Strider: | Sputnikmusic

Strider 07.15.15	Oh, and who dislikes Ned Stark? After reading AGOT, I found his character incredibly stupid, though his chapters were cool
HalcyonMusic 07.15.15	They act as set-up for the endgame, so people who were expecting more aSoS were disappointed. I loved both myself, but aFfC definitely feels weaker on the first read.
FacelessMan 07.15.15	Yea affc first half is pretty uneventful but it picks up later on, loved dance with dragons, had some incredible moments scattered around
FacelessMan 07.15.15	Ned isn't really stupid, just a very honorable person
Strider 07.15.15	which leads him to making stupid decisions. He values his honor more than the lives of the people he loves, which makes him selfish and dumb in my mind. How could he possibly think that honor would work in a place like Kings Landing.
Gameofmetal 07.15.15	"How could he possibly think that honor would work in a place like Kings Landing." he ruminates rather often about how out of place he is and realizes this but he has a duty to his friend to try. he has a different set of values and has honor, that doesn't make him stupid. just a good man in a bad world the books are fantastic just different, the issue is that the Feast in particular doesn't focus around many fan favorites which annoyed people but it's not worse than any of the other books
HalcyonMusic 07.15.15	It's not so much about honour, despite what other characters say in-universe. It's his uncompromising commitment to protecting children that motivates his actions and ultimately leads to his downfall. After the murder of Elia and Rhaegar's children, most of his major actions tie towards this: Jon, his disgust at killing Daenerys, his warning to Cersei (since her children, if there were to be a coup, would likely be held or killed). Honourable idiot is an oversimplification. It's more a specific, self-imposed moral bond.
HalcyonMusic 07.15.15	Could that be classified as honourable? Sure, but to label Ned as simply 'honourable' and to have that be both his primary trait and final flaw is underselling the character. It's a little more nuanced.
Strider 07.15.15	You're right on that point, but still, I found it extremely annoying how poorly he timed everything. It was good of him to show mercy to Cersei (for her children's sake), but he moved in on the Lannisters while not certain if his own daughters were safely on their way home, and while he was down 20 of his loyal men. He could have regrouped with Stannis and called his Bannermen to march south. Maybe have some of his men kidnap the Lannister kids to get them away from the city safely as well. Instead he went head on to confront Cersei after Robert's death, and trusted the dude who loved his wife, and who was obviously someone who couldn't be trusted (Baelish even said so himself)
JohnnyoftheWell 07.15.15	A Feast For Crows is an acceptable read if you're really into the law (and Cersei's storyline). The plot slows drastically and very little happens throughout, but the part I dislike the most is the Dorne storyline, which effectively takes a lot of potential (the Martells are possibly my favourite House) and lets it slide (without even devoting that many pages to it). I can only hope that it's picked up on in earnest next time. A Dance for Dragons I is a great read; I'd almost put it on par with A Storm of Swords I. There are some solid Tyrion moments and the pace and intrigue pick up considerably from AFFC. However, ADFD II isn't quite on the same level; there's a fair amount of action, but Daenerys becomes absolutely unbearable and she's pretty much the focus. There's a nice twist at the end though, and my copy came with a very interesting preview chapter from The Winds of Winter.
Gameofmetal 07.15.15	the book dorne storyline is great, the show not so much most of the problem with Dance is that Dany's chapters aren't that great on the initial read. I've warmed to them over time but the whole fifty shades of daario thing drives me nuts. Every time they go to Jon Snow tho it's absolute gold
TheGreatQ 07.15.15	the whole fifty shades of daario thing drives me nuts [2] But yeah I enjoyed both of the books, ADWD a bit more but both were very solid.
Strider 07.15.15	I hated the Dorne storyline on the show, I have high hopes for the book though. I'll see I guess
aircycle 07.15.15	They're essentially the same quality just...not as eventful. I mean the last 3rd of ASOS is like the most climactic exciting thing I've ever read so it's tough to match that. But yeah AFFC is a little tough to get through, especially Jaime's plot imo. GRRM just got caught up on all the little aspects of the world and forgot that people might wanna know what happened to Jon without having to wait 10 fucking years.
Gameofmetal 07.15.15	I think jaime's plot is incredible in feast and what parts he has in dance. the ones I found hard to get through early on were Briennes and Sams probably. Sams still aren't particularly exciting but Briennes are quite good. Jaimes chapter are some of my favorites though and i just realized we better watch for spoilers since he's only on the second book
hal1ax 07.15.15	i thought that both books 4 and 5 were great and never really understood the hate. Feast definitely has the slowest pace of the lot, but that's because the book introduces several new characters (theons uncles, dorne chars, etc.) and spends a large portion of time at kings landing dealing with Cersei's story line, which i found captivating, despite its seemingly slow pace.
Trebor. 07.15.15	people don't like feast cuz it's dark and about all the non glamorous characters fuck off I do get the criticism when it came out, cuz people were waiting five years to find out what happened to Tyrion and it's like nope, but now it doesn't really matter since Dance With Dragons is out
Strider 07.15.15	I hate Cersei so much, but she is a pretty interesting character, so I should be fine with her ark
Gameofmetal 07.15.15	her chapters are really interesting yea but she's still a terrible fucking person