A Dance with Dragons (A Song of Ice and Fire)

This book is controversial now among fans. Some love it, some hate it. So I've decided to break down my review in a fashion that should be useful for someone who hasn't read it but is a fan of the series. I won't provide any major spoilers, but there will be some minor ones alluded to (hopefully very subtley.) I mainly want to talk about what I think is the best way to approach the book. In my opinion, some of the people who giving this novel one star are reacting to the fact that this is not the book they imagined. This is not to say that there aren't valid criticisms to be made and issues to discuss, but I feel that many who are vehemently upset are a bit blinded by what they perceive to be the arc of the story vs. how it is now trajecting. A lot of people had certain expectations about the direction of the plot, and Martin does what he always does - he subverts expectations. I feel as though many fans have fantasized / romanticized what this book was going to be like and instead of seeing what it is; they are only seeing how it is different from what they spent several years imagining it would be. Things they wanted to happen didn't. New and unexpected things did. The scope of the world increases even more, with new characters and new locations. If you come at this book from the point of view that the only part of the world you're interested in Westeros, then you aren't going to like Dance With Dragons. In my opinion, you're also going to miss out on some of the most compelling sections of the entire series. The thing that separates Song of Ice and Fire from other fantasy series is that the scope of the world - the sheer size and the depth of the history of it - is beyond tremendous. We've got HUNDREDS and HUNDREDS of characters both in the past and present, who are all brought to life. We've got not just one continent, but an entire world. It is a world that is constantly growing richer and richer. With each book the series expands. I've often found this to be the source of a lot of frustration for some readers throughout the series. For example, people got pissed off about the Iron Islands chapters in the second book, and bored with Dorne in the fourth. Honestly though, there is HUGE payoff for all of that in this novel. Now I can't imagine not having the Iron Islands in the story, and I'm grateful he took us there in the second book. My advice is twofold - read this book next to Feast For Crows and also shake off what you think is going to happen. Don't get married to the ideas you might have had about the direction of the series - but also don't be afraid. You're in good hands with Martin. Trust them. He's giving you a story bigger in scope than anything else out there. If you come into Dance With Dragons expecting him to "refocus" you're going to hate it. Because it doesn't. It does progress the story a great deal (despite people claiming otherwise - I honestly have no idea how to respond to people who say nothing happens in this book. I wonder if we've even read the same thing.) By the end of the book I feel like we've gotten to a major crux in the story. Not only has a TON happened, but the events of the final two books have all been nicely set up. Knowing Martin, the obvious isn't guaranteed to happen, but the way the board is set up now is certainly intriguing... The cliffhangers, though too numerous, are all on their own extremely fascinating and discussion-provoking. There is a love interest for Dany which isn't all that interesting or well written. Aside from that, I think there is a lot to like here. People have been howling about how Dany's entire arc is awful, which I disagree with. I think of all the POVs, it is probably the least well crafted and to a certain extent Martin's struggles with "The Mereenese knot" are apparent. But honestly, it is the type of the thing that immediately becomes more fascinating when you think about it side by side with Cersei chapters in A Feast for Crows. There seems to be a deliberate comparison of what it means to be a good queen here and in many ways it is actually quite masterfully structured / thought out. There are all sorts of echoes and clearly deliberate parallel situations occuring that each queen handles in a completely different way. Likewise, Martin is a genius at subverting how we feel about a character. There is someone you probably hated throughout the series who you will suddenly be rooting for with every fiber of your being. Not many writers can pull that off even once, but Martin does it time and time again. He even takes characters we've cheered for throughout and effortlessly grays them. This is a masterful book, in the middle of a masterpiece series. To enjoy it best embrace the scope, embrace the new characters (rather the bemoaning the somewhat abbreviated time you spend with the old ones) and let go of what you think you want to happen. There are game-changers here, but just because you're invested in what the game was doesn't mean you shouldn't be invested in what it has become (if that makes sense.) In other words, clear your head, sit back, and enjoy. This one is a wild ride. I'd also like to take a moment to remind people that the question Amazon asks isn't "do you agree with the amount of stars I've given this book?" They ask "Is this review helpful?" What I've tried to do here is present a review that is helpful for someone who hasn't read this book. If you disagree with my opinion in terms of the book's quality, I'd love to discuss if you're up for a friendly debate, but I'm not interested in bashing your amazon rating (or having you bash mine.) Please be considerate to what the question is actually asking, and if you do find that my review is not helpful, let me know why it isn't and I'll do my best to adjust. Thanks everyone! Enjoy the Dance!

Deep, deep breath. I have been among the legion of fans who have had to sit the entire wait of YEARS for this book. I got A Feast for Crows on day one, and on day one many years later came A Dance With Dragons. I really, really didn't want to read it. Bare with me, a review is coming, but to understand the hate and vitriol in the other interviews this explanation is necessary. Before AFfC, Martin's brilliant novels were running on fewer, tighter plotlines, and a major revelation awaited in each one. Often more than one major revelation actually. Then AFfC came out, and despite being warned, we all cried foul to see that many of our favorite characters simply weren't involved. So there we were, having finished a book that seemed to have shorted us a bit, with a promise of the next book to be delivered after a short wait. Six years later we get what is essentially AFfC part 2, with an addendum containing the beginning of the next book. We started this leg of the journey very angry with AFfC, and over the years, and delays, we became more angry. We began to lose hope that the series would finish at all. And if nothing else, that sort of passion and hopelessness should let you know just how amazing this series is at connecting directly into you. Expectations were high. Just four months shy of six years after AFfC it's here: A Dance with Dragons. And that six years is the problem... A Dance with Dragons brings back the missing characters from AFfC, and as it begins there is nothing to complain about. Taken as a whole the book is clearly the middle of the road between acts two and three of the story entire. Having that in mind I think you'll enjoy it very much. Especially if you are a true fan of the series. So those of you who are, and who may be thinking about not buying (you know you will eventually), go ahead and buy it. It's Martin. It's his writing, it's his characters, and it's the same world you fell in love with over the rest of the four books. Stories as long as this have parts that may not seem to do much, but that's because the major consequences of the things that happen in A Dance wont be fully known until the start of the NEXT book. Dance is the literary equivalent of the story slowing down to stretch it's legs for the sprint. But it being written by Martin, as long as you keep that in mind, you can take a longer view and realize exactly what it is he's setting up. And what he's setting up is a MASSIVE shake-up in nearly every political, religious, and even supernatural facet of the world he's made. He's laying the path for events that will change things to such an extent that I think it may turn out to be unprecedented in fantasy literature. Let that sink in for a bit. A Dance With Dragons features less epic style action, and more personal, small conflicts. It takes the characters away from what they know, and it puts them in the thick of places they might not even belong. It's a growing experience for each and every character in the book. The problem is that these new paths are not the end of old paths. You see we as fans have wanted conclusions to some very major story points, we collectively assumed that Martin wouldn't be expanding his story any further, only staying with what he'd begun and starting to wrap it up. He didn't do that. So all of us who were reading with baited breath to find out, for instance, about Jon's parents were left in the dark. We end a Jon chapter and find that a new character is being introduced, and it seemingly has nothing at all to do with what was hinted at before. This makes us angry. But take a deep breath. The reason we were all here in the first place is precisely because of Martin's writing. This man, undoubtedly, knows what he's doing. He's 5 of 7 into what I think is going to be recognized as possibly THE fantasy series for mature audiences. We should not be angry that he didn't write what WE would have written. It's not our story to finish. It's his. And you can even take it a bit further. Re-read the first books and you'll notice how many small hints are dropped about Valyria, then come back to Dance to find that there is now a journey TO Valyria. I believe he's trying to tie up more than just the stories of the great houses we've been following. I think he's trying to tie up the bulk of his entire mythos by the end. And read more. Notice that until Dance with Dragons we had no idea that there would be a SINGLE commander of the white walkers and the things beyond the wall (and that it may be the very one who is training Bran). We didn't know the people of the forests were alive. No, I think Martin is right on track. I think he's doing brilliantly. I think I'm more than happy to give my patience and trust in him not leaving us in a lurch. A Song of Ice and Fire will have an ending. Please just take a deep breath and realize how stupid it would have been of him to start tying off all those incredible loose ends with two more books to go. Westeros just took a deep breath (and I took one with it), the next book will be the beginning of the plunge, and the last will be the plunge itself. But this book. This one stands as a worthy addition to the story. It didn't go precisely where all of us wanted, in fact it spent a lot of time in a place that was as unpleasant for us as it was for a few of the characters in it. But there is a real sense of the slow beginnings of inertia near the end. When even more characters start popping in and when the dual storylines running parallel in AFfC and ADwD finally do end... you can feel it start to move. By the end I was left feeling that all of that spreading out of story and plotlines and character arcs was about to start converging. Dance, along with Feast, are very singular events in publishing. They only came about because we, the fans, demanded Martin not skip forward several years. We wanted to know what happened. And he gave it to us. The last two books were those written precisely so that we wouldn't feel cheated. Martin cared so much about fan outcry that he wrote two extra books. I for one am greatful. The more I read from him about this world the better. For five books now we've said it along with all the Starks: "Winter is Coming." By the end of this book... winter is here. And NOW the fun begins. Just don't take another decade to finish this George. Please.

The longest book from the novel so far. Absolutely amazing plots, new caracters, twisting turn of events. Its a pity that many might read the book and finish when is on the climax, and no one knows , not even George knows when The Winds of Winter will finally blow... Can't way for the next book...

"A song of ice and fire" sarà ricordata come la saga che ha cambiato lo stile del genere fantasy dopo i libri di Tolkien. Un mondo fantastico ma allo stesso tempo più "terreno", denso di sfaccettature umane e psicologiche, privo di cliché stereotipizzati, come il buono, il cattivo, ecc... Ogni personaggio ha le sue ragioni, la sua storia, può compiere gesti nobili e importanti ma anche machiavelliche cattiverie, con la contraddizione che è insita in ogni essere umano. E i personaggi non sono eterni. Muoiono. Anche quelli cui ci possiamo legare emotivamente, quelli che altrove arriverebbero alla fine del libro "e vissero felici e contenti". I primi 2/3 del libro viaggiano in parallelo col precedente (A Feast for Crows), ma analizzando gli altri personaggi lasciati temporaneamente da parte. Poi le storie si ricollegano. E come una partita a scacchi con lo schieramento dei pezzi, qui si prepara lo scenario per il sesto libro (ancora inedito) che - promette l'autore - inizierà subito con due grandiose battaglie. Il più corposo dei 5 libri, sottovalutato da alcuni che lo trovano "lento", secondo me è invece il cliffhanger giusto per alzare la tensione in attesa del sesto volume.

The book needs no introduction or review. Although George Marting didn't write a book that people wanted him to write, the plot, the character journey are as good as they were in The storm of swords (my favourite book of all time). Given the groundwork, he has done in Feast and Dance it will be very difficult to write a poor Winds of Winter. I am patiently waiting for it to be published. Now, as usual, the packaging was not up to the mark. The corners of the hardcover were bent and there was a slight tear on the spine (which I have fixed by glueing a white paper). I didn't replace it because I wasn't expecting any better and I wasn't prepared for a protracted dance with the seller (who are no less formidable than a dragon). Amazon and many sellers are afflicted by the strange inability to realize that a 1.6 kg book can't be shipped without proper packaging. Finally, even though my experience with the shipping was less than ideal. I would recommend the hardcover edition wholeheartedly to any reader of A song of ice and fire.

Obviamente si has llegado hasta el 5º volumen de esta saga no lo puedes dejar pasar, a pesar de ser mas largo que el anterior me lo he leído en menos tiempo, te engancha desde los primeros capítulos, muy buena continuación, esta saga no pierde intensidad ni carisma con el paso de los libros, lo recomiendo, sobretodo si os pasa como a mi que no podéis esperar a la versión en castellano. Simply, an incredible book.

Not the highest point in Martin's saga, but full of dark plots, twists and memorable characters. And that is what I, for one, ask of these books. Can't wait for the next volume....