Ask Me Anything About ASOIAF

[Slave]

Originally Posted by achtung [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Why are books 1-3 so amazing but books 4 and 5 a bunch of rambling nonsense about people named gakkkaz and sakkahz who I cannot bring myself to give a shit about?

I thought the same about ADwD until I read it for the second time. I was amazed at all I had missed; the novel covers a ton of ground and does it excellently. I believe it to be as superior a novel in its own right as Storm of Swords. It may even be my favorite of the series, though I think I've read the others 4 to 5 times each.

Skahaz the Shavepate is a very cool character, in my opinion. Daario is hilarious in his own way. And Barristan acquits himself awesomely. Daenerys was a young girl, after all, and she needed a real foundation in the experience of being a ruler. Now she can be even further transformed into the flawless sort of Queen that the Seven Kingdoms really needs. But Martin has a predilection for the kind of misdirection that delights and sickens. Is she really Azor Ahai? There is evidence for others to fulfill that role, including but not limited to Davos Seaworth (the Battle of the Blackwater) and Bran Stark (emerging from the catacombs after the Ironborn attack on Winterfell). Both are (re)born amidst salt and smoke. And is AA and The Prince Who Was Promised one and the same person in the prophecies?

Quentyn Martell is of Dorne, whose arms are the sun-and-spear. "When the sun rises in the West and sets in the East" is almost certainly speaking of him. Daenerys has a miscarriage, which can be seen as fulfilling another part of that prophecy. (Maegi Mirri Maz Duur). "When your womb quickens again." Conclusion: She will bear a living child...