A Song of Ice and Fire: Book 5
Aug. 25th, 2011 10:44 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
brigdhThe library has finally provided me with a copy of 'A Dance with Dragons'! Here are my thoughts as I'm reading along; nothing too deep, just my random reactions and predictions.
Prologue:
Whooo, creepy. Zombie army! The information about skinchangers is a bit interesting too, particularly that it's an 'abomination' to shift into a human. Which we'd already begun to gets hints of, I feel, with Bran's treatment of Hodor- that was clearly going nowhere good. I don't remember if Bran has POV chapters later in this book or not, but I'm interested to see how what he learns will match or not with what Varamyr learned. Also, so… Varamyr killed his little brother? Why? I'm a little unclear on exactly what happened in his backstory, and I wonder if it's going to be important later. It seemed like a lot of detail to not have consequences somewhere. I wonder if we're going to meet any of his family.
Chapter One:
Oh, Tyrion. Vaguely suicidal self-hatred does seem an appropriate response to his situation, but I am still a bit uncomfortable with all the blame for Shae. And the focus on women=whores=untrustworthy is not so cool. It will be so awesome if Tyrion and Dany meet up, though. I want that scene like burning.
Illyrio is really playing all sides, isn't he? He's pretty intriguing for such a minor character.
Chapter Two:
DANY YAY YAY YAY YAY. And Missandei! I feel a special regard for her, even though she has, like, no lines, since I wrote a fic about her once. I really like that this book is going to show Dany dealing with actually ruling, as opposed to conquering places/dealing with a small group of loyal followers. So far, I like that it's actually quite difficult. Her problems here almost make Westeros look simple.
Stalwart Shield paying women just to hold him is heart-breaking. Great detail.
I like that the dragons are almost big enough to ride! I'm also looking forward to that.
Chapter Three:
Hopefully I will find Jon more interesting as Lord Commander than as whiny emo teen, but so far, not really. I am interested that Stannis, of all five of the original five kings, is the only one still alive. I would not have guessed that it would have been him.
I was very confused to see Sam there! I guess this chapter not only takes place concurrently with Feast for Crows, but actually before Sam's chapters in that book. Which is fine, I was just unclear on what was happening for a moment.
Melisandre continues to be super creepy. I do not know if she is in earnest, or playing some sort of long con. I will be interesting if she ever meets Dany, since Dany fulfills her prophecy more so than Stannis. I'm intrigued, actually, that Melisandre seems to have no clue about Dany, since everything else that happens she seems to be able to "see in the flames". Why not Dany? I wonder if that's a plot hole or something that will be important later.
Chapter Four:
Well, hey, here's Bran! That answered that question quickly. The whole Coldhands thing is interesting… none of the other wights seem to be able to speak or show other signs of intelligence, so why is this one special? I wonder if, when alive, this was a character we knew. I don't recognize him yet, but he hasn't been given much of a physical description.
The big question: is Coldhands somehow a wight working for the forces of good, or is he and the Three-Eyed Crow turning Bran to the dark side? I don't have any predictions yet; it could go either way.
Randomly: ewwww, Summer, don't eat people. That is a terrible idea.
Chapter Five:
TYRION AND DANY OMG. I am so excited for that meeting. Otherwise, not a lot happens in this chapter. I wonder if Tysha will show up at some point in these books. She could still be alive. Or not. But I do feel as if that plot is going somewhere.
I LOVE the Varys backstory. Varys is so cool; I am sad we have not seen much of him in the recent books; I hope he plays more of a role in this one. I really, really would love more about young Varys the thief. I doubt that's going to show up in the books, though, so: fanfic!
Chapter Six:
Ugh, Quentyn? I would much rather have had Arianne or Doran or any other of the Dorne characters as POVs. I guess it will be interesting if he manages to get to Mereen and courts Dany.
Otherwise I have nothing to say, except miniature elephants are awesome.
Chapter Seven:
I'm not sure Jon has enough of a different perspective to really justify seeing these scenes with Sam again. Jon is totally being a dick here. I guess I understand what he's going for, but given that he and Sam are practically best friends, I think he could have a little more sympathy.
I do like him beheading Slynt at the end. Mostly because the whole "Slynt is plotting stuff" arc was not all that engaging to me, but also because of the nice echo with Ned Stark beheading those he sentences to death. I also like Stannis's reaction to that; Stannis and Ned seem like they would have gotten along.
Chapter Eight:
Interesting to see Tyrion being a scholar again! I feel like we've been often told about that, but have rarely seen it.
Griff is interesting. I wonder if we're supposed to recognize him? I feel like there's going to be important backstory there. Illyrio's interest in Griff''s son strikes me as a bit unusual… maybe it's really his son? Or his wife's son, via Griff (either before or after her marriage to Illyrio)? Definitely more going on here with these characters than is yet obvious.
Chapter Nine:
Davos, yay! I'm still hoping he doesn't die, I like him. The backstory about Ned Stark and Jon Snow is interesting- I'm still assuming that Jon is, in fact, going to turn out to be Ned's nephew rather than son, but who knows. It could be a different kid named Jon Snow, I suppose- Jon's hardly an unusual name.
Chapter Ten:
Aw, I am sad Mance Rayder is dead. He was cool. I'm wondering if there are going to be major consequences over burning the Horn of Joramun- I predict at some point they are going to wish they still had it.
Melisandre's insistence on there being one god, one religion, is so unlike most characters in these novels. I'd really like to see that get her in more trouble than it yet has.
Val is a cool character. I'd like to a see her POV.
Noted again that Stannis's sword is not the real Lightbringer. I'm still hoping Dany gets a sword.
And then wah, wah, Jon is emo.
I have not read any further yet, so please no spoilers beyond this in the comments.
Prologue:
Whooo, creepy. Zombie army! The information about skinchangers is a bit interesting too, particularly that it's an 'abomination' to shift into a human. Which we'd already begun to gets hints of, I feel, with Bran's treatment of Hodor- that was clearly going nowhere good. I don't remember if Bran has POV chapters later in this book or not, but I'm interested to see how what he learns will match or not with what Varamyr learned. Also, so… Varamyr killed his little brother? Why? I'm a little unclear on exactly what happened in his backstory, and I wonder if it's going to be important later. It seemed like a lot of detail to not have consequences somewhere. I wonder if we're going to meet any of his family.
Chapter One:
Oh, Tyrion. Vaguely suicidal self-hatred does seem an appropriate response to his situation, but I am still a bit uncomfortable with all the blame for Shae. And the focus on women=whores=untrustworthy is not so cool. It will be so awesome if Tyrion and Dany meet up, though. I want that scene like burning.
Illyrio is really playing all sides, isn't he? He's pretty intriguing for such a minor character.
Chapter Two:
DANY YAY YAY YAY YAY. And Missandei! I feel a special regard for her, even though she has, like, no lines, since I wrote a fic about her once. I really like that this book is going to show Dany dealing with actually ruling, as opposed to conquering places/dealing with a small group of loyal followers. So far, I like that it's actually quite difficult. Her problems here almost make Westeros look simple.
Stalwart Shield paying women just to hold him is heart-breaking. Great detail.
I like that the dragons are almost big enough to ride! I'm also looking forward to that.
Chapter Three:
Hopefully I will find Jon more interesting as Lord Commander than as whiny emo teen, but so far, not really. I am interested that Stannis, of all five of the original five kings, is the only one still alive. I would not have guessed that it would have been him.
I was very confused to see Sam there! I guess this chapter not only takes place concurrently with Feast for Crows, but actually before Sam's chapters in that book. Which is fine, I was just unclear on what was happening for a moment.
Melisandre continues to be super creepy. I do not know if she is in earnest, or playing some sort of long con. I will be interesting if she ever meets Dany, since Dany fulfills her prophecy more so than Stannis. I'm intrigued, actually, that Melisandre seems to have no clue about Dany, since everything else that happens she seems to be able to "see in the flames". Why not Dany? I wonder if that's a plot hole or something that will be important later.
Chapter Four:
Well, hey, here's Bran! That answered that question quickly. The whole Coldhands thing is interesting… none of the other wights seem to be able to speak or show other signs of intelligence, so why is this one special? I wonder if, when alive, this was a character we knew. I don't recognize him yet, but he hasn't been given much of a physical description.
The big question: is Coldhands somehow a wight working for the forces of good, or is he and the Three-Eyed Crow turning Bran to the dark side? I don't have any predictions yet; it could go either way.
Randomly: ewwww, Summer, don't eat people. That is a terrible idea.
Chapter Five:
TYRION AND DANY OMG. I am so excited for that meeting. Otherwise, not a lot happens in this chapter. I wonder if Tysha will show up at some point in these books. She could still be alive. Or not. But I do feel as if that plot is going somewhere.
I LOVE the Varys backstory. Varys is so cool; I am sad we have not seen much of him in the recent books; I hope he plays more of a role in this one. I really, really would love more about young Varys the thief. I doubt that's going to show up in the books, though, so: fanfic!
Chapter Six:
Ugh, Quentyn? I would much rather have had Arianne or Doran or any other of the Dorne characters as POVs. I guess it will be interesting if he manages to get to Mereen and courts Dany.
Otherwise I have nothing to say, except miniature elephants are awesome.
Chapter Seven:
I'm not sure Jon has enough of a different perspective to really justify seeing these scenes with Sam again. Jon is totally being a dick here. I guess I understand what he's going for, but given that he and Sam are practically best friends, I think he could have a little more sympathy.
I do like him beheading Slynt at the end. Mostly because the whole "Slynt is plotting stuff" arc was not all that engaging to me, but also because of the nice echo with Ned Stark beheading those he sentences to death. I also like Stannis's reaction to that; Stannis and Ned seem like they would have gotten along.
Chapter Eight:
Interesting to see Tyrion being a scholar again! I feel like we've been often told about that, but have rarely seen it.
Griff is interesting. I wonder if we're supposed to recognize him? I feel like there's going to be important backstory there. Illyrio's interest in Griff''s son strikes me as a bit unusual… maybe it's really his son? Or his wife's son, via Griff (either before or after her marriage to Illyrio)? Definitely more going on here with these characters than is yet obvious.
Chapter Nine:
Davos, yay! I'm still hoping he doesn't die, I like him. The backstory about Ned Stark and Jon Snow is interesting- I'm still assuming that Jon is, in fact, going to turn out to be Ned's nephew rather than son, but who knows. It could be a different kid named Jon Snow, I suppose- Jon's hardly an unusual name.
Chapter Ten:
Aw, I am sad Mance Rayder is dead. He was cool. I'm wondering if there are going to be major consequences over burning the Horn of Joramun- I predict at some point they are going to wish they still had it.
Melisandre's insistence on there being one god, one religion, is so unlike most characters in these novels. I'd really like to see that get her in more trouble than it yet has.
Val is a cool character. I'd like to a see her POV.
Noted again that Stannis's sword is not the real Lightbringer. I'm still hoping Dany gets a sword.
And then wah, wah, Jon is emo.
I have not read any further yet, so please no spoilers beyond this in the comments.
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no subject
Date: 2011-08-25 04:42 pm (UTC)Lets just assume that I have, and move on.
women=whores=untrustworthy
Date: 2011-08-25 05:24 pm (UTC)I think that this is the main reason I never got into these books before.
Only their engaging of you has made them seem worth the bother. Now I feel that they might be worth the effort after all. It's kind of a lot of book there to deal with, without some sort ofpay off for my time, yeah?
Anything that's worth your valuable is probably worth mine.
Except for Project Runway.no subject
Date: 2011-08-25 05:44 pm (UTC)It's possible that she's limited by space, and Dany is too far away. I have another theory as well, but I think it's influenced by stuff that happens later, so I'll hold on to it.
Re: women=whores=untrustworthy
Date: 2011-08-25 07:26 pm (UTC)All that said, though, I do understand why some people might prefer to focus on entertainment without rape. It just doesn't bother me, particularly.
I do like the books a lot, but it's more like I need books to fill my time than I make time for worthwhile books. I have a daily subway commute, after all! I'll read anything on the train to avoid staring at the walls.
no subject
Date: 2011-08-25 07:39 pm (UTC)But I'm still interested to see what's going to happen.
Re: women=whores=untrustworthy
Date: 2011-08-25 08:20 pm (UTC)So is warfare, and combat, and murder, and while I'm okay with reading about that, some people aren't.
I just need to know that the things that are personally unpleasant for me will be compensated for by the rest of the story. Also, I don't go anywhere, so my reading needs are different!
I certainly get put out when people assume that authors can only write about people who are just like themselves. Apparently Mr. Shakespeare really wanted to murder Queen Elizabeth, because he writes about regicide ALL THE TIME!
Anyway, the fact that you find them readable makes me more willing to give them another go.
Re: women=whores=untrustworthy
Date: 2011-08-25 08:22 pm (UTC)Daily subway commute
Date: 2011-08-26 10:24 pm (UTC)The Only Hurricane Song You Need
Date: 2011-08-26 10:45 pm (UTC)DON'T GO HOME TONIGHT/ YOU'LL IRRITATE YOUR WIFE/THERE'S A BATHROOM ON THE RIGHT!!!