AFFC #3: Writing and Women that Waste My Time

[grrrm]

Okay, a short compliment, which is about the only compliment I can muster these days when it comes to "that guy."  You know, I have on occasion been known to remark that there are parts of AFFC that demonstrate some of the best writing GRRM has ever done. Yes, I’m serious. For example, the first couple pages of Cat of the Canals are great; they

Comments

[anonymous]

Interesting analysis. I found Brienne’s POV arc to be the most boring of the series, and the ending of her last AFFC chapter is the only time in the entire series I felt genuinely disappointed. I think part to the reason GRRM included it was so we could get a picture of down-to-earth Westeros when it’s not at war (before AFFC, we had Arya to let us see Westeros outside the courts and nobles’ games

[grrrm]

Interesting point about Margaery and the Great Houses. I often have difficulty remembering exactly who count as "Great Houses" and why. But I think it still ends up with just varying degrees of "acceptance"; Asha is "more accepted" than Brienne, probably for the reasons that you note, but in the end, it ends up putting them both in the same spot. Asha just gets made fun of less because she gets dudes hard.

And I agree with you about Danaerys and the dragons; my only point was that she seizes and retains power without having to use sex all the time. She does on occasion, of course, but her power lies in the dragons and in her control of them/resistance to their flames/etc. She is not one of my favorite characters -- I find her to ooze a sense of entitlement virtually nonstop -- but she is, at least, a different sort of female leader than the others we tend to get from GRRM.

[anonymous]

"Asha just gets made fun of less because she gets dudes hard."

Heh heh, nice turn of phrase. Btw, it probably won't improve your opinion of the way GRRM depicts women to learn that unless The Man greatly changes her ADWD spoiler chapter,

*** spoiler warning ***

Asha will follow Brienne's example in that her fortunes will take a definite turn for the worse.

"And I agree with you about Danaerys and the dragons; my only point was that she seizes and retains power without having to use sex all the time."

True, but it strikes me that Daenerys actually hasn't used sex at all to influence men ever since her husband died (and in that she's a complete opposite to that whore Cersei). Dany in fact refused to do it even when it could have bound some useful men (Jorah, the sellsword Daario) closer to her.

[anonymous]

Can I just say what revelation this web site has been for me? I was horribly disappointed in AFFC when it first came out, and rereading it last year only lowered my opinion of it. I don't care if ADWD takes another 5 years or so to come out. I'm just happy to know that there ARE others out there who loved the first three books but considered AFFC to not just be disappointing, but actively bad.

The only good thing about AFFC was that I didn't pay for it. The first time around I read it in Barnes and Noble between jobs over the course of a couple weeks, and the second time I borrowed a copy. Maybe I should buy a couple miniatures to make up for it?

[grrrm]

And YOU, sir/madam, might as well just be pulling the Fiddle Faddle right out of George's beard!

[anonymous]

How much does he charge for that honor?

[anonymous]

Probably $19.95. But you get a 10% discount for the water damaged Fiddle Faddle!

[motodraconis]

I now feel an urge to rank (and draw) the women of asoiaf in order of breast size.

[anonymous]

The assumption is that each POV brings something fundamental to the development of the story. Do you think that we may have some characters that never had any real purpose?

why?

[anonymous]

Why do you read this book if it bothers you so much?

Re: why?

[scorpiknox]

Because.