Brienne chapters....snoozefest

[Pinkie Baelish]

Really? I've been so looking forward to information on Braavos ever since I learned Syrio was a Braavosi. The water dancing is also bad ass.

Her third chapter is so mind-numbingly boring until the last couple of pages. This is a basic summary of Arya's chapters in AFFC:

"Who are you?"

"No one"

"You lie"

[Brienne Of Bombay]

I personally love all of Brienne's chapters. Even those where she is wandering around asking for Sansa. For me those chapters tell me more about who Brienne is as a person. And also they take me in Westeros where I have not been before and that I enjoy very much.

[SingingWithTheGreatjon]

When I started AFFC I was worried that I was going to have to battle to get through it. All reviews I had read said it was not as interesting as the rest of the books. On the contrary, I really enjoyed everything... except Brienne's chapters.

I understand that her story is important in its own unique way because it shows us more about her personality, it adds depth, etc. But if you come into AFFC not really interested in Brienne, her story just serves to make her a duller character. I guess for someone who thought she was an appealing and unexplored character, the chapters might have been interesting. For me, I just wanted them to end so I could get back to the other characters.

Even the last chapter, which was supposed to bring her story to fruition, was boring. It wasn't nearly as interesting as the Iron Island dispute or the Cesei/Jaime events happening around King's Landing.

[BaratheonWarHammer]

Ya know one thing about AFFC that I loved was to be rid of Brans chapters. I have just begun ADWD and I'm already bored every time Bran shows up. I guess that must be how a lot of people in this thread feel about Brienne.

[The Killer Snark]

They get better. Actually, I found Samwell's chapters more of a chore at times, and Arianne's 'The Princess in the Tower' chapter is absolutely frightful, seeming to have been written by an impostor. What seems to be a pointless piece of drawn out closure for a major character of the last few books is very slow at first as she goes about her fool's errand. But it provides Martin a chance to keep the reader up to date on events immediately surrounding King's Landing, offers more information on the story of the rogue outlaws and the fate of The Hound, and the last few chapters are excellent, end on a cliffhanger, and set up another in the next book.

Yet there's no question whatsoever that Cersei and Jaime's chapters are the novel; not a lot really happens in anyone else's POVs aside from some scene setting and a decent Arya moment, except that Brienne's at first questionably protracted story arc pans out to the good.

Oh, and a bunch of the Martell and Greyjoy chapters are enjoyable as well, but to my mind the Sand Snakes and Asha were underused.

[xylem]

I was surprised by how much I disliked Brienne's chapters because I DO like her as a character. I was quite excited when she was introduced, and continue to be interested in her development as a character.

But I didn't feel like I got any of that from the Brienne chapters. Part of my problem is that I hate "walking" books (LOTR would be the perfect example of this...counterintuitively, I loved LOTR but largely because there were really good moments between all that walking to make up for the monotony of endless journeying). My grand frustration with Brienne's chapters, is that even by the conclusion of the book, I felt no greater understanding about WHY GRRM bothered to include her chapters than when I started the book. My feeling is that if you can sum up a character by "she walked and walked and walked, and encountered various forms of resistance along the way", then you might as well just let me catch up with her afterward, and fill me in later about all the walking... we don't have to sit with Cat of the Canals through her endless selling of oysters... we catch up with her at key points in her story. I still feel that would have been a more appropriate way to handle Brienne's storyline.

I have not yet started, ADWD, so I'm (tentatively) hoping that there will be some resolution in there for why GRRM felt it was necessary to drag out all that detailed walking... I've heard GRRM say that he originally planned to skip several years in the character's stories between books 3 and 4, but then changed his mind and felt that some of the characters needed filling in during that time interval. To me, Brienne's story read like it was time-passing filler, rather than story/character development. I hope that ultimately, I'm wrong about that, but it'll be awhile till i know, since I'm still waiting for the trade-paperback version of ADWD to be released!

[The Killer Snark]

I mostly agree. Aside from the last 3 Brienne chapters, a lot of it could probably have been summed up in a few pages of backstory, especially considering his massive time-jumps elsewhere. I found the Arya, Sansa and Samwell chapters mostly a little boring, and this is frustrating, because all 4 of the characters I've mentioned in my post are ones I like.

[HornOfJoramun]

I've always enjoyed Brienne's chapters. She has a kind of Lone Ranger-esque journey throughout AFFC. With her chapters I've always felt a sense of danger creeping just outside her field of vision. Which all comes together really well in the climax of the book in my opinion.

[Caligula_K2]

I think that Brienne's last four chapters have some of Martin's strongest writing in the series and introduce a wonderful new character. The problem is her first four chapters, which are incredibly boring and pointless- the Nimble Dick plotline in particular is a complete red herring. I think Feast would have been a much stronger book if her first four chapters were condensed into one, and then if (spoilers for the end of AFFC)

Her plotline didn't end on an annoying cliffhanger, right when things were getting very interesting)

[One of Three]

I personally feel (having now read all her chapters) that the thing that is tiresome with Brienne's chapters is that we know where Sansa is and by knowing where Brienne's ultimate goal is (and more to the point her heading off in the wrong direction) it makes her quest redundant in a way and her chapter's ultimately become chores.

[xylem]

@ Iain Robb - that's precisely my point. If the story is just as satisfying when summed up as a quick backstory, then it's not worth telling. It seems to me that when GRRM realized he'd written too much for one book and decided to split it, he ended up having to pad the story to get *enough* story line into this half... and the padding just doesn't succeed very well in making for a compelling story. And that's disappointing, because I've loved every other part of this series so far. This may be harsh, but I really think the series would have benefitted from a harsh editor who slashed 75% of this book, and recombined it with the time-overlapping material from ADWD. (Now, admittedly, I'm saying this before having read ADWD, so maybe I'll come back and bite my own tongue later!)

As for the Samwell chapters, I liked them well enough, though also had the same issue with feeling like GRRM was teasing me with this book... giving me just enough story line to want to know more (particularly toward the end), but putting off the really interesting conclusions to another book...

@ One of three - I agree that part of the problem is knowing exactly where Sansa is, so that there's very little suspense associated with all her wandering.

@ Caligula - I also agree that the ending of the book, in regard to Brienne, is extremely frustrating. In my opinion, there's not enough gain to justify all that waiting.... (I'd say more, but I don't know how to create spoiler-covers!)

[Rumarumo]

@ Iain Robb - that's precisely my point. If the story is just as satisfying when summed up as a quick backstory, then it's not worth telling. It seems to me that when GRRM realized he'd written too much for one book and decided to split it, he ended up having to pad the story to get *enough* story line into this half... and the padding just doesn't succeed very well in making for a compelling story. And that's disappointing, because I've loved every other part of this series so far. This may be harsh, but I really think the series would have benefitted from a harsh editor who slashed 75% of this book, and recombined it with the time-overlapping material from ADWD. (Now, admittedly, I'm saying this before having read ADWD, so maybe I'll come back and bite my own tongue later!)

I'd respectfully disagree. GRRM is a master of plot, but characterization and general atmosphere are what he does best IMO, which'd be why Brienne's POV is one of my favourites. The padding out of Brienne's character, her constant refusal to stop even though she's completely out of her depth, those are golden to me. And the general fallout of the war as she passes through the riverlands are worth as much as any big battle scene - yeah, it's nice to see the hack n' slash, but one of my favourite things about GRRM's writing is that he'll give you what you want, but he'll always makes it hurt.

Literary masochism ftw.

[tom_saxon]

Maybe it is because I put the book down for a long time about 1/3rd of the way through and have just picked it back up to begin reading avidly again (about 2/3rds done now) but I love the Brienne chapters.

The point is the main character of the Brienne chapters is not Brienne but it is literally Westeros its self, primarily the Riverlands. Her chapters literaly set the foundation for the emergence of reawakened religious military orders. GRRM is describing in terribly rich detail the transition from orders of fuedal knights to orders of chivalric knights. Almost literally, Hospitallers. Meribald for all purposes is the same as the Third High Septon, the High Sparrow.

In these chapters there is also a ton of background on Brienne, and I do think we see her evolve as a character. She is growing wise to the ways of the world and synthesizing her previous experience with current wisdom and yet remains pure of heart.

[Blue Winter Roses]

I'm a big fan of Brienne. I agree with many of your opinions that Brienne's chapters are so much more 'human' and 'down-to-earth' (for want of a better word) and that is what makes them interesting. And I love the interesting characters she meets. I liked that she found some honest, trustworthy folks along the way, compared to the bloody mummers and all the scheming, lying asses who play the game of thrones. I fully expected Septon Meribald to be some kind of nasty fraud who would kill Pod and Brienne or something, but he turned out to be a great character. Septon Meribald's speech about war was, to my mind, one of the most memorable monologues so far.

I like Brienne's chapters much as I enjoyed Arya's chapters where she travels through Westeros, giving us harrowing and poignant glimpses into the day to day lives of the soldiers and smallfolk and allowing us to witness the ravages of the war firsthand. Having done a tour of WWI and WWII battlefields and museums in Europe a few years ago, I was surprised to find the nitty gritty day to day struggle of human experience in the trenches of WWI even more interesting than the more complex politics and strategy of WWII which I expected to be most interesting. But maybe that's just me being very emotional.

On another note, I also think that Brienne works well as a foil for other main characters in the series.

And lastly, good on you OP for choosing open mindedness in reading the next chapters! I hope you enjoyed them as much as I did.

[ReekReekItRhymesWithLeek]

Brienne chapters are god awful IMO. I love to re read ASOIAF books all the time but something I will never re read will be Brienne's story. The last chapter is mildly interesting otherwise Brienne chapters can be described with one horrible word: filler.

[podrick_payne45]

I really enjoyed them and will be re reading them soon. I really admire her as a character.

[BlackTalon]

Septon Meribald's speech about war was, to my mind, one of the most memorable monologues so far.

I love that speech! I hope they get it right when they film it and leave it in ... I always picture the little group of travellers as mere black specks in a super wide angle shot against the sunset, trudging in a file across the marshlands ... and a voiceover of Meribald telling his story.

I am not a great fan of Brienne but I don't mind her story, except that endless ride through rainy forests to Crackclaw Point, that was really depressing. Other than that I just love the traveling descriptions in the book. Tyrion's journey from Pentos to the Rhoyne and down the river in ADWD is one of my favourite parts of all the books. I also loved the Arya chapters where one learns so much about a different culture.

[~Shiera Seastar~]

I think that Brienne's last four chapters have some of Martin's strongest writing in the series and introduce a wonderful new character. The problem is her first four chapters, which are incredibly boring and pointless- the Nimble Dick plotline in particular is a complete red herring. I think Feast would have been a much stronger book if her first four chapters were condensed into one, and then if (spoilers for the end of AFFC)

Her plotline didn't end on an annoying cliffhanger, right when things were getting very interesting)

I agree to all of this. I had trouble getting through her first few chapters, too. I think they were slow and they were just there to fill the pages of the book. Yup, Martin could have combine most of them together. But what I love about Brienne's chapter are the part where Septon Meribald had his speech about

broken men

and the Elder Brother's

thought about Sandor Clegane

.

[The Killer Snark]

Yes, that chapter is a classic, also her final moment in Lady Stoneheart's lair.

[Toccs]

I think a lot of it comes down to the fact that we as readers know that Brienne is looking in the wrong place for both Sansa and Arya. It might be a bit different if her search for Sansa had simply been the beginning pretense of her journey only for her to cross into a bigger story but this doesn't happen until the very end of her final chapter. As such we are treated to 6 or 7 chapters focused entirely on a plodding search for characters whose locations we already know and those locations aren't even close to the ones being searched.

On re-reads there is lots of cool little bits of information revealed through these chapters but that doesn't change the fact that I loathed them on the first read through and only ever go back to them looking for specific quotes.