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4.02 AVERAGE
4.02 AVERAGE
I found this book harder to get into than the previous ones. The cast of characters is now so complex that it was difficult to re - establish the story. Saying that, by the end I was hooked! Can't wait to read the next one and re - visit Danearys, Jon Snow and Tyrion!
This is wayyyy different than the show… so many people died that survived in the show/ survived here that died in the show.
I’m loving the books after watching the series. It’s been awhile since I watched the show so it’s a nice refresher. Plus hearing how it was originally intended and different story lines is interesting.
adventurous
challenging
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:
N/A
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
medium-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:
Yes
GRRM is such a good worldbuiler, I wish that he was a better writer. Too many clunky passages and cringe-worthy sex scenes. Yet I love how he weaves together ideas and plots threads so that the reader figures out what is and has happening.
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
2022 Reread:
It’s been 7 years since I first read Feast. It’s much sloppier than I remember. The Broken Man speech is more tacky than meaningful given how small of a presence the smallfolk have. Cersei and Arya are written the best, and I still have a soft spot for my girl Sansa. I can admit that her Feast arc does not have a ton of substance or tight writing. I love how sinister her last chapter is when you realize what new twists in her character her relationship with Petyr has wrought.
Arianne’s two chapters are brief but weighty. In just two chapters you get a great window into the complexity and rawness of her relationship with Doran.
The main issue of this book is the listicles. It’s good worldbuilding sure, but it makes for a plodding read. The distance between some of the chapters is fairly maddening too. Arianne’s “Someone told” holds basically no weight when you introduce all possible traitors in the same chapter. The relationship with Doran works, but not any of the others. Having Aeron as a POV is a fresh perspective but both Asha AND Victorian makes the Iron Islands pretty overkill.
I loved the general fall mood of the novel. Some of the scenery descriptions in Brienne’s chapters are very pretty and haunting. I wanted more environmental storytelling for Alayne, akin to the excellent battle at Cracklaw Point. I would’ve liked more time on Brienne and Podrick’s relationship too to echo how Storm was her developing a relationship with Jaime.
Jaime has great character moments bogged down by the listicle writing. It’s hard to see him underneath the endless exposition dumps. The framing of training with Ser Ilyn doesn’t seem emotionally grounded or thematically resonant with his character or a parallel “amputee”’s character. The summative monologuing by Genna Lannister feels particularly trite and CliffNotes-y.
Side note, using dreams as a plot device went a little too overboard. That’s a thing I appreciate that the show did, the pretty staunch dedication to a documentary narrative.
The Shakespearean arc of Cersei, Tommen, and Margaery has all the great pacing of a classic King’s Landing court intrigue nightmare, and Arya’s brief journey in Braavos is quite simply cool as shit. 2 / 13 POVs who feel fully realized is definitely a step down from the initial trilogy. This is a problematic fave book that has a ton of substance but can be fairly rough around the edges. I’m appreciative of a series that is so dedicated to character work, and that’s why I feel that some of the extraneous detail impedes those narratives. Always nice to be lost in the world of Westeros.
2015: A different novel in the enchanting Song of Ice and Fire, Feast offers something a little more ponderous, thoughtful, and creeping than the relentless fury of the first three novels. This is a character study, one that continues to enthrall with the ever increasing complexities of Jaime Lannister, the delicious spiral into paranoia that Cersei undergoes, and the subtle reworkings of Arya and Sansa Stark into unrecognizable shells of themselves, tools for another life. Arya's passages in particular I found very moving. The brief subplots of the Greyjoy kingsmoot and the Tyrell internal turmoil also provided a refreshing outside perspective of the other Houses entangled in this never ending dispute.
The only critique I have is that some of the material Martin includes definitely feels extraneous in this novel. Specifically, passages with Areo Hotah, Samwell, and multiple Greyjoys, while appreciated for character moments, do not really add much to the story that couldn't have been explained by a throwaway line. Rather, direct POV's for important battles like Ser Loras Tyrell's tragic siege on Storm's End, or Margaery's conniving plots against the Lannisters, or even Podrick's reactions to the novelty of his adventure with Brienne, are shafted for these repetitious passages that often reinforce things we already know about Westeros and its inhabitants. Major missed opportunities and misdirected interest.
But overall, a Feast for Crows stands just as triumphantly as the other novels in Martin's canon. I can't wait for A Dance with Dragons and the epicness and sorrow it is sure to manifest.
It’s been 7 years since I first read Feast. It’s much sloppier than I remember. The Broken Man speech is more tacky than meaningful given how small of a presence the smallfolk have. Cersei and Arya are written the best, and I still have a soft spot for my girl Sansa. I can admit that her Feast arc does not have a ton of substance or tight writing. I love how sinister her last chapter is when you realize what new twists in her character her relationship with Petyr has wrought.
Arianne’s two chapters are brief but weighty. In just two chapters you get a great window into the complexity and rawness of her relationship with Doran.
The main issue of this book is the listicles. It’s good worldbuilding sure, but it makes for a plodding read. The distance between some of the chapters is fairly maddening too. Arianne’s “Someone told” holds basically no weight when you introduce all possible traitors in the same chapter. The relationship with Doran works, but not any of the others. Having Aeron as a POV is a fresh perspective but both Asha AND Victorian makes the Iron Islands pretty overkill.
I loved the general fall mood of the novel. Some of the scenery descriptions in Brienne’s chapters are very pretty and haunting. I wanted more environmental storytelling for Alayne, akin to the excellent battle at Cracklaw Point. I would’ve liked more time on Brienne and Podrick’s relationship too to echo how Storm was her developing a relationship with Jaime.
Jaime has great character moments bogged down by the listicle writing. It’s hard to see him underneath the endless exposition dumps. The framing of training with Ser Ilyn doesn’t seem emotionally grounded or thematically resonant with his character or a parallel “amputee”’s character. The summative monologuing by Genna Lannister feels particularly trite and CliffNotes-y.
Side note, using dreams as a plot device went a little too overboard. That’s a thing I appreciate that the show did, the pretty staunch dedication to a documentary narrative.
The Shakespearean arc of Cersei, Tommen, and Margaery has all the great pacing of a classic King’s Landing court intrigue nightmare, and Arya’s brief journey in Braavos is quite simply cool as shit. 2 / 13 POVs who feel fully realized is definitely a step down from the initial trilogy. This is a problematic fave book that has a ton of substance but can be fairly rough around the edges. I’m appreciative of a series that is so dedicated to character work, and that’s why I feel that some of the extraneous detail impedes those narratives. Always nice to be lost in the world of Westeros.
2015: A different novel in the enchanting Song of Ice and Fire, Feast offers something a little more ponderous, thoughtful, and creeping than the relentless fury of the first three novels. This is a character study, one that continues to enthrall with the ever increasing complexities of Jaime Lannister, the delicious spiral into paranoia that Cersei undergoes, and the subtle reworkings of Arya and Sansa Stark into unrecognizable shells of themselves, tools for another life. Arya's passages in particular I found very moving. The brief subplots of the Greyjoy kingsmoot and the Tyrell internal turmoil also provided a refreshing outside perspective of the other Houses entangled in this never ending dispute.
The only critique I have is that some of the material Martin includes definitely feels extraneous in this novel. Specifically, passages with Areo Hotah, Samwell, and multiple Greyjoys, while appreciated for character moments, do not really add much to the story that couldn't have been explained by a throwaway line. Rather, direct POV's for important battles like Ser Loras Tyrell's tragic siege on Storm's End, or Margaery's conniving plots against the Lannisters, or even Podrick's reactions to the novelty of his adventure with Brienne, are shafted for these repetitious passages that often reinforce things we already know about Westeros and its inhabitants. Major missed opportunities and misdirected interest.
But overall, a Feast for Crows stands just as triumphantly as the other novels in Martin's canon. I can't wait for A Dance with Dragons and the epicness and sorrow it is sure to manifest.
Les juro que me sorprende que cada libro sea mejor que el otro, aunque debo decir que este ha sido mi favorito de la saga, porque conocí más de Cersei, que es uno de mis personajes favoritos, y más de Brienne, otro de mis personajes favoritos.
Han pasado un montón de cosas, es que ayyyyy! Chillé cada vez que pasó algo, cada nueva traición, cada nuevo giro en la trama, descubriendo un nuevo enemigo, sufriendo las muertes.
George hace magia, y ahora tengo mucha ansiedad porque ya pasé al último libro, y aún este señor no termina de escribir la saga, así que estoy molesta por eso, pero muy nostálgica porque no quiero acabarla, se ha vuelto mi favorita en la vida, y necesito más de Poniente, de Desembarco del Rey, Dorne, etc.
Han pasado un montón de cosas, es que ayyyyy! Chillé cada vez que pasó algo, cada nueva traición, cada nuevo giro en la trama, descubriendo un nuevo enemigo, sufriendo las muertes.
George hace magia, y ahora tengo mucha ansiedad porque ya pasé al último libro, y aún este señor no termina de escribir la saga, así que estoy molesta por eso, pero muy nostálgica porque no quiero acabarla, se ha vuelto mi favorita en la vida, y necesito más de Poniente, de Desembarco del Rey, Dorne, etc.
adventurous
dark
emotional
reflective
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