Ranking minor POV characters?

[Esviir]

Potentially unpopular opinions incoming...

1. Aeron Greyjoy- surprisingly fun to read, I find him an unpleasant fanatic but interesting, with a lot of insight into the Iron Islands, and he has the advantage of being the POV of the Kingsmoot, my favourite chapter in AFFC

2. Asha Greyjoy- just an all around fun character I've liked since COK, with a good sense of humour and less questionable morals than the rest of her family

3. Jon Connington- I skipped through a lot of the Essos plot lines on my first read through, but I'm actually really enjoying Jon Connigton's story this time round, I find his insights into the Golden Company interesting

4. Barristan Selmy- I like Barristan's style, so far he's a solid ally on Daenerys' side and I like his interactions with her. Also I feel like one of the minority who is genuinely interested in the politics and characters in Meereen

5. Victarion Greyjoy- I'm mostly neutral about Victorian, but I do find him blindly accepting Euron's gifts and terrible speech-making slightly entertaining

6. Quentyn Martell- I'm totally neutral about Quentyn, I couldn't care about him either way, his chapters are pretty 'meh' for me

7. Arianne Martell- I dislike Arianne, I find her petulant rebellion against Doran by crowning Myrcella queen to be idiotic to the extreme, and her protest that she never intended anyone to be hurt to be laughable. I find almost all the major players in Dorne to be infuriatingly war hungry and stupid, she's only a slight improvement over the Sand Snakes

8. Arys Oakheart- Only slightly lower than Arianne because he's boring as well as unlikeable

9. Melisandre- A character I genuinely despise. She burns innocent people alive, and I was infuriated to find out in her POV chapter that she's also a charlatan who doesn't even bother to interpret her visions properly before acting on them. I know it's weird that I enjoy Aeron but not her, I don't know how to explain it. I don't care if she ressurects Jon Snow, I have no tolerance for her, and I hope she dies with all her beliefs scattered to the wind

10. Areo Hotah- I'm torn, I like hearing more from Doran Martell, but Areo Hotah is without a doubt the most boring POV in the entire series for me. I couldn't care less if he's dutiful or likes his axe- A POV character should at least have their own opinions on things happening around them, and Areo Hotah never gave me that impression. It's obvious that he is literally just a pair of eyes so that we know what Doran is up to and nothing else, and to me that is the greatest crime a POV character can commit.

[Lady Dacey]

On 29/08/2016 at 9:45 AM, Britisher said:

How would you rank the following minor point-of-view characters in terms of favourability from best to worst?

• Aeron Greyjoy
• Areo Hotah
• Arianne Martell
• Arys Oakheart
• Asha Greyjoy
• Barristan Selmy
• Jon Connington
• Melisandre
• Quentyn Martell
• Victarion Greyjoy

Asha - undoubtedly. Of all the female POVs she's the most aware of her assets and limitations, and she's constantly trying to push those limits. She's witty and fierce but also very caring. She has goals. She's a complex character, one of the best written females on the books (well except that sad sex scene which was a let down). 

Victarion - such a complex character, such a troubled guy! I like being in his mind. I pity him a little. 

Aerys Oakhart - we only get one POV from him, but I reallly really liked it. A nice widow to Dorne, and a believable moral dilema. 

Arianna - I find her "character development" very predictable... but I sympathize with her. I like to know about her past and childhood to get a glimpse of how dornish culture is different from the other kingdoms. 

Aeron - crazy priest that really think he's got it all figured out, and an important POV to keep up with the Iron Islands. I find it ironically funny to read him. 

Melissandre - it was really cool to be in her head! It truly made all the Stannis arch more believable and interacting to me.

Jon Con - he's alright, not great. I like his reminiscences about Reaghar, I like his ponderations on Varys and Illyrio, but that's about it for me.

Quentyn - a little dull, could have done with less of his chapters... could have gotten it all in less space I think. Nice to be inside a sellsword company though. That was cool.

Barristan - simply dull. I like him as a character, I don't like him as a POV. He also has too many chapters imho. 

Aero Hotah - I hate it. Not because of him, but because of the lack of a him to hate. So far he's not a character, just a camera for us to see Doran through. Serve, obey, protect. Really? Martin thinks he can get away with those three words to be the intire inner world of a human being?? I hate it. I hate that Martin did it. That he created this character just for us to watch Doran. I seriously hope that Martin can give more nuance to Hotah in the future, really. I want to see him develop (only for the sake of good storytelling, because it's such a waste of a POV!!!) but I don't think that's gonna happen. 

[Lucius Lovejoy]

Like most people, I hated the Quentyn chapters more than anything else in the entire series.  Not because he was a bad guy, but because they were (1) boring, and (2) reminders that GRRM was never going to finish TWOW.  Areo Hotah and Arys Oakheart were bad, and Aeron hasn't been good outside of The Forsaken sample chapter.  Victarion is usually entertaining, Asha is pretty good, and Melisandre had one awesome chapter and hopefully will have more.  Arianne, Barristan, and Jon Con were just "meh" for me.