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This book is quite boring....


Kaguya

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I just finished this book last night.  It was the first time I had read it, and I was prepared to hate it, since everyone and their brother told me I would.  It's not my favorite in the series (that would be ACoK), but I think it's a lot better than people give it credit for.  The pace is slower and some of the new POV's take some getting used to, but overall I think it's a good book.  I especially liked Cersei's chapters; she's such a captivating bitch.  Learning more about Dorne and the Iron Islands was also very interesting.  I loved Doran and Arianne, and I get a kick out of Victarion and Euron, even though they are horrible people.  So, I wouldn't say it's boring, just different from the other books.  You can't go into expecting another ASoS, or else you will be disappointed.

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  • 3 weeks later...

He's inserted symbolic, inversion chapters, and if you don't realize what you're reading they can seem a bit weird. Have you not noticed that some of the chapters are titled versus not being named after the POV?

The first inversion chapter is The Prophet, AFFC Chapter 1. Think of the story as Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass...Patchface is speaking in nursery rhymes, north of the Wall lies an upside down sea, and the Nights Watch are Drowned Men.

Try reading the chapter as if the Iron Islands are Dragonstone. Euron is Bloodraven, Damphair is Maester Aemon, Asha is Rhaella, and Victarion...well, I haven't quite decided if he's Aerys I and II, or Aegor Rivers aka Bittersteal.

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I think it depends how you read it. My first reading my mind was boggled at how a series could go downhill so quickly and why I was being diverted across the land in all these mindless wanderings. ADWD has a similar problem, in that they both ramble on and force you to read about characters you just don't care very much about for a large stretch of time. When it does come back to the central plot its sometimes quite good. Cercei's chapters are decent, although there are too many of them and you get the point well before Martin is done writing about it.

But on a re-read, when you are in less of a rush to find out whats going to happen (and you know the answer is 'not much') , then its easier to take your time and enjoy the book as a series of vignettes, or short stories. Like pretend you picked up the wrong book, and were reading about the Adventures of Brienne - Ladyknight, or ' Sandsnakes - The revenge'. Then you won't feel so disappointed.

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Read the Dorne, North, Ironborn, Jaime and Cersei chapters only and it's a pretty enjoyable read. The Vale isn't especially interesting, but not so boring either.  So basically just skip Brienne and the book gets much better. 

 

ADWD is one of the best books though, so there's that to look forward to. 

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I understand the disappointment. The plot doesn't progress that much in many places, the focus is more in characterization, setting, world building and set ups and it can disappoint some readers. In many POVs, we don't see too many activity and some chapters are kind bloated. For me was even worst, because some POVs like Tyrion and Jon were not in there and I didn't like some new settings (Dorne, Iron Islands) and some new POVs (Aeron, Brienne). It have very good moments, but sometimes I felt it was a textbook that a had to read for a upcoming test that I still waiting for (Winds of Winter). About the POVs:

Cersei - The star of this book. Seeing inside her head was a very insightful and fun experience at most part.

Brienne - One of the worst POVs in my opinion. Her chapters have some good moments and insights, Septon Meribald but it really drags for most part. Do we have the necessity to show so much about the destruction in the Riverlands? Of course, it is relevant to show the consequences of the war and what created the Sparrow movement, but we already saw the destruction in Jaime and Arya chapters in ASOS, actually we begin to see it since the first book. 

I would not have problems if she had fewer chapters either. Just to compare, in Theon chapters in Dance we are presented to several characters, get a detailed description of the setting and we can grasp the tone and the tension inside Winterfell, the political moves of the Boltons and some Northern lords, and during all the chapters we see Theon evolving from a broken man that not even see himself as a person to a man that recovered his identity, realize his wrong deeds and found a form of redemption in the end. Theon had seven POV chapters, Brienne had 8. It is astonishing to see how Theon accomplished so much with less time than Brienne.

Sansa - She had few chapters, but it was really difficult to get into them.

Arya - My favorite POV in the book. Not just Arya is a fun character, but the setting and the other characters are interesting, all her process in learning new things, presenting the Faceless Men Organization and the air of mystery, just gave  very good flavor to her chapters. It is a shame we didn't get more.

Jaime - Aside the snooze-fest that was the feast in Darry, I like his chapters very much, his fun personality is really enjoyable and all siege of Riverrun, with the Freys, Genna and Daven was enjoyable as well. Jaime's development was really good to see.

Sam - Unlike the others, I enjoyed Sam's POVs at most part. The parts in the ship were terrible, I liked the part in the wall and the parts with Aemon.

Asha - I liked her POVs, even I didn't like the Iron Island in this book. She is a fun, smart and compelling character, her caring for her mother and brother was something good to read.

 Aeron - Dear Lord, he was the worst POV in my opinion. He is very annoying and not even interesting. Only a Elia Sand POV could be more painful. He should not have being a POV.

Victarion - I didn't like him as much as Asha, but he is a fun POV character.

Areo Hotah - Unlike many readers, I enjoyed his POVs. He is not interesting, but at least he is objective and make very accurate statements (something I appreciate). The Sand Snakes

Arys Oakheart - I kind like his chapter, it was interesting to see Dorne by the eyes of a foreigner and see the cultural shock. But, I would rather see other Arianne chapter instead.

Arianne Martell - The best Dornish POV. She is interesting and her story was good either. The only problem was the characters in her first chapter were not compelling: Drey, Sylva and Garin are just forgettable. Darkstar was a lame villain. 

It is not, by no means, a bad book. You can dislike somethings, but it have its merits and plenty of things to enjoy. The book have the objective to expand the world and add characterization and accomplish its goals well. 

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I actually haven't found Feast boring so far at all. Save the Arys chapter and some slow parts of the Greyjoy storyline. And some parts of Sam. But, my two favourite characters in this series are Arya and Sansa. And while they don't have too many chapters in this book, their characters are, in my opinion, at their best in this one. Their storylines are so interesting and their characters are shedding more layers and becoming more complex. Many people say ACOK is where Arya shines the most, and while her storyline in that book was incredible yes, this one really tests her and is developing her like no book has done before. It's also toying with my emotions. You're not no one, Arya...you are Arya Stark of Winterfell, soon to be Queensguard to the Queen in the North, Sansa Stark :P

Jaime and Cersei are just fun. Jaime's character is interesting and Cersei's chapters are amusing. 

Brienne's travels through the river lands have not bored me as they seem to have done to many other posters on this thread. I love Brienne. Her chapters have provided me with backstory and have shredded layers to her character. She's much more complex than people give her credit for, in my opinion. Many people that like her chapters defend them by saying "oh, it shows the effects of war on the common people"...I would agree, but I like to defend them by purely saying "Brienne".

Sam is alright, I suppose. Just read a chapter of his where he comes across "Cat" (I got so excited, I did not see that coming) and quite enjoyed it.

The Martell storyline is interesting. I enjoyed Hotah and Arianne's chapters, but Arys' was a slog. 

Greyjoys are okay. Aeron's second chapter was cool, though. Wonder what they'll do with that horn...

 

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On 12/5/2016 at 3:45 PM, Arya, Queen of the North said:

I actually haven't found Feast boring so far at all. Save the Arys chapter and some slow parts of the Greyjoy storyline. And some parts of Sam. But, my two favourite characters in this series are Arya and Sansa. And while they don't have too many chapters in this book, their characters are, in my opinion, at their best in this one. Their storylines are so interesting and their characters are shedding more layers and becoming more complex. Many people say ACOK is where Arya shines the most, and while her storyline in that book was incredible yes, this one really tests her and is developing her like no book has done before. It's also toying with my emotions. You're not no one, Arya...you are Arya Stark of Winterfell, soon to be Queensguard to the Queen in the North, Sansa Stark :P

Jaime and Cersei are just fun. Jaime's character is interesting and Cersei's chapters are amusing. 

Brienne's travels through the river lands have not bored me as they seem to have done to many other posters on this thread. I love Brienne. Her chapters have provided me with backstory and have shredded layers to her character. She's much more complex than people give her credit for, in my opinion. Many people that like her chapters defend them by saying "oh, it shows the effects of war on the common people"...I would agree, but I like to defend them by purely saying "Brienne".

Sam is alright, I suppose. Just read a chapter of his where he comes across "Cat" (I got so excited, I did not see that coming) and quite enjoyed it.

The Martell storyline is interesting. I enjoyed Hotah and Arianne's chapters, but Arys' was a slog. 

Greyjoys are okay. Aeron's second chapter was cool, though. Wonder what they'll do with that horn...

 

You. I like you. :P

I agree, I think Feast overall adds new depth to the story and has raised the writing to a higher level. While Storm is the most "whole " or "perfect" (for lack of a better word), I feel Feast is the masterpiece of the series so far.

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  • 3 months later...

Now I'm on the last few chapters. Everything's closing up and I'd say...this book really did get better around the end. It took me longer to finish AFFC compared to the previous books. The first few chapters bored me to death. Aeron Damphair bored me with his prophetic rantings and I couldn't bring myself to like Victarion and co. Cersei's POV was indeed the highlight of AFFC. Her paranoia episodes and the excessive confidence she bought wholesale from Costco was so entertaining it's just brilliant. 

Brienne's segment was a bit slow at times, but we get to learn a lot form her somewhat pointless journey to find Sansa Stark. To think that she's just one of the few good guys left in this story, having experiences a letdown for too many times up to this point, I find Brienne someone I couldn't help but like and root for. 

Now I just can't wait to start ADWD :D 

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  • 6 months later...

Let me say it this way (my opinion): If this book would be the first book of the series, there would be no second book.

You can take AffC completely out of the series, and nothing would be missed for the plot. You could add everything important that happens in this book (amd there is really not much) as a flashback of the different POV's in the fifth book and you would have spared 1.500 pages of reading and 5 years of writing. 

So to answer the question of the OP: yes I personaly thought AffC was boring too and boring was the nicest Word I could find to describe it. 

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  • 3 months later...

Saying AFFC is boring is a huge error. Not to mention the fact that it's disrespectful towards Martin's work. A great part of the fans who say that are readers disappointed by not finding again Dany / Jon / Tyrion chapters. How is it even possible in such an immense world as ASOIAF one, to only look after those three characters ? 

AFFC explores Iron Islands, Dorne, Braavos, Crownlands, Vale, Riverlands... and that's why it is interesting.

...but I have to agree that some chapters are boring as hell. It concerns only a small quanitity of chapters, mostly Brienne's and Sam's. So yeah, to be honest : erase the Brienne chapters (except the last) and suddenly AFFC is not boring anymore :D

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I loved Feast, it took me 3 weeks to read, the same as Storm. And Brienne's chapters were my favorite, other than Sansa's (but she had just 3), followed by Jaime's and Cersei's. I always loved the Riverlands part of the storyline, I also loved Arya's chapters in ACOK and ASOS better than her Braavos chatpers. I had no idea that there were so many people who hated Brienne's chapter and found them 'boring', I was really surprised to see all the hate. And I really don't get it. Not only do I love Brienne as a character and learning more about her backstory and all she's been through (I liked her in ACOK and ASOS, but I only started loving her once we were in her head), but it's in her chapters we get to see the Riverlands after the war, find out what's happened to Sandor, the Brotherhood, Lady Stoneheart, and those damn Bloody Mummers, and people in general. Jaime's chapters also show the consequences of the war, but it's more about the Freys and the Tullys etc., while Brienne's show the smallfolk, the outlaws, the 'broken men'. 

The only part of the book I really disliked on the first read and had trouble getting through some of the Damphair's and Victarion's chapters (not the Kingsmoot - that was fun, and had Asha). I used to think 'The Prophet' was the most boring and annoying chapter in the series. It's only now, on re-read and after reading interesting meta by people who really like these chapters, that I've started appreciating them more and paying attention to things I hadn't noticed before. 

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 I have a feeling that people who don't like AFFC won't like the rest of the series. AFFC changed the game in subtle, but irreversible ways. People who want the story to "get back on track" are going to be the disappointed ones I think.

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7 minutes ago, bent branch said:

 I have a feeling that people who don't like AFFC won't like the rest of the series. AFFC changed the game in subtle, but irreversible ways. People who want the story to "get back on track" are going to be the disappointed ones I think.

Well ADWD anyway.  Hopefully GRRM  gets back on track with TWOW.  I still wonder how can he finish the series with only two books when there are so many POV characters and arcs, that the TV show hasn't even bothered with, to tie up.

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25 minutes ago, The Knight of Flours said:

Well ADWD anyway.  Hopefully GRRM  gets back on track with TWOW.  I still wonder how can he finish the series with only two books when there are so many POV characters and arcs, that the TV show hasn't even bothered with, to tie up.

I'm sorry. I sometimes write so obliquely trying to not offend anyone that my meaning gets lost entirely. The reason I think people who are hoping for the story to "get back on track" will be disappointed is because I think AFFC is on track. The story has taken a turn. Whether people like it (like me) or hate it, this is the direction the story is going now.

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37 minutes ago, The Knight of Flours said:

Well ADWD anyway.  Hopefully GRRM  gets back on track with TWOW.  I still wonder how can he finish the series with only two books when there are so many POV characters and arcs, that the TV show hasn't even bothered with, to tie up.

Well, the show also hasn't lately bothered making sense or being good, so I'm not sure why anyone, especially GRRM, should care what the show is or isn't bothering with.

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There are two big problems with AFFC, and they are somewhat related.

The first is the lack of main characters.  Of the 6 main characters (Tyrion, Jon, Dany, Arya, Sansa, and Bran), there are a total of six chapters out of 45 (plus prologue).  For the most part, readers such as myself want to find out what the main characters are up to, and we don't get anything for most of them, and very little on the rest.  Cersei and Jaime are the only really important characters that get much screen time.

Also, the book introduces a lot of new storylines, fairly late in the process.  Dorne, Iron Islands, Faceless Men, Brienne.  Many of these stories are widely considered boring or tangential to the story.  At the very least, they give the impression that GRRM is losing control of his story.  He claims to have a gardening style to his writing, but AFFC appears to have a large amount of uncontrolled or poorly controlled weeds and underbrush.  ADWD is better in this regard, but if he has any hopes of finishing the story any time soon, he is going ot have to streamline things, and not let in run wild, as he did in AFFC.

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