Danza de dragones

Great series but we all know we are suckers for reading it because he took our money and we will never have a literary closure for this series......because we all know he is never going to release the next book.

And so, "A Dance with Dragons" arrived. For me, thankfully, it had only been six months since I finished the series, and had re-read in the meantime, so no great loss. Perhaps people who've spent 15 years with this series will feel different about some reveals, but for me I didn't expect too many answers, so I was satisfied.

Is it a good book? I think so. There are parts where things take unexpected turns from a structural standpoint - storylines that take a whole book to get close and then never intersect, making things feel rather anti-climactic. But I'm sure in retrospect, everything will fit together nicely. In fact, that's my only real issue with this novel: I think that GRRM got a bit stuck with the structure of books 4 and 5, and unfortunately it makes them not quite perfect in terms of construction. But otherwise...

SPOILERS ABOUND....

The Wall: Jon Snow's storyline was fascinating, as he had to put aside the boy and become a man. In fact, he parallels Dany considerably here (which should have plenty of fan theories stoked) and it's a very character-based turn for both characters, as they must face the realities of ruling. Through Jon's camp, we see the massive changes that take place at the Wall, the rise and fall of Stannis Baratheon, and - of course - the seemingly tragic consequences of Jon's reign. I don't think Jon is out just yet, but he has taken actions that will significantly impact Westeros, both for the good and the bad.

Nearby, meanwhile, Theon Greyjoy has the most heartbreaking chapters, being sadistically tortured and reduced to a 'dog' in the eyes of his captor, the vile Ramsay Bolton. Bolton is one of the most disgusting characters to ever appear in literature, and Theon's psychological journey is hard to read at times due to its disturbing nature. Oddly, this bitter kid emerges as a sympathetic character by book's end. I don't know where his story will go from here, but I actually hope he gets some respite.

The rest of Westeros really play second fiddle here (I realised late in the book how few descriptions of heraldry we've been privy to, which feels strange after four very Seven Kingdoms-heavy novels). Asha Greyjoy has a small plot that intersects and, impressively for only four chapters thus far, she comes across as vividly real. Davos Seaworth sets himself up for plot in book six, but that's about all. We briefly drop by Jaime Lannister, but for only a chapter that - honestly - could have happened in AFFC. In King's Landing, I enjoyed Cersei's chapter immensely, as her pain and humiliation fought with the stronger part of her, that part that has been raised as a power-hungry lion since birth. I can't wait to get back to KL full-time soon. And that epilogue, which is a real game-changer, suggests that things are about to get very real.

Finally, beyond the Wall, young Brandon Stark becomes attached to what I think is the 'Other' plotline: the god who opposes R'hllor; theirs is the true song of ice and fire, not these petty humans. It'll be interesting to see whether Bran remains an active player or just a manipulator from outside of the world.

A good majority of the book takes place across the Narrow Sea, though, which is interesting and allows GRRM to prove just how many cultures he can conjure up. Arya Stark, in Braavos, continues her affecting and mature journey to becoming an assassin; Victarion Greyjoy battles his way to Meereen by sacrificing his principles; new POV character Lord Jon "Griff" Connington turns the other way with Aegon Targaryen, throwing a cat among the pigeons (not just a metaphor - there appears to be an actual cat in KL, who could be someone's warg!).

The big question with the Meereen storyline is whether it works as well as the rest. Quentyn, Tyrion and Victarion head toward Dany, but only Quentyn makes it in time, and then Dany is spirited away! She spends the entire novel in Meereen discovering who she is as a ruler, and all she has caused. But I think we all expected the novel to focus on her choosing between these men and what they could provide, whereas instead Dany chooses between two other characters. I really enjoyed all of these plots - Quentyn as the failed knight and a man who wished he could have been elsewhere, Tyrion rising out of any situation, etc. So many little things happen that will pay off later, such as Tyrion's murderous dreams, but for now, it can feel quite half-cocked, I concede. Since events end with Dany on her own, possibly going in another direction altogether, while her men gather in Meereen... I'll be very intrigued to see what GRRM has up his sleeve to make this worthwhile!

In my opinion, this was a very enjoyable extension of the series. I said in my review of AFFC that it would've been better received had it come out two years after ASOS, and two years before ADWD. Instead, AFFC had six years as the 'newest' book, after a five year weight; of course it couldn't have lived up to that, particularly being the post-war, autumnal, reflective novel that it was. ADWD furthers a lot more plot, but it will be served best as *part* of the series, and I hope George brings us more soon. Still, there's no denying it's a complex and re-readable book, and I'm happy to wait if we get two more of these. (But just two, please, George?)

I'll try and edit this with more coherent thoughts at a later date, but I'd love to hear what other people thought were the flaws and highlights?

A Dance with Dragons is the fifth book in the Song of Ice and Fire series, and you really need to start with the first book, Game of Thrones, and read them all in order. Trust me, you’ll be completely lost otherwise. If you’ve been through the first few books, you should know by now that this series is R rated and full of trigger warnings.A Dance with Dragons fills in what the characters missing from A Feast for Crows were up to and continues to overall story a little past that. But while events may have advanced a tad, it feels like they’ve hardly moved at all from previous books. Ultimately, it felt like it was just leading up to the next book, and there wasn’t even really a climax to the book – there were a bunch of cliffhangers instead.A Dance with Dragons is so packed with characters that some’s story lines are barely or not at all furthered. Why do we even need all these POV characters? Many of them could easily have been cut either shorter or left out entirely. Tyrion’s sections where full of him traveling from one place to another. While some useful information was learned here, his travelings could easily have been shortened. There was also, as usual, filler regarding the history of the world and the houses, much of which was not at all necessary.Despite all that, I continue to care enough about the series. If there’s one thing he’s good at, it’s pacing. A Dance with Dragons was gripping enough that I read this 1,000+ page monster of a book in one weekend.I’m still not convinced that this series will maintain the quality of the previous books, but I think it’s still worth reading on to find out.Originally posted on The Illustrated Page.

My Review: 2 - Below StandardFirst thing's first: OMG!!! I'M FINALLY CAUGHT UP ON THIS SERIES!!!! WOO-HOO!!!!!*coughs*Now that that's out of my system, can I just say that a whole lot of nothing happened in this book? It's weird: I was all prepared for A Feast for Crows to be the absolute worst, but save for a few POV sections, I was actively engaged in what was happening. I figured A Dance with Dragons would be the same, just with the POVs I missed from A Feast for Crows.Not so. Jon Snow's arc was the only one that really engaged me, as did the very few snippets we got from Arya, Jamie, and Ceresi. Okay, Reek's sections were interesting too, but the rest? Even Daenerys' chapters were full of WTF-ery. Maybe it's because I've slept since reading A Storm of Swords, but her motivations are completely muddled to me, and I can't say I agreed with a single thing she did. She's reversed as a character, lost some of her hard-earned growth from A Storm of Swords. There is one, just one, awesome moment for her, but it's minimized by her last chapter in the book.And Tyrion's sections? Totally anti-climatic. I'm serious: NOTHING HAPPENS. We learn an interesting factoid about another legit contender in the Game of Thrones, but really, I can't say I'm invested in how it plays out: it'll either end badly for the contender, in which case, why did Martin even BOTHER, or it'll end well, which feels like I've wasted a lot of time for a character I didn't meet until now to win. No, that's not a spoiler. If you want spoilers, and if you want a really good breakdown about what's WRONG with this book, you should read fantasy author Marie Brennan's post here. Seriously, it's really good, and far more articulate about the glaring problems (and why they're there) than I can be.But I can say this: as a unpublished writer who's been through many a workshop, who's had many a critique, I've often been told that every chapter needs to move the story FORWARD in some way. If it doesn't move the story forward, the chapter isn't doing it's job and needs to be cut and/or reconsidered. I've always took that advice with a grain of salt: I think there's room for chapters that allow for character growth only, but here, with Martin? THIS IS WHY THE RULE IS IN PLACE!!!! If Martin were in my shoes, or any other unpublished writer's shoes and getting workshopped, he'd be raked over coals for this crap.Oh, I could go on and on. I'll say this: I didn't believe in the cliffhanger, if that makes sense. I also don't mind waiting however many years for the next installment. I need the break, and I'm not even worried about forgetting stuff: very little of importance happened. A very few choice things happened that were awesome: that one moment for Dany, and Arya's arc is becoming very satisfying. A few other tidbits of interest, but all of that's already forgotten due to the pages upon pages of description of food, of heraldry and banners and armies, of rumors from different people saying the exact same thing. Of a single character's mantra being repeated over and over in all of their chapters, and each character has their own mantra. This was a drudge of a book, and it felt like it took forever to read (possibly symptomatic of reading it on the Kindle -- there were lots of formatting issues there too). This book could've been a novella for what little really happens, and that's a shame. At this point, I just want to know where it all ends up. At this point, I'm starting to think the HBO show will do it better. But despite my dissatisfaction, I'll probably keep reading. It's just that the excitement is gone, so I'm in no hurry.I guess that's a good thing, considering the publishing schedule….

If there are gods to listen, they are monstrous gods who torment us for their sport. Who else would make a world like this, so full of bondage, blood, and pain? Who else would shape us as they have? - George R. R. Martin, A Dance with Dragons

I find this book hard to rate. I liked the characters. The newly introduced characters fit right in, all the other characters develop exactly as one would expect, given the situation they are in. There are still surprising events, even events that made me rail at some characters, promising them eternal hell and damnation, and events that redeemed some of the past actions of other characters. Rating only character development and world building, this would be a solid 5/5.

I also liked the story. The progression is sound, the tension is there, if not up there with the best books I know, the annoying cliffhangers are also there (Damn it, I need the next book right now, not in a few years, Martin! Stop torturing me!). Rating only the story, this would be a 4.5/5.

So, if you are not keeping count, we have had 5/5 and 4.5/5. Why is this book rated only 4/5 stars then? This is something I would have a lot of trouble explaining if I was writing professional reviews for a newspaper or magazine, where people would be right to demand explanations for this kind of behaviour.

Luckily, I am writing a completely subjective review based on my feelings towards the book. And even if, objectively, I find nothing wrong with the book, subjectively it is just not "up there" with my all time favourites. I did not expect it to be. This is no criticism of the book. A lot of good books got 4 stars in my reviews. I still recommend the series to the two people on this planet that have not read it yet. It is just a case of my personal preference to only rate those books with 5 stars that I will remember for a long time, that I will wholeheartedly recommend to anyone who asks me about my favourite books, that I will probably read again at some point, and will enjoy just as much as the first time.

There are very few books that satisfy this requirement. This is not one of them.

You should read it regardless.

4.5/5 Stars, if I could give them.

I love the series. But this book was slow moving and when nowhere. WE were informed on the characters that were missing in the last book (Daenarys, Jon Snow, and Tyrion). I just didn't see much growth in the characters. This book just seemed to be alot of filler, no real meat to the story. We were introduced to a few new characters. Some with no real major role, some still remain to be seen what role they play small or large. There is no Targaryan battle for Westeros and no army of the dead invasion.It has been 8 years now, book 6 The Winds Of Winter still in waiting. I will be anticipating it's release. And hopefully we get a resolution to the fight for the throne and the fight of the century with the others and their white walkers.

Wow... What a cliffhanger! I hope the next book doesn't take too long to be published, else, I'll forget all the details again.

I have to say, this was my least favorite book in the series so far (yes, I liked AFfC more than ADwD). A large chunk of this book is filler, proving that if "words are wind" (as we were told three million times in the book), GRRM is the biggest windbag of them all. He desperately needs an editor who will try to tame this unruly beast. Tyrion's parts are incredibly slow and lagging, which sucked even more because I enjoy his character. Even Dany's story dragged a bit for me. The best chapters, in my mind, were Cersei's (that literal walk of shame was incredibly awkward in the television show, and it was pretty horrifying in the book as well) and Theon/Reek's. I'm looking forward to the next book in the series (if it is ever finished, which at this point, I have serious doubts), but I hope it is better than this offering was.

So after waiting 6 years for his book to be released, I wish I could say it's worth the wait, but unfortunately it's not even close. For being such a large book, not much actually happens here. Every character is pretty much in the exact same position they were in at the beginning until the last chapter of each POV, which means it drags on and on.

Another thing I have a problem with is how women are treated. Maybe I just don't remember it in the other books since it's been so long, but it seemed like here more than the rest of the series women are treated like whores and that's it. Plus, I swear every male character here talks about his junk in some fashion. It just felt too repetitive.

I'm hoping the problems Martin had getting this book out don't show up again for the next book. I want the series to get back on track to where it was before Feast.

After the long summer marathon in which I re-read the first four books of GRR Martin's saga, I finally tackled the long-awaited fifth book and finished it yesterday.

It's difficult to say how I feel about it: the long months of full immersion in the realms of Westeros left me a little unsettled, as if I just woke up from a convoluted dream and were still trying to regain a foothold in the normal flow of life. There's a part of me that needs different "pastures" for the brain to explore, and another that's longing for more of that story.

It was a satisfying read, of course, the thousand-odd pages a welcome find after the six years long drought between this book and the previous one: several questions on the whereabouts of a few characters, totally absent in A Feast for Crows, were answered; new characters were added to the mix and older ones were presented in a different light, making me change my mind about them. GRR Martin often surprises us with these turnarounds, and it's one of the marks of how good a writer he is.

Yet it was not an "easy" read: the first half of the book suffered a little from the slowness many perceived in Book 4. These events ran in parallel with the story-arc of A Feast for Crows, so the sensation of having gone back and retraced one's steps must have been responsible for this sensation. Once the story picked up again toward further developments, though, the pace did not greatly improve and the feel that some of the characters had lost momentum became too strong to ignore.

Daenerys is the one who suffers from this "illness" more than most: after having stormed through Slaver's Bay and taken over city after city, she stops at her last conquest, Meereen, and here she seems to get frozen in amber. Or rather, to be wading through molasses. Only toward the end of the book something changes - finally! - but we are left in the lurch thanks to a massive cliff-hanger. Thank you very much, Mr. Martin!

Something similar happens to other beloved characters, like Tyrion, or Jon: their last pages see them on the brink on something, with no clear indication of what will happen next. That is all right, of course: readers must be left hungering for more - it's a law of story-telling, and also a sound commercial tactic… But did we really need to suffer through pages and pages in which *nothing* happened at all to get to this point? I'm not too sure.

I've often read that sagas suffer from "sagging-middle syndrome", and ASOIAF seems no different: I hope that the next two books, which should see the conclusion of this huge story, will get back to the breath-taking, blood-racing pace of the first three instalments. It would be sad if this particular mountain were to give birth to a puny mouse, after all…

I doot customarily read fantasy. This is a really well written book with compelling characters and a complex plot line.

NON SPECIFIC SPOILER ALERT

Better than the last one but still not as good as the first three. Is it because there are only a few of the original characters that I started out really liking? Probably. And the thing I keep hearing from people who finish this one? Who do I root for now? I was surprised how few of the main characters died at the end. At the end of the last book, I predict the sun will explode and the world will just end.

So I've been waiting for this book for a long time. I probably should have re-read book 3, because I think most of the characters weren't much mentioned in book 4. I might have enjoyed this one a little more if I'd done that.

But frankly, I think this series has almost sprawled out of control. There are SO many characters now, in SO many different places, with so many different allegiances and plans and connections to so many other people that it made my head spin a little. And yes, the story advanced a little bit... but not very much for 1000 pages! At this rate I feel like it's going to take him another five books even to begin thinking about wrapping it up.

Notes on a few of the storylines:

TYRION: I love Tyrion Lannister/Yollo/Halfman/Hugor Hill/the noseless dwarf. Pretty much every time he was the center of a chapter, I was happy and I felt like there was action. I am not entirely sure that I know where he's headed next, now that he's joined the Second Sons and apparently is going to turn them against the Yunkai'i -- what's his long-term plan? Does he want to turn back to Westeros? And is there really a literal place that is "wherever whores go"?

THEON: This storyline is pretty gruesome, but I thought it was fantastic. This was one of the few pieces of the story that actually advanced a bit over the course of the book. Now that Theon is with Stannis, who knows what could happen next? I'm a little sad that we didn't manage to fit in the clash between Stannis and the Boltons, however. I feel like we spent a lot of time working up to it, just to be left out in the cold (literally... cut out some of the descriptions of this hellish snowstorm and get to the battle already!

ARYA: Okay, she didn't pop back up until like 80% of the way through this book, and I don't really entirely get what's going on with her. This whole Many-Faced God thing kindof confuses me, it's sortof like she's being trained to be an assassin, but the faces thing confuses me -- if it's not sorcery or some such thing, what is it? Why are there real faces and how does this work? And why are there so many different gods wherever she is, but most of the other places seem to have a dominant religion?

FROG: Yeah, I didn't really care much that he died. Meh. I would have been much more interested if he had managed to ride a dragon. I also would have preferred to see more of the plotting going on back in Dorne; the Sand Snakes are going to be a lot of fun in future books I think.

VICTARION: Also someone I've grown kindof fond of, but again, I feel like the book ended just as he was finally getting somewhere! So frustrating.

DAENERYS: She was my favorite in the first few books, and I was so thrilled to get more of her story... but she really stopped accomplishing much, and the bad-ass-ness that made me love her pretty much seems to have been drained away. That was maybe my biggest disappointment with this book.

All of that said, am I still looking forward to the next installation? YES. May it come quickly!

This book is concurrent with A Feast for Crows, until the last quarter of the book,and tells the stories of the characters that were left out (Jon Snow, Dany, and Tyrion.) More eventful than AFFC, but not nearly as much as A Storm of Swords. Here's hoping book 6 is finished this year.

Sometimes I really hate Martin. I loves this book but it left me with an urge to punch the author in the skull. I mean this in only the best of ways. Parts ofnthis book literally sucked the breath from my lungs.

Well - that took a long time. Well worth the time put into it, and I am loving the entire series. There is not much that can be said about this book that hasn't already been said by hundreds of others. The things I liked were the same things in the previous books. The characters are varied, they each make hard decisions that are not always black and white, and the story moves along (although at a slow pace considering that most of this book mirrored the timeline of the previous book).

My only issue with this book at all is that it really is difficult to keep up with all of the characters. If my wife was not as far along as me with this series, I would be lost with no one to ask about "who is this character again?" I think it would have been easier to keep up with it if it hadn't been so long between the books.

Looking forward to the next book.

There are some great moments in this book, but they are pretty far between. The book has very little forward momentum. I will say this though, it feels like the series is set up for an quite a return in the next book.

Perhaps the best book in the series since A Game of Thrones.Roy Dotrice did a fantastic job narrating until the last two books, where he has been confusing some voices.

Sadly book 5 is at an end. Overall I have enjoyed the books and the characters (the Imp is my favorite), however, it would be nice to have an ending instead of awaiting the publication of the last 2 books. In truth the story could go on and on forever as it is about the rise and fall of people and their ambitions, but I would hope for a conclusion to the story line instead.

Previously after a torturous non-ending to Patrick Rothfuss's work with a publication date no where in sight, I said I wouldn't start another series until they are completed. I wish I had followed my advice with Game of Thrones. Grrr!

Griff is actually Jon Connington, Prince Rhaegar's good friend, who had young Griff with him, whom he claims is Prince Aegon, the one the Mountain supposedly killed. Now since he didn't make it on the show, the internet (always a great source of trustworthy information, I know) is claiming he's a fake. I'm not sure, I guess we'll have to see how it pans out when (if??) "Winds of Winter" comes out. Tyrion still hasn't meant Daenerys, he's signed on with the Second Sons, along with Ser Jorah and another dwarf named Penny. Jon Snow is stabbed by the men of the Night's Watch for letting the wildlings through the wall, as he's on his way down to Winterfell to see about King Stannis after getting a raven from Ramsay claiming he killed him. Ramsay supposedly married Arya, but it's not really her (we didn't see Sansa at all in this book). I loved how Melisandre kept looking into her fire and begging the Red God to show her the Prince that was promised, hoping to see Stannis, and it keeps showing her Jon and she's like seriously, fire, why are you being so difficult? Hahaha.

Finally... I am finally done with this book. It's taken me years to get through this whole series, reading a bit at a time. I like the Game of Thrones series, but I think I prefer the TV show. The books can just get a little tedious at times. George RR Martin tends to repeat himself a lot, and these books could be so much shorter if the repetition and the naming of all these houses and lords and the colors of their banners and names of their ships was cut down. I still enjoyed them, I just think they have some serious pacing issues sometimes.

Hooray, I've finished Game of Thrones (for now). Time to move on to everything else I still want to read!

I would've given this 4 stars, but that's the rating I gave Storm of Swords. I liked Storm best and Dance hasn't surpassed that.

There's a lot of dillydallying but a lot of exciting points too. The usual case with GRRM's books. It explores the adventures at the Wall, and beyond Westeros; near the end it catches up with the happenings at King's Landing. One thing that intrigued me was Ser Barristan's history. I wish I knew what really happened between Rhaegar, Lyanna, Ned, Robert, Ashara and Barristan.

Also.. I never was heartbroken with any book of ASoI&F before, until this. :( Ned's death at book one was more of a shock for me. I was shocked and in denial and afterwards came acceptance, that there will never be a plot twist revealing that he is still alive. There was no mourning stage.

But here.. :( I loved this character more than many others. It's as painful for me as if Tyrion or Dany died.

We were all rooting for you. Why did you die on us? :( :( :( How could you GRRM huhuhu
ok that's it leave me in my misery

This book is the first half of the fifth instalment of A Song of Ice and Fire. In my opinion, this book does not reach the heights of the preceding books in the series, but then the author seems to save the big climactic events for the end of each instalment so I look forward to the second half. I was concerned that as the events in this book paralleled those of the immediately preceding book, A Feast for Crows, that a lot of the mystery would be gone, but I was pleasantly surprised, especially when it came to the fate of Davos Seaworth and Theon Greyjoy. I still thought it deserved 4 stars as the writing is so good.

This is a volume dedicated to housekeeping, catching up with our multiple characters as they play through their story arcs. We check in with Tyrian as he drifts through the East, coming to understand that his world is larger than he had imagined and that his eventual destination is the camp of the Dragon queen. theon Greyjoy plays his way deeper into he morass of the service of Ramsay Bolton, really a sink of villainy hard to match. The dialogue and inventiveness are still high quality, so I join the queue waiting for the end of this epic.

As much as I enjoyed reading and re-reading these books, along with enjoying the TV series I'm beginning to wish Martin would get on and do some writing instead of parading about in spotlight of the TV series. I'm concerned I won't live long enough to read the final two books and I'm looking fitter than he does.

About half way through this one I found myself skimming quickly through most of the chapter/characters. I was losing interest in most of them (even though I will always love Dany and Jon Snow, and Tyrion, of course). By the end, I had a sense of relief and release--no more Song of Ice and Fire for awhile... Heretical to the ever-faithful Martin fans, I know, but there you have it.

WHAT THE HELL
I NEED THE NEXT BOOK
NOW

I can't believe I'm giving this book 4 stars, but so be it. It was the first very good book in the series, fifteen years after the first book was published, and my favorite. It seems that GRRM has learned, finally, how to control pacing and momentum in a story. In almost every chapter, the plot continues to progress. This is very much unlike the fourth book, "A Feast for Crows", where the plot of the book seems to be about Cersei going crazy with paranoia. It's not, of course, and that's partly what makes it such a bad book.

I think GRRM may have received some criticism about the sex in his series- pedophilia, necrophilia, rape, incest, and prostitution. Most people really don't like reading about taboo sexual circumstances, and it was noticeably missing in this book, and the previous. This should tell you that you can write a good story without it.

Unfortunately, "A Dance with Dragons" continues chronologically where "A Storm of Swords" left off. So, it runs parallel in time with different characters as "A Feast for Crows". This was an unfortunate decision, because now it will be a full thousand-page book, before you read about Cersei, or Brienne, or Jaime, or Sansa/Aryanne, or Arya, etc. So, any details that were important to you while reading the fourth book, could be forgotten by the time you are nearing the end of this book.

I say that, because this book goes further in time chronologically than "A Feast for Crows". So, some characters do reemerge in the plot. But at that point, you're a good 2/3 into the book. So, it's as if you've read a full book about different characters during the same time. Then, when it meets up in time with the last book, you start reading a new book, where everything left off, as if nothing was the matter.

It's a queer writing style, and I'm not sure it works out very well. I read the whole series in just under 5 months, so a lot of those details are still very fresh in my mind, but that may not be the case for others. Anyway, this book starts at the same point in time as the last book, but ends much later in time than the last book, and even brings back characters from the last book, to continue the story.

The biggest problem I had with this book, was the constant repetition of sayings various characters kept repeating to themselves. "Where do whores go?", "nipples on a breastplate", "words are wind", "my name is Reek, it rhymes with ...", "you know nothing Jon Snow", and on, and on, and on. So many repetitive phrases, and heavily plastered all over the book. It's really that bad.

The other reason why I wouldn't mark this as a favorite, is because even though this book is by far the best in the series, it still falls short of being an overall favorite of mine. The pace is good, and the plot progresses, but there were still chapters where I kept wondering "how much further?". I think this book, and the previous four, could use a good abridging, trimming the fat, so to speak. There is so much useless detail about what people are wearing, who is in the great hall feasting (names you'll likely never read again), useless noises, etc. Keeping a story visually appealing and chock full of details is good, but GRRM greatly overdoes it, such that many chapters are laborious reads, to the point of boredom.

I really liked this book, but it wasn't amazing. And after 5 straight months of reading this series, I'm eager for something else.

Finally... I am finally done with this book. It's taken me years to get through this whole series, reading a bit at a time. I like the Game of Thrones series, but I think I prefer the TV show. The books can just get a little tedious at times. George RR Martin tends to repeat himself a lot, and these books could be so much shorter if the repetition and the naming of all these houses and lords and the colors of their banners and names of their ships was cut down. I still enjoyed them, I just think they have some serious pacing issues sometimes.

Hooray, I've finished Game of Thrones (for now). Time to move on to everything else I still want to read!

HOLY HELL.