[quote]Steel Nation wrote:
[quote]ouroboro_s wrote:
[quote]chillain wrote:
[quote]ouroboro_s wrote:
I’m glad I’m not the only one finding book 4 a bit of a slog. I’ve got about 200 pages to the end but it’s tough going. It’s good to know it’s set up for book 5 because it feels like it’s strayed entirely from the first three books. I’ve been reading them back to back and may take a bit of a break.
The character I miss the most in this book is Tyrion. He’s one of my favourites. Cersei really is quite a sick bitch and I find her bits tough. I have been enjoying the development of Brienne and the interaction she had with Jaime.[/quote]
At first, I was annoyed that seemingly every-other-chapter in AFFC is about Cersei. But I did come around and really start enjoying the “glimpse into her mind/perspective” in much the same way as Jaime’s chapters.
And I might be the only one who actually enjoyed the chapters in Dorne, certainly preferred those to whatever was going on in the Eyrie. But I suppose I’m even enjoying that storyline, so nevermind.
[/quote]
It’s interesting what you said about Cersei. At first I was sympathetic but when she starts sending all the women she doesn’t like to visit with Qyburn, it turned me off.
However, I find her interesting in that she wants to lead and struggles to lead but was never given the tools that her brothers were given because she was a girl so she doesn’t know how to do it effectively. You can feel her rage in how she was sold to Robert and continues to lack support from her own family, most specifically her uncle Kevan. At that stage of the story though, is the lack of support because she’s a woman or because she’s becoming unraveled? Would she be less crazy and a better leader if she were given the support and tools her brothers had? Her rage spills over into her over reactions and lack of subtlety.
[/quote]
You lost me completely. What tools? What was Tyrion given that Cersei was not?
[/quote]
The only thing Tyrion was given was the name Lannister by way of Tywin. That’s it. He had to struggle every step of his life to get even the smallest bit of recognition from anyone (except Jamie who is the only who seems to genuinely have cared for Tyrion for the sake of family).
Cersei is a spoiled, elitist twit who has no notion of diplomacy or game playing … which is why she’s been put in the position she has been (some might say it was prophesized but those are always double edged). She’s by far out matched by her (perceived) rival, Margery who has been groomed to play the game of thrones and understands its subtleties … Cersei would much rather approach an ant with a sledgehammer.
However, I do agree that Cersei is riveting. Only in the way that a lunatic is riveting. I found her chapters to be entertaining, and after the second reading, I enjoyed AFFC. The first reading was somewhat brutal, but when you finish A Dance with Dragons you kind of appreciate the pacing of AFFC.
Also, what went on in the Eyrie is really kind of interesting in that you see the education of Sansa, who I think will become a more formidable player in the rest of the story. Also, she’s done what she had to do to survive the hell she was in and came away with her sanity. That says a lot about her. She watched the dude she was betrothed to (with whom she thought she was in love) condemn her father to death, watched the beheading, then proceeded to be humiliated and tortured for the next year, year and a half … also, she had to denounce ALL of her kin, appear to be happy about her brother AND mother being murdered (Red Wedding), her other brothers being killed (by someone who had been raised with her as almost a brother) etc. etc.
I really don’t find Sansa’s chapters to be boring at all.