A Feast for Crows

[rusty_halo]

I finished "A Feast for Crows"!

Be warned, massive spoilers follow.

Okay, so I didn't like this one as much as the others. But it had its moments.

• Brienne is totally going to kill Jaime with the sword he gave her. It's called "Oathkeeper," and she's about to make an oath to kill him. Even though they're falling in love. So tragic, so epic, blah blah blah. Dammit, I don't want Jaime to die.
  
  But it makes perfect sense, and also explains Roose Bolton's line "Jaime Lannister sends his regards" right before he killed Robb Stark. The only reason that line was there was to give "Lady Stoneheart" an overwhelming reason to want Jaime dead. Damn.
  
  I could also see Brienne killing Jaime, but "restoring his honor" by writing his page in the White Book and filling in all his good deeds, thus fixing his reputation. Of course, to do that she'd have to be in the Kingsguard--which doesn't seem terribly implausible (Jaime, the Lord Commander, respects her fighting ability, she was on Renly's Kingsguard, plus she's apparently descended from Dunk [of the "Dunk and Egg" stories] who also ended up as Lord Commander of the Kingsguard).
  
  Awww, and how sweet is it that she believes Jaime's trusted her with his honor, and he's replaced Renly in her dreams. Except not so good in the dreams where Renly dies.... *sigh*
  
  
• I really like Brienne. She reminds me of me, as an awkward ugly kid who always got ridiculed. Except she kicks ass at fighting. She's got such a sweet, good heart--I hope she manages to keep it.
  
  
• Dude, what's with all the disfigurement in this book? Poor Brienne. Poor Myrcella. Poor Loras. As if Jaime, Tyrion, Sandor, etc. weren't enough.
  
  
• Okay, we've had two femslash scenes to titillate the boys. Plus lots of het sex scenes with ugly guys and hot women. So now it's time for some hot boys fucking, dammit. (I vote Renly/Loras flashback!)
  
  
• How awesome is it that Jaime is pretty much the hero of this book? Seriously, he's taken over the Tyrion role, in that it's his observations about people that you trust. He's got such insight, and unlike most of the other characters, his goal isn't power for himself, it's to live his life with integrity (but not in a dumbass Stark-like way).
  
  (Well, I guess Brienne is also a hero of this book, since her goal is to rescue a lost kid. Except all she really does is wander around boringly and not really get anywhere.)
  
  Jaime ending the siege at Riverrun was awesome. *is proud* I love that his goal was to do what was inevitable with as little bloodshed as possible. I felt sad that no one believed his generous terms (though I understand why--who would trust the evil, honorless Kingslayer), but I love that he then turned it around and used his rotten reputation to his advantage. ("With a trebuchet." Hee!)
  
  And Edmure is such a fuckwit--he and Brynden both escaped with their lives, despite the fact that they were pretty much walking dead men before Jaime showed up, and they have Jaime to thank for their lives. Yet all Edmure can see is the surface. (How pathetic is it that Catelyn was the smartest one in that family???)
  
  
• [shallowness]I loved Brienne's line about the bath at Harrenhall, that Jaime looked "half a corpse, and half a god." Hee![/shallowness]
  
  
• Jaime ending his vigil over Tywin to go comfort Tommen was also awesome. I want to see more of Daddy Jaime. Awwww. Except you know Tommen is going to die a horrible death, poor darling.
  
  
• Jaime hooking up his squire with Pia. And presenting Pia with the head of the guy who raped her. Everyone else thinks of Pia as just some slut, but Jaime sees that she's a sweet, damaged girl. Awwww. He's such a sweetie. I really enjoy how insightful he is about people, and how basically kind he is underneath.
  
  
• And, of course, Jaime figuring out that Cersei is more Stranger than Maiden was also great. Though his attitude change was sort of obvious from the previous book. Still, yay for character arcs!
  
  
• Cersei! Oh my god, what a stupid cunt. Actually, she was one of my problems with this book--she was such an "Evil Queen" cliche. She all but cackled "Mirror, mirror, on the wall." It was funny to watch her dig herself deeper and deeper, but still. She's a one-dimensional character, so it's hard to get much out of her story.
  
  Also, I suppose I suffer from an excess of empathy. Because seeing all that horrible stuff happen to her from an outside POV would've been awesome--justice for the evil bitch. But seeing it from her point of view just stressed me out. She's such an unpleasant mind to be in, in every way. (And honestly, I did feel bad for her--she has been mistreated because of her gender, and she didn't deserve a forced marriage to Robert. But she'd still be an evil psycho bitch regardless of all that.)
  
  
• Genna (Lannister) Frey is awesome. We definitely need to see more of her. How lame that she's stuck with that dumbass Frey away from all the action.
  
  
• Oh, the irony. The series started with the evil Lannisters unfairly seizing power, and the audience desperately wanting them to get their come-uppance. But now all the nasty Lannisters are dead or out of power (Tywin, Cersei, Joffrey) and the decent Lannisters are in power (Tommen, Jaime, Kevan, Genna). They're totally going to get destroyed, and instead of justified vengeance (like you'd expect from the early books), it's going to be tragic.
  
  
• The entire book was setup for future events (Sansa and Arya's training, Doran's schemes, Qyburn's experiments, Brienne's vow, etc). Very little actually happened in it at all. Lots of build-up, no payoff. Clearly the book suffers for that.
  
  
• How many "dead" characters are we waiting to hear from in the future?
  
  1. Sandor--obviously not dead. (I actually missed this the first read-through. *feels stupid*)
     
  2. UnGregor--sure to be cool when it happens, but all the references in this book with no payoff were kind of disappointing.
     
  3. Theon--have the Boltons finished flaying him yet?
     
  4. Davos--please let him actually be dead. He rivals Catelyn for boringness.
     
  5. Brienne--duh. (You'd have to have zero familiarity with the structure of fiction to actually think Martin would kill her off after an entire book of setup.)
     
  6. Podrick--I LOVE Podrick. Please don't let him be dead. I want to see him reunited with Tyrion. And his "Ser. My Lady." was awesome every single time.
     
  7. Loras--yeah, he's not dead either. I suppose how fucked up he is depends on whether it's all a plot to get Cersei not to choose him as her champion in a trial by battle. It'll be more interesting if he's really fucked up, though. Interesting also how his story parallels Jaime's (and how Jaime sees him as a younger version of himself).
     
  8. Aegon. I think Aegon's actually dead, but we're likely to see an Aegon pretender at some point.
     
  9. I'm pretty sure there's more, but that's all I can think of at the moment. Martin already pulled this "are they dead" trick with Bran and Rickon, and with Jaime, in book two. It's getting old, dude.
  
  
• Doran Martell. Okay, I loved that he seemed like a passive wuss, but it turns out he's just as vengeance-minded as all the other Martells, he's just much more clever about it. He wins major points for his final "Blood and fire" line. Kick ass.
  
  BUT--he loses major points because he suffers from Dumbledore syndrome: the tendency to come up with an awesome plan, but fail to tell anyone about it, so that his own allies end up working against him and ruining it. Yeah, his daughter was a fuckwit who would've blabbed, but then, if he was raising his daughter to be Queen of Westeros, maybe he should've put some effort into not raising a fuckwit. Honestly.
  
  
• Sansa. I don't really buy how undisturbed she was at the prospect of killing Robert Arryn. Doesn't seem like the lackwit-but-redeemed-by-her-kind-heart Sansa of earlier books. I don't know, I just don't get her, and none of her character development really makes sense to me. She's always someone's pawn, so it's hard to see what is her own internal belief versus what is her just following wherever she's led. She continues on the path of idiocy, following Littlefinger, the man who helped destroy her family. Honestly, Sansa. *shakes head*
  
  
• Sam and Gilly. Okay, Mr. Martin, now you're just getting gratuitous with the "ugly guy gets hot chick" routine. It's time for some sex scenes from a woman's point of view. And not unsatisfying lesbian sex scenes written for the enjoyment of men, dammit.
  
  
• Everything Maester Aemon said was golden. "Egg, I dreamed I was old" might've been the best line of the book. We didn't get nearly enough of him, and I'm so sad he never got to talk to Danaerys.
  
  
• This book descended into fantasy cliche much more than the others. (With Sam, with Cersei, etc.) There wasn't really much subversion of the tropes this time around. Disappointing.

Comments

[queenofthorns.livejournal.com]

You have NO IDEA how badly I want to click on that cut and read the spoilers. Hee! I’m still only halfway through rereading ACOK so I probably won’t be done with AFFC before the weekend. We still on for booksigning tomorrow then?

[rusty_halo.livejournal.com]

I'll bet! I can't believe you're delaying it.

We're definitely on for tomorrow. Apparently they are going to be handing out wristbands or tickets or something at 1pm, so I'll try to go over there then and get one (or more than one, if they allow me).

Then I guess maybe I'll come back around 4 or so. Apparently the other signings have been massively crowded, and this B&N is really small.

[queenofthorns.livejournal.com]

Oh, that sounds lovely (in a sarcastic way!) So it sounds like without the ticket, there's probably no shot of my getting in? Can I e-mail you my cell # so if you can only pick up one ticket, I'll know not to worry about it? Or do you want to e-mail me?

[rusty_halo.livejournal.com]

Oh, no, I think you should get in no matter what. The ticket is for a spot in the seating area, otherwise you have to stand. (If you've been to that B&N, it's TINY.) Sorry I didn't clarify!

I believe Martin has said he'll sign for everyone, but you might be too far back to hear his talk, depending on when you get there.

I'm not totally sure what the deal is exactly. There is a discussion here that may help:
http://asoiaf.westeros.org/index.php?showtopic=158

[queenofthorns.livejournal.com]

Hmmm! Well, maybe I'll drop in, see what's going on and see YOU and then think about whether I want to spend all afternoon there or whether I'd rather actually just keep reading :p

[rusty_halo.livejournal.com]

Oh yeah... but you should probably email me your cell number anyway, to make sure we can find each other if it's really crowded. drinkthepoison -at- hotmail.com

[queenofthorns.livejournal.com]

Absolutely!

[queenofthorns.livejournal.com]

I'm done, I'm done ... la la la la! I have to go to lunch now, but I posted a huge long ode to Jaime Lannister ;)

[queenofthorns.livejournal.com]

* Brienne is totally going to kill Jaime with the sword he gave her. It's called "Oathkeeper," and she's about to make an oath to kill him. Even though they're falling in love. So tragic, so epic, blah blah blah. Dammit, I don't want Jaime to die.

I don’t want him to die either; I want him to love Brienne back and for them to be happy together more even for her sake than for his own – I think Jaime might be the first one to agree that he’s had his innings, but Brienne is so GOOD and so lovely that I want her to be happy and if Jaime dies she will be sad, so he can’t die …

OK, so I too was convinced that Brienne is going to kill Jaime with “Oathkeeper”, and then I had lunch with my friend nutmeg3 and we were talking about this because I was soooo upset when I read that chapter that I practically burst into tears on the train!! And nutmeg suggested that Brienne is going to swear to kill Jaime (to save Podrick and Hyle Hunt, not so much to save herself) – and then she is going to learn that sometimes what is honorable and what is right are not the same things. Because we have several people who’ve broken their sworn vows, who are good people and/or who made absolutely the right decision – Jaime killed Aerys; Jon went off with the wildlings; Sam slept with Gilly … And NONE of those was the wrong thing to do. I think Brienne’s only flaw is maybe her black-and-white view of the world (which is changing, to be sure, as she grows to love Jaime) and she’s going to learn, bone-deep, what Jaime learned with Aerys: so many vows, no way to keep them all… I’m clinging to this slender hope until the moment that Brienne drives Oathkeeper into Jaime’s heart, by the way …

Awww, and how sweet is it that she believes Jaime's trusted her with his honor, and he's replaced Renly in her dreams. Except not so good in the dreams where Renly dies.... *sigh*

I know! Those dreams kind of frighten me …

She's got such a sweet, good heart--I hope she manages to keep it.

Yes! I adore Brienne and it would break her to have to kill Jaime because she really loves him; it’s not Renly-love where he was nice to her at that party when no one else was – it’s love because Jaime yelled Thapphireth for her and got her out of the bear pit and because he told her so much about himself. DAMMIT! She can’t kill him. She just cannot …

On the utter fabulousness of Jaime...

[queenofthorns.livejournal.com]

How awesome is it that Jaime is pretty much the hero of this book? Seriously, he's taken over the Tyrion role, in that it's his observations about people that you trust. He's got such insight, and unlike most of the other characters, his goal isn't power for himself, it's to live his life with integrity (but not in a dumbass Stark-like way).

I loved his POV chapters – he’s so clear-eyed about himself and other people; by the end, he’s even clear-eyed about Cersei (Queen of Whores!) And I also love that he never really thinks hatefully about Tyrion – he blames himself for his father’s death, yes, but he never has those rage- and hate-filled inner monologues about Tyrion that Cersei does. Because in his heart of hearts, I think he knows Tyrion was justified, and because I think he still loves Tyrion (and it still kind of breaks my heart that Jaime is the only person we’ve ever seen who just genuinely loves Tyrion!)

Jaime ending the siege at Riverrun was awesome. *is proud* I love that his goal was to do what as inevitable with as little bloodshed as possible.

That was brilliant: he managed to find a way to break the siege AND keep his vow to Catelyn. And I love how he has the singer play the “Rains of Castamere” for Edmure. HA! (Also, I think he was remarkably generous to Edmure anyway, considering who had kept him chained in the dungeons of Riverrun for a year. Heh!!)

(How pathetic is it that Catelyn was the smartest one in that family???

Well, I love the Blackfish, but of Hoster Tully’s three children, yes, not the brightest bulbs in the box …

* [shallowness]I loved Brienne's line about the bath at Harrenhall, that Jaime looked "half a corpse, and half a god." Hee![/shallowness]

Mmmm, yes. It’s not all courtly love for Brienne, is it? Now I want Brienne to get some Jaime-loving because she wants it (and she must get what she wants) and because I’m sure he’s very hot and all, but HOW is he going to sleep with her without breaking his vows some more? It is such a puzzlement. Sigh!

Jaime ending his vigil over Tywin to go comfort Tommen was also awesome. I want to see more of Daddy Jaime. Awwww. Except you know Tommen is going to die a horrible death, poor darling.

I know! I’m so afraid for the “Baratheon” children – and I loved how sweet Jaime was with Tommen and his advice that there’s so much horror in the world, and all you can do is laugh at it, fight it, or go away inside. Sniffle! And Jaime’s done all three, hasn’t he?

and how basically kind he is underneath.

I posted my review/thoughts before I read this, and it’s funny but I thought the exact same thing – for Cersei (but also for the other nobles), the commonfolk are just pieces to be moved around on a chessboard in their games … And Jaime (and sometimes Tyrion – with Alayaya, for example) are the two people we’ve seen actually think about other people…

Though his attitude change was sort of obvious from the previous book. Still, yay for character arcs!

Well, yes, but I thought it was deeply, deeply realistic that he have relapses – he’s loved Cersei all his life and he wants her still and for him to keep wanting her (a little) isn’t unreasonable. It’s when she keeps pushing him away, when he realizes that for her, he’s not someone she loves, but some hideous cripple (she makes more comments about his stump than I could even COUNT!)

Cersei

[queenofthorns.livejournal.com]

Cersei! Oh my god, what a stupid cunt... And honestly, I did feel bad for her--she has been mistreated because of her gender, and she didn't deserve a forced marriage to Robert. But she'd still be an evil psycho bitch regardless of all that…

Well, I did feel a little sorry for her in her worry about the children (although I find it ironic that she thinks she’s such a great plotter and so brilliant a schemer, and in reality she’s a complete failure at all of that… I think Cersei is showing us the solipsism of those who play ‘the game of thrones’ – for example, I think Stannis is equally selfish in pursuing his claim no matter what the cost, even if he rationalizes it in a different way and at least he did go help the Night’s Watch – and the Tyrells are no better, either, in their scheming, as much as I enjoy the Queen of Thorns :p Ironically, it’s her monstrous selfishness and paranoia that land her in that pickle – but I don’t find her that one-dimensional in the end. Because, as you say, I see how much she wanted to be a boy and how different things would have been for her but she went one way and Asha Greyjoy, who’s in a similar predicament went another… (Anyway, I’m glad she turned out to be such a stone-cold bitch because Jaime has to get away from her! You don’t think he was planning to go rescue her at the end, do you? I so hope not …)

Genna (Lannister) Frey is awesome. We definitely need to see more of her. How lame that she's stuck with that dumbass Frey away from all the action.

Hee! I loved her. She was great with the pinching Jaime and the firmness and everything else. Awww! I love her and Kevan and Jaime’s dead uncle Gerion sounds cool too (I love how Jaime says that Joy’s a lovely girl and doesn’t deserve nasty Lady Westerling for a mum-in-law…)

They're totally going to get destroyed, and instead of justified vengeance (like you'd expect from the early books), it's going to be tragic.

I kind of fear this too, but I still hope that Dany is learning to rule and be merciful and not all the Lannisters are equally guilty of anything – especially not the children. After all, Ned Stark was a traitor to Aerys as well, and I certainly don’t think Dany’s going to end up killing Bran or Rickon or Arya or Sansa. Now, my problem is that I wonder if Tommen and Myrcella (and the other Lannister children) will be alive still when Dany gets to Westeros!

Clearly the book suffers for that.

Hmmm! I dunno – I just felt like it was such a feast of character-development for two characters (Brienne and Jaime) whom I adore so much that I loved it very much indeed and had no problems with it at all.

Final comment and I will stop spamming your LJ mercilessly ...

[queenofthorns.livejournal.com]

I liked Doran Martell a lot too – so different from Oberyn!! I just felt like his daughter wasn’t very well-developed as a character (in contrast to Asha Greyjoy, who hasn’t had much screentime either, but who felt real in a way that Princess Whosis did not!) mostly. I really liked Dorne as a PLACE, though.

Re: Sansa – I am going to have to read her chapters again to get more out of them. I do like that she’s becoming sort of a ‘faceless man’ herself, like Arya – subsuming her true identity in a false one. And I suspect she’s got a little Stockholm Syndrome going on at this point – Littlefinger has cut her off from everyone else who might have helped her. (Like, I think if she’d been in King’s Landing when Jaime came back, he would have honored his pledge and certainly would have helped her escape!)

And as for Aemon, I loved him so much. Sniffle! But it was a good death, if a sad one.