Anticipating "A Feast For Crows" by George R. R. Martin (Nov. 9)

why does laura read so fast.

YES

A Song of Fire and Ice is one of the best fantasy series currently going. Martin is a skilled writer and an expert crafter of cliffhangers, red herrings, and other plot twists (probably comes from having written for TV so long). If he's no Gene Wolfe, he's also no Robert Jordan.

What is this supposed to mean? I'm not familiar with either.

BTW, finished the first book last night.

detailed chapter by chapter summaries available here:
http://members.aol.com/vbkorik27/main.html

I was reading some on the train today. I'm nearing the end. I'm glad I didn't just blow through it in two days cuz otherwise I think I'd be really bored and disappointed with whatever else I'd be reading. I love the way Martin drops characters in and out of the story--case in point, two of Robert's bastards who haven't had terribly significant parts yet (especially Mya Stone.) Also awesome: Dornish subplotting.

Is Cersei delusional or was she really psychologically fucked over as a child (more than one would assume, what with her bonking her bro and all.)

SPOILERS MAY FOLLOW:::::::::::::::::::::

so we still have a lot of cliffhangers, some of which are continued over from the previous book.
-Where is Tyrion? I bet he's on Dragonstone, perhaps with Davos Seaworth. Maybe they're both dead.
-Where are the stark lads and jojen and whats'ername? Are they faring well?
-So what's Catelyn's deal now? She's 'alive' in a sense but doesn't seem to have ANY compassion left whatsoever. To be honest, I wouldn't expect her to. But do we think she's going to become a major player in the game? That would surprise me.
-Melisandre & Stannis? I wonder how they're dealing with Jon.

I think Arya is really blind, Laura said she'd taken it as a metaphor for something else. I think the concept of a blind Arya assassin is too much to resist.

Cersei's a terrible cunt, and I hope awful things happen to her in the following book. I don't care much about Margaery, really. If she's a casualty it won't be a significant one in my eyes. She was kinda bland.

What do you think is going to happen with Arianne/Myrcella/Dorne?

I like Jaime much more now. He just keeps getting more likable as the series progresses, which is a nice turnaround. His first appearances make him seem like such a bastard.

I think in the end Jaime is actually going to be the one to kill Cersei. Maggy predicted she'd be killed by a valonquar (sp?) which means younger brother. She always suspected Tyrion, but given the current situation, I'm going with Jaime. He was born after her, after all, and she is the biggest liability ever. Also, she cheated on him something ridiculous while he was busy getting his hand hacked off. If Tommen doesn't survive (I think he's too guileless for longevity) maybe Jaime can marry Margaery.

I don't (want to) think Brienne is really dead.

If Arya really is blind, I think it will be compensated for by some other kind of power... interesting parallels with Bran, perhaps. I still think he could become a major player. I'd like to see her meet up with Jon again, but it's not going to happen until after Dragons at least since they run parallel in the same time frame.

Sansa is well-positioned to be a major player. Will the Stark girls ever reunite with their zombie mother? Only time will tell.

i found that his character development was especially strong; the long build-up to us REALLY meeting jamie lannister was terrific, as was the way he cleverly manipulates reader sympathy in regards to pretty much all of the lannisters.

dude's a little obsessed with rape, though.

and yeah, martin is a little obsessed with rape. and incest. and adultery.

What is the accepted online resource for finding high-quality CCG criticism???

maybe Arya gets better but so far it's just been "arya trying to escape / arya gets captured" beat played over and over again.

have you been keeping a "wench" tally

Finished Feast of Crows!

Really came to hate the Cersei chapters, partly for GRRM's less than sterling prose, partly for how thinly he fleshes out her character. Agree w/ Princess TamTam (Dornish?) upthread about her deal being paranoia instead of outright stupidity, but the way that he writes marked direct speech (i.e. what I allude to here) gets incredibly tiresome in Cersei's chapters -- mostly because GRRM seems more invested in having us look down on her all inna "lol @ her smug butt" way rather than focus on giving her more dimensionality (she's been WAY more interesting in the tv show). That said, very very happy where she ends up in the book, so clearly GRRM is doing something right.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARYA~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ;_; I am so ready to have her become a blind assassin though, which I no doubt will be able to read about in 2017.

I have to say some of the TWISTS, even in book 3, are telegraphed, even the Red Wedding, which for narrative-structural reasons (the way the chapters were set up) and plot reasons (why would Frey marry off what's her name to you know who especially when HE'S in a better bargaining position?) I saw coming. But then heheh I was all o_OO_o in the epilogue.

Also, a minor I've been wondering about the second book: why do Tyrion's mountain men hang with him in such an obedient way? These guys were on the verge of chopping off his manhood and feeding it to the goats in book 1, then in book 2 they're his unquestioning bodyguards. Were the splendors of King's Landing so, uh, splendid that they awed them into submission?

Finally: 3 > 1 > 2 > 4.

PS I figured that by the time I was going to finish book 4 that book 5 would be out in paperback, but clearly I'm going to have to splurge on the hardcover now.

yeah the way that for a few hundred pages people are going "hey remember the LAWS of HOSPITALITY which are REAL IMPORTANT which no one EVER EVER breaks" is kind of ..... nnnghh

like i'm not sure if this is inept foreshadowing or even more inept dramatic irony

oh well, see you on the book five thread

Yes, it's slogging. About 60% of the way through now, and so much Ironmen padding grrr. Though people who've read everything out assure me that by the time the 6th book comes out he'll have set everything up for something huge. Anyway, LOLed heartily at Lancel's description of treason. Liking Cersei & the Dornish settings a lot.

I'm glad to see the storyline with the sparrows because it hopefully means there's going to be something big with the faith militant/the red woman's religion and it's not just a buildup to nothing.

Now to read the comments upthread...

You'll appreciate aFfC more in retrospect.

I finished this! Saggy midsection but flew through it in the last third of the book. Could have lived without description of Sam's "fat pink mast".

I understand why people moaned about it as it can be quite slow going and at times you wonder why the fuck there's so much Iron Islands stuff, for example, but looking back at it all, you can see things shifting into place.

Starting ADWD now. I really hope he can deliver on this big climax.

the iron islands stuff were the only parts of affc i really hated.