422 replies to this topic

[Joy Lannister]

Best:

1. Tyrion
2. Jon
3. Jaime
4. Sansa //While Sansa is definitely nowhere near one of my favorite characters, her POV is even more interesting than Arya's; I find the politics in both King's Landing and the Vale fascinating;
5. Cersei //Her and Jaime's POV in aFfC were the main reasons I even enjoyed the book; The manifestations of her astonishing political inadequacy are simply gratifying to follow;

Worst:

1. Brienne //All bow to the queen; In only one book she almost bored me to dead - a feat the second on this list was trying to accomplish since the very beginning of the story; I pity the character but hate the fact she was given a POV;
2. Bran //the Boring; Again, I'm fond of the character but see his POV as a chore that has to be done in order to get to the more interesting parts of the book;
3. Samwell
4. Aeron Damphair //go drown yourself already, please;
5. Davos //Same case as with Bran and Brienne;

[Liadin]

Best:

1. Tyrion--not fond of him as a person but he's always in the middle of things
2. Eddard
3. Catelyn--again, interesting stuff is usually happening around her
4. Jon--I like him even though he doesn't make any decisions
5. Davos--because the guy needs some people on his side. I like him.

Worst:
1. Bran--cute little kid, but nothing much happens in his chapters
2. Arya--like Bran; I like her better on re-reads but post-AGOT she has basically nothing to do with the main plot
3. Victarion--because I despise him
4. Theon--same. Ugh. I'm so pissed that he's not dead yet.
5. Brienne--no fault of her own, but she has the dullest quest ever


This seems to be based mostly on how I felt my first reading, and who had the most interesting plot. On re-reads I don't have strong feelings when I see the chapter titles, because I already know what's going to happen.... still hate Theon and Victarion though.

[Peter the Gun]

Terrorist Fist Jab, on 10 July 2010 - 02:14 PM, said:

Best:

1. Jaime (Definitely the most fascinating character in ASOIAF)
2. Arya (Her transformation from feisty little kid to traumatized child soldier. Plus, we meet villains like Roose Bolton, Amory Lorch and GREGOR from her POV)
3. Tyrion (Of course)
4. Eddard (We see the politics of Westeros from a naive outsider's POV)
5. Catelyn (Many major events happen in her POV, such as the Robb's coronation, Renly's death and the Red Wedding)

Worst:

1. Arianne (A spoiled little bitch whose storyline led exactly nowhere, since Doran would make her his heir anyway)
2. Arys Oakheart (He has no purpose at all, except as character development for Arianne)
3. Samwell (I don't want to read about him being scared and pissing in his pants all the time)
4. Jon (Like someone else said, his personality puts me to sleep)
5. Cersei (There are a lot of psychos in ASOIAF, but none are as fucking tedious and boring as her)

This pretty much sums it up for me, thanks

[Alexia]

Best
1. Sansa (a great evolution at the hands of Cersei and LF.  Since ACOK, I read closer when I got to her chapters.)
2. Tyrion (great dynamic with Cersei and lots of things happening in his POV)
3. Cersei (watching her self-destruct...)
4. Arya (slowly losing her identity and values, she gives a lot of insight on the war.  Love having Sandor as her mentor.)
5. Danaerys (Targaryen madness personified but I hope she invades soon...)

Worst
1. Jon (go away.  Please.  Your problems don't compare to those of your siblings and you angst way too much.)
2. Ned (when you play the Game of Thrones, you win or die, so you probably shouldn't play.)
3. Brienne (seriously honey, I don't think you have a future in detective work...)
4. Sam (everyone knows that you are a coward, could you please stop repeating it?)
5. Theon (being taken by the Bastard of Bolton was the best thing to ever happen to you...)

[MissSweetMilly]

Best
1. Jaime (potentially biased because he's my favourite character, but I always find his chapters fascinating
2. Jon (I like him)
3. Tyrion (his wittiness amuses me)
4. Sansa (I like her character development)
5. Eddard (I was rooting for him even though I groaned inwardly at everything he did)

Worst
1. Cersei (annoying little bitch)
2. Brienne (I like her as a character, but her chapters were so boring)
3. Arianne (Once again, quite boring)
4. Theon (annoying and boring)
5. Samwell (ugh, we know you're a coward, now just go die in a pit)

[Jehane]

Best:
- Jaime - he's an amazing character and I love the way he's trying to cope with his fate.
- Cersei - hell yes, she's a bitch but her chapters were so much fun to read
- Tyrion - probably my favourite character in all the series.
- Dany - I can't wait for her to invade Westeros with her dragons.
- Sansa - she's not my favourite character and I really hated her in Game of Thrones but her POV are fascinating; also, she evolves and grows a lot as the series progresses.

Worst:
- Samwell - the very essence of boring; I hate his whining and cowardice. Worst scene ever: the sex scene with Gilly. Argh.
- Jon - grew into a very annoying character, whines a lot about him having broken his vows with Ygritte yadayadayada.
- Theon - I hate him and can't wait for him to die.
- Victarion - booooooooring. The only cool person in the Greyjoy family is Asha.
- Davos - another whiner; I never got his attitude "Oh yes my king, chop of my fingers because I've been a very naughty knight". That's just sick.

[Liadin]

Okay, neither is Top-5 for me, but I don't get all the hate toward Sam and Arianne. Sam we've discussed to death in other threads, but Arianne? Okay, yes, the whole Dorne plotline was kind of pointless, but I thought she was cool as a character. I hope we see her continue to shake things up in future books.

[Winterfelled]

I can't say I have five POV's that I'd classify as "worst". There have been highs and lows for most of them, but even at Dany's most tedious, I'd still rather read her chapters alone than read a novel by Brandon Sanderson.  

The only POV to truly frustrate me was Ned. It was like watching a man dig his own grave, then hop in with a smile on his face. Even though I didn't know he was going to die, you could see he was getting played the whole time. I was screaming at him to just accept Renly's offer, to just get on with it, but he wouldn't.

My favorite POVs are equally difficult to name, at least beyond the top two of Tyrion and Jon Snow. My loyalty is to Bran's story, to Dany's story, to Jamie's story, but Davos and Asha Greyjoy also tickled me tremendously in my short time with them. (And I take it I'm one of the few who loved FEAST?) So I guess I'm saying it's too difficult to make a list, and I'd feel wrong calling any of the POV's "worst".

[Spastic Plastic]

koolkat735, on 12 July 2010 - 07:07 PM, said:

Okay, neither is Top-5 for me, but I don't get all the hate toward Sam and Arianne. Sam we've discussed to death in other threads, but Arianne? Okay, yes, the whole Dorne plotline was kind of pointless, but I thought she was cool as a character. I hope we see her continue to shake things up in future books.

I didn't like Fat Sam because, after two years, he's still a weepy bundle of low self-esteem who pisses in his breeches at the slightest hint of danger, despite being a brother of the Night's Watch who has fought wildlings, wights and even the Others. How long does it take to man up?

I didn't like Arianne because, just like you said, her plotline had no point at all. She tried to make herself the heir to Dorne when she already was. Those chapters were the political equivalent of Brienne's pointless meandering in the Riverlands. Arianne's personality wasn't entertaining to read about either, and I didn't find her "cool as a character", but a spoiled, self-entitled little bitch. The female equivalent of Jon Snow, really. ASOIAF already had a "sexy, scheming seductress" character in Cersei, and didn't really need another one. Plus, Arianne's schemes to grab power are so damn petty, and have - as of now - not affected anyone except herself and her equally annoying, spoiled little friends. Her internal thoughts are grating to read as well:

"Ser Arys was fastening a veil to her copper helm. "I know why my princess wears a veil", he said. "Elsewise her beauty would outshine the sun". Arianne had to laugh. "No, your princess wears a veil to keep the sun out of her eyes and the sand out of her mouth. You should do the same, ser." She wondered how long the knight had been polishing his ponderous gallantry. Ser Arys was pleasant company abed, but wit and he were strangers."

Well, wit and you are strangers as well.
Okay, Arys' line was really lame, so he kind of deserved that. I actually prefer Brienne's chapters to Arianne's, because at least Brienne meets interesting characters, while Arianne hangs out with Ser Arys and "Darkstar".

Edited by Terrorist Fist Jab, 12 July 2010 - 08:05 PM.

[Alexia]

I like Arianne very much.  She was an entertaining character who was easy to relate to.  Her political schemes were poorly thought out and she really isn't cut out for politics which is primarily the fault of her father - who waited until she eventually moved against him before trying to teach her anything political.  Its interesting that Robb goes with Ned to all his meetings, Jon with Lord Commander Mormont, Sam with Lord Tarly, et al - but Arianne's province is feasts while her uncle is left with the rule.  Doran doesn't seem particularly interested in securing the legacy of House Martell.  A political mover and shaker Arianne is currently not but I'm hoping that the disaster will teach her something and make her more of a real force to reckon with going forward, as she's had poor teachers.  Failure is the first step on the road to success.

For Sam, as I've said in the past I really don't care about his weight issues.  I do, however, care about the constant cringing and crying.  He simply isn't entertaining and he lost any support from me in his first chapter with Jon where he lay down on the floor, refused to practice against the other men, and began crying and begging for them to stop.  Just...ugh.  And he's afraid of eveything, from heights to open spaces to enclosed spaces to horses to...

Everyone has the right to a good phobia but Sam overdoes it by far.

Edited by Alexia, 12 July 2010 - 08:09 PM.

[Mad Monkey]

Quote

Well, wit and you are strangers as well.
Okay, Arys' line was really lame, so he kind of deserved that. I actually prefer Brienne's chapters to Arianne's, because at least Brienne meets interesting characters, while Arianne hangs out with Ser Arys and "Darkstar".

That kind of turned me off of her as well. I've always felt that characters can be either stupid or arrogant but not both. When Tyrion or Catelyn behave like condescending jerks, that's one thing; they at least are actually smarter than everyone else around them. It's quite another thing to hear Arianne make fun of someone else for being dumb. That's like Viserys hosting an anger management course.

Edited by Mad Monkey, 12 July 2010 - 08:47 PM.

[Blackfish Blues]

Re: Arianne.

I try not to dislike anybody, but I failed to relate to her (and I can relate to dwarfs, dragons and direwolves, not to mention bears and fishies). We had a glimpse of the Martells in ASOS, and I got the idea that all Oberyn's relatives were gleefully eccentric. I felt that Arianne was a very conventional character, a damsel in distress, using sex to obtain her goals (though I would have liked to see more of her and Arys, because they seemed to be truly in love) and less interesting than her father Doran.

However, keep in mind that AFFC is my least favourite book of the saga, and that I haven't got round to re-reading it yet. So I might change my mind. But it seemed the most schizoid book, for reason we know (GRRM splitting Book 4 by characters, not by timeline), so Arianne suffers by being in a sort of bubble like the Greyjoys; she's not inserted in a balanced way in the history of Essos. Even Daenerys' chapters, isolated as they are, are more linked to what goes on in Westeros than Arianne's.

I'm looking forward to new Martell chapters in ADWD where Arianne will be able to shine - she has the potential. After all, not all female Martells need to do outrageous things (Sarella?) to be remembered.

[Vingilot]

Best (in no particular order):
1. Jaime (I like his character development a lot)
2. Sansa/Alayne (post-ACoK, once she stops being so clueless and annoying)
3. Cersei (her chapters, especially on rereads, make me laugh)
4. Arya (because interesting things always happen in her chapters)

I don't really hate any of the PoV characters, but here are the ones I didn't really like very much:

1. Brienne (I like her character, but I didn't really like her whole finding-Sansa quest)
2. Sam (would it really kill him to get a little self-confidence?)
3. Davos (once again, I like the character, but the chapters on Dragonstone were just kind of boring. I liked the battle of the Blackwater chapters of Davos's, though)
4. Bran (he just seems so detached from everything; once stuff happens with Coldhands it might get better)
5. Sansa pre-ASoS (she gets two places because she was just so annoying back then. And also because I can't think of a #5)

[reduxien]

I'm really looking forward to the new Theon/Reek chapters. Maybe he'll have climbed off his high horse by the time he's been tortured half a million times

[Marina]

In no particular order

Best:
1) Tyrion
2) Dany, but only after she got the Dragons
3) Jaime
4) Eddard
5) Tie between Catlyn and Cersei

Worst:
1) The Prologue Characters (I just can't care about them, knowing they're going to die.)
2) Victarion (I'm sick of hearing him whine about how Euron "forced" him to kill his wife)
3) Arys (the one-shot POVs were hard to relate to - I'd rather have seen it from Arianne's perspective)
4) Arya in Game of Thrones(though she's one of my favorites later)
5) Brienne (I like her, but her plot drags, especially in the first half of Feast)

Edited by EchoingSilences, 20 July 2010 - 04:29 AM.

[wakiki]

Best:

Eddard
Tyrion
Jon
Davos
Jaime

Jon & Jaime because their chapters are so action-packed, Eddard, Tyrion, and Davos because I love the characters so much. Davos gets a hefty boost from being around Stannis. Weird, I had to leave Catelyn and Arya.

Worst:

Aeron
other "extra" characters in AFFC
Brienne
Cersei
Dany

I dislike all the 1/2/3-off chapters from AFFC, but Aeron gets some special extra hate for being so one-dimensional. Cersei is also one-dimensional and actually rather unbelievable. Brienne is a great character but I feel that her story could have been more compact. I like Dany and her story alot, but I dislike how so far she hasn't interacted with the other characters.

Wow, it's scary how all my favorites are men and all my least favorites are women. Am I sexist? Geez. I originally had Arya in Jaime's spot, but then replaced her with Cat, then ultimately replaced Cat with Jaime. But still, this worries me, haha.

[Autologic]

BEST:

1 & 2: Tyrion and Jamie. Both get the best one-liners in the series (I suppose Littlefinger and Stannis would be #3 and 4.) And Jamie has a lot of potential for character development.
3: Arya in ACOK. It can't all be lords and ladies.
4: Ned. For introducing me to a very important fact: In the game of thrones, you win or you die.
5: Theon. A lot of people hate him, and for good reason, but I found it refreshing to read about a young guy who gets thrust into a leadership role and makes a botch of things. I root for him like I root for the Oakland Raiders to actually do something right for a change.

WORST:
1: Dany. I liked her in the first book, but after that we're on the road to Mary Sue's house.
2: Jon. Not exactly Mr. Interesting.
3: Victorian. Does anyone care which Greyjoy comes out on top?
4: Arya in AFFC. Just worldbuilding.  
5: Brienne. I like her well enough, just not as a POV character. And her POV is 9 chapters of nothing.

[Loras]

For me:

Best:

1.) - SANSA - I've loved Sansa's evolution throughout the books and really look forward to seeing the direction she moves in. I think what makes Sansa such a great PoV is that she started as whiny and annoying (in AGOT) but has transformed after that.  If we are looking at the PoV over the series then even whiny Sansa contributes to why I would argue that she is the greatest PoV.

2.) - CERSEI - such a joy to read and a real credit to Martin's ability as a writer.  I wonder if she will ever be redeemed...

3.) - CATELYN - as previously mentioned, she is the PoV that has been there for a ton of the big events of the series.  Also I find her to be one of the most 'real' characters in the book.  I feel that she isn't given enough credit on these boards.

4.) - TYRION - 'nuff said.

5.) - ARIANNE - another character who gets quite a hard time.  I think that all of the Dornish chapters in AFFC should have come from Arianne's PoV.  But I like the damsel quality of this character, or maybe a better word would be 'siren'.


WORST:

1.) - BRAN - If I ever put the book down it is normally because I've come up against a Bran chapter.  Hopefully his storyline will become more involved with the main story in the next book.

2.) - SAMWELL - another character who I have difficulty reading, I'm not a very patient person so I find myself getting frustrated at his internal monologue of "I am a craven"... which really sucks the enjoyment out of his chapters.

3.) - ARYA - I really don't like her chapters after AGOT.  

4.) - AERON -

5.) - ASHA - I really wasn't taken by her PoV chapter in AFFC, but I do think that she has potential to be really interesting.  So fingers crossed we get more Asha in the future.

[moony the loony]

Mad Monkey, on 12 July 2010 - 08:45 PM, said:

It's quite another thing to hear Arianne make fun of someone else for being dumb. That's like Viserys hosting an anger management course.

I almost choked from laughing too hard. Thank you for brightening my day.

[Lucky Shield]

Best :

1. Oakheart - Simply in love with the second most horrible girl in the kingdom
2. Jaime - Simply in love with the most horrible girl in the kingdom
3. Sansa - Attracts the most horrible men in the kingdom (Jof, Hound, LF)
4. Sam - You always cheer when the fat guy loses his virginity
5. Theon - If his father was less of a tool, he would be ruling Casterly Rock

Worst :

1. Aeron Greyjoy - I hate the overly pious people, they just always make the wrong choice while thinking they rock the world.
2. Catelyn - Constantly screws everything up, but never does anything wrong.
3. Brienne - I mean what happens, except for... nothing? Go look for the starks why don't you? Walk past the hound, but let's not recognise him. His horse is right beside you and the head brother is heavily hinting that the "hound" is dead. I mean, jesus... Just die and give us Quentyn Martell
4. Bran - I expect it will be much better know, except for the knight of the laughing tree, we haven't really gotten anything that Theon couldn't have given us with a couple of tweaks.
5. Dany - I love her carachter but you've finally gotten yourself an army, you have a couple of dragons. In stead of listening to a stupid woman who tells you to go East?? EAST???? in order to go West. Just go West wouldya? I mean i don't want her getting in Westeros after 2012, cause we all know - Hollywood said so - that we're all gonners by then!