I have actually enjoyed the book early on. As I've said itt (and others), it's interesting to get inside the mind of Cersei. Plus I'm a big fan of Jamie. The chapters with the new characters definitely have been tougher to get through. Hoping to knock quite a bit out tonight though.
The last quarter of AFFC is really good. Now all you need to do is power through 500 pages and you'll be set!
I was going to try and stay ahead of you, but you read too fast for me. Gonna have to stop following this thread soon.
Brienne: Interesting that she ran into Podrick. Lots of people looking for people it seems. Also found it interesting that she dealt with a dwarf after all of her dealings/negative feelings of Tyrion. I continue to feel like her constant description of Sansa is going to get herself hurt/killed in the future. Seems like it's going to happen. Hope I'm wrong though, I like her character. Sansa: Continue to not hate Sansa chapters like I once did. Lots of good stuff here, so many emotions for her. To trust Littlefinger or not? That stuff was good. Really thought there would be more of a fight to how Lysa died though. Especially when the singer admitted it was him. Kind of confused as to why he would do that, since I feel like he is going to get killed anyway. Threaten him with death just doesn't seem like something that would work. Robert continues to be a little freak. Wondering if that could come back to haunt Sansa, wouldn't be shocked at all to see that little guy snap. The Kraken's Daughter: Damn you GRRM for the random chapter names. I miss the old days of just the regular POVs. In all reality though, this chapter wasn't too bad. Was cool to get inside the mind of Asha. The thing with Tyrion back when they first met in ACOK continues to be less surprising, as Asha is turning into quite the little slut. And this mention of Theon, and not knowing for sure if he's dead continues to make me think he's alive. I hope not though, absolutely LOATHED his character. Cersei: Every Cersei chapter really could be summed up with this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1-xGuEkdLw What a freak. Having guards on Tommen at all times? Cmon son, Tyrion isn't going to poison him (even though he didn't with Joffrey). Don't ever recall them ever having a run in, and iirc, Tyrion had good things to say about Tommen to Cersei's face. Hate how she continues to treat Jamie like shit. Was kind of saddened to lose the Tower of the Hand (.com), even though it really has been home to a shit ton of misery throughout the books. Was almost a character in itself though.
The Soiled Knight: Probably my favorite first chapter from the new characters in the book. Always helps when they can tie the new characters into the old ones just so I can get an idea of what's been happening with them. Definitely put the pussy on the pedestal though, going to cause some problems for Arys iyam. Brienne: Interesting background on her. Didn't expect her to have been betrothed before, but I guess it shouldn't surprise me with all the problems she has with men. Sucks for her with the "game" people set up for her. Imagine that pot would have been worth quite a bit. Good job by her on guess that Sansa went to hang out with Lysa, but as quick as that happened, she moved away from it because of her death. Too bad. Brienne continues to show that she's p smart. Sam: I like Sam. I really do. But damn man, stop your whining all the time. Needs to sack up and stop being so afraid all the time. He's dealt with so much shit lately, and he's come out of it! You'd think he'd been killed 20 times over with his constant fear. And oh snap, different baby. No wonder Gilly was having such a rough go at it. Jamie: Probably my least favorite Jamie chapter of the last two books, but I still enjoyed it. Not a ton happened, though we did learn a little about his past. Felt like there was another Loras/Renly being gay reference as well, but can't remember it today.
Cersei: She sucks so hard, but she does have some good ideas from time to time. Sending someone to the wall to take out Jon? Well played. Love how mad everyone is that the wall is siding with Stannis, even though they're actually fighting a bunch of supernatural stuff right now (though Stannis wants them on his side for the later wars). Continue to laugh at everyone doubting dragons being around. The Iron Captain: This chapter started slow for me, but by the end of the next one I was kinda happy there were two straight on the iron islands just because it continued to introduce me to these characters more. Lots of changes with the death of Balon. Asha is so confident, but no one ever believes in her. This Crow's Eye guy is interesting. As is his fleet, since they're all apparently mute. Wtf. Iron islands people are weird. The Drowned Man: Laughed so hard when someone asked Asha what she would give them, knitting? It's the Call of Duty: Women's Edition joke of the fantasy world. Well done GRRM. Liked how Crow's Eye just chilled and waited. And then... BOOM. A dragon horn?! To control the dragons?! Too bad Dany won't show up in this book, that sounds interesting as hell. Thought Asha was going to get the crown for a second.
The Queenmaker: Oh shit, Myrcella makes an appearance Said more words in this chapter than she did in all the other books combined. Interesting that she wants to crown her and turn her against her family. Not surprising though, as no one likes the Lannisters. Last few pages were awesome with the ambush that happened. Arya: Probably my favorite chapter of the book so far, definitely one of my favorite Arya chapters. Was happy that she ended up keeping Needle by burying it. Didn't want that piece of equipment to go by the wayside. Interesting stuff though, with her going all in on changing her ways to do what the Braavos people are up to. I feel like the third level of the temple is going to play later on sometime. Bummed to see her leave though, was enjoying what was going on. And now she's Cat. Alayne: Don't know how other people felt/feel about him changing the name of Sansa's chapters because she's taken on a new name. I thought it was pretty cool and interesting "window dressing" moving forward. Took a little to get used to her being referred to as Alayne even when she was thinking, but I'll get used to it. Robert, damn dude you suck so hard. Always bitching about something. Thought we were going to have a battle for a second, good idea on others not to get into it with Littlefinger imo. Loved how late in the chapter he said (to Sansa) that it wasn't time for Cersei to die yet, or something to that effect.
Wayyyy behind on posting itt. Haven't been reading as quickly as I've wanted to, and would forget to post my chapter recaps. Just been hard to force myself to read, even though I've actually enjoyed this book. Just tougher to get through. Alas... Cersei: Feel bad for Tommen, mom won't let him do shit. Such a nice little boy, good to see he didn't end up fucked up like Joff. Though, this might honestly make him a bad king (if he ever reaches that point, I honestly don't think he does because I don't think the Lannisters end up in power by the end of the series) because Joff didn't give a fuck and sometimes you need this to happen. Not cool that she wants Bronn dead. Laughed that she wanted Rhaegar and didn't get him though. Brienne: She just continues to go all over the place. Now thinks that Sansa is with the Hound. That sucks. Only going to slow down her search for her. You were right earlier, go to Eyrie! Sam: OH SNAP, ran into Arya. Awesome. Was hoping for more out of that, but I guess I'll take a small conversation. Made me want another Arya chapter soon because I've really enjoyed her stuff this book. Good for Sam to stand up against his brother who doesn't want to wear the black anymore. Aaaaaaaand then another person shows up who has seen dragons. The word is continuing to spread! Jaime: Jaime chapters are depressing me now. Cersei is such a bitch to him and it makes me sad. He still has his wittiness, but it's not like it used to be. I do like how he once again stood up for Brienne. I don't imagine they'll ever hang out again, but their relationship was definitely one I enjoyed in SoS. Cersei: Laughed at her anger in letting Tommen name the ships. Her relationship with Margaery is getting interesting. So much hatred for each other, but they obviously put on a good face when going against each other. Should be fun to watch. The Reaver: Iron Islands :/ I am just not into this story very much right now, though I do like Victorian as a character. Did kinda laugh at him thinking he could just take Dany for his bride. She does her own thing yo. Jaime: So Catelyn's carnage is now getting out though no one knows who it is. Awesome. Still don't like her character but I really want to see where she ends up. Sucks to learn the truth about his sister, finding out that Tyrion wasn't lying about Lancel. And the chapter ends with him wanting to fight Ilyn? Dammit, I want to see what happens right away. Was once again depressed by this chapter after he spilled his wine on the table. Brienne: Happy she found out about it being Arya instead of Sansa. Really didn't want her going all over the damn Westeros map looking for the Hound (who is confirmed dead now, almost thought he'd be alive) before finding out who was with her. She continues to be really honorable though, not wanting to stop searching for her. Have read the last two chapters today, but I won't be home this evening. Planning on finishing the book this week though, really want to get to Dance with Dragons. I'll do my best to power through over the next few days.
Cersei: Such a conniving bitch, sending Loras away like that. She makes mistakes here and there, but she's definitely playing the game of thrones as people so often say. Her disdain for Pycelle makes me laugh, always bitching about him. And not that she's a great person by any means, but the more you learn about her relationship with Robert, the more you see why she did what she did. He obviously didn't give a shit about her at all. Laughed at her plan against Bronn not working. Miss that guy, he was a lot of fun to have around. Hope to see him back in Dance with Dragons. And a little lesbian action at the end of the chapter? Aaaaaand then it just stops. Jaime: Cool to see him training with Ilyn. Obviously read his previous chapter wrong because I thought some fighting was about to occur. Liked his conversation with Genna. She seemed pretty cool. For all the hate the Lannisters get (and much of it deserving), I did find it cool that even after being married for decades that she still viewed herself as a Lannister. Cat of the Canals: Really liking Arya's chapters right now. I didn't think she'd be coming back to the temple for a while, good to see she's still making appearances there regularly. Liked how the guy at the temple was able to notice when she was being Arya because of how she bit her lip. Pretty badass. Needs to control her face a little more, would be bad at playing poker. And then the chapter ends with her being blind? Talk about a damn cliffhanger. Sam: Aemon's speech to Sam was one of my favorite moments of the book so far. So much history. So much awesomeness. RIP. And I know Sam's bummed that Aemon died sooner than he thought he would, but I'm much happier he died this way than whatever way Stannis and Melisandre would have had him killed up at the wall. And look at ol' Sam getting it in. Figured it was just a matter of time with these two, she's been all over him for a while now. Cersei: And her conniving pays off, or so it seems. Loras is about to die. And now she's beginning to plan to kill Margaery. Probably her most psychotic chapter yet, though I loved reading it. She's so crazy and it makes it so interesting. Even messing with Tommen, threatening to pull Pate's tongue. Did like that Tommen stood up to her. Her dream about talking to Maggy was fantastic. Especially when she called the children she and Robert would have together. Great stuff. Wondering what the end game her battle with Margaery is. Continuing to enjoy her chapters.
yeah but Cersei is an insufferable cunt and Robert is a badass who gets drunk, fucks whores, and smashes heads in with his warhammer. Pretty easy to see what side you should take on this one.
Ended up flying through the book yesterday and today to finish it. Won't have individual thoughts on the chapters, but I really thought the last 5 or so were all excellent. Lot of interesting groundwork being laid. I think Brienne is still going to be alive, as I'm guessing she said "ok" at the end up her chapter as in "ok, I'll kill Jaime." Speaking of Jaime, I loved that he basically said fuck Cersei (and not in the way he had been) and threw that paper into the fire. Did no see the Cersei stuff coming with people at King's Landing being a step ahead of her. Happy they were though. Her chapter was crazy good, going into the dungeons and seeing her boy all messed up, dealing with Margaery, etc. Good stuff. And really liked Sam's chapter to finish the book up. Made me really happy to be done with this and get right into ADWD because he mentioned the north, dragons, etc. This was definitely the hardest book to read though. I actually didn't mind it once I would sit down and read a few chapters, but it was definitely harder to motivate myself to want to sit down and read it because I missed so many characters. Unlike the previous books where I read those to read them (no shit), I almost felt like I was reading this book to get to ADWD to see what would happen next. Might start ADWD tonight, for sure by tomorrow. Have football + BB/Newsroom to watch, and don't know how long it'll take the torrance to get up.
Regarding Pate/The Alchemist that ran into Sam at the end Spoiler "Show me your face." "As you wish." The alchemist pulled his hood down. He was just a man, and his face was just a face. A young man's face, ordinary, with full cheeks and the shadow of a beard. A scar showed faintly on his right cheek. He had a hooked nose, and a mat of dense black hair that curled tightly around his ears.AFFC Prologue Jaqen passed a hand down his face from forehead to chin, and where it went he changed. His cheeks grew fuller, his eyes closer; his nose hooked, a scar appeared on his right cheek where no scar had been before. And when he shook his head, his long straight hair, half red and half white, dissolved away to reveal a cap of tight black curls. Arya's mouth hung open. "Who are you?" she whispered, too astonished to be afraid. "How did you do that? Was it hard?" He grinned, revealing a shiny gold tooth. "No harder than taking a new name, if you know the way."ACOK Arya IX
I just fucking figured this out and came to post it, holy shit. I recognized that name but couldn't exactly remember who Pate was. I was actually thinking of Jaquen in these final few chapters, wondering when he would show up. Holy shit, that's awesome.
Also (and can't believe I didn't mention this earlier) the stuff w/Catelyn was pretty interesting. Mentioned Brienne agreeing to take Jaime out in my other post, but when she pulled down her hood, revealing who she was, I couldn't read fast enough. Great moment.
Started last night. Was so great just having some of my favorite characters back. Already am enjoying this book a ton and we haven't really seen anything happen yet. Prologue: Might be my favorite prologue of any of the books. At worst it's the 1b to ASOS's 1a. Warg stuff continues to be awesome. Liked getting in the mindset of how it happened, what happened to the bodies when they did get inside of them, etc. The thing about not only the bodies fighting them, but a previous warg fighting them, was freaking awesome. As was learning the rules and how warging into some things/doing certain things was frowned upon. Great way to start the book. Tyrion: So happy to see his name again as a POV character instead of Cersei just bitching about him. And damn, he seems pretty messed up right now. Obviously wouldn't change what he did with Tywin, but that + Shae has definitely messed him up psychologically. Will be interested to see where his mindset goes from here. Going to be something to see him meeting with/hanging with Dany whenever that happens. Dany: Not a lot of stuff in this chapter until the very end. Lots of bitching about how much shit sucks for her and her crew. Definitely ready for her to cross the sea and finally meet up with the rest of the world from this series. Last page was great though. At first I was pissed that one of her dragons had gotten taken out. Then I realized it was a kid and I was all . Started to wonder when these things would ever cause problems after it mentioned them just doing their own thing, eating sheep and pissing people off, etc. How she reacts will be something to see. Jon: Once again, awesome to see his name to start a chapter. Was cool being reminded that this and AFFC are synced up for a while, since he talked to Sam a bit. Stuff with Stannis and Melisandre was really interesting. "You know nothing" was badass. Cannot imagine Jon and Stannis stay friends for long, seems like shit is gonna fall apart with those two. And now his warg powers continue to be improving as well? Good stuff all around. Strong start from the book, if only because I got to see those three characters again. I know I'll be reading a Bran chapter first tonight after work, so that'll be a welcome sight as well.
Well damn, continuing to love this book. I'm back to feeling like I did with ASOS where I can't wait to read it every night. And with some travel that I'll be doing next week, I should be able to knock this one out as quickly as I did ASOS. Though that's not the best thing since I won't be reading new stuff until like 2016 Alas... Bran: So awesome to get a Bran chapter again. I was ok on him through most of AGOT and the beginning of ACOK. But his story really picked up towards the end of that and I've been all in ever since. Warg stuff continues to be a great read. Much like the prologue, I love reading about the aspects of warging and how the bodies they go into react, so this was a fun chapter. Coldhands is awesome. Kind of reminds me of Strider from LOTR where he knows his shit but he's keeping his identity a secret. Although this is obviously different since Coldhands is dead. Awesome. Still think it's Benjen. Tyrion: Definitely felt like a setup chapter for what was to come. Lots of descriptions about where Tyrion is while finding out more about what he'd be up to in the future. That said, it's still awesome to read a Tyrion POV again, so I was fine with a little chess pieces being put in place because I missed this character a ton. The Merchant's Man: Definitely my least favorite chapter so far, mainly because I didn't know Quentyn. Seemed like an ok character though. Jon: Badass stuff from Jon. Loved his view of his conversation with Sam. Like I said in the last book, I'm happy Jon called Sam out. And I definitely think it worked for him going forward, because his character seemed like a stronger person in AFFC. Good stuff from Jon though. I like how he decides on things and just does them. Like at the end with Slynt - he could have pussed out and not killed him but he did. I did like how he changed from hanging to cutting his head off. What a way to end the chapter. I think there is a lot of fighting coming between the two, but even Stannis seemed pleased with it as well.
Tyrion: I love it when he talks about dragons. So awesome. Hoping he and Dany meet up soon because I really want to see what kind of stuff they do together. Stuff about Valyria is really cool as well. Would love to just read up on the history of that (don't get any ideas GRRM, write book 6 plz). Enjoyable chapter (as always) from Tyrion. Davos: What am I not getting with this guy? As I've read through the books, I've read through the threads for said books, and Davos always gets a ton of love. I don't get it, he's just an average character in my eyes. Definitely a "where is he now" type of chapter though. Quite a bit of dialogue, more than any chapter I can remember tbqh. Always love the reactions characters have for learning things we as readers learned long before though. Here it was Tywin's death. Jon: Goodnight sweet Mance Rayder. Goodnight sweet horn. Didn't think either would meet their maker so early. Do have to wonder if that really is the correct horn though. I'm starting to agree with a lot of people from the book 4 thread that the wall will eventually come down. That can't just happen with some picks and axes. It needs something supernatural. Should be interesting moving forward. Hate than Jon can't be tight with his friends anymore. I understand why he's doing it, but it still makes me sad. Also happy he's not trusting Thorne though. Keep your enemies close. Good call on his part.
GRRM has already said he wants to write a Silmarillion type book and I think he may have already started working on it
We pm back and forth all the time imo. I just don't get this. I mean, it's cool to have the history. I love learning more. Hell, I have Dunk and Egg on my kindle. BUT FINISH THE FUCKING BOOKS AND THEN WRITE THE OTHER SHIT YOU DOUCHE. Jesus, he bitches about the fans wanting more books then writers OTHER books. I don't get it. Goat troll.
Haven't gotten a chance to update the last few days, but I've read 13 chapters since. Next will be 25 (counting the prologue) entitled "The Lost Lord." So instead of going chapter by chapter, I'll just give my overall thoughts on each pov character covered in that span. Dany: God dammit. I honestly hadn't gotten the feeling that GRRM was stalling at all within the series. It obviously took 11 years to write what would happen with Dany (and Jon and Tyrion but I digress), and to be fair, I don't know what will happen with her by the end of this book. But I've really felt like her story has been stalled because of the so-called "meereenese knot." I know she's not a big fan of Xaro Xhoan Daxos, but Jesus H bitch, take the damn ships, go to Westeros, and fuck some people up. When she said no, I was pretty pissed because I knew that GRRM was stalling to figure out what to do next. After shit like that happens, I honestly don't expect her to get to Westeros until the end of book 6. Hopefully I'm wrong. Also, she got super horny at the end of last chapter. Hopefully in the show, we finally get to see her in the one tittied dress. Reek: Reading through the book 4 thread, it was brought up multiple times that Theon would be in this book and would be known as Reek, so I wasn't surprised to see him back. Honestly, made his chapters much more interesting because I knew who he was. It was cool to see him drop little clues about his past though, and by the end of his second chapter, it was obvious he was Theon. That said, as much as I wanted to feel bad for him (since he has lost fingers, toes, hair, etc), I didn't at all because of how much of a massive prick he was in ACOK. Of all the characters who deserve awful things, he's definitely near the top. Was fun to read his chapter where he was just losing it though. Can't imagine he's had a fun time since book 2 ended. Bran: Only had one chapter since my last update, and dammit I wanted more. Right when I finished (when he met the Greenseer/Three-Eyed Crow), I wanted to start his next chapter. Flipped through to see when it was... few hundred pages away. Was pissed. Should hit that spot tomorrow or Tuesday. Plus he met a children of the forrest? Holy shit yes. Bran's stuff has been dynamite thus far, but I want more dammit! Tyrion: So I knew there was a theory out there about little Aegon surviving everything back in the day, but I didn't really know if anything would come of it. Surely enough, he is alive, his name is Griff, and he's hanging with Tyrion. This should make for a lot of fun moving forward. Liked them playing the game together, good stuff. Thought things got really interesting when he made it on land. The stuff with the whore made me laugh. Then he got captured To the queen? Say it ain't so. Davos: I really don't think he has much time left in this book. I know GRRM throws us off sometimes (see Theon still being alive), but I really think all that talk in AFFC about him dying is going to come true. His last chapter sure didn't end well. Prayers sent Davos. Jon: Had a speech at the end of his last chapter that was great. Hopefully him convincing some wildlings to join the crew won't come back to bite him in the ass. Continues to show that he's a great leader though. Something I'm not surprised about at all. Figured he'd kick ass and take names on the wall. Continuing to enjoy this book quite a bit. Interested to see where things go with Aegon. And hopefully Dany can figure her shit out and get on a damn boat going west. Don't expect to see that for a while though.
We are probably even then. Finished a Davos chapter last night and went to bed. Just haven't updated this thread :/
NO U Dany: Just has people left and right proposing to her. Good call for her not to accept anyone though. People want her (imo) for her power and her dragons. But dammit I'm still pissed she's not going to Westeros yet. People keep trying to convince her and she keeps saying no. Dammit Dany, go over there and kick some ass. The Lost Lord: Aegon stuff was awesome. Love his confidence. Love the plan of going to Westeros to fuck people up before Dany joins in on the fun. This story is definitely going to be one I really am excited to read about throughout this book. The Windblown: Was an ok chapter. Seemed a lot more about what was going to happen in the future as opposed to what was happening at the time. The Wayward Bride: Really thought she was going to die. Either way, she's not in a good place right now. She got really messed up at the end of this chapter. Tyrion: Hooray, the queen isn't going to be his bitch sister. Great chapter from him. Was super long, so it was a lot of fun seeing where his mind was at as all this unfolded. And he's hanging with Ser Jorah? Who's still obsessed with Dany? I would say he needs to stop putting pussy on a pedestal, but it's probably a good idea to put her (her? #AD) pussy on a pedestal because she's wound to fuck some people up eventually. What's his play here though? He's already been banished. Maybe he's thinking having a Lannister for her will turn her opinion around? Idk, should be interesting. Jon: Good shit sending Thorne away, that douche. Hope he dies. Was all when he was training and then the lord of bones decided to fight him too. Don't like seeing him get beat down in front of his men, even if he was once told that there is always someone stronger than him. Not fun to see. Also, Melisandre continues to be one of the most interesting characters in the series. I really don't think the Lord of Light dominates forever, but damn is it having no issues right now. I know she has a POV coming soon, really excited to get inside her mind. Davos: Honestly wouldn't have cared if he would have died. Still not a huge fan of his. Did like this chapter though. That little douche that has Theon right now sounds awful. Just messing around all over. Hope he meets his maker soon.
I need to go back and check, but I think there are a couple of small sentences in this that could have big implications on what's to come. I'll ask what you thought if you don't mention it.