It will be actually weird to be able to wait around with a whole bunch of others, instead of just trying to catch up with them. Mostly, because I won't have to keep away from any comment section related to the story, or forums or articles, or whatever.
I'm actually getting really bored with all the people spouting spoilers wherever I look (tho I really shouldn't blame them, because the books came out quite a while ago, so it's not their fault that I was left behind in darkness) - you know, even when some people want to misinform you with false spoilers. I hate those the most.
But let's get back to the topic at hand.
A Feast for Crows. Right.
Thankfully, it wasn't THAT long, so I kind of managed to finish it in a "record" time - considering how long it took to finish the others.
I have to say, tho, that this one wasn't as interesting as the previous one, mostly because of all the new characters. You know, it's kind of weird. I mean, the fact that even after four books I'm still not used to the part where the writer just decides to bring in new characters so casually.
And to tell you the truth, the only problem I have with this is that at start most of these characters are terribly boring. Especially since Mister Writer usually leaves everything exciting at the second half of the books.
This fourth book also didn't have all my favorite characters, so that might have done it too. Sure, we got a few glimpses of Sam and Gilly and Arya - but it was not enough. AT ALL.
I swear, George Martin is a freaking tease.
Now, let me talk about the characters. First off, the Greyjoys. I freaking hated Theon before this, and it doesn't really change now. I guess it mainly runs in the family. The whole little war that's being fought between members of that family seems really boring to me. I don't know why, but at this moment it's still too little in the bigger schemes.
Oh, and mentioning Theon makes me think about Asha, who at some point seemed to be thinking about her brother. There I got the feeling that Theon wasn't as dead as we were meant to believe (and with how Catlyn was brought back, I think he could be alive and "well" somewhere)
Now, the Martells are once again weird. The only thing I wanted to see about them was Myrcella - but the few glimpses I got about her made me even more curious.
So, as I said, the first half of these books are mainly made up of strategies and plots. Most of the time they live me confused and bored (sadly, I don't have the mind for strategy at all), so until the actual action doesn't start I usually feel out of my depth.
Now, since I mentioned Myrcella - let me switch over to the Lannisters.
I was actually disappointed that there was no mention of Tyrion at all (tho, now that I finished the book, I understand what George Martin was doing. And I thank God that I didn't have to wait another... what? Five years, maybe, to read about the same time-frame but from the viewpoint of different characters).
Anyway, Cersei is the first, and most obvious one here. I could actually taste the way she was slowly going crazier and crazier. It was freaking awesome. Her point of view is always easy to understand - probably because I've been reading about here for quite some while now, and I feel like I kind of understand her.
Also, Jaime seems to be more and more like Tyrion - at least in the way he actually realizes how bat-shit-crazy his sister actually is. I can't blame him for not going back to help her out the grave she managed to dig herself into, tho I'm still not sure if it's because he feels jealous and angry at her, or if it's because he knows that they couldn't win anyway.
Tommen - well, there's really not much to say about him, but the fact that he is a little boy trough and trough. He's naive and easily manipulated, and too damn trusting. Not surprising, tho, if you look at his age.
Okay. Brienne. Her side of the story ended once again when it was beginning to pick up. I was actually hoping to see SOMETHING happen whenever I saw her name as a chapter title, because every time it seemed that she was getting closer and closer to either of the Stark girls. And tho I hoped to see more of zombie Catlyn (weird, since I actually don't like her, but I guess weird things make me curious), I was kind of disappointed that it had to be this way.
Sam and Gilly's storyline was also kind of boring, probably because I was expecting something BIG to happen at every corner there too. I was looking forward to seeing him training to be a maester and to finally see him interact with his family. It's kind of sad that none of these happened (yet), tho I'm curious about what will happen now that he got in a league with the Sphinx.
All right, Arya is once again one of those characters that I wanted to see more (I really hope that the next book will show at least a little bit of her). The part where she is blinded was shocking to a little degree. I'm saying only a little, because I'm not convinced that this will be a bad thing for her (or if it's permanent). I sure hope it isn't, mainly because I have no idea why would someone do that, especially when she was actually in training. I have the suspicion that it's one of those "trust your other senses" things. Besides, I kind of like how most people in that "sect" seem to have different powers, and now I'm actually curious what will Arya's strong point be.
Sansa's part was kind of interesting - mainly because I never would have guessed that things would straighten out so easily. And yeah, I LOVE Littlefinger's plan. Especially the part where Robert dies (because he's an annoying cunt).
Oh, by the way, before I forget entirely, did anyone notice the Thor reference at one point? I'm actually not sure on what page or what chapter it is, I found a single sentence of someone with a huge hammer, who also has a name something along the lines of Thoren or something. Sadly, I managed to delete all my notes, so the only way I could produce the whole scene would be to read the whole damn thing again. Which I won't do right at this moment.
Also at some point there are two guys, one named Harry something, and the other named something something Potter. Just thought I would mention this, since I don't think it was a weird coincidence (especially when they were mentioned in the same scene, one after the other).
Soooo, I think this is pretty much it, guys. Since no other relatively important characters make a debut in this book, I have to close it with the following thought: I hope that when they make the movie, they will present the story following the timeline, not just simply the characters. I don't want to see a whole series without some of the best characters. But you know what this means? That the next book will have a whole bunch of these characters!
Well, at least I'm sure I won't be bored with it.
