A Feast for Crows: A Song of Ice and Fire (Game of Thrones) Mass Market Paperback – September 26, 2006

A Feast for Crows picks up where A Storm of Swords leaves off, and the events run concurrently with the next book, A Dance with Dragons. As usual with the Song of Ice and Fire books, George R.R. Martin’s great use of multiple POV’s weaves a grim tale set within the tumultuous lands of Westeros and Essos.No chapters for Jon, Tyrion, and Daenerys in this one. The story follows the points of view from Cersei, Brienne, Jamie, Sansa, Arya, Asha, Sam, Littlefinger, and more. Brienne of Tarth on her search for Sansa, and Arya’s voyage to Braavos to find the Many-Faced God are some of the best chapters here. Victarion Greyjoy, younger brother of Balon Greyjoy, and Lord Captain of the Iron Fleet, has been mentioned several times throughout the series. He makes his POV debut in A Feast for Crows, and reportedly has a POV in The Winds of Winter. I hope so. This is my favorite chapter, and I'm curious about his role in the next book.A Feast for Crows can be a slow-burn at times. It is a hefty book with 753 pages, appendixes included. But don’t worry, Martin’s masterful storytelling and character development will hook you in. Characters to get invested in, only to be killed off later, is part of the charm. You know it is coming, but it still shocks you when it happens. People say this is the worst book in the series, and I think they are out of their minds. But seriously, everyone is entitled to their opinion, and I can see why, with everybody's favorite trio of Jon, Tyrion, and Daenerys, especially Tyrion for me, not leading the way. Brienne, Jamie, and Arya’s character arcs are some of the best in the entire series. All in all, a great book and a must-have for the diehard!

After finishing Book 3, Storm of Swords, I was emotionally drained. So much happens in such a short time to characters you care about. When I flipped through Book 4 to browse the chapter headings, I was worried. No Tyrion, no Danaerys, no Jon Snow, no Bran. That was troubling. But there are a number of reasons I ended up loving this installment. To start, I think the pace needed to slow down from the first three books. This is the lull before the storm that is clearly coming when Danaerys makes her way to Westeros. I think what Martin is trying to do is to show us the entire world he's created. Not just House Stark and Lannister and Targaeryon. I wouldn't want the story to come to completion without understanding as much of the world as I could. Of course, that only works if you find the characters he creates interesting and compelling. Obviously, a lot of reviewers (amateur and professional) didn't. But I did. I loved learning more about Dorne, getting to know Arianne and Prince Doran, getting more of the Iron Islanders, those sick, Drowned-God-loving lunatics. I was captivated by Arya's journey in Braavos, as well as Sam's odyssey and Brienne's. For some reason, I just enjoy the characters Martin creates--and he creates a lot of them. But each time I think, "Oh, no, not another new character," I become enthralled with their story. The thing about the people Martin creates is they don't always do what you'd like them to do, but they always do what their character demands. Some grow, and some don't. And I found the chapters from Cersei's point of view fantastic. I mean, holy cow, she's got some issues. And her comeuppance is sweet (although I keep suspecting, of course, that the Frog's prophesy is really about Danaerys and not Margaery). If you didn't enjoy reading the Cersei chapters, I don't know what to tell you. At the same time, I found Jaime's growth--and growing disaffection from Cersei--to be just as compelling.One other thing that I think Martin is trying to do in Book 4 is to show, after the vicarious thrills of battle depicted in the first three books, the true cost of war. The author was (I believe) a conscientious objector during Vietnam, and I think he's trying to sober us up a little bit to the realities of what this conflict has wrought throughout the realm. The slaughter of innocents during wartime is not a 20th-century innovation. Anyone who's read anything about the 100 Years' War can't help but pick up on the similarities (the rape, pillage, and burning; the roving bands of brigands threatening anyone in their path, even entire towns; the complete descent into lawlessness; the common people resorting to religious fanaticism, etc.). Some of Brienne's experiences on the road and the people she meets along the way beautifully illustrate that.Having said that, I can understand why so many people have dismissed this book. (If you look at the Amazon reviews for Books 1-3, they're about 95% five stars. Books 4 and 5 are split evenly between one, two, three, four, and five stars.) All I can say is that, if your expectation for Book 4 is another installment just like Book 3, this will disappoint you. As for me, even though some of my favorite characters from the first three books were absent, I still loved this book. I know we'll get back to Tyrion and Danaerys, etc., so I wasn't worried and just enjoyed the journey. Also, I appreciated the slowing down of the pace and learning a lot more about the history and mythology of Westeros and the east. As for the complaints that much of the narrative is unnecessary, I'm a little perplexed. If you didn't get that Dorne is going to play a huge role in the coming conflict, you need to reread those chapters. Same goes for Victarion Greyjoy. And no doubt Brienne and Jaime's relationship will play a crucial role as their paths are bound to intersect again.If you don't like reading all that detail, I guess you could just wait for season 4 of the HBO series. I plan on enjoying both, because even a TV series as great as Game of Thrones can't convey what the books can (and do). For me, I thoroughly enjoyed A Feast for Crows and can't wait to start A Dance with Dragons.

It goes without saying that A Feast for Crows is possibly the most controversial book in George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire. Five years in the making, it followed A Storm of Swords, arguably the best book in the series and certainly the most eventful. Absent are fan-favorite characters Dany, Jon and Tyrion (well, almost absent - Jon Snow does put in an appearance early in the book, and Tyrion does appear as a monster in a dream). Absent too are the huge earth-shattering events of the previous three volumes.When Martin finished A Storm of Swords, he intended there to be a five year gap in the story before the opening of what was then considered to be the next volume, A Dance with Dragons. However, after writing a big chunk of the next novel, Martin found that the five year gap was untenable from a storytelling perspective. He discovered that he had to recount many of the events from the gap in flashback, which was slowing the main story thrust of the novel. He decided to step back and write a book that covered that five year gap. However, the book soon grew out of control, and ultimately he decided to split the book in two volumes -- A Feast for Crows and a new incarnation of A Dance With Dragons.At the heart of Martin's problem was something he came to call the "Mereneese Knot." I won't get into the story specifics (although I will say that I interviewed him about the knot, among other things, in episode 149 of Television Zombies), but that huge writing problem meant that certain characters could not appear in volume four of the novel until it was resolved. So he took all of the events that took place in the south and wrapped them into A Feast for Crows, and took all the events in the North and across the Narrow Sea and put them into A Dance With Dragons.The problem is, and this is pure conjecture on my part, that the POV chapters set in the south were originally intended to be supporting stories - not at all the main plot of the novel. And my guess is that since there wasn't enough there, he padded the book out with POV's taking place in Dorne and the Iron Islands, POV's that likely wouldn't have happened if the split had not occurred. This is not to say that the non-named POV chapters don't have merit, or important things don't happen in them, it's just that they could have been explained in brief exposition and not taken up half a book. A Feast for Crows, I believe, was a stopgap intended to placate readers while he wrestled with A Dance With Dragons.However, that said, A Feast for Crows is still a damned good book. It centers on the Lannister twins -- Jamie and Cersei -- and the different paths they take. Jaime, determined to write his own story in the Kingsguard's White Book the way that he would want to be remembered struggles to find honor and redemption, while Cersei desperately tries to retain her grasp on power in Kings Landing.Both arcs are surprisingly satisfying -- I thought Jaime was one of the most compelling characters in A Storm of Swords, and he really stands out as the hero of A Feast for Crows. Is Jaime a bad man trying to be good, or a good man who did bad things? It's hard to say, but I very much like where his journey takes him. Cersei, on the other hand, finally plays her cards -- the audience has never been aligned with her POV, and once we are, her take on events becomes, maybe not surprising, but not necessarily as expected. Unintended consequences have long been a theme of A Song of Ice and Fire, and nowhere is that more apparent than in Cersei's arc in Kings Landing.Supporting the Jaime and Cersei POV chapters are chapters featuring Brienne, Sam, Arya and Sansa. All interesting -- particularly Arya's two brief chapters -- though mostly padding. The chapters set in Dorne and the Iron Islands help to move playing pieces into position on the board, but are not as compelling as the named chapters (though I will say I liked getting more of an insight into those two settings).If viewed as a direct sequel to A Storm of Swords, then A Feast for Crows is nothing short of a massive disappointment. But if viewed as an epilogue to A Storm of Swords and as a prologue to A Dance With Dragons, A Feast for Crows is not without merit. Few fantasy novelists have taken the time to show the impact of war on regular people -- and Martin definitely spends a great deal of A Feast for Crows doing just that. It is a bleak novel, featuring a cast of characters who all feel left behind by their friends, family and loved ones. People who are trying to pick up the pieces after having lost everything. Longtime readers of Martin's work will see glimpses of some of his darker novels and short stories here -- yes, A Song of Ice and Fire is still pretty upbeat compared to a lot of Martin's older work (see Dying of the Light, for instance).Unfortunately, most of the chapters are unnecessary, and it is the weakest volume in the series to date. But the weakest volume in a great series is still pretty great, all things considered. Just make sure you go into the book knowing what to expect and enjoy it for what it is. And with A Dance with Dragons just around the corner, you don't have to go on thinking that A Feast for Crows might be where everything ends.