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Title: A Feast for Crows
Author: George R.R. Martin
Genre: Grim epic fantasy (book 4 of 7)
Thingummies: 3.5
Synopsis: In Westeros, everything sucks for everybody.
Thoughts: Some series, you can pick up a book in the middle and muddle along. This ain't one of them.
Everyone and his brother have complained about the fact that this is literally half a book, with half the cast's story excised and turned into the next book. I finally understand why folks were so angry about the wait for A Dance with Dragons--besides the fact that some of the more compelling characters never appear, this ends on a series of cliffhangers that you know will not even be addressed in the next book, since the next book deals with all of the characters that weren't in this one. We'll have to wait until at least book 6 to find out if Brienne or Cersei survive. And given that he couldn't fit everyone in this book, it makes me wonder whether The Winds of Winter/A Dream of Spring will actually fit into two books, or whether it will grow a la Robert Jordan.
And that afterword is infuriating. Particularly the part where he promises the next book would be out in a year...six years before the next book came out.
Anyway, gripping story continues to be gripping. But some characters continue to be far more interesting than others. Watching Cersei make amazingly bone-headed decisions but understanding why she does so is fascinating. Brienne? Not so much. Arianne is nothing more than set-up--she's not particularly interesting in and of herself. And honestly, I couldn't care less about the seafolk. Meanwhile, Arya is one of the most interesting characters, yet does nothing to drive the plot.
I think that's actually one of the big flaws--for the most part, there are the characters who are interesting and there are the characters who do something important, and they're not overlapping all that well. If Arya and Sam had not been in the book at all, it wouldn't have mattered. Sansa is also barely necessary. But they were some of the ones I was most interested in. I predict similar problems in the next book. I want to hear what happens to Tyrion, but there's no sign in this book that he does anything particularly noteworthy. Meanwhile, Ser Davos gets a bunch of off-hand mentions, but I don't actually care what happens to him.
One thing I do appreciate is the asymmetry of information. In too many fantasy books, characters know far more than they should about the happenings across continents. In this one, characters constantly make plans based off of people you already know are dead, or upon assumptions about the personalities of other people that you know are not true. Because there is no way for Cersei to know what's happening in Dorne, or Victarion to understand that Daenerys is not going to be a pawn to seize. It does make things difficult, though, keeping track of who knows what.
I am glad I put off reading this until A Dance with Dragons came out. Now I just need to get my hands on a copy.
Author: George R.R. Martin
Genre: Grim epic fantasy (book 4 of 7)
Thingummies: 3.5
Synopsis: In Westeros, everything sucks for everybody.
Thoughts: Some series, you can pick up a book in the middle and muddle along. This ain't one of them.
Everyone and his brother have complained about the fact that this is literally half a book, with half the cast's story excised and turned into the next book. I finally understand why folks were so angry about the wait for A Dance with Dragons--besides the fact that some of the more compelling characters never appear, this ends on a series of cliffhangers that you know will not even be addressed in the next book, since the next book deals with all of the characters that weren't in this one. We'll have to wait until at least book 6 to find out if Brienne or Cersei survive. And given that he couldn't fit everyone in this book, it makes me wonder whether The Winds of Winter/A Dream of Spring will actually fit into two books, or whether it will grow a la Robert Jordan.
And that afterword is infuriating. Particularly the part where he promises the next book would be out in a year...six years before the next book came out.
Anyway, gripping story continues to be gripping. But some characters continue to be far more interesting than others. Watching Cersei make amazingly bone-headed decisions but understanding why she does so is fascinating. Brienne? Not so much. Arianne is nothing more than set-up--she's not particularly interesting in and of herself. And honestly, I couldn't care less about the seafolk. Meanwhile, Arya is one of the most interesting characters, yet does nothing to drive the plot.
I think that's actually one of the big flaws--for the most part, there are the characters who are interesting and there are the characters who do something important, and they're not overlapping all that well. If Arya and Sam had not been in the book at all, it wouldn't have mattered. Sansa is also barely necessary. But they were some of the ones I was most interested in. I predict similar problems in the next book. I want to hear what happens to Tyrion, but there's no sign in this book that he does anything particularly noteworthy. Meanwhile, Ser Davos gets a bunch of off-hand mentions, but I don't actually care what happens to him.
One thing I do appreciate is the asymmetry of information. In too many fantasy books, characters know far more than they should about the happenings across continents. In this one, characters constantly make plans based off of people you already know are dead, or upon assumptions about the personalities of other people that you know are not true. Because there is no way for Cersei to know what's happening in Dorne, or Victarion to understand that Daenerys is not going to be a pawn to seize. It does make things difficult, though, keeping track of who knows what.
I am glad I put off reading this until A Dance with Dragons came out. Now I just need to get my hands on a copy.
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no subject
Date: 2012-01-31 05:36 pm (UTC)From:And that's on top of the other glaring flaws of this book, which is just a placeholder for the next one. Which I can say without spoiling didn't nearly satisfy my desire to see things move forward. Your mileage may vary.
no subject
Date: 2012-02-01 01:16 am (UTC)From:If Cersei was a Good Wife and bore her brutish husband's babies, there wouldn't be a royal bastard problem!
If Lysa Tully hadn't fallen in love with Littlefinger as a teen, the War of the Five Kings could have been avoided!
And don't get me started on Catelyn ...
The Dorne and Ironborn serve to muddy things up and Make It Even Worse. I don't think Westeros will remain a single kingdom by the conclusion. It will probably break up into at least three kingdoms ...
no subject
Date: 2012-02-01 06:30 am (UTC)From:They don't muddy anything. The Dornish women are all failures! It's totally the same!
no subject
Date: 2012-02-01 11:54 am (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2012-02-02 05:08 am (UTC)From:The Sand Snakes annoy the hell out of me. They try way too hard to be Daddy's Girls. (and Oberyn ... what a waste of a fun, out-there, cartoony character. I appreciated the comic relief.) They don't get that Oberyn's death was COMPLETELY HIS OWN GODDAMN FAULT. They don't have a case for grievance.
Unexpectedly, in ADWD you will learn that Ellaria Sand, Oberyn's paramour, is quite possibly the most reasonable person in the series. She understands that the Martell's vendetta against GREGOR and the Lannisters should now be considered resolved. Princess Elia and her children have been avenged by Oberyn's poisoned spear. Tywin Lannister, and the major players of Robert's Rebellion are all dead - and the Martells can't take any credit for these! So why go to war? But of course the Sand Snakes think she is silly.
no subject
Date: 2012-01-31 05:36 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2012-02-01 01:07 am (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2012-01-31 08:37 pm (UTC)From:Also what Trinity said about his treatment of women? Yeah....