I'm still enjoying the series, but this book wanders a bit too much for my taste. Characters I have no taste for get chapters upon chapters, while others seem barely present. Still, I plan to keep reading. Wander it may, but it is still engrossing. ( )

If a one word book review was acceptable, a simple "Wow" would suffice!

A Feast for Crows is the 4th installment in George R.R. Martin's epic fantasy series, A Song of Ice and Fire. This was by far the best to date. While the entire novel was engaging, the last 50 pages of the 976 total leaves the reader feeling physically and mentally abused. It's impossible to provide a decent synopsis without spoiling the story for others (and going on for 100's of pages since the plot is so rich in detail) but in a nutshell: Cersei finally gets what she deserves, Brienne doesn't, Sam is on track to become the hero of the entire series and a character we thought was dead reappears as Lady Stoneheart.

I have to admit that this book sat on my shelf for quite a while. I need to be in the "mood" for Martin. Now I really want to continue the series. Like many of his fans, I'm concerned that it may never come to conclusion. This book was published in 2005 and the "Back at the Wall" states that the next installment will be available "next year.” (2006) There's even a preview of the next book stating A Dance with Dragons is "coming soon." However, here we are at the end of 2009 and the book still has not been published. The release is now scheduled for September 2010. For Epic Fantasy genre fans, visions of Robert Jordan may be coming to mind. George isn't a young man and with the series being unfinished at this time, we may be having a different author decide the outcome of the Seven Kingdoms for us. ( )

George RR Martin is starting to suffer from the large number of characters and plot threads in this installment of 'A Song of Ice and Fire'. Forced by his publisher to split this one, he made the sensible decision to split the narrative by geography and character. He still maintains his overview by incorporating a few chapters set in the Iron Islands, Dorne and Oldtown. I didn't have a problem with not knowing of the exploits of Jon Snow, Daenerys Targaryen and Tyrion Lannister during this book (except indirectly). However the focus of the book seemed a bit off. A main thread is Brienne's search for the Stark girls, which requires her to return through the war-ravaged riverlands. But no one's story was really 'finished' in the book.

For me though, the least successful element of the book was the Cersei Lannister narrative. Cersei has been a bitch-queen since the first book, but seeing the world through her eyes doesn't make her less hateful, as it did for her twin Jaime. In fact, she comes across as a rather pathetic egomaniac and bully. Also *stupid*, surrounding herself as queen with fools and flatterers and generally running the kingdom even more poorly than Robert Baratheon did. The Maggy Frog prophecy seems to have been rather hastily bolted on for this book too. I thought there was too much of her and that a King's Landing perspective could better have been provided by someone close to, but still fearful of Cersei (like the viewpoints of Sansa Stark and Tyrion Lannister in the earlier novels).

I liked the descriptions of the ruined and ravaged landscapes of the Riverlands, the hangman trees, Dorne and the ironborn chapters with their Drowned God. One thing which annoyed me (and did so in Storm of Swords too) was that wretched inn at the crossroads. Everyone seems to coincidentally meet there, and the place doesn't even have a name (the Old Inn, maybe?). Is there only one inn in the Riverlands in Westeros? If everyone has to pass it by, why is it never fortified or held by some lordling? It seems to be constantly being taken over or at least frequented by outlaws of every persuasion. ( )

Out of the four books currently available in this series, this is my least favorite. I so enjoyed the other three and was looking forward to this one to sum up so many things, but,unfortunately, It only created more characters and problems that go unresolved. I hope the next one, which was to be out soon, will be more specific to the story line. The hardest part to writing a book is often the ability to end a story and he missed the mark here. It became almost tedious to read because of the new characters and remembering more names. However, I still enjoy the way he writes. ( )

Most of this book centers around the characters of Cersei, Brienne, Jaime and Samwell. So it will depend on how much you have liked or disliked these characters. The two major expansions of characters in this volume are with the Ironmen and who will be their next King, then with the prince of Dorne and how they respond the the death of the Red Viper. This volume was still very good but my least favorite of the four so far. ( )