A Feast for Crows (A Song of Ice and Fire, Book 4) by George R.R. Martin Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of A Feast for Crows (A Song of Ice and Fire, Book 4)
Book Review: This Feast is more of a light snack... meagre fare compared to the raging Storm of Swords
Summary: 3 Stars
First off, can I make a small request:
- People stop rating this book based on the fact that the narrator in the audio version has changed. Fine, we get it. I'm sure all of Ron's fans are as disappointed as you are. Aside from telling us something we already know you're only distorting the book's rating with your baseless 1 star votes. Enough.
Now onto the Feast. I hope you have less of an appetite than fat Sam Tarly, because, sad to say it, this book is less than fulfilling. It's not bad, as such. But after five years of waiting, this book *is* a disappointment.
Forget the excuses from the rabid Martin faithful about his publishers forcing him to split the book: Martin had more than ample time to tell the story HE wanted to tell, and if he's failed to do so, that's his fault alone. He made the choice to reserve the more important and interesting characters for "A Dance with Dragons", not his publisher. Martin says so himself on his web page.
So let's cut the publisher some slack here and admit that Martin, despite warnings about "A Storm of Swords" being too long, has simply failed to rein himself in. Brienne's chapters, for example, are around 120 pages of wandering the North achieving next to nothing. There are roughly 100 pages of Cersei and Jaime that, frankly, could have been halved and told in only one POV. Why do we need BOTH their perspectives on what's happening in the first part of the book? No need at all.
Let's also not forget to mention the worrying obsession Martin has with heraldry and tracing family trees. As I read yet another page of some longwinded explanation of who-is-the-cousin-of-you, I could almost sense Martin's desperation. I really think that, for much of this book, he simply didn't know where he was going. No doubt he had a stronger vision of some arcs, such as Cersei's, which does improve after a time, but in others, he merely seems to be treading water.
When you consider how much stage time Brienne had, the mere 3 chapters each devoted to Sansa and Arya look criminal.
The other complaint I had were the new single POVs based in Dorne and the Iron Islands. Although they did a decent job of showing us these new places, they completely broke the flow of the book. Whereas the first three were incredibly well-planned, with all the POV's connecting perfectly, "Feast" seems to leap around like a fish out of water. There's no central narrative, no proper pacing.
A word about the writing. It's still very good. Despite some worrying Jordanesque anality with regards to heralrdy, genealogy, and virginity(!), the writing remains of high quality. That said, there were some things in "Feast" that I never expected to see: mentions of things like The Horn of Dragon Control which reminded me far too much of Dungeons and Dragons. In addition, Cersei's "prophecy" backstory was one of the weakest pieces of writing I can remember in the entire series. As for Sam accidentally bumping into Arya in Braavos...
Finally, I have to mention the cliffhangers. There are, at last count, around 8 characters who may or may not be dead. All three of the "major" POVs in this book end in cliffhangers. After waiting so long for "Feast", and knowing that most of the cliffhangers in this book aren't going to be resolved for 3+ years - until book 6 - this was very, very cruel of Martin. Constant cliffhangers are a WEAK device. Please stop them, George. Let's have some closure for once.
Overall, the book isn't anywhere near as bad as some of the reviews make out, but it's also comfortably the weakest in the series. Reading a book isn't like trying to debate religion: it shouldn't be that hard for an intelligent person to draw a solid and accurate conclusion. Ignore the 5 star reviews, ignore the 1 star reviews. Take "Feast" for what it is, don't expect an awful lot, and you might enjoy it. Let's just hope Martin is back on form for the next book.
This is a rather late edit, but I thought it'd be nice to add this: I believe GRRM is a very down-to-earth guy who seems to be very in-touch with his readers. Unlike the egocentrical denialist Jordan, I'm sure Martin recognizes his work has flaws and will be looking to rectify the problems in future novels.
While I have no problems with Martin's work being critiqued, I do have a problem with some of the negative comments being made about the man. Martin is a good guy. He's due a stumble occasionally - what author isn't?
Book Review: A FASCINATING CAST OF CHARACTERS!
Summary: 5 Stars
From reading the other reviews, I suppose I made a mistake in not reading the other books in this series first, but the title intrigued me and I didn't know it was a series. And I'd heard so much praise for the author, I just had to see what he's doing right!
Perhaps, as reviewers say, the first books were better (almost masterpieces?), but I still enjoyed this book. The characters were rich and well-developed and the story kept me guessing. All in all, buying this book was money well spent!
But, by way of comparison, I'll have to back-pedal and get the first ones.
My hat's off to this author!
Book Review: Subtle Significance
Summary: 5 Stars
A Feast For Crows is most assuredly not wanting. Some people are confusing their personal favorite characters as the central plot axis. ALL the characters contribute to the plot. It is ludicrous to compare Martin with Jordan. A Feast For Crows has significant plot developments, they just don't fit the mundane fantasy norm, and have a high degree of subtlety and intelligence. Essentially, this book establishes the various religious factions which do not share the same boundaries as the political alliances. This is something not usually depicted in fantasy to any degree of sophistication.
The characters are not the srory, they are a part of the story. I think some readers have their romantic notions as to who should be doing what. Martin is not catering to that thought. He is redefining the archetypes of fantasy to be reflective of historical and contemporary political and human realities.
I too missed some favourite characters. This did not detract, however, from enjoying the overall story and the complex interplay manifesting from the seeds planted in the first book. A great read.
Book Review: Great Book...but read it a least twice!
Summary: 5 Stars
You have to read this book twice.
I pre-ordered from the UK to get the book early, rushed through it and was disappointed.
Then I read it again, more carefully. And it all became clear.
This book has *major* character development and *major* (but subtle) plot movements. I won't post spoilers here, but I'd just caution everyone to read slowly and with care.
And let's not consider comparisons with Robert Jordan unlike Jordan's doorstops, Feast of Crows moves every character forward and puts them in position for Dance with Dragons. All you one star reviewers really need to give this one a second read (one of them had a factual error in his review concerning the Dornish).
Book Review: WHAT A RIP-OFF, DON'T WASTE YOUR $$ ON THE HB
Summary: 1 Stars
I trusted George RR Martin enough to actually plod (and I do mean PLOD) through 400 pages of this book before it really dawned on me that I'd been had. The blow fell hard and hurt like hell...kind of like suddenly being molested by your most trusted uncle.
The Muse from whose arms he wrote the first 3 magnificent books has obviously left him for another man. Either that or he decided to pull a Robert Jordan and deliberately rip off his fans to make an extra buck.
481 pages into this mass of boring, trite filler I'd had: ONE short chapter about Jon, 2 about Arya, 2 about Sansa. NO Dany, Bran, no Onion Knight... At 481 pages I began to leaf through the next couple hundred pages looking at chapter headings: NO Jon, no Bran, no Dany...
Then I came to this little self-satisfied 'disclaimer' at the end about how he'd 'written too much and had to break it up into 2 books'. (Oh, and don't forget the almost 80 pages of "index")
Bull. This is nothing more than a commercial rip-off, 684 pages of mostly Jordanesque meaninglessness, designed to pick the pocket of loyal fans who were dying to hear the rest of the story (the REAL story). Who have been waiting anxiously to hear the rest of the story.
Well you won't hear it in "A Feast For Crows." Believe me, wait for the paperback, the HB is a total waste of your good money and your trust in this writer. If you can't wait to fill your life with boring, meaningless details about Cercei, Brienne and a host of NEW characters whose chapters irrelevantly fill this book, hey, go throw money at it.
After Jordan's 5th book I stopped buying the hardback editions, and after the 6th I stopped paying retail for them at all and waited for the 50? copies to begin showing up at yard sales (they show up fast and in abundance at yard sales, people mine the nugget or two to be had and don't wait to get rid of them). I can do that with Martin, as well, if I have to.
I've been a major fan since Fevre Dream (and that's a long, LONG time), and George RR Martin kicked me in the teeth (maybe even stabbed me in the heart) when I laid my $25 down for this inconsequential, irrelevant piece of tripe.