A Hundred Thousand Words Later…
I just finished A Feast For Crows last night. Now I’m considering whether to drop the extra money on A Dance With Dragons, but of course I know I’m going to. Still, I am taking a bit of time to consider it. Here’s why.
(Spoilers below the jump. If you don’t want the spoilers, don’t jump, don’t read the comments. I’ve built in an extra layer of security — white font, which you can read by selecting the whited-out text — to give you an extra layer of protection from yourself. If you’ve read it already, then I’m curious about your comments and thoughts.)
First of all, didn’t the whole book feel like the third season of The Sopranos? A lot of focus on secondary or even tertiary characters, a seeming lack of narrative propulsion on the story arc. Really, I didn’t care all that much about Samwell or Arianne. Or the static politics of the Vale (*yawn*). Even Littlefinger was boring. And I don’t care at all about Victarion Greyjoy. Asha Greyjoy, I’d be interested in, but in this book, Asha was a very minor character.
This was redeemed by my second big observation. By the end of the book, I find myself liking Jaime Lannister. He’s got steel and a willingness to use it — but he’s also committed to re-inventing himself as a good man, and his great challenge is balancing between the competing moral imperatives of ending a war, building an effective and legitimate government, and making good (or at least defensible) personal moral choices. What more could you ask of him?
Third, having Catelyn Stark come back as a vigilante zombie outlaw queen was all too predictable. Who didn’t see that coming the first time “that woman Stoneheart” got mentioned?
Fourth, and related to point three: Boo! for killing off Brienne. Never mind that she was a lousy detective, spending nearly the entire novel pursuing a blind lead, she was about the only knight of any real level of nobility. Unlike Ned Stark (whose foolishness we are apparently no longer allowed to comment on) her death is pathetic rather than tragic; she was not undone by a character flaw but rather because she took a realistic look at the world around her and tried to make the best alliances she could to fulfill her oaths.
Fifth, what does the Blackfish intend to do out on his own? After Riverrun falls into the hands of the Freys, I’d expect most of the Tully bannermen to slink back to their homes and try to reach terms with the Iron Throne. Which, given point six below, it seems they will be able to do nicely.
Sixth, is King’s Landing about to descend into a theocratic dictatorship with no strong hand at the helm? That would make an interesting point to explore as the plot moves forward.
Seventh, I was just plain not buying Cersei fooling around with another woman as a means of self-actualizing prior episodes of marital rape. I could buy into the idea that she’d fall in love with one of her ladies-in-waiting, but it would be easier for me to understand her doing it because she was lonely — but that wasn’t how it was presented.
Eighth, why in the Stranger’s name is Qyburn still at his own liberty?
Ninth, why can’t I make myself care about the politics of the Iron Islanders? Why can’t I make myself believe that they have a reasonable shot at capturing the Iron Throne?
Tenth and finally, I didn’t see Arya’s blinding coming. That may tend to make her an even more interesting character in future books.
I was hoping for more. And I guess I still am, which is why I’m likely to keep on moving on with book five despite being somewhat disappointed right now.
This comment will make sense to few, but the whole Fire and Ice thing is reminding me of my experience with the X-Files, and for me Feast of Crows is so Season 6 that I find myself unmotivated to dive into the inevitable Season 7 of Dragons.Report
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1st) Yes, though that was part of the point, apparently. He had too many characters and too many narrators for a single book, so some of the narrators (including minor ones) were in Feast while others (such as Tyrion) are in Dance. I’m not sure if you knew that, but it was something that helped me understand why Feast was the way it was. Personally? I think that there should have been a better way. I’ve been pondering a post on the subject.
2nd) Agreed.
3rd) I didn’t know Lady Stoneheart was supposed to be a mystery. From the second she appeared at the end of the previous book, I saw it coming. But I didn’t think they were trying to keep it a secret. However, I do have to say that her appearance at the end of the previous book did blow my mind. That I did *not* see coming.
6th) I’m about 2/3 the way through Dance and am wondering the same thing. I don’t mean that to be a spoiler, but it is a warning of sorts.
7th) I had the same reaction. It struck me primarily as fan service.
8th) Good question. I would guess because most of the alleged crimes occurred before he got there. Even then, you would think that they would question a confidant. Sharply. They let lady Meriwether go, though, as well.
9th) Agreed.Report
FWIW I enjoyed Dance considerably more than Feast so I’d encourage you to move forward. There’s a better focus on more central and interesting characters.Report
Agreed. Dance has some of the best moments in the series. It’s got plenty to complain about but it still blew my mind in many ways.Report
I agree about the Greyjoys and Iron Islanders. I simply don’t care about them. Let them sink into the sea, I say.
In DwD, the only interesting characters are Stannis, Jon Snow, Tyrion, Arya, and Bran.Report
In fairness that’s about half the book or so.Report
I suspect, the problem a lot of us have with the Iron Islanders is that they’re barbarians. Figuratively anyhow. Ethically, politically, and technologically, they seem to run 3 or 4 centuries behind the major regions of Westros, without any interesting features. They’re Viking analogues. They’re 9th century AD characters stooging around a 14th century world, and whenever we see them they’re destroying rather than building. It’s tedious.Report
… except that they’re more a mischaracterization of how the Vikings actually lived.
FWIW, I care a LOT less about that than RJ’s seafolk not wearing anything on their ample breasts, and running about Rigging. Owchie Owchie Owwww…. I could understand if they were size A, but the way they’re described, it’s at least size C, and that HURTS, man.Report
I am going to dissent a bit from some of the other commenters. For my money, Dance is a significantly worse book than Feast. It is centrally focused on one of Martin’s least-interesting characters (Daenerys) and the utterly pointless continent of Essos. It is more clear than even Feast that he has basically lost the thread of his story. If you’ve read Robert Jordan (God help you), you recognize this symptom well.
This, of course, is something you’re already picking up on. The Iron Islanders and Dorne are good previews, in that they also don’t appear to matter much and they are really, spectacularly fishing boring. Stick to your main thread, Martin! That’s why we’re here!
Also, I think you are somewhat too credulous about a couple of the “cliffhanger” events. With the exception of Ned, Martin has assiduously avoided the deaths of major characters (including Catelyn even!), so I am skeptical of pretty much anything he has to say at this point.Report
Yeah, it’s entirely possible that my assumption of the ending in point 4 is incorrect, and that point 10 may well prove impermanent. Perhaps others — but experience demonstrates that Martin is sometimes … how to put this … ungentle with his characters.Report
I don’t think he’s in Jordan like territory yet and actually I felt that Feast was the apex of his Jordanism and he started reeling things back in with Dance.Report
I hold Dance responsible for one major reason: Essos. Essos is stupid. By Martin’s own admission, the series is about Westeros, so why the hell are we wasting our time on Essos? It isn’t interesting and it doesn’t matter. Add to that the fact that we only got these two rambling, time-sucking books because of the so-called “Meereenese Knot”, and my Essos-wrath burns even brighter.
*spoilers, sort of*
Plus, two more things: I think the Tyrion storyline in ADWD is boring as hell, the Barristan storyline simply strains credibility, and the Griff storyline is an obvious waste of everyone’s time. Everything that touches Essos becomes dumb or dumber.
The North storyline in ADWD, however, is very, very good. The North has always been the thing Martin gets absolutely right.Report
Erm, that’s three more things. Oops.Report
Are we certain Brienne is dead? I did not get that impression.Report
I don’t recall getting that impression either. But it’s been years since Crows.Report
One thing I recall thinking while reading Dance: The boys at HBO are going to either have to triple their budget or they’re going to go hardcore off the reservation with regards to plot.Report
I bet HBO tightens it up a lot. In fact, I’m expecting myself to enjoy the show a lot more than the books at that point.
The real question is: can Martin keep up with HBO? He’s got a few years to knock off the next book, but if we have what – three more to go? – he’s going to have to write a hell of a lot faster.Report
Maybe it will end up being like Dexter, and the series writers will just shrug their shoulders and march on past him.Report
I consider this to be the most likely scenario…personally, I’d say there’s one-chance-in-three that Martin will never finish another book at all, let alone the three (or four, or ten) that it would take to wrap up the story.Report
I really disliked Dance when it came out, but it improved a lot on re-reading. Not all that much happens in the Samwell and Ariane threads, but they move the story forward in ways I expect to become important. Cersei’s combination of paranoia and cluelessness got her exactly what she deserved. The only completely pointless thread is Brienne’s and the truly annoying thing is that we know from the start that she’s looking in the wrong places. As for Qyburn, he’s only the second most evil Lannister henchman (so far, anyway.)Report