So I've had a bit of an extended absence, sorry about that. I know couple readers have been clamoring for updates, and I'm finally back into it. I picked Feast up again in December, but couldn't quite get back into it. I think I was just burned out from having read so many novels for classes last semester. I'm hoping to power through it now over the next week and change, before this semester really gets off the ground. I went back and reread Feast from the beginning, so I have a couple things to add to what I've said before.
Areo Hotah: Just to add a little bit here, I wanted to reiterate how interested I am in seeing what Martin does with the Sand Snakes and Arianne. He's a little heavy-handed in his attempt to establish these characters quickly as both similar and entirely different from each other, with competing and overlapping goals and motives, and entirely different personalities.
Cersei: Just to add a bit from her first chapter. I found her dream about the Iron Throne to be particularly interested. It cemented her somewhat mentally unbalanced fears of Tyrion as boogeyman (which play out a lot more in subsequent chapters as she sees his hands behind every possibly treachery about her). Bur I also found it interesting because the Iron Throne both trapped and injured her. She craves the power of the throne, but also seems to fear its inherent dangers. She's not the fearless Lioness of Lannister that she wants to be, or acts like. She'a a pale imitation of Tywin, who like him or not, was a masterful strategist, full of cunning. More on this later.
New stuff!
Brienne: Oh good! Brienne is always an interesting character to analyze. Sure her character is a little flat sometimes, but she's good fodder for explorations of gender bending in these books. So, what do we have here?......zzzzzzzzzZZZZzzzzzzzZZZzzz....hm.hmmm...hm? Oh, sorry, I must have nodded off there. Yes, we get it, her search is futile. She's alone in the wilderness searching for a needle in a haystack. I think most of us got that from the get go, but thank you for spending multiple pages hammering away at the fact that she's somewhat clumsily attempting the impossible. Her next chapter, I hope, shall improve.
Sam: Sam! Hooray! What a pleasant surprise! I thought for sure we wouldn't see him again until Dance, but lo and behold, Jon is sending him south to keep us company. I really like this move for a lot of reasons. One, Sam is one of the few truly sympathetic characters left in the novel with so many things focused on the south, which is largely a pit of vipers. And also because I think I'm rooting for Sam more than most of the other characters. I want him to find his courage. I don't want him to become a badass (let's face it. he's a geek, but he doesn't have to be so meek about it). I want him to find his pride as well. I also like this because we finally get a viewpoint into Oldtown. I think the Maesters have been a critical puzzle piece too long ignored in the story. There's also the fact that Sam's father is nearby, and at least one of the Sand Snakes has expressed an interest in sacking the city. That's to say nothing of the prologue where the master key was stolen. Something's going down there, and Sam will be in the thick of it. I think at some point, Sam will have to meet up with his father. I wonder if he'll even get the Tarly sword out of it, but I doubt that, and I don't even think I want it. Sam wasn't meant to be a warrior, but that doesn't mean he has to be a coward.
Arya: I have a feeling that Arya's chapters are all going to be really weird. I hope that this first one is just a one off, and that after this things smooth out a bit. I also feel like Arya is going to have to give up a lot if she wants to stay where she is. That could ruin her for me a bit. I like her spirit, but I don't like that she's become so jaded so fast. I wonder how much of her identity she can give up and still be a character we can like. I'm not saying a new Arya would be unlikable or uninteresting, but comparing her to the old Arya might ruin it for a lot of people. Still just speculation though. Maybe they'll just train her to be a badass and she'll come back to Westeros to finish off her list. I have to say that I'm also glad that in addition to being jaded, she IS learning a bit of mercy, or at least regret. She feels bad about killing the kid in the bar, and about leaving The Hound to suffer. She isn't totally hardened yet. There's also the line about being hungry, but not for food. For what? For a home? For a place to belong in general? For vengeance? Perhaps simple companionship.
Final Observations: Some parallels with hands. There's Tywin and Jaime. One is the THE Hand, killed, and the other is a symbol of war whose war-making ability is severed when his hand is amputated. There's also the parallel of Cersei's desire for power coupled with her fear of the throne in her dream. Martin certainly loves to create parallels like this. He likes to link multiple characters with a trait or physical feature, but have the characters otherwise be totally at odds, which forces you to really question and analyze their relationship.
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