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4.02 AVERAGE
4.02 AVERAGE
Holy second book syndrome (but it was the 4th book) đĽ
adventurous
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Again, it seems like this series starts to drag as it continues. The amount of characters is more palatable in this part, but some of them have also gotten less believable. Hopefully it'll pick back up in the following volume, which I absolutely do still plan to read.
challenging
dark
tense
slow-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
Brilliant. Another brilliant remarkably written book, yes not so easy to follow (what with the 400 or so new characters!) book in the series of A Song of Ice & Fire. I love love this series and while book 4 was not as fast-paced action-packed page-turning as books 1,2 and especially 3, I loved it all the same.
I must say that it helps tremendously to picture these characters from the tv series and to follow both the show and the books. Most readers whine about the tv series veering off in a different direction and not following the book scene by scene and while I wish it were exactly the same as the book, I realize that's just impossible. Don't forget that George RR Martin (GRMM) is heavily involved in the making of the series and even has written some of the tv scripts. And it's fun to see how well they do and what creative turns the tv show takes. I am learning to appreciate both !
My favorite parts of this book: Everything having anything to do with Dorne and the Dornish people.
Least favorite: everything that happened with the Iron Islands.
Biggest frustration: Where were Dany, Jin Snow, Tyrion and Davos? gRMM has a meek answer at the end of the book to that question.
Overall, a solid 5 stars. I mean, hey it's GRMM, it's one of the greatest series on fantasy fiction ever written. It's fantastic. Delicious reading and beautifully complex characters in every chapter. The writing is exquisite, and the story does go on!
I must say that it helps tremendously to picture these characters from the tv series and to follow both the show and the books. Most readers whine about the tv series veering off in a different direction and not following the book scene by scene and while I wish it were exactly the same as the book, I realize that's just impossible. Don't forget that George RR Martin (GRMM) is heavily involved in the making of the series and even has written some of the tv scripts. And it's fun to see how well they do and what creative turns the tv show takes. I am learning to appreciate both !
My favorite parts of this book: Everything having anything to do with Dorne and the Dornish people.
Least favorite: everything that happened with the Iron Islands.
Biggest frustration: Where were Dany, Jin Snow, Tyrion and Davos? gRMM has a meek answer at the end of the book to that question.
Overall, a solid 5 stars. I mean, hey it's GRMM, it's one of the greatest series on fantasy fiction ever written. It's fantastic. Delicious reading and beautifully complex characters in every chapter. The writing is exquisite, and the story does go on!
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
slow-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
By no means the stumble that many fans claim it is, AFFC is a spectacular modern fantasy novel, if just *slightly less* spectacular than its predecessors. I personally enjoyed it no less, however. I love this installment more than ACOK about as much as AGOT, and only a tiny bit less than ASOS.
âď¸âď¸âď¸âď¸đŤ
Critical Score: A-
Personal Score: A
This one has the reputation of being a disappointment sort of inevitably, because it follows up one of the most impressive fantasy novels out there, ASOS, and took a longer time to reach publication than the others (5 years). Haters say the plot is too slow and the POVs less interesting than the usual buffet. Martin was between a rock and a hard place once he reached the point of writing too long a follow-up to ASOS; he could either split it chronically or by characters. Thereâs pros and cons to each option, and either would have bothered fans, I think. I do think he made the wise choice, ultimately.
It helps that I went into the book actually looking forward to a slower pace, fewer main cast POVs, and a lower page count. ASOS had exhausted me, so minimizing things sounded great. Plus, I adore Brienne and Cersei, so putting them front-and-center sounded like a treat.
This book also excited me in the respect that itâs the first book in the series to diverge quite a bit from the TV show, which I watched in 2020. So, Iâm finally in the portion of the narrative where some things might really catch me off-guard, and thatâs fun.
AFFC delivered on my hopes. Plus, I liked the Dorne and Iron Islands chapters more than I thought I would, even if they were still the least interesting parts of the book for me.
I particularly love how this book really starts to lay the groundwork for the series climax, what all this has been building up to: the song of ice and fire, the prophecy, Daenerys vs The Others, and magic coming back into the story. I can finally start to see where this is all going, and itâs so supremely exciting.
I also love how this book dives into religion. It takes the aftermath of war as a starting point for a conversation on trauma, coping with reality through faith, class consciousness, corruption in organized religion, and more of the commonersâ perspective, as theyâre the ones paying the highest price for the elitesâ game of thrones. The narrative isnât fully liberated; all our POVs are still from major players, not small folk, but I understand how that would be logistically super hard to do when small folk arenât experiencing anything but collateral damage and donât know about the heart of the conflicts directing their society.
The writing here is slightly more straightforward than that of ASOS because there is less strategy going on, as a result of the plot calming down and the war ending, but the prose is as mature as ever. There are so many standout scenes and conversations in this volume. I was afraid that Martinâs writing would weaken as he slowed down, but, at least as far as AFFC, thatâs not the case.
Now onto the primary reason that I couldnât give this a critical score of an A. The feminism. Until the end, this volume is really promising with its female characters, who threaten to dominate the narrative and the realm. But by the end, all our strong women have succumbed to the schemes of the men around them: Cersei, Asha, Arianne, Brienne. Sansaâs narrative ends on a more positive note, but sheâs still entirely at the mercy of Petyr, whoâs her groomerâŚso.
It makes me wonder if Martin is hesitant to give his female characters âtoo muchâ power, or if heâs trying to demonstrate how a sexist society will always tear down its strong women, a sentiment that is as damaging as it is accurate. Iâm left unsure how to feel. If only heâd plunged into this theme more overtly to show us what he was getting at, instead of leaving it in between the lines, which I think is a tad cowardly, given heâs a man. (Just a tad, donât tear me to shreds.)
I thought giving us some one-off POVs was fun! This series has already gotten too big in scope, so new characters is kind of wild, but I still thought it was juicy to meet new people. As for the new chapter naming convention, where we get a descriptor of some narrators rather than their first name, that was also fun. It spices things up a bit.
Nitpicking here: getting a close-up map of the Iron Islands was comically unnecessary; it only specifies the Inn of the Kneeling Man and the Ten Towers. Everything else is the same as the end-papers map.
Okay, now onto my general thoughts of each POV, in order of characters with the most to least chapters:
Cersei - 10 chapters
My favorite POV. Deliriously wicked. Great rendition of the evil queen trope. The stuff with Qyburn was so upsetting. The sparrows plot-line is terrific. Her chapters start off ugly and just get uglier. I canât say Martin writes her character as maturely as she comes across in the TV show, probably in part due to how terrific Lena Headeyâs performance is, but he still manages to give us a usefully complex and thoroughly engaging character. Is she a bit whiny and immature? Yes, and I would find it a little bit sexist if we didnât have so many other female characters who arenât that way at all.
Brienne - 8 chapters
I continue to adore Brienne. Nothing boring at all in her POV; people who donât like her just donât like womenâs stories, sorry. If it was Jon going on this rambling quest, theyâd eat it up. I canât get enough Brienne. Her chapters start off lighthearted and whimsically adventurous. Then the last two chapters get really messed up. Shocking and left me gasping to find out if this is the end for her. It doesnât seem like it⌠I do sort of hate to see Catelynâs character take this evil turn with Lady Stoneheart; I sort of wish Martin would have just let her character rest in piece.
Jaime - 7 chapters
His chapters got a little less appealing over the course of the novel, as the siege was hardly riveting, but that conversation with Genna was a standout, and Jaimeâs chapters are always well executed. A little annoying to see him obsess over Cercei having sex with other men, but I guess it makes sense for his character to fixate on that.
Samwell - 5 chapters
I thought heâd be in Oldtown for most of the book, but instead he spends the whole time traveling there. So that disappointed me, because the prologue made me so excited to spend some time in Oldtown. Nevertheless, Samwellâs chapters were a pleasure. I loved getting more Aemon, and the interaction with Cat of the Canals was neat, and the Summer Islandersâ sexual liberation moment was great. Also, Dareon is valid, Samwell and Cat needed to lay off him! Poor guy.
Arya/Cat of the Canals- 3 chapters
Quite theâŚinteresting POV. Itâs sort of troubling to see her fall into a cult-like religious community where she needs to erase her identity. Kind of disturbing when I think weâre supposed to think itâs super cool and mysterious? Fascinating, nonetheless!
Sansa/Alayne - 3 chapters
Almost as amazing as her Kingâs Landing chapters. I really do love Sansa a lot, and itâs strange to see her and Petry sort of becoming accomplices, or like sheâs training to be a little trickster like him.
Aeron Greyjoy (âThe Prophetâ + âThe Drowned Manâ) - 2 chapters
A ferociously gross character, he basically encapsulates that type of toxic man who seeks salvation from being a horrible person by turning into a religious zealot, so theyâre still a horrible person, just now with a superiority complex and spiritual delusions. Entertaining, useful chapters.
Victarion Greyjoy (âThe Iron Captainâ + âThe Reaverâ) - 2 chapters
Another sort of awful Greyjoy to relish. His are likewise useful, entertaining scenes. The Greyjoys are proving they just might have a big role to play with the dragons moving forward.
Arianne Martell (âThe Queenmakerâ + âThe Princess in the Towerâ) - 2 chapters
Very appealing character. Her first chapter is surprising, and her second is all around fabulous. Great worldbuilding. Twisty. Very pleased with her POV.
Pate (Prologue) - 1 chapter
This doesnât stick the landing with its vague ending, but it establishes Oldtown as a wondrously exciting, scenic setting and sets up the head-scratcher that the book ends on. I love the magical elements in the maester world a lot and canât wait to dive more into itâŚin TWOW, it seems. Please deliver, Martin!
Areo Hotah (âThe Captain of Guardsâ) - 1 chapter
Maybe the least memorable chapter in the book. But it was still well done.
Asha Greyjoy (âThe Krakenâs Daughterâ) - 1 chapter
I wish we got more from her. Hate to see her pursuit of the Seastone Chair crumble so soon, but hopefully thereâs more to come. I really love her.
Arys Oakheart (âThe Soiled Knightâ) - 1 chapter
Areoâs scene is maybe the least memorable, but Arys is probably the least appealing POV. Didnât care when he got killed off. And his chapter felt a bit overwritten and fighting to earn its place in the book. But itâs just one chapter, so my complaint is minor.
In closing, I canât wait to see how ADWD refers to events in this book as it unfolds its own narrative. Weâve got a few characters headed for Danearys, and other headed for the Wall. Canât wait to see how it compares to this book, since most of it will take place over the same period of time. Iâm not as excited for ADWD as I was for AFFC because I donât care as much about Jon and Danearys as I do for Cersei and Brienne, but Iâm still excited. Nervous about how super long it is, though. And very curious to see exactly where the book narrative ends.
âď¸âď¸âď¸âď¸đŤ
Critical Score: A-
Personal Score: A
This one has the reputation of being a disappointment sort of inevitably, because it follows up one of the most impressive fantasy novels out there, ASOS, and took a longer time to reach publication than the others (5 years). Haters say the plot is too slow and the POVs less interesting than the usual buffet. Martin was between a rock and a hard place once he reached the point of writing too long a follow-up to ASOS; he could either split it chronically or by characters. Thereâs pros and cons to each option, and either would have bothered fans, I think. I do think he made the wise choice, ultimately.
It helps that I went into the book actually looking forward to a slower pace, fewer main cast POVs, and a lower page count. ASOS had exhausted me, so minimizing things sounded great. Plus, I adore Brienne and Cersei, so putting them front-and-center sounded like a treat.
This book also excited me in the respect that itâs the first book in the series to diverge quite a bit from the TV show, which I watched in 2020. So, Iâm finally in the portion of the narrative where some things might really catch me off-guard, and thatâs fun.
AFFC delivered on my hopes. Plus, I liked the Dorne and Iron Islands chapters more than I thought I would, even if they were still the least interesting parts of the book for me.
I particularly love how this book really starts to lay the groundwork for the series climax, what all this has been building up to: the song of ice and fire, the prophecy, Daenerys vs The Others, and magic coming back into the story. I can finally start to see where this is all going, and itâs so supremely exciting.
I also love how this book dives into religion. It takes the aftermath of war as a starting point for a conversation on trauma, coping with reality through faith, class consciousness, corruption in organized religion, and more of the commonersâ perspective, as theyâre the ones paying the highest price for the elitesâ game of thrones. The narrative isnât fully liberated; all our POVs are still from major players, not small folk, but I understand how that would be logistically super hard to do when small folk arenât experiencing anything but collateral damage and donât know about the heart of the conflicts directing their society.
The writing here is slightly more straightforward than that of ASOS because there is less strategy going on, as a result of the plot calming down and the war ending, but the prose is as mature as ever. There are so many standout scenes and conversations in this volume. I was afraid that Martinâs writing would weaken as he slowed down, but, at least as far as AFFC, thatâs not the case.
Now onto the primary reason that I couldnât give this a critical score of an A. The feminism. Until the end, this volume is really promising with its female characters, who threaten to dominate the narrative and the realm. But by the end, all our strong women have succumbed to the schemes of the men around them: Cersei, Asha, Arianne, Brienne. Sansaâs narrative ends on a more positive note, but sheâs still entirely at the mercy of Petyr, whoâs her groomerâŚso.
It makes me wonder if Martin is hesitant to give his female characters âtoo muchâ power, or if heâs trying to demonstrate how a sexist society will always tear down its strong women, a sentiment that is as damaging as it is accurate. Iâm left unsure how to feel. If only heâd plunged into this theme more overtly to show us what he was getting at, instead of leaving it in between the lines, which I think is a tad cowardly, given heâs a man. (Just a tad, donât tear me to shreds.)
I thought giving us some one-off POVs was fun! This series has already gotten too big in scope, so new characters is kind of wild, but I still thought it was juicy to meet new people. As for the new chapter naming convention, where we get a descriptor of some narrators rather than their first name, that was also fun. It spices things up a bit.
Nitpicking here: getting a close-up map of the Iron Islands was comically unnecessary; it only specifies the Inn of the Kneeling Man and the Ten Towers. Everything else is the same as the end-papers map.
Okay, now onto my general thoughts of each POV, in order of characters with the most to least chapters:
Cersei - 10 chapters
My favorite POV. Deliriously wicked. Great rendition of the evil queen trope. The stuff with Qyburn was so upsetting. The sparrows plot-line is terrific. Her chapters start off ugly and just get uglier. I canât say Martin writes her character as maturely as she comes across in the TV show, probably in part due to how terrific Lena Headeyâs performance is, but he still manages to give us a usefully complex and thoroughly engaging character. Is she a bit whiny and immature? Yes, and I would find it a little bit sexist if we didnât have so many other female characters who arenât that way at all.
Brienne - 8 chapters
I continue to adore Brienne. Nothing boring at all in her POV; people who donât like her just donât like womenâs stories, sorry. If it was Jon going on this rambling quest, theyâd eat it up. I canât get enough Brienne. Her chapters start off lighthearted and whimsically adventurous. Then the last two chapters get really messed up. Shocking and left me gasping to find out if this is the end for her. It doesnât seem like it⌠I do sort of hate to see Catelynâs character take this evil turn with Lady Stoneheart; I sort of wish Martin would have just let her character rest in piece.
Jaime - 7 chapters
His chapters got a little less appealing over the course of the novel, as the siege was hardly riveting, but that conversation with Genna was a standout, and Jaimeâs chapters are always well executed. A little annoying to see him obsess over Cercei having sex with other men, but I guess it makes sense for his character to fixate on that.
Samwell - 5 chapters
I thought heâd be in Oldtown for most of the book, but instead he spends the whole time traveling there. So that disappointed me, because the prologue made me so excited to spend some time in Oldtown. Nevertheless, Samwellâs chapters were a pleasure. I loved getting more Aemon, and the interaction with Cat of the Canals was neat, and the Summer Islandersâ sexual liberation moment was great. Also, Dareon is valid, Samwell and Cat needed to lay off him! Poor guy.
Arya/Cat of the Canals- 3 chapters
Quite theâŚinteresting POV. Itâs sort of troubling to see her fall into a cult-like religious community where she needs to erase her identity. Kind of disturbing when I think weâre supposed to think itâs super cool and mysterious? Fascinating, nonetheless!
Sansa/Alayne - 3 chapters
Almost as amazing as her Kingâs Landing chapters. I really do love Sansa a lot, and itâs strange to see her and Petry sort of becoming accomplices, or like sheâs training to be a little trickster like him.
Aeron Greyjoy (âThe Prophetâ + âThe Drowned Manâ) - 2 chapters
A ferociously gross character, he basically encapsulates that type of toxic man who seeks salvation from being a horrible person by turning into a religious zealot, so theyâre still a horrible person, just now with a superiority complex and spiritual delusions. Entertaining, useful chapters.
Victarion Greyjoy (âThe Iron Captainâ + âThe Reaverâ) - 2 chapters
Another sort of awful Greyjoy to relish. His are likewise useful, entertaining scenes. The Greyjoys are proving they just might have a big role to play with the dragons moving forward.
Arianne Martell (âThe Queenmakerâ + âThe Princess in the Towerâ) - 2 chapters
Very appealing character. Her first chapter is surprising, and her second is all around fabulous. Great worldbuilding. Twisty. Very pleased with her POV.
Pate (Prologue) - 1 chapter
This doesnât stick the landing with its vague ending, but it establishes Oldtown as a wondrously exciting, scenic setting and sets up the head-scratcher that the book ends on. I love the magical elements in the maester world a lot and canât wait to dive more into itâŚin TWOW, it seems. Please deliver, Martin!
Areo Hotah (âThe Captain of Guardsâ) - 1 chapter
Maybe the least memorable chapter in the book. But it was still well done.
Asha Greyjoy (âThe Krakenâs Daughterâ) - 1 chapter
I wish we got more from her. Hate to see her pursuit of the Seastone Chair crumble so soon, but hopefully thereâs more to come. I really love her.
Arys Oakheart (âThe Soiled Knightâ) - 1 chapter
Areoâs scene is maybe the least memorable, but Arys is probably the least appealing POV. Didnât care when he got killed off. And his chapter felt a bit overwritten and fighting to earn its place in the book. But itâs just one chapter, so my complaint is minor.
In closing, I canât wait to see how ADWD refers to events in this book as it unfolds its own narrative. Weâve got a few characters headed for Danearys, and other headed for the Wall. Canât wait to see how it compares to this book, since most of it will take place over the same period of time. Iâm not as excited for ADWD as I was for AFFC because I donât care as much about Jon and Danearys as I do for Cersei and Brienne, but Iâm still excited. Nervous about how super long it is, though. And very curious to see exactly where the book narrative ends.
Man this one was a SLOG. As always, George gives a masterclass in world and character building, but I felt like there wasnât much else going on. The whole book felt like preamble for the next one without an actual narrative arc of its own.
A Feast for Crows by George R. R. Martin, a Kindle book I began reading on October 6th. Very impressed with the previous-book-of-the-series' ending, I had to know what happened next.
A Feast for Crows follows along a choice half of the characters known from the former books of the series and adds in a few new ones, much like a new Darren on Bewitched or a new Bobby on Mad Men - they seem familiar in their role, but with their own newish quirks that set them oddly apart. As much as I want to find out what's happening with the remaining half of characters (particularily Tyrion), it might be a little while before I delve into the most recent book.
A Feast for Crows follows along a choice half of the characters known from the former books of the series and adds in a few new ones, much like a new Darren on Bewitched or a new Bobby on Mad Men - they seem familiar in their role, but with their own newish quirks that set them oddly apart. As much as I want to find out what's happening with the remaining half of characters (particularily Tyrion), it might be a little while before I delve into the most recent book.
Okay, maybe it's because I read half of this last year and then came back and read the other (better) half, but I loved this book. I loved the other 3 as well but I wasn't too much from this one and I still loved it. Jamie, Arya, Sansa, Brienne... most of my faves. It just kills me knowing that I'm not going to get answers to what happened to everyone in ADWD, and that I'm going to have to wait til TWoW to find out what's going on.
Hurry up GRRM!
Hurry up GRRM!