A Song of Ice and Fire

CSL · 2011-07-20T12:40:27.000Z

Lynch:

Tin, before digging through your post: are there any spoilers included? Remember I’m currently only at the middle of the first book according to the original arrangement. In fact I was already reading that the most honorable man was killed and hope you are talking about Jon (?, the first hand) and not Ned (don’t reply to the last sentence for obvious reasons).

Out! Out! Out of this thread!

Tin_Wisdom · 2011-07-20T13:02:12.000Z

My apologies - there are intentionally no spoilers for later books, but I thought that you were finished with the first book. Yeah, don’t read any further in my post; we can pick up the conversation after you’re done.

salwon · 2011-07-20T13:12:21.000Z

He’s only read half of the first book, it sounds like. Yeah Lynch, if you’re still here, I’d step out for a book or four (or eight)…

Lynch · 2011-07-21T03:54:02.000Z

Ned? Really?
Nooooooooo!
See you, then!
Then…
THEN!!!

Scotch_Lufkin · 2011-07-21T06:21:00.000Z

Seems like an approprite time to share this…

h3y9K.jpg477×700

Jason_Townsend · 2011-07-21T07:58:04.000Z

Awesome.

Dufresne · 2011-07-21T08:35:34.000Z

Vesper:

I was thinking that too. FFC would have been much more tolerable re-integrated into these chapters. I wouldn’t have minded so much Brienne that way.

I’m not so sure. There are a few bits in FFC that are intended as reveals that don’t arrive chronologically until after the same non-reveal in ADWD. For example, Sam’s revelation that the baby with them is actually Mance’s son, not Gilly’s, is not a reveal if you interchange the chapters of both books, since in ADWD we see Jon telling Gilly the plan in the first place.

It’s sort of like trying to watch the Star Wars prequels before the original trilogy. It seems like you’re supposed to, but then you lose the Vader-is-Luke’s-father reveal.

TurinTur · 2011-07-21T09:30:48.000Z

So.

3>1>2>>4>5.

Who is with me?

Scotch_Lufkin · 2011-07-21T09:48:28.000Z

I guess I’m more in the 1=2=3=4=5 camp, personally. It depends on how you are measuring things. Are you rating them on their own, or compared to one another? Where were you at in your life when you read each one the first time? Were you over-hyped for this one so it left you disapointed? These aren’t factors for me, and when taken as a whole it’s the entire tale and the characters I enjoy, what book a specific event occurs in doesn’t really matter to me.

To be fair, I’m only 30% into Dance, but I’m enjoying the shit out of it so far, and each time I sit and read a chapter or two is a real treat. To each his own, of course.

John_Reynolds · 2011-07-21T09:54:22.000Z

Naeblis:

So.

3>1>2>>4>5.

Who is with me?

That’s exactly how I’d order them in quality.

Vesper · 2011-07-21T10:27:38.000Z

You were that let down by 5? I’m only 1/3rd done, and I already like it way more than FFC.

salwon · 2011-07-21T10:52:30.000Z

This isn’t going to get spoilery, is it? Cause I’m pretty sure there’s a thread for that…

Jason_Townsend · 2011-07-21T11:00:08.000Z

3>1=2>5>4. Can’t shake my head enough at the 4>5 people.

graller · 2011-07-21T11:50:27.000Z

2>1=3>5>4

TurinTur · 2011-07-21T12:18:21.000Z

Vesper:

You were that let down by 5? I’m only 1/3rd done, and I already like it way more than FFC.

I didn’t have any great problems with FFC. Yes, it was less “exciting” than past books, it was slower, but it was still solid. I can’t say the same of Dance!

And yeah, no spoilers in this thread.

John_Reynolds · 2011-07-21T14:55:43.000Z

Jason Townsend:

3>1=2>5>4. Can’t shake my head enough at the 4>5 people.

Maybe I’ll discover some gems in 5 that I overlooked while speed reading through it in 1.5 days and flip my opinion to your tiering, but as of now I’d argue all day and night that book 5 is the worst in the series.

Scotch_Lufkin · 2011-07-21T16:23:59.000Z

Why would you speed-read through it and possibly miss something? I don’t understand that. I’ve been reading just a chapter or two a day, maybe 3 on a weekend, and I’m enjoying the shit out of it.

Dufresne · 2011-07-21T17:28:45.000Z

3>1>5>2>4

Partially because I can never remember what exactly happens in CoK. If pressed, I could come up with, “The Dragonstone bunch is introduced, Tyrion is Hand for most of it, and there’s the Blackwater at the end.” It’s mostly just a blur in between 1 and 3 for me.

That said, I don’t hate FFC, it’s at the bottom just for the fact that my favorite character isn’t in it. I actually liked FFC quite a bit. I love hearing about Qyburn’s wacky hijinks in Cersei’s chapters.

Mr_PeaCH · 2011-07-22T06:53:51.000Z

For me both 1 and 3 stand above. 2 and 5 are 2nd tier and 4 bringing up the rear. If forced to choose I’d put 1 above 3 and 2 above 5.

1>3>2>5>…4

I can already see that I have missed some of the nuances in 5 (and I only just finished a complete re-read of the first 4 right before it came out) so I’m bound to read 5 again with some different thoughts in mind. Can only increase my appreciation for 5 I think; not decrease.

Scotch_Lufkin · 2011-07-22T07:26:36.000Z

I really liked 4, but I enjoyed the hell out of Dorne, the Ironborn, Brienne, and the stuff in King’s Landing as well, and liked the other chapters. Brienne especially had some incredible chapters, I thought.