A Dance with Dragons

Summary: Jon Snow, newly elected Lord Commander of the Night's Watch, has a plan for protecting the realm against the White Walkers, one that means allying with the wildlings that have been the enemy for time out of mind - a plan with which no one is particularly happy, including King Stannis, who is also still fuming at the lack of support he's received from the northern lords. One of those northern lords, the sadistic Ramsay Bolton plans to marry Arya Stark and thus claim Winterfell, but Arya is in Braavos, in training to be a servant of the Nameless God, and the only one who knows that Ramsay's bride is not who they claim she is is Reek, a tortured thrall of Bolton's who used to be someone else entirely. Bran and his companions show more continue their journey north of the Wall, to find Bran's three-eyed crow.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the narrow sea, everything seems to be converging on Daenerys. She holds the former slave city of Meereen only loosely, and discontent is rampant in the streets. Her dragons have gotten too large to control, and one of them seems to have gotten a taste for human flesh. Suitors that intend to marry her, and thus gain control of Westeros approach from Dorne, from the Iron Islands, and from Volantis. Tyrion finds himself with this latter group after being smuggled out of King's Landing, and soon realizes that he is once again in the middle of a plot that is decades in the making.

Review: Oh, so good. And more to the point, so much better! Not only did this book have all of my favorite POV characters that A Feast For Crows lacked, but it actually had things happening! In all of the storylines! Forward plot momentum on multiple fronts! Hooray! It wasn't quite the breakneck pace of some of first few books, and there were a few places that dragged - in particular, Daenerys's story could have been told equally effectively in substantially fewer installments, and some of Tyrion's adventures didn't seem to have a point... although it's entirely likely that I just don't see their point yet. But on the whole, this book kept me absorbed in the reading and interested in its story, more or less from first page to last. Even better, there were parts of this book that took the duller parts of A Feast For Crows (the Dorne chapters, in particular) and moved their story forward in ways that made the last book retrospectively much more important and interesting.

However, there were a few parts that kept this book from being great. The later chapters pick up with POV characters from AFfC, but since they're not the focus it leaves their chapters feeling incomplete and crammed in where they don't fit. In particular, I'm still scratching my head at the end of Jaime's few chapters... something happens that doesn't seem to square with the end of AFfC, and there's no explanation of what's going on, or how things got from there to here. Too, in past books Martin's been able to pull off a really good shocking twist, or reveal, and there wasn't one in this book. (Hell of a cliffhanger ending on a couple of storylines, though. "Cliffhanger" doesn't even cover it. When's the next book coming out?) Although, the lack of good reveals is more my fault than Martin's; there were a few points that I think were designed to be shocking, but since I was reading pretty carefully on my re-read, they basically just confirmed things I already suspected.

Apart from the improved pacing and plotting, this book also lives up to the standards of character development, worldbuilding, grey ethics, and wordcraft that Martin established in the rest of the series. It's crazy how just a few well-placed words ("You know nothing, Jon Snow.") can give me the creeped-out shivers, just by putting them in the mouth of the right character (Melisandre) - and there are equally well-done touches like that throughout the book. Similarly, and I should have expected it after A Storm of Swords transformed Jaime from completely irredeemable into one of my favorite characters, but damn can Martin do complex characterizations. When your heart breaks hardest for a character that you don't even like, that's pretty impressive.

So, overall: not without its flaws, but a definite improvement over book 4, and full of the stuff (and characters) that made me fall in love with this series in the first place. (But argh! The cliffhangers!) 4.5 out of 5 stars.

Recommendation: Don't even think about picking this up unless you've read the first four books, but if you have and you're stalled out after A Feast for Crows, then don't worry: A Dance with Dragons picks things up again. show less

I hate you, George RR Martin. You are an evil, sadistic little man, aren't you?

First I had to go through Feast for Crows without my favorite characters. I actually thought they were going to be right around the corner up until the last page when - surprise! I find out they were moved to the next book. Okay. "No problem," I said. "I'll wait, Georgey Porgey. But it better be good."

But it wasn't. Oh, how it wasn't. (He made this girl cry.)

There seems to be a huge misconception that this is actually reading material, judging by how the average rating isn't 1 star.

How does someone start a series so magnificently and then deteriorate so magnificently quickly?

The problem here is that NOT ENOUGH HAPPENS. Phrases are repeated until you want to show more smash your book or reading device with a hammer. Tyrion keeps "taking a piss."

SPOILER ALERT? DOES IT MATTER? Tyrion spends the entire book just /traveling/ to where Daenerys is. At first you think, cool! Daenerys gets to meet Tyrion! But then you just forget that that was ever his destination. And Cersei? I think she got her comeuppance in this book, but really all I remember is where do whores go? You know nothing, Jon Snow. I'mma take a piss off the boat now. show less

As power shifts throughout the realm, nothing is sacred and nobody is safe. Tyrion Lannister is fleeing for his life, but can he trust his new allies to deliver him where he wants to go or will they sell him out to his sister? Daenerys Targaryen has her dragons and her army, but she is stuck a world away from the Iron Throne with seemingly little change of ever making it back to Westeros. John Snow is Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch, but can he defend The Wall from the Others if he can’t even trust his own people? Who will ultimately win the throne of the Seven Kingdoms might just come down to who survives bitter betrayals and bloody wars.

A Dance with Dragons is the fifth book in George R.R. Martin’s epic A Song of Ice and show more Fire series. The first half of it actually runs in parallel with the timeline of the previous book – A Feast for Crows – before combining the storylines and continuing on in the second half.

All of the elements of the previous four books are here – vivid characters, breathtaking scenes and a plot that is both intricate and enthralling. However, unlike A Feast for Crows, A Dance with Dragons feels much more like the first three books as far as pacing and action. If A Feast for Crows was the deep breath before the plunge, A Dance with Dragons gives you that weightless feeling as you drop off the edge and pick up a lot of speed.

“Foes and false friends are all around me, Lord Davos. They infest my city like roaches, and at night I feel them crawling over me.” The fat man’s fingers coiled into a fist, and all his chins trembled. “My son Wendel came to the Twins a guest. He ate Lord Walder’s bread and salt, and hung his sword upon the wall to feast with his friends. And they murdered him. Murdered, I say, and may the Freys choke upon their fables. I drink with Jared, jape with Symond, promise Rhaegar the hand of my own beloved granddaughter…but never think that means I have forgotten. The north remembers, Lord Davos. The north remembers, and the mummer’s farce is almost done. My son is home.”

Once again, some stalwart characters won’t see the end of A Dance with Dragons, but you won’t have any idea who it will be until the sentence when it happens. Even then, you will catch yourself rereading to make sure it really happened. With Martin, the action never feels forced – it always reads like an organically grown plot that simply won’t let you go. Every single time I think I have what will happen next figured out, Martin proves me wrong…and makes me glad I was.

Now comes the hard part. I’ve read the last three volumes of A Song of Ice and Fire in quick succession and am dying to know what happens to all of these characters. I can’t get the storylines out of my head. Problem is, Martin won’t release the next installment until most likely 2015 and the final installment in 2018. Uggggggg. That is a very long wait. In addition, I’m not sure how he is going to successfully wrap up all these storylines convincingly with only two remaining volumes. It really feels like the midpoint of the story after five books. What I am sure of is, I will be buying them the instant they come out. It really is a series like no other and I highly recommend reading them all. show less

Although I liked ‘A Dance with Dragons’ much more than the previous book in the series, ‘A Feast for Crows’, it does not compare to the brilliance of the first three novels, which were full of intrigue, drama, and excitement. Like with the fourth instalment, this fifth one is full of back stories, excess characters, and static descriptions, albeit it does have more action, better third-person specific narratives, and moves at a bit quicker pace.

I see some reviewers didn’t like Tyrion’s chapters, yet I found these among the most engaging. His interaction with Penny the dwarf, Jorah Mormont, and various other characters held my interest.

Jon’s chapters were also engaging, as were Bran’s in the most part, and the sole show more chapter seen from Cersei’s perspective. To my surprise, Theon’s chapters proved highly engaging, showing a marked improvement on those in earlier books.

On the minus side, the multiple third-person specific narratives are too numerous, with those focusing on lesser characters proving to be quite dull reading. Chapters that focus on Dornish characters, the uninspiring Iron Men, and most incidental characters held little appeal for me. I feel the author's been too ambitious with his plot, creating too many threads.

Daenerys’s chapters were disappointing compared to her appearances in the first three books. She and her councilors spend to much time in fruitless debates. Someone says such-and-such a thing is the best thing to do, only for someone else to contradict them. While conflict is essential in a novel, these types of futile discussions are irritating, not entertaining.

Several style aspects are annoying, which is the one thing this novel has in common with its four predecessors. It’s wasting words to use an adverb to ‘tell’ when a strong verb is enough to ‘show’.

Lists do not make exciting reading, and the author goes to town with lists in this book, be it reeling off names of endless characters in a scene, or over-describing food on the table.

We also get too much of characters who ‘could hear’ and ‘could see’ something or other, and in some cases ‘could feel’. It's obvious in most cases that the characters in question can see or hear what's going on, or feel such-and-such a thing, so to inform the reader that someone 'can see/hear/feel' something is a waste of words.

My biggest criticism is the amount of back story and characters yarning on about their history or the history of such-and-such a thing. This slows the narrative pace too much. A main ingredient of a good novel is to keep the story moving forwards, which can’t be done with excess back story or history recitals.

Another element that slows the narrative down is over describing characters. One attribute, or two at most, is enough for introducing a new character. If more description is needed, the best approach is to filter it in, ideally through action, not static descriptions. Less is more. The more detail given at once, the harder it is to recall, particularly when introducing multiple characters with in-depth details on how they look and what they’re wearing. A yellow cloak or a velvet gown is much more memorable than explicit details of a character’s clothing. Quite often, we have multiple characters introduced in one scene with all being intricately described in their physical appearance and their clothing.

The ‘less is more’ approach applies to the number of characters as well. So many appear in this book that it’s hard to keep up with who’s who.

‘A Dance with Dragons’ has some gripping scenes thrown in, particularly towards the end, which is why I’ve given it four stars, with Tyrion’s, Jon’s, Theon’s, and Cersei’s narratives being the most entertaining, but on the whole, this is a pale imitation of the first three books. show less

Warning! MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD

This book was a mixed bag for me. Partly because the long wait probably made me hyper critical, and also because I think that one of my favorite characters is dead. And also because things I wanted to happen did and....you get my drift.

All in all, I was pissed, excited, disgusted all in turn so I guess GRRM did his job. I will say that at the beginning of the book I was wondering when things would start happening--be careful what you wished for cause I got a few things that went down hard.

Others are giving impressions of every aspect of the book and series. So I'll just talk about my favorite things--the characters.

Before I start, there was one bite on the tinfoil moment for me. WTH is up introducing show more another contender for the freaking Iron Throne?! It seemed a little late in the game for that, IMO, but I'll ride the wave to see what happens. Although he's described differently by the end of the book, his actions just have me seeing a politer Joffrey. *shrugs*

Jon, oh Jon, please don't be gone! At the end of that chapter, I literally jumped off the couch (narrowly missing the dog) yelling--causing the hubby to think we were being robbed or something. I'm still giving the 'heavy sigh' everytime I think about it. Hopefully there will be some major maester healing involved, but I'm only holding out faint hope.

After ignoring all the signs and advice, Dany finally remembered who the heck she is! Finally! I've been wanting to slap her since she settled in Mereen, because, man did she destroy a continent or what? Hopefully now that she's jumped on the back of a dragon and been thru the fire a 2nd time (literally)--she will straighten up and fly right. Hehehe

CERSEI finally got her just desserts! Happy dance! Fist pump moment extraordinaire. GRRM did some great prose there. He got the humiliation down absolutely perfectly, then used another character to illustrate how far-reaching that humility reached.

Tyrion. What can I say? He has to be one of the most memorable characters that I've ever read. It is impossible for me to dislike him at all and I desperately want him to have as much of a HEA as is possible. No matter what he does, he gets judged on his looks, not actions or motives--its just not fair. Anyway! I have NO idea whatsoever what to think about his storyline, I pretty much just watch the fishbowl and hope for the best for him.

Reek. Ugh. I hated his character. I kept trying to feel sorry for him. Frankly, I just can't connect with any of the ironborn. I just don't like them-good or bad. Asha should have sailed off into the sunset and Victarion seems to be as much of a nutjob as Reek without the torture.

Last but not least, my girl Arya. There is nothing I don't like about her. Frankly, at this point, GRRM could pluck her storyline out and make an entire series out of IMO. Sort of the anti-Night Angel night angel. My only worry about her character is that she's lost her wolf, but if anyone can come back from that, she can. She is a perfect candidate for the where she's going. Here's to the Many Faced God.

At the beginning I thought I was going to hate this book, looking back on it--it was thoroughly enjoyed. I'm hoping the next two won't take as long, but then again, if they do, that means I can enjoy them in my retirement years.

Last question. Will someone tell me what purpose Rickon served?

My Highlights:
Who are you, child?” “No one,” she replied.
Note: Arya is the shit.

Dany could feel the heat of him between her thighs. Her heart felt as if it were about to burst. Yes, she thought, yes, now, now, do it, do it, take me, take me, FLY!
Note: ABOUT TIME!

“Let me tell you what will happen,” Jon said. “The dead will rise again, in their hundreds and their thousands. They will rise as wights, with black hands and pale blue eyes, and they will come for us.” He pushed himself to his feet, the fingers of his sword hand opening and closing. “You have my leave to go.”
Note: Oh shit. Never thought of that.

what had become of Benjen Stark.
Note: Feeling stupid. Is coldhands Benjen?

Dany did not want to talk about the dragons.
Note: She has totally forgotten who and what she is


Soon comes the pale mare, and after her the others. Kraken and dark flame, lion and griffin, the sun’s son and the mummer’s dragon. Trust none of them. Remember the Undying. Beware the perfumed seneschal.”
Note: Freaking oracles

You can give them land and mercy, but the free folk choose their own kings, and it was Mance they chose, not you.
Note: Stannis never listens. It will be his death show less

’Danza de dragones’, el quinto volumen de la saga de Canción de hielo y fuego, quizás el libro más esperado de las últimas décadas, continúa exactamente donde terminó ‘Tormenta de espadas’. Porque, en realidad, no sigue a ‘Festín de cuervos’, ya que este y ‘Danza de dragones’ están intrínsecamente unidos, sus tramas se entrecruzan como si de un único libro se tratase. Esto mismo ya lo explicaba George Martin, que el manuscrito que tenía entre manos había aumentado tanto en páginas, que decidió dividirlo en dos grandes partes. Para muchos ‘Festín de cuervos’ es una novela fallida, o si no decepcionante. Para mí no es así. Creo que se juntaron dos hechos: por una parte, que superar ‘Tormenta de show more espadas’ era muy difícil, ya que este volumen es prácticamente insuperable; y también tuvo mucho que ver el que los fans nos encontramos, o más bien lo contrario, que echamos en falta, a los personajes más carismáticos. Imagino que si se hubiese publicado un supervolumen con la unión de ‘Festín de cuervos’ y ’Danza de dragones’, la opinión sería otra.

A estas alturas es innecesario hablar del argumento de Canción de hielo y fuego, e incluso puede ser peligroso por si se escapa alguna sorpresa. Así que compañero o compañera, si has llegado a este libro, estás de suerte, porque te vas a encontrar todo lo que echaste en falta en ‘Festín de cuervos’ y mucho más. El juego de tronos se muestra en todo su esplendor, con traiciones, nuevas apariciones y sorpresas por doquier, que Martin maneja con maestría, como si de piezas de ajedrez o de sitrang se tratase.

Los escenarios se multiplican, y Martin nos describe mucho más de los países del Este, algo que se echaba en falta. Martin se gusta, y nos lleva con él por ríos, mar y tierra, por barco y carreta, por grandes ciudades y por pequeños feudos, por posadas, castillos o prostíbulos, degustando desde venado y caballo, hasta las comidas más exóticas, encontrándonos por el camino escaramuzas y combates, etc.

Como es habitual en todos los libros, ni los buenos son tan buenos, ni los malos lo son tanto, contrastes y ambigüedades que enriquecen enormemente la lectura, y que hacen que te crees tu propia opinión sobre personajes y situaciones, con lo que Martin (¡maldito!) te hace sufrir con lo que va sucediendo.

Tras leer ’Danza de dragones’, puedo decir que Martin ha vuelto con fuerza, y que está varios escalones por encima del resto. show less

I don't know how I feel about this, so I'm going to divide my review into the good and the bad.

The Good

As previously, Martin's writing envelopes the reader in a richly textured world. His writing hints at (and more often than previously, elaborates on, which is not necessarily a good thing) the history, societal expectations, mythology, and politics that shape the characters and their story arcs. He still doesn't shy from killing characters, and his characters remain intriguing and relatable. With very few exceptions, those characters we actually spend time with are even sympathetic, no matter how evil they may appear to other characters in the world. Martin continues to switch the pov from character to character, in his signature show more style, which creates a beautifully textured and morally gray universe.

The Bad

I don't know if I'm the only one who thinks this, but Martin appears to be suffering a little from too much artistic freedom. Like George Lucas or Kevin Costner, Martin has become incredibly famous. So much so, I often feel as those he's not being properly edited anymore, or perhaps that his editors no longer have sway over him. I mean, his writing is still good . . . but Martin does have a tendency to repeat phrases often (words are wind; nipples on a breastplate), and he also has a tendency to go over and over and over previous scenes and situations.

Perhaps this is intentional; meant to remind the reader (or himself) of where the story has been and where it's going. Often, it just seems superfluous. Yes, Mr. Martin, I know. Cersei slept with Jaime and had babies with him. We got it. You've mentioned it in pretty much every Jaime/ Cersei/ Tyrion chapter since book 2. It's old news.

Certain scenes, such as when Tyrion Lannister spoke with Griff Jr. after being rescued from the river, felt awkward and unnecessary; the exposition was telling, not showing, and it felt shoved-in and stilted. It was odd.

At the end, I felt oddly . . . disappointed. The first 2 books had been well-paced and plotted. The 3rd book had dragged occasionally, but not noticeably so. The 4th and 5th books were a slog during vast portions of them. I felt a bit like when I gave up on the Wheel of Time series, around Book 7 -- I'd felt from reading it that Mr. Jordan no longer loved his characters or the series; that it was a vast and massive chore for him, and his boredom seemed to bleed through the very pages. I'm getting a bit of that sense from Mr. Martin's writing now, a kind of combination of apathy and artistic license run amok. The biggest impression I had on putting down the 5th book was simply, "Two books were not necessary. He could have gotten the relevant plot across in one book and edited out a lot of the superfluous, overwritten scenes."

I'm hoping the 6th book comes out in the next year or so. I somehow suspect if it comes out sooner rather than later, the writing will be back at the quality and pace of the first 3 books in the series. His writing is still great, and his descriptions and characterization is still fantastic. The pacing is just more ponderous and slow than previously -- and worse, it's often uneven. show less