesome encounter with Lady Stoneheart aka Catelyn turned into a cliffhanger which felt cheap. Some resolution would have been good.

Sam's entire PoV was basically one long continuous facepalm. It really irritates me how little hsi character has developed, He is still as big a coward as he was in book 1, even though he has fought wildlings and the Others, killed a Whitewalker, rescued Gilly etc etc. The only mildly interesting thing he does is punch Darion. Thats it. Instead its just one long moan about how bad everything is. I blame Sam squarely for their being stuck in Braavos. Why could he not have negotiated passage for them himself?

The only interesting part was Maester Aemons realization about the prophecy and Dany but even this was old news to me as I had thought of this in book 2. The last part of Sams PoV was interesting as well. Some of the people from the prologue came back, and apparently an Archmaester is now leaving for Dany. Also from one remark it seems to me that the Maesters don't believe or are trying to stamp out magic, which makes little sense as magic seems to be making a comeback. I wonder how they will react when they see the Others,

Sansa's PoVs on the other hand were quite interesting. She really seems to do well staying with Littlefinger, the gaping show plothole is absent, and betrothing her to the heir of the Vale makes far more sense than that idiotic Ramsay move Littlefinger pulled in the show.

What little there was of Arya was fascinating as usual. The House of Black and White was much more interesting than in the show, and I loved Arya's stint as Cat of the Canals. But in the end she goes blind. I wonder where this plotline is going,

I am not sure what the point of the Dorne narrative was. Myrcella is injured, Oakheart dies, and Arianne finds out Doran has been consiring against the Lannisters and he has probably sent his son to Dany. But all of this is the last part. The earlier parts just seemed strange. I was pretty sure Arianne was seducing Oakheart to use him, but apparently she loved him? The Sand Snakes were weird in the show, but here they don't even show up. Frankly Dorne was boring.

The Ironborn narrative was bad as well. Still no Theon. Asha was a huge letdown. She makes a weak claim and then runs away. Why even have her as a character? Aeron who was hyped up a bit in the beginning but he did nothing. Euron blows a horn, makes some strange promises which were vague and distant and everybody jumps in? Victarion seemed to have the best claim to me.

The Ironborn in general seem to have a lot of problems. They don't really have the numbers or the tactics to conquer and hold Westeros or even a part of it. They seem to be interested in/equipped for raiding which again does not help build up power for a conquest. Even if Euron can get a dragon or even all three, the reason Dany has not already taken Westeros is that those dragons at their present size and power are not enough. So I don't really see the Ironborn playing anything more than an occasionally disruptive role in Westeros.

One of the things I liked about the books was that Nymeria and her wolves seem to be doing quite well, and Arya could sense them from across the Narrow Sea.

So overall this book was only interesting in parts, with rather large stretches of boring. From the flashbacks however I am even more interested in Rhaegar and what exactly he was planning. If not for the Trident I think he would have removed his father from power.

[Andorion]

Briar King, on 23 November 2015 - 03:11 AM, said:

I still hope for Rebellion/Trident miniseries at some point. The glimpses of that time are just great imo.

When Jaime burns Cersei's letter does that mean he is not going to respond to her plea? I would have thought that he would march on the capital to restore Lannister power.

Also did Gendry ever tell anybody that Arya had been with him at some point? Catelyn probably still thinks Arya dies in Kings Landing


Is Davos actually dead? There was something about Lord Manderly having him executed

[Andorion]

My biggest gripe with the book is Sam. Why must he be fat, stupid and scared all the time? COuldn't he have perked up a little bit? He killed a Whitewalker, Gilly likes him, I don't know his entire PoV could have been trimmed except for Aemon's talk about the prophecy

[worry]

Those are the best characteristics a person can have, and I won't have you impugn my fat coward son.

[Andorion]

Who is Pate? Why does Cersei have him whipped to discipline Tommen? There seems to be another Pate in Oldtown, Am I supposed to remember anything about them?

[TheRetiredBridgeburner]

Briar King, on 23 November 2015 - 03:11 AM, said:

I still hope for Rebellion/Trident miniseries at some point. The glimpses of that time are just great imo.

Agreed. One of the things I noticed from the World book was that a lot of the history (for me at least) is more interesting than the current story.

Also, I agree with Andorion's summary of Feast - only Sansa and Jaime were really interesting for me.

[Andorion]

I agree. All flashbacks, whether they are about Rhaegar, Aerys, Arthur Dayne, The Smiling Knight are awesome. I think the Targaryen period should have their own books.

A couple of things I disliked: The repetitive dialogue: A maid of three and ten with Auburn hair. Cersei going on about how useless Pycelle is and doing nothing about it.

This silly word: nuncle

More questions?

Is the Hound actually dead? The Elder guy knew a lot about him and I don't really see the Hound making huge deathbed confessions

Valonquor means little brother right? Cersei think Tyrion is going to strangle her but I think Its Jaime as he was born after her and I think their relationship is going to go that low

[Gorefest]

Andorion, on 23 November 2015 - 07:05 AM, said:

Is the Hound actually dead? The Elder guy knew a lot about him and I don't really see the Hound making huge deathbed confessions

The jury is out on that one. Let's just say that his role in the bigger story (as far as we know) has played out to its natural conclusion.






CLEGANEBOWL

[Werthead]

Quote

This book heavily reminds me of Crossroads of Twilight from WoT in the sense that it is mainly setup with little progression.

That's pretty harsh. Absolutely nothing of import happens in CoT, but even worse, almost none of the setup in the book is necessary or needed for later volumes. You can read a summary of CoT and skip from WH to KoD without losing anything. A reasonable amount of important stuff or setup for important stuff does happen in AFFC, just nothing like the level of the first three books.

Andorion, on 23 November 2015 - 03:53 AM, said:

Who is Pate? Why does Cersei have him whipped to discipline Tommen? There seems to be another Pate in Oldtown, Am I supposed to remember anything about them?

King's Landing Pate is pretty irrelevant. The important one is the one in Oldtown:

[MAJOR SPOILER]

Spoiler

He is really Jaqen H'Ghar.

Quote

Is the Hound actually dead? The Elder guy knew a lot about him and I don't really see the Hound making huge deathbed confessions

[MAJOR SPOILER]

Spoiler

The Hound is alive and in the book. He's the gravedigger at the Quiet Isle.

This post has been edited by Werthead: 23 November 2015 - 12:20 PM

[acesn8s]

Andorion, on 23 November 2015 - 07:05 AM, said:

I agree. All flashbacks, whether they are about Rhaegar, Aerys, Arthur Dayne, The Smiling Knight are awesome. I think the Targaryen period should have their own books.

A couple of things I disliked: The repetitive dialogue: A maid of three and ten with Auburn hair. Cersei going on about how useless Pycelle is and doing nothing about it.

This silly word: nuncle

More questions?

Is the Hound actually dead? The Elder guy knew a lot about him and I don't really see the Hound making huge deathbed confessions

Valonquor means little brother right? Cersei think Tyrion is going to strangle her but I think Its Jaime as he was born after her and I think their relationship is going to go that low

So, do you think Rhaegar kidnapped and raped Lyanna?

[Andorion]

@Werthead, I am going to click on those Spoilers after I finish Dragons.

Regarding things happening Sams's PoV could have been trimmed by half. Anything Brienne does except fighting is boring. I get that Brienne is a good way to show war ravaged Westeros but we have already seen that a lot through Arya.

@acesn8s The more I read the more unlikely I find it. Rhaegar just doesn't seem like that kind of guy. Also no one has said anything about how Lyanna felt about the entire matter. Did Lyanna reciprocate Roberts affections or was she smitten by Rhaegar? Robert was never Mr. Sensitive, would he even have noticed if Lyanna had reciprocated? Ned Stark wasn't exactly subtle either,

[amphibian]

Lyanna was hugely in love with Rhaegar.

[Andorion]

Dance with Dragons

Daenerys has just been visited by Quathe in her bath

Why and how does this sorceress keep on appearing? She just warned Danya bout those coming. Sun's son is Quentyn of Dorne, lion is Tyrion, Griffin is Griff, kraken is Victarion, glass candle is the Maester from Oldtown. But pale mare? Mummers Dragon? Also I think Dany will have to go to Asshai before she can go to Westeros.

Tyrion is travelling with "Griff" I think more info about Griff is forthcoming.

Jon's PoV so far has been very interesting. Ghost can't sense Summer beyond the Wall. So the Wall is a magic barrier.

The Horn of Joramun that Mel burnt looks the same as the Horn that Euron brought from Valyria. I wonder if they are related

Could Robb warg? Its never stated clearly, but Arya, Bran and Jon can, and probably Rickon too. .From the prologue, it is possible to transfer consciousness to a warged animal so did Robb try to transfer into Grey Wind?


I wonder if Thoros tried to revive the Hound. At the end of the last book it became evident that resurrection especially after a particularly bad death causes a person to lose something. So if Jon does die, and if Mel does try to resurrect him, how will he return? Vengeful, like Lady Stoneheart?


Does Mel have superpowers at all? I mean the only thing she has done is produce the two Shadows. Thoros resurrects people left and right. Stannis' sword glows but produces no heat. Is Mel a fraud? The deaths of the three kings could have been coincidence


Also who is a King to Mel? Robert was a King so even the blood of his bastards holds power. But the reason Jon sent Mance's child and Aemon away is that he feared they would get sacrificed as they were related to kings. Aemon is a Targaryen, so he has Kings blood, but Mance was only King beyond the Wall. Did that make him a true king? Did that imbue his blood with enough power? At what point does a man go from being a pretender to a king?

Also if Mel was able to use the bastards blood to kill three kings, then why doesn't she use Stannis? The bastard was not weakened at all, it was only three leeches, Stannis is a strong man. A songle vial of his blood could probably win him Westeros

[worry]

I think he did, but more than that, he just had a supernatural bond with Grey Wind. Like I can't imagine Robb abandoned his own body to be inside Grey Wind's mind too often (especially not during any action), but it was said that GW fought alongside him during the war in a way you wouldn't see a wolf do naturally.

[Andorion]

Briar King, on 24 November 2015 - 04:34 AM, said:

Yeah but I don't think that's specially warging more like a telepathic link like Jon and Ghost do? Warging is when you go full into another body while yours is just sitting around controlling it.

I don't think either Jon or Arya 'warg; like Bran does, but I think their links are getting stronger and stronger overtime. In dreams they feel like they are inside their wolves. Thats how it started with Bran as well and then it got stronger

[worry]

Yeah, I don't think they're disconnected powers. Just different power levels w/ Bran being the strongest. Robb and Sansa might have been the "weakest" or it just developed differently for them, closer to the more traditional fantasy pack-mate relationship.

[Andorion]

worry, on 24 November 2015 - 05:02 AM, said:

Yeah, I don't think they're disconnected powers. Just different power levels w/ Bran being the strongest. Robb and Sansa might have been the "weakest" or it just developed differently for them, closer to the more traditional fantasy pack-mate relationship.

Bran's fall and disability might have had something to do with it. Sansa never really got a chance, she lost Lady quite early. Both Jon and Arya started linking to their wolves much later, and Bran only after regaining consciousness, Rickon of course is the unknown quantity

[worry]

Or Rickon being aggressive because of Shaggy! Perhaps they are reverse warging?

[TheRetiredBridgeburner]

Briar King, on 24 November 2015 - 05:41 AM, said:

They're definitely the most feral powered of the 6. Poor Sansa didn't even get to experience it I think. I can't really remember

There are a couple of references to Lady being "ladylike" and very like Sansa - it could have been the same synergy as Rickon/Shaggydog. Or Lady could have just been really well behaved.

I really hope that's a thread that gets picked up again - it seems to have been mostly lost.

[Andorion]

Not a lot of progress. Theon is going to Moat Caillin. Just dropped in to say


Aegon Targaren is still alive?????

How? I thought all the bodies were displayed by Tywin before Robert!

Who got him out? How did this happen? I can't think anymore....