Review of A Feast For Crows

A Feast for Crows by George R.R. Martin
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I think I may be coming off a Game of Thrones high, since I almost gave this book four stars instead of three. But then I read a few of the other reviews on this site and came back to my senses. Through most of thE book, I was bored silly and hated a lot of the new storylines introduced. I'm well aware that this is only half of an even grander story, but I feel like George R.R. Martin could have done a better job of splitting the two stories in half. At the end of the book, Martin talks about how he thought about leaving a "To be continued", as his initial plan was to have all of the characters present, and to spread the book's legs out a bit more. But instead, he decided to split the characters of this story in half, which in the end, I think was a bad move. Better to have half of a story with interesting characters dispersed throughout, rather than half of a story with only boring characters instead. That just doesn't fly in my book. Pacing is everything to me, and this one mostly moves at a snail's pace throughout. Only the last 100 pages or so are thrilling.

That said, Martin is too good a writer to give this book any less than three stars. If I was able to read through 976 pages, then it couldn't have been that bad, right? And it wasn't. I've put down shorter books than this because I couldn't get through them, so the fact that I finished this one is a testament to Martin's storytelling. Even the boring stuff is worth reading, I guess.

If you've read the other three books, then you have to read this one. You'll suffer through most of it, but will feel rewarded in the end. I look forward to A Dance of Dragons.

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Book Review: A Storm of Swords

A Storm of Swords by George R.R. Martin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

(NO SPOILERS!)

Wow, and I mean wow! While the first book is still my favorite as it truly immersed me into the world of Game of Thrones, I'd be hard-pressed not to know why most people consider this book to be their favorite. I mean, so much goes on in it. And major things, too. Big deaths, big changes, and a gonzo ending that makes me wonder where the hell this story is going next. I mean, as I said before, WOW upon WOW! It's such a great book.

That said, it does get really slow at parts, namely in the Bran and Arya sections. I really couldn't care less about their tales in this book, and they're long, especially Arya's. If you watch The Game of Thrones show, you'll know what a big role she plays in this book. For a majority of it, she travels, but she seems to be running in place. By the end, you're upset by her journey. It really didn't seem to be worth it. Bran is much the same way. You really feel that his quest is traction-less. But the rest of the characters have much to be valued and explored here, especially Jaime, who was probably my favorite character in this book since his change is the greatest of them all.

Overall, I think book 3 is better than book 2, but not as good as book 1. But you still have to read it. It's too good not to.

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