In the aftermath of a colossal battle, the future of the
Seven Kingdoms hangs in the balance—beset by newly emerging threats from every
direction. In the east, Daenerys Targaryen, the last scion of House Targaryen,
rules with her three dragons as queen of a city built on dust and death. But Daenerys
has thousands of enemies, and many have set out to find her. As they gather,
one young man embarks upon his own quest for the queen, with an entirely
different goal in mind.
Fleeing from Westeros with a price on his head, Tyrion
Lannister, too, is making his way to Daenerys. But his newest allies in this
quest are not the rag-tag band they seem, and at their heart lies one who could
undo Daenerys’s claim to Westeros forever.
Meanwhile, to the north lies the mammoth Wall of ice and
stone—a structure only as strong as those guarding it. There, Jon Snow, 998th
Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch, will face his greatest challenge. For he
has powerful foes not only within the Watch but also beyond, in the land of the
creatures of ice.
From all corners, bitter conflicts reignite, intimate
betrayals are perpetrated, and a grand cast of outlaws and priests, soldiers
and skinchangers, nobles and slaves, will face seemingly insurmountable
obstacles. Some will fail, others will grow in the strength of darkness. But in
a time of rising restlessness, the tides of destiny and politics will lead
inevitably to the greatest dance of all.
In the fifth and penultimate (I think) installment of a Song of Ice and Fire, all the characters from across the sea that were not described in A Feast for Crows are represented in vivid detail as always. This is beginning to become my favorite book of the series because, contrary to the four other book, A Dance with Dragons places the readers across the sea to an unknown land, which is very interesting.
ReplyDeleteIn this one, Iv'e noticed many concepts that seem unsolvable within the next few books, and that implies that there may be more than one upcoming book, which is reassuring because I have been worried that I may not find my next series as delightful.
ReplyDeleteLiked this book better than its predecessor. How about you? I also found it an easier read than some of the others.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like the main characters are traveling in this book, is it still political, or does it become a more traditional adventure story.
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone who you'd think that would make the story better die?
ReplyDelete(Noah) I think that A Dance with Dragonsa nd A Feast for Crows were both my favorites, both of them delved deeper into the minds of the character, more micro rather than macro, if you get my meaning.
ReplyDelete(Ari) There is quite a bit of traveling in this book, and a far as politics go, many of the destinations' governments are described in great detail. N, it is not completely void of politics.
(Molly) Whenever someone dies, I always wish hat another would had instead. It always feels like more of the "good" characters die.
I have been trying to drag out this book as much as possible while keeping up my nightly reading, because the next book is scheduled to be released in October, and I don't think I can wait that long. Also, I'm expecting there to be a seventh book, because I can't imagine how Martin will be able to wrap all of this up in one book. I do hope there will be a seventh! I am worried that I will not be able to find a book near as satisfying as these, so I better start looking.
ReplyDeleteThis book seems much more interesting than the last one. While it wasn't terrible, the last book was a little slow. If this book keeps up the action, that won't be a problem. It also helps that this book mainly focuses on my favorite characters, like jon, Tyrion, and Daenerys.
ReplyDeleteAre there any specific differences from the other books than this one that make it more interesting, other than the "speed"?
ReplyDeleteIt focuses more on the larger events in the world, and less on single characters, this makes the parts that are just one characters thoughts much more interesting. The parts from Daenerys' point of view would be very dull if there weren't also parts about her taking over cities.
DeleteDo you think Martin's style changes to suit the different characters? Is it effective?
ReplyDeleteEven with all of the deaths through the series. Have you kept a favorite character, or has it changed throughout the books?
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ReplyDeleteI don't have one favorite character, toward the beginning I like Arya, but she got less interesting, my favorit character now is probably Jon or Tyrion.
DeleteI can't really pick a favorite character, because I like different things about different characters. Just as a character, I like Tyrion, but the parts of the story around Theon are very good too, and the background around Jon is good.
DeleteI really like the parts from Jon's point of view. I like how he's written like someone who had a ton of responisbility thrust upon them suddenly, and not a "hero". I also like how creepy the parts from Reek's point of view are.
ReplyDeletesounds cool
ReplyDeleteThis book focuses only on the magic and fantasy and not the realistic medivial parts, it's interestin g for a while, but it's starting to get dull.
ReplyDeleteI like the writing of Daeneerys Targaryen. it portrays pretty well how she's making hard decisions trying to run Meereen and take the iron throne. Same with Jon Snow, I like him trying to hold the wall but not sell the watch.
ReplyDeleteIt looks as though you have been reading this book for much longer than you normally do. Is that because this book is much longer than the others, or are you just enjoying it more and slowing down?
ReplyDeleteI have tried to read it more sllowly because I like to think about it as I read and I enjoy the feeling of time passing in reality along with the book.
DeleteThis book has gotten a bit repetitive. Without the political parts, the magic is much less interesting, the realistic parts and the fantasy parts have given breaks from each other in the first three books, but now they are split into separate books. because of this, I enjoy the parts about Cersei much more now than usual.
ReplyDeleteIt seems he feels the need to return to characters who aren't doing anything so that they gat screentime, which makes a lot of this book feel like filler. Most of Jon's appearances are this.
ReplyDeleteWhen you say dull, Ari, do you mean violence wise, story getting boring not enough action, traveling? or something else?
ReplyDeleteDo you feel that the book would lose meaning or substance by recombining everything, or do you think it would improve the quality of the book? How do the characters fall in and out of "favoritism" with you - does he focus on them too much and leave nothing left to imagination, or not focus on them enough leaving them hollow?
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