Since no one else is going to say it... (AFFC spoilers)

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Since no one else is going to say it... (AFFC spoilers)

Post by deer of the dawn »

I'll be the first to vent my spleen concerning Feast For Crows. :x

Most people (judging by online reviews) are disgruntled that the book focuses on certain characters and leaves others out completely... too much Sansa, not enough Daenerys, etc. and GRRRRRRRM explains in an afterword that he decided to make two books out of what was going to be one... well, all right, I can live with that, although a double-length book would not have been unwelcome (my husband accuses me of buying books by the pound).

My lack of satisfaction comes with wondering if he is ever going to take all the loose ends and tie them up satisfyingly.

Epic series tend to do one of the following:

1. Go on too long and lose focus (Sword of Truth is an example) or just start to suck (this is what I've heard about Wheel of Time).
2. The author gets tired wants to move on to something else and just finishes the sucker whether well or not (Ted Dekker's Circle series).
3. Keep it to a nice 3-book package, but tie things up too quickly to not feel contrived (Golden Compass).
4. Tell the complete story at a satisfying pace and resolve things satisfyingly (Lord of the Rings, 1 And 2 Chrons of TC).

I haven't read GRRRRRM before so I don't know if I can trust him to move all the pieces he's got on the board into places that make sense. I want to know where the h#$% Rickon is. And what will happen at the Wall. Cersei can rot in the tower for all I care, but how will Arya come back into the story line, will she languish a blind acolyte in Braavos forever? And so on and so forth.

Thus endeth my rant. :)
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ahhhh... if only all our creativity in wickedness could be fixed by "Corrupt a Wish." - Linna Heartlistener
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Post by Akasri »

For me, it's not so much that there are all those extra characters in AFFC... it's just that they don't do anything.

They move here, they move there, they talk a lot... but nothing really substantial happens through most of the book.

Sure, there are a few things that move the overall plot forward, but a lot of the book just feels like filler to me.

Someone should have sat GRRM down, made him combine AFFC and ADWD and cut out about half of it. Then you're looking at a book that I want to read.

I tend to re-read all the previous books in a series whenever a new one comes out. I'm not sure I can go through AFFC again once the next book comes out. I'm just not sure I have it in me to do it.
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Post by deer of the dawn »

Since, as I said, my main interest lies with character development, the lack of swordplay isn't a prob for me. The only outright filler was one paragraph which ran something like this:

So-and-so entered the dank, smokey inn. The innkeeper was a woman, polishing tankards while her very large breasts swayed under the roughspun cloth of her blouse.
Neither the woman nor her boobs had anything whatsoever to do with the plot, the characters, or even the atmosphere of the inn. Unless the nature of whatever breasts are present in a scene is very, very important to you. They do seem to be to GRRRRM.
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Post by Avatar »

WoT didn't suck, it just lost focus so badly that it became awful, and didn't find it again until book 11. It got steadily worse from book 7 on, until 10 which was so bad even I skip it in re-reads. :D But it got fixed in 11.

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Re: Since no one else is going to say it... (AFFC spoilers)

Post by wayfriend »

deer of the dawn wrote:My lack of satisfaction comes with wondering if he is ever going to take all the loose ends and tie them up satisfyingly.
You're not going to want to read Steven Erikson's Malazan series then. :twisted:
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Re: Since no one else is going to say it... (AFFC spoilers)

Post by deer of the dawn »

wayfriend wrote:
deer of the dawn wrote:My lack of satisfaction comes with wondering if he is ever going to take all the loose ends and tie them up satisfyingly.
You're not going to want to read Steven Erikson's Malazan series then. :twisted:
Well, it's not as if NO mysteries can remain. It's just unfair to let so many demons out of Pandora's Box and then only deal with the easy ones.
A little mystery, something left to the imagination, that's good. Just not everything!
Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a great battle. -Philo of Alexandria

ahhhh... if only all our creativity in wickedness could be fixed by "Corrupt a Wish." - Linna Heartlistener
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