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4.02 AVERAGE
4.02 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This was a filler book. Sets up a lot of things that are to come, but something that was interesting to me was The Mountain and The Hound dying. I have been enjoying comparing to the show and so far so good. Onto the “last” book…
This book met with some grumbling in the SoF&I fan base and I have to say it is not entirely unwarranted. This portion of the series plods along at a mule's pace. Clearly transitional, this story follows only a small subset of the POV characters (Brienne, Arya, Jaime and Cersei) with a little bit of intrigue in the lands of Dorne. The plot is sluggish and, at times, boring. I felt the elements I loved about the first three books were missing: rich and interesting characters interacting on an epic landscape of war and politics. The characters meander and talk incessantly, adding little to the stories progress. The thing I admire the most about this series, the painstakingly detailed land of Westeros and its massive cast of kings, knights, ladies and outlaws, is what also frustrates me most. I had to download a synopsis of the Storm of Swords, which I read two years ago, in order to get myself back up to speed. I have to say, if Dance for Dragons is this lame, Mr. Martin may lose a reader.
I am so obsessed with this series that I don't even know where to begin.
I gave the book 5 stars, because the whole A Song Of Ice And Fire series is amazing, but I do have to admit this has been my least favorite book in the series so far. The characters have been split between A Feast for Crows (book 4) and A Dance With Dragons (book 5), which both take place in the same timeline. So this story's focus is on Cersei and Jamie Lannister, The Iron Born, Brienne of Tarth, Sansa Stark, The Martell family in Dorn, Sam Tarly and Aria Stark. We won't hear what is happening with John Snow, Daenerys Targaryen, Tyrion Lannister and many others until the next book. I did not like that. Dany and Tyrion are my favorite characters and I very much missed them in this book. If felt like this book was very very Cersei and Iron Born heavy, which meant a lot of being in the head of people doing shitty things. This is usually one of the things I like about GRRM, that we get rounded and sympathetic point of views on people doing terrible things. But it was just top heavy for me. It got depressing. Also, I hate the Iron Born, they are a culture of awful misogynist and being inside their head was just gross.
That being said, I felt like GRRM picked the POV characters he did because together these characters really tell a unified story. more than other ASOIAF books, A Feast For Crows seems to make big connections between characters and brings out over arching themes of feminine power struggles. Maybe its just that I can't help but put a feminist lens on things, but I really felt the strong connection between the struggle of these female characters. They are all trying to be strong, trying to survive, trying to gain power in a world that is constantly pushing them back down again. Some of them respond by getting evil, some get submissive, some just get more bad ass.
Even being Cersei top heavy, the story was still really awesome. It made me an obsessive crazy person. So ultimately, I think its earned a 5 star rating.
I gave the book 5 stars, because the whole A Song Of Ice And Fire series is amazing, but I do have to admit this has been my least favorite book in the series so far. The characters have been split between A Feast for Crows (book 4) and A Dance With Dragons (book 5), which both take place in the same timeline. So this story's focus is on Cersei and Jamie Lannister, The Iron Born, Brienne of Tarth, Sansa Stark, The Martell family in Dorn, Sam Tarly and Aria Stark. We won't hear what is happening with John Snow, Daenerys Targaryen, Tyrion Lannister and many others until the next book. I did not like that. Dany and Tyrion are my favorite characters and I very much missed them in this book. If felt like this book was very very Cersei and Iron Born heavy, which meant a lot of being in the head of people doing shitty things. This is usually one of the things I like about GRRM, that we get rounded and sympathetic point of views on people doing terrible things. But it was just top heavy for me. It got depressing. Also, I hate the Iron Born, they are a culture of awful misogynist and being inside their head was just gross.
That being said, I felt like GRRM picked the POV characters he did because together these characters really tell a unified story. more than other ASOIAF books, A Feast For Crows seems to make big connections between characters and brings out over arching themes of feminine power struggles.
Spoiler
We see that Cersei is struggling to maintain power as queen regent and be taken seriously as a female ruler. She remembers many times when she was degraded for being female and is striving to prove herself. Similarly, Asha Greyjoy and Arianne Martell are both the heirs to their perspective kingdoms, but have their birthright taken away by a man and have to fight to retain their power. Also like Cersei, Brienne is mocked for being a female knight, she is constantly disparaged and threaten with rape despite being a very awesome and capable warrior. Sansa and Arya are both becoming stronger and learning to be more bold, but they are also both asked to give up their identity and submit to the man/men who are protecting them.Even being Cersei top heavy, the story was still really awesome. It made me an obsessive crazy person. So ultimately, I think its earned a 5 star rating.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Also pretty good
3.5 rating is more accurate: Finally done! This book certainly had its moments, but I was really missing some key characters that will be in A Dance with Dragons. The other three were so much better. I guess there had to be a let down after the madness in A Storm of Swords. Looking forward to reading about Dany, Tyrion, Jon, and others in the next one.
Not quite as enjoyable as the first three. The new characters and the omission of favorite characters with the oddball way the story split between this book and the next made it a little awkward. That being said, I did enjoy the story once I adjusted to the change and it left me only wanting to dive right into the next book.
adventurous
dark
sad
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
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Cannibalism, Murder, Alcohol, War