Why do many people find Brans chapters boring?

[Light a wight tonight]

The only thing I don't like is I'm worried that BR and CotF have nefarious plans for Bran.

I have my reservations about them, too. I halfway expect Bran to escape, but that may not be possible with all the wights around and the distance back to the Wall, plus other hardships.

[Fire Eater]

Bran's chapters, IMHO, get more interesting as they go on as we learn more about magic or some other things. In AGoT, through his POV we have a dream from BR that provides plenty of foreshadowing. We later learn what it was that Waymar Royce and Will encountered in the Prologue, the Others, as well as the story behind them from Old Nan. We later learn of the CotF from Luwin.

In ACoK, we learn about warging and greendreams, but not much else. In ASoS, we learn some info on the tourney at Harrenhal and we get to see the Black Gate. In ADwD, we learn the CotF still exist and the identity of the 3EC, as well as hints from visions.

Bran's chapters aren't as interesting in some aspects but they contain little nuggets of info that play a larger part.

[cantharella]

Yeah, I'm one of those people who find Bran's chapters less exciting than other POVs, but this doesn't mean that they are not important. In fact, I think Bran will play a very important part in the next books. But for now, he's a little boy, so his chapters are quite PG. No epic battles, intriques, betrayals, sex, redemption, violence, passion, fight for power, lust... all that stuff that gives you goosebumps. I do want to learn more about wargs, greendreams, magic, etc., but overall I enjoy it less than other storylines.

Maybe it's just because I'm an grown up - I like reading about grown ups doing grown up things.

[therustman]

Oops, typo. I never read a Game of Thrones, I'm one of those inferior people that got hooked on the show

But surely when you decided to read the books you read book 1 first!!

I am highly confused.

[rivergirl]

Bran's are my favourites, i have no idea why people don't like them! What i really find most intriguing about the whole series is the way that every religion seems plausible and every element of magic possible, and Bran is the strongest connection we have to that side of the story. Ned believed in the Old Gods, which gave us that perspective, but he died. Now, having seen some reasonable evidence for the existence of the Drowned God, the Seven (i think? i'm assuming it's in there somewhere) and plenty of convincing stuff for the Lord of Light, Bran is the only POV character left that has a strong and concrete connection to the Old Gods. It seems like if anyone is going to fight for them it'll be Bran, having been the only character so far apart from Deaddard Stark to have definitely spoken with the weirwoods.

Anyway, i guess people who don't like Bran chapters aren't fans of the "outer shell" so to speak, by which i mean the supernatural forces involved in the Game. Either that or they enjoy drowning, burning and lighting lots of candles.

[Supa508]

I think in the next two books a lot more people will begin to like Bran chapters, they still hold a lot of mysteries.

- Three eyed crow, Brynden Rivers, Blood Raven, what's going on there?

- Ned and Reed are the only two survivors of the Tower of Joy, where is Reed now? He send his children but what is he up to?

I know I'm looking forward to Bran chapters just for those two reasons alone.

[PatrickStormborn]

I loved them in ADwD, and I at least enjoyed his last two in ASoS, but before that they were a serious struggle for me. I think the combination of his innocence, the lack of political intrigue, and the magic kind of makes them less enjoyable. But after the events at Queenscrown I honestly thought his chapters were excellent, possibly because the magic starts to become relevant to the plot: he aids Jon and basically makes it possible for the wildlings to be defeated (without Bran, Jon had basically no hope of reaching Castle Black before Styr's party), he meets Sam and travels beyond the Wall, and then he meets Bloodraven and completes his journey.

Bran is one of the characters I'm looking forward to reading about most in TWoW.

[V Targaryen]

Some have been quite informative, but God do some draaaaag. Bran isn't exactly my favorite character either, so that probably has something to do with it as well.

[Lady Wylla Manderly]

People find Bran's chapters boring? But they are awesome! O.O

The wolves will come again, the Tourney at Harrenhal, three eyed crow, Children of the Forest, Bloodraven, The Rat Cook

:cheers:

[2nd Sword of Braavos]

Who dosent want to follow the stongest warg/greenseer's story!? and how can you start the books not from the beginning!? and then chose to leave chapters out!!? crazy

[Melpomene]

The early and midway Bran chapters were great. I like the Winterfell plot and their adventuring of those times.

But the recent ones..... reason why I find them very taxing is the prolonged descriptions of various things, with a feeling of other aspects being a little drawn out.

I suppose, as well, is the anti-climactic nature of the entire plot - there was buildup during his time at Winterfell, then buildup during the secret escape, then buildup of their travelling across the regions with finding food, meeting strangers, weathering storms and handling directions, then huge buildup of possibly seeing Bran's half brother again. Then it sort of plummets a little.....after all that, he is staying within a forest, talking and making plans of being a tree. It's hard to explain for me for some reason - his journey and tension was so interesting, I was looking forward to SO much more, but now it feels so entirely tame. I guess I had higher expectations of something else :dunno: and just feel a little disapointed. Even the Others attacks and the CoT reappearing didn't offer much new intrigue. The only one was the alleged Bloodraven, and even then, there was something not entirely powerful about the whole event.

[danm_999]

A lot of Bran's chapters are like Brienne's chapters or the Dornish and Ironborn chapters. They're not very action packed, and on your first read they don't have the same excitement and drama you get out of say, Jon or Arya's chapters. In fact, they're the Arya chapters without the tension a lot of the time.

But on re-reads, I think they're vastly more interesting. Bran's chapters basically decode a lot of the higher mysteries in the series; the ice vs. fire struggle, the Wall and the wights, R+L=J, etc.

[Garlan Marius]

There aren't any chapters I don't like. *shrug* Diff'rent strokes and all that.

[Lord Rahvin]

I really hate to admit it, but I used to hate the Dany chapters in Essos... to the point where I would skim/read through.

Problem is you MISS alot of stuff?

[JB5093]

Maybe because they are not as fast paced as some other ones are. I know on my first read through I would sigh everytime I saw his chapter heading but the second time through I really enjoyed them.

[Targaryen_Rubies]

I just don't like his personality. I was excited about Coldhands and Bloodraven but that then descended into disappointment when we didn't learn more about them.

[James Arryn]

Not boring, but increasingly abstract.

[Buckwheat]

All that walking. It was just too detached from everyone else. Also: "I'm almost a man grown!" :bang:

Whoops, unfortunate choice of words here. :(

Sorry.

Who dosent want to follow the stongest warg/greenseer's story!? and how can you start the books not from the beginning!? and then chose to leave chapters out!!? crazy

Calm down, will you?

The early and midway Bran chapters were great. I like the Winterfell plot and their adventuring of those times.

But the recent ones..... reason why I find them very taxing is the prolonged descriptions of various things, with a feeling of other aspects being a little drawn out.

I suppose, as well, is the anti-climactic nature of the entire plot - there was buildup during his time at Winterfell, then buildup during the secret escape, then buildup of their travelling across the regions with finding food, meeting strangers, weathering storms and handling directions, then huge buildup of possibly seeing Bran's half brother again. Then it sort of plummets a little.....after all that, he is staying within a forest, talking and making plans of being a tree. It's hard to explain for me for some reason - his journey and tension was so interesting, I was looking forward to SO much more, but now it feels so entirely tame. I guess I had higher expectations of something else :dunno: and just feel a little disapointed. Even the Others attacks and the CoT reappearing didn't offer much new intrigue. The only one was the alleged Bloodraven, and even then, there was something not entirely powerful about the whole event.

I think the part in the cave was excellent just because it is so mysterious and slow and ... well, one could say depressing. He has just gotten to the end of his journey, and there is nothing else waiting for him but the dark place under a tree - completely different than what Brandon (and probably the readers) would have expected at the beginning of his story: action, battles, glory, victory. It is again an expectation that GRRM does not fulfil but shows that the story can end completely differently. I like that.

Not boring, but increasingly abstract.

:agree:

I like most of his chapters, some in Clash may be really depressing (when he is in the taken Winterfell), but I cannot say I ever saw his chapter and checked how long it is to see how much time in must invest in it.

I wonder if there is an overlap between people who dislike Brandon's and those who dislike Sansa's chapters - their stories are both slow and internal, I often see people complaining how "nothing happens" in them, but for different reasons: no politics in Brandon's chapters, but lots of magic; on the other hand, political plots and psychological development in Sansa's, but without much extrernal action.

[Stannis Eats No Peaches]

Whoops, unfortunate choice of words here. :(

Sorry.

:lmao:

[James Arryn]

Whoops, unfortunate choice of words here. :(

Sorry.

Calm down, will you?

I think the part in the cave was excellent just because it is so mysterious and slow and ... well, one could say depressing. He has just gotten to the end of his journey, and there is nothing else waiting for him but the dark place under a tree - completely different than what Brandon (and probably the readers) would have expected at the beginning of his story: action, battles, glory, victory. It is again an expectation that GRRM does not fulfil but shows that the story can end completely differently. I like that.

:agree:

I like most of his chapters, some in Clash may be really depressing (when he is in the taken Winterfell), but I cannot say I ever saw his chapter and checked how long it is to see how much time in must invest in it.

I wonder if there is an overlap between people who dislike Brandon's and those who dislike Sansa's chapters - their stories are both slow and internal, I often see people complaining how "nothing happens" in them, but for different reasons: no politics in Brandon's chapters, but lots of magic; on the other hand, political plots and psychological development in Sansa's, but without much extrernal action.

Interesting question.

For myself, since Ned's death, Sansa's POVs have struck me more as someone operating on the very basic levels of Maslowe's hierarchy; pure survival for the most part. So I find myself somewhat divorced emotionally because she's not really there, but the topics (outside of the Lysa stuff which got boring) were themselves interesting.

Whereas with Bran it's sort of similar, but I feel he's a little more there, but I also feel the topics themselves are increasingly abstract. I still haven't figured out how I feel about the whole BR angle. I did get the sense of sanctuary for a bit, but then it got a little 60's avante garde for my taste.