Reviews

A Dance with Dragons by George R.R. Martin

uhmmm's review against another edition

adventurous challenging tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

fahotheguy's review against another edition

adventurous informative mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

tylerhayes's review against another edition

3.75

This book was an interesting one. I would say it is similar to the fourth one in the sense that there are so many pages and so many plotlines, but not as much happens as you would think. There are probably too many plotlines, to the point where some questions have remained unanswered for hundreds of pages and may never be answered. For example, rickon has been gone for thousands of pages, and then as soon as Davos goes after him, his chapters end too. It just leaves a feeling like "why do we have 10 narrators without full stories when we could have 5 narrators with more satisfying conclusions?" The things I liked - theon's return was good, all his chapters were pretty dark but I liked them. Jaime is great and I wish he had more chapters. I hate to say it, but the book really runs between, Tyrion, Jon, and Daenerys, and they were all disappointing in this book. Most underwhelming is Tyrion. Sure, he still has good moments, and his wit is always there, but he is just not as interesting in roles where there are no politics. Political games are the best part of these books imo, and Tyrion feels empty without them. Just a shell of his former self from books 2 and 3. Jon is alright, he is a cool guy as Lord commander but there is too much talk about wildlings. George RR Martin sets up this battle between the night watch and the others... And then the others never show up. So it's just Jon dealing with "I don't trust the wildlings" and "we don't have food for everyone" and stannis' wife being mad at him. It's just Jon dealing with everyone's petty squables and it gets old quick. And idk what happened to him at the end. Like is he even still alive?? I'm confused. Daenerys is better, but it is once again a lot of minor/not that interesting issues for a lot of the book. Then she married for peace, maybe gets betrayed? And then finally flies off on a dragon... Just for the book to end. It was cool how the focus turned onto her story from many perspectives at the end, but still, she just isn't my favorite person to read about. Once again, political intrigue is my favorite part, and she can lack that. Also, what was up with Quentyn Martell? Shows up, releases some dragons, and dies. It just felt weird, like he never should have really been a narrator.

Looking back at the series as a whole, the 2nd and 3rd novels are certainly the best, they had the right pacing and mixture of plot, characters, and world building. And I did grow to really like a lot of the characters. An enjoyable read, but definitely not a series I would recommend to just anyone.

disneyboy7's review against another edition

adventurous challenging mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

tamoker's review against another edition

challenging dark tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

philyer's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

laynewebb's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

autumnalsnow's review against another edition

dark reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

stuffhanreads's review against another edition

4.0

SO MUCH DRAMA. This book had so much going on, so many different POVs with so much detail. It was also incredibly long, the longest book I’ve read to date. I certainly won’t be reading another of this length anytime soon thats for sure. But I did very much enjoy it.

I loved reading Daenerys’ chapters a lot more than I thought I would to be honest. Usually I haven’t been a huge huge fan, but I really enjoyed these ones. The war with Yunkai, the marriage, the dragons! Then the Martell’s being thrown into the mix, it was action packed and tense for the most part. Especially Daenerys being flown off by Drogon.

I didn’t enjoy Cersei’s chapters as much as I had previously, but most of her story was spent in the Great Sept of Baelor awaiting confession. It still had some interesting parts, such as how sure she was that Jaime would come to her. Yet he got her letter and burned it. It shows character development for him, none for Cersei. She relies too heavily on her twin.

I enjoyed Theon’s chapters as well, i even felt bad for him, sure he’s done a lot of bad in his life, but what he’s been reduced to because of Ramsay? It’s horrible to read to say the least.

Overall I give this book 4/5 stars!

garrett_adams14's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5