ASOIAF: Reading a Feast For Crows, and the Ironborn bore me to tears. Do they get any better?

They get better.

(Spoiler from Winds of Winter below)

I was bored by the Ironborn chapters when I first read A Feast for Crows. They do get a little better in that book.

Asha and Victarion’s chapters in Dance with Dragons are pretty kick-ass the first time you read them, especially Asha’s.

I think the first time I read them, they suffered because I had just read the most ass-kickingest book ever written (A Storm of Swords) and I really wanted to get back to the real story, awready!!

When you think about it, though, they definitely have their place. There is definitely good food for discussion and springboarding to theories in those chapters

Oddly, the second time I read the books, I enjoyed them much better, a LOT better —and mainly for the world-building/history Tolkien-type stuff which I suspect bores many.

For whatever reason, GRRM is inspired by the Ironborn and I think they are important.

The reasons I liked them were:

• Victarion is actually pretty funny, as both a muscle-bound Conan-type uber-warrior with the IQ of a flea. Utter badass, utter moron. Villain. Victim.
• Asha has a pretty good sex scene and an awesome battle in the dark woods in ADWD.
• Iron Island world building. Seems superfluous (though I like that stuff — did I mention I am a huge Tolkien fan?) but the more I think about it, the more I think all that pre-human civilization stuff means something important to the story.
• Rodrik the Reader. A cool tertiary character.
• Euron is the villain that puts all the previous baddies of the series to shame.
• The Forsaken chapter from the not-yet-released Winds of Winter chapter is just awesome. For me, the best of the released chapters yet. One of my top ten chapters in the entire series. And it’s an Aeron Greyjoy chapter.

(still searching for a picture online of Aeron Greyjoy strapped to a mast, sailing on an Ocean of Blood with a pregnant tongueless Falia Flowers next to him.)

Written Feb 22