I think in part that my expectations of his abilities to characterize were set artificialy high by the prologue. Will came across with so well in such a short amount which no other character, major or minor, managed to.
Arya and Sansa being such complete opposites made them both feel far too flat to be at all real to me. There were several other characters that tasted flat, but those were the two who's viewpoints we actually got to see.
I don't really have any complaint complaints, I just wasn't captured by it. There were definitly interesting aspects, the Others could be a pretty kick ass book on their own, but the sum total isn't enough to make me prioratize the series. It's not exactly dislike so much as there are plenty of things I would potentially enjoy reading a good deal more.
[ March 30, 2004, 12:29 PM: Message edited by: peter the bookie ]
Posts: 318 | Registered: Apr 2002
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I forgot about Novinha! I hate her! She is such a #$#@# And she gets the best man in the universe! And she treats him terribly, blaming him for everything. Oh, she drives me up a wall!
Posts: 9942 | Registered: Mar 2003
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That's really interesting peter! I agree that the prologue was incredibly well written, but I found the books as a whole to be on par with it. Honestly, I find A Song of Ice and Fire to be one of, if not the single best work of fiction by a living author that I've come across.
I didn't really have any trouble believing that two siblings could be so different, perhaps because of how radically different I am from my own brother. I found both characters to be believably developed, and completely three dimensional.
To a certain degree, though, this kind of thing is subjective; I'm not trying to force my appreciation of the book on you, but I'm fascinated by the fact that you found it lacking.
Posts: 16059 | Registered: Aug 2000
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Oh, yeah, I forgot about her too. There is nothing likeable about Novinha. I think that Ender hates himself still, which is why he shacked up with her.
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strange, yes. But there was just something about Novinha that i liked. I know that she treats Ender terribly, but She got Ender! that is admirable enough, I can't really explain why I like her. I think that I had a good impression of her and when she started being a (Nasty word) I disregarded it and said she is just being stupid, she'll come around.
Posts: 197 | Registered: Feb 2004
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I think I must have got inside Novinha's skull too effectively to hate her. I got frustrated with her but didn't really hate her, ever. I think part of that was "well, Ender must see something in her." Maybe if I re-read it now I'd hate her, but I'm not sure I would...
Posts: 1550 | Registered: Jun 1999
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I didn't so much dislike Novinha. It's just that I came away feeling like there really wasn't enough explanation for me to understand why a relationship developed between her and Ender. I accepted it and moved on, but it never really made sense, except to move the plot in certain directions.
Posts: 4344 | Registered: Mar 2003
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Actually, Novinha is probably the character that I am most like. to be broken beyond anyone's ability to fix.
Posts: 1512 | Registered: A Long Time Ago!
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Ender and Novinha didn't seem to spend that much time together. Their marriage just happened... Suddenly, with hardly no romance. I felt sorry for her losses and pain, but then I couldn't help thinking that on some level she bought it on herself and did NOTHING to really change. She drove me crazy... Plus she was just... so... venomous...
Posts: 9942 | Registered: Mar 2003
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I can't relate all the reasons I dislike Cersi without issuing spoilers, adn I hat spoilers, so I won't be specific:
She uses EVERYONE for her own personal gain, even her own brother/twin.
How sick is that realtionship?
I hated Jamie, but in SOS he became much more sympathetic, and not because of his injury. We finally got a bit of his version of his past actions, and I found myself likeing him more and more, despite myself. I have high hopes for his character.
She is the main reason, other than his own pig-headedness, for what happens to Eddard Stark. I really liked his character.
I don't like the fact that she always gets someone else to do her dirty work for her, and rarely gets her own hands dirty.
Lissa annoys me to no end too. Is it possible to be more of a waste of skin that she is? She ahs done exactally the wrong thing every time in every novel. She....wait, I can't say anything else as it would be a spoiler. Lets just say her "relationship" is incredibly stupid, even for her.
quote: She uses EVERYONE for her own personal gain, even her own brother/twin.
She is the main reason, other than his own pig-headedness, for what happens to Eddard Stark. I really liked his character.
I don't like the fact that she always gets someone else to do her dirty work for her, and rarely gets her own hands dirty.
Is it wrong that these are all reasons I liked her? I'm sure in some way I was channeling her through Nellie Olson.
Posts: 3956 | Registered: Jun 2001
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The Snow Queen Cousin Sid Duras Kira and Captan Sisko Wicked King Noah Delilah Oh yeah, and the whiney-assed kid in "The Lion The Witch and the Wardrobe" that gets Aslan killed.
[ March 31, 2004, 12:40 PM: Message edited by: Sweet William ]
Posts: 524 | Registered: May 2003
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**HUGE SPOILER FOR A SONG OF ICE AND FIRE** . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
quote:She is the main reason, other than his own pig-headedness, for what happens to Eddard Stark. I really liked his character.
quote:Well, Cersi basically ruins the Kingdom on order to run it like her own personal playpen...
Naaah, Cersi isn't the main reason for what happens to Ned, and she only thinks that she is running the kingdom like her own personal playpen. She's just a pawn in Littlefinger's game. He's the real puppetmaster of the Seven Kingdoms.
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This last weekend, I saw a theatrical version of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. I found myself *really* wanting to peform the part of Edmund, the "whiney-assed kid in "The Lion The Witch and the Wardrobe" that gets Aslan killed."
Posts: 16551 | Registered: Feb 2003
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quote:I love Holden! I relate to him, you've just forgotten how angsty it is being a teenager.
And I don't care if you are a teenager, in that case you have no excuse.
No. I remember just how angst-ridden I was as a teenager.
Also, I was a teenager - in eighth grade - the first time I was forced to read "Catcher in the Rye" (I've had to read it three times for different classes), and I hated him then. I thought then, and still think now, that he was a poser and completely obnoxious.
Posts: 2454 | Registered: Jan 2003
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Jenny, I'm surprised you didn't mention Cho Chang after how much you went on about how much you hated her
Posts: 3493 | Registered: Jul 2001
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Well, I don't think that Littlefinger is infallable either. He actually wanted Ned to do....well, something other than what he eventually did....if you remember what I'm talking about....
Cersi is a great anti-hero; just look at what she had Jamie do to Bran!
I hate her, but she makes the series better by opposing the main characters ruthlessly.
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