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4.02 AVERAGE
4.02 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Another enormous read finished. A lot happened in this book but at the same time nothing at all. The first half I read rather quick considering the amount of pages it has. But then it got troublesome. So many pages still left and a lot of it was just discussions discussions discussions. The writing was like in all the previous books fitting for the kind of story. But the book just had too little content for my opinion - compared to the previous book where shit went down to hell basically. This book was only really exciting in the last few chapters.
What I found fucking awesome though: Cersei you bitch, your brother abandoned you, tehihihi ^__^ I hope you rot and die in that cell you are in atm, but who will scheme like a pro then?
In total the book gets 3.5 stars from me because it was still a good read and I guess or hope that some of the information given will be important for later events. I have the next book at home already, but I need a pause after this once again heavy read. But I am longing for it.
Spoiler
Why!!! Why did you kill Brienne D: Or at least let it seem like she got hanged - I still have the hope that the word she said in the end was sword, not Jaime or something else like this. I wanna see her again. No killing loveable characters anymore please Q_Q I'm still mourning Oberyn.What I found fucking awesome though: Cersei you bitch, your brother abandoned you, tehihihi ^__^ I hope you rot and die in that cell you are in atm, but who will scheme like a pro then?
In total the book gets 3.5 stars from me because it was still a good read and I guess or hope that some of the information given will be important for later events. I have the next book at home already, but I need a pause after this once again heavy read. But I am longing for it.
Grew towards four stars. Both difficult to rate and difficult to differentiate (from the other books). Somewhat less action-heavy, more focus on failing diplomacy, foolish plots and cunning schemes. Political infighting and character development combined with (comparatively) new characters and fresh conflicts is rather captivating. Martin also manages to bring across an "All Quiet on the Western Front"-Feeling, although he uses the title-giving phrase/metaphor a tad too often. Funeral marches may be heard in the background, the camera panning to show gloomy devastation. The secretive, alluding narration, the competent style and the high frequency of well-crafted sentences are praiseworthy. Of course, Martin's project of writing a realistic, complex and conclusive fantasy series with "unlikely" (female, disabled, disenfranchised) characters the storyline of which eludes simple means of prediction and classic tropes is noticeable on every page. Still, it is less and less clear to me why the man wrote himself into certain issues he is now (at last predictably!) struggling with. The entire world-building suffers from a lack of consistency: Either the place is magical or symbolic (so that actual geography or physical laws can be ignored), or it cannot be made credible why places like the inn at the crossroads would exist or why characters sometimes travel weeks to cover distances on the map that are described as a "day's ride" a few hundred pages later. The choice of individual, unreliable narrators leads to lack of overview that neither the appendix nor afterwords can deliver. The novella-like narrative strategy (i.e., to tell the story as a juxtaposition of 'unerhörte Begebenheiten) is certainly a large part of Martin's success but also means that a lot of action has to happen 'between the pages and chapters'. It is neither a task nor a possibility for the critic to provide solutions for such issues. But it seems to me that while pulling a deus-ex-machina-narrator (an all knowing scribe or maester) out of the box would be a cheap trick, releasing a chronicle of sorts (as Martin has done before) to bridge the gap between this and the final two books, close storylines, inspire libraries of fan-fiction and pave the way for future stories (and writiters working) in the ice-and-fire-universe could be tenable. Obviously unlikely to happen. Meanwhile a fierce winter and another final book is waiting for me. If world literature has taught me anything, it is that open endings and fragments are to be praised and celebrated. Thus, I must continue. For the pleasure and pause for thought this book has given me and since it has proven to be closer to genuine high literature than I (as a true Scotsman!) anticipated, four stars are deserved.
slow-paced
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
So far my least favorite of this series. It is very slow paced. I could echo what all the other reviewers said about it below.
Dany, Tyrion, and Jon Snow were entirely absent from this book. That sucked.
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The action picked up towards the end of the book, I was surprised to see lady Catelyn return as Lady Stoneheart. Cersi being thrown in jail was a shock and was suprised when Loras Tyrell was injured while at dragonstone.
As of yet, my favorite book in the series. I've fallen for Jaime's charm and cynical wit and pray for Cersei's downfall whilst rooting for Brienne. I can't wait to continue the journey in a Dance with Dragons.