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4.02 AVERAGE
4.02 AVERAGE
I love that he claims in an author's note that readers will only have to wait a year for the next book, when in reality it was... what, seven? I wonder how long it will be until the next one comes out. There are a lot of cliffhangers here that I am pretty anxious about.
Overall, I enjoyed this book.
This book doesn't have that, though. The alliances are increasingly convoluted, with Renly, Robb, and Joffrey dead; the characters whose points of view we see are still compelling but the war itself seems impossibly out of hand. There are increasing hints of Daenerys being the prophecied ruler of the Kingdom, but she didn't have a speaking role in this book; it made it easier to relate to the people talking about her but more difficult to relate to her or her claim to the throne. Ultimately, though, the winner seems nearly irrelevant and it's difficult to imagine the Iron Throne, regardless of who sits it, reining in all of the warring clans to regain control of the country. It lends drama and maybe a sense of reality to the story, but I can't fathom how Martin's going to wrap the whole thing up in a satisfactory way.
And, of course, there are the other plot points: Winter is coming (or maybe even here); the dead are walking in the North and in the riverlands; the Maesters are apparently up to some sort of tomfoolery. Are these all interrelated, or is it just a shitty time to live in Westeros? I don't think A Dance with Dragons is going to have an answer, but I'm sure it'll leave me with more questions.
Aside from the larger concerns about war, the walking dead and the future of Westeros, there are cliffhangers for nearly every character in this book: Arya's blind in Braavos; Samwell just met a dead boy; Cersei and Margaery are locked up and one of them's got to die; Brienne may be hanged; Jaime is the only one who seems to have a clear path (or even a guaranteed future). A Dance with Dragons won't resolve any of these, either... I really hope the next one comes out soon. (Less than 7 years. Please take less than 7 years.)
That said, I'm still engaged. It helps that this book has my favorite characters (Jaime grew on me a lot, and Brienne is always solid). I wish there had been more from Arya, but Sansa's improved a lot since the first book. I'm not too engaged with the Iron Born; they're interesting, but there are already a dozen other characters who I am more interested in, and whose stories seem more... relevant? Of course, chaotic and unexpected things happen in life and war, but I wouldn't have minded missing out on all the Iron Born drama and just reading a couple of paragraphs about raiders on the coast instead.
Still, the writing style helps these books immensely. Getting the extremely limited view of only one character at a time makes the war compelling and the future difficult to guess; it makes the unanswered plot points (long winters and wights and Maesters... oh my?) somehow more acceptable than if there were an omniscient, third person narrator who was just being a dick about sharing details. There was some repetition in this book that I didn't notice before, both of lines and of ideas - how strong is the cider in Oldtown, again? I don't think I caught it the first seven or eight times. Jaime says "I love you too, sweet sister" more than once and refers to Cersei as "sweet sister" pretty consistently, and Pycelle's feeble beard and the way he lost it came up nearly every time he walked into a room. There were other descriptions which would come up twice in as many pages, though I don't remember them specifically. I think the editor might have been a little bit lax with this one.
Everything aside, I did really enjoy this book - probably because it heavily featured my favorite characters from the last book, Brienne and Jaime. I'm less than thrilled about the wait to see what happens next, though, and I kind of regret my choice to start this series because people were talking about it instead of waiting until Martin was actually done with it.
Overall, I enjoyed this book.
Spoiler
It's interesting to see where the series is going after the Red Wedding. The Starks were kind of set up as The Heroes in the beginning, and while being heroic, good or right doesn't have anything to do with survival in Westeros, it's got to be difficult to keep writing without that center. Through the last books, there was always the idea that the Starks had the moral upper hand if not the legal one, that they should win despite being under dogs. It gave the audience something to relate to and someone to root for.This book doesn't have that, though. The alliances are increasingly convoluted, with Renly, Robb, and Joffrey dead; the characters whose points of view we see are still compelling but the war itself seems impossibly out of hand. There are increasing hints of Daenerys being the prophecied ruler of the Kingdom, but she didn't have a speaking role in this book; it made it easier to relate to the people talking about her but more difficult to relate to her or her claim to the throne. Ultimately, though, the winner seems nearly irrelevant and it's difficult to imagine the Iron Throne, regardless of who sits it, reining in all of the warring clans to regain control of the country. It lends drama and maybe a sense of reality to the story, but I can't fathom how Martin's going to wrap the whole thing up in a satisfactory way.
And, of course, there are the other plot points: Winter is coming (or maybe even here); the dead are walking in the North and in the riverlands; the Maesters are apparently up to some sort of tomfoolery. Are these all interrelated, or is it just a shitty time to live in Westeros? I don't think A Dance with Dragons is going to have an answer, but I'm sure it'll leave me with more questions.
Aside from the larger concerns about war, the walking dead and the future of Westeros, there are cliffhangers for nearly every character in this book: Arya's blind in Braavos; Samwell just met a dead boy; Cersei and Margaery are locked up and one of them's got to die; Brienne may be hanged; Jaime is the only one who seems to have a clear path (or even a guaranteed future). A Dance with Dragons won't resolve any of these, either... I really hope the next one comes out soon. (Less than 7 years. Please take less than 7 years.)
That said, I'm still engaged. It helps that this book has my favorite characters (Jaime grew on me a lot, and Brienne is always solid). I wish there had been more from Arya, but Sansa's improved a lot since the first book. I'm not too engaged with the Iron Born; they're interesting, but there are already a dozen other characters who I am more interested in, and whose stories seem more... relevant? Of course, chaotic and unexpected things happen in life and war, but I wouldn't have minded missing out on all the Iron Born drama and just reading a couple of paragraphs about raiders on the coast instead.
Still, the writing style helps these books immensely. Getting the extremely limited view of only one character at a time makes the war compelling and the future difficult to guess; it makes the unanswered plot points (long winters and wights and Maesters... oh my?) somehow more acceptable than if there were an omniscient, third person narrator who was just being a dick about sharing details. There was some repetition in this book that I didn't notice before, both of lines and of ideas - how strong is the cider in Oldtown, again? I don't think I caught it the first seven or eight times. Jaime says "I love you too, sweet sister" more than once and refers to Cersei as "sweet sister" pretty consistently, and Pycelle's feeble beard and the way he lost it came up nearly every time he walked into a room. There were other descriptions which would come up twice in as many pages, though I don't remember them specifically. I think the editor might have been a little bit lax with this one.
Everything aside, I did really enjoy this book - probably because it heavily featured my favorite characters from the last book, Brienne and Jaime. I'm less than thrilled about the wait to see what happens next, though, and I kind of regret my choice to start this series because people were talking about it instead of waiting until Martin was actually done with it.
I didn't enjoy this one nearly as much as the last books of A Song of Ice and Fire but I feel like A Dance with Dragons will be better since it has all of my favorite characters in it. Still an amazing installment.
adventurous
dark
medium-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
adventurous
dark
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
dark
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
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
These books get crazier and crazier as the story progresses
adventurous
challenging
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
a feast for crows has been my least favourite of the ASOIAF series so far, though it was still enjoyable and interesting. since the story is broken off between characters across this book and a dance of dragons, all of my favourite characters were missing so i found i wasn’t as engaged with certain storylines. i didn’t like the whole sparrows storyline in the tv show, but i found the book version more interesting so i’m looking forward to seeing that play out. brienne’s story felt a little drawn out and ended with a cliffhanger so definitely interested in it’s conclusion. i really enjoy cersei’s POV because you can understand her actions better than in the show where she was unhinged and you didn’t know why. she’s still awful and makes horrendous decisions that backfire on her and her loved ones but it’s more enjoyable than pure chaos.
now do i take a break or immediately jump into the last book…. 🤔🤔
now do i take a break or immediately jump into the last book…. 🤔🤔
Looking forward to read the next one. This one won me back
adventurous
dark
emotional
relaxing
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:
No