A Feast for Crows: A Song of Ice and Fire, Book 4

I was pleasantly surprised by this fourth installment of the “Game of Thrones” series. It picks up the pace after previous installments dragged with various characters’ endless wanderings.The story line deviates from that of the TV series enough to make it fresh even if you watch the latter. I spent time checking maps and websites to firm up my understanding of what went by in a blur on TV.This series is too long by half. Martin unnecessarily draws out scenes involving minor characters, and constantly introduces avoidable new ones. The cast of characters is so long it occupies nearly 10 percent of this volume. Martin has managed, though, to create a whole world, one even wider and more developed than Tolkien’s Middle Earth, and in its many shades of gray more realistic and adult than the latter. I must credit him.I found, say, a chapter on Arya’s wandering through Braavos, selling shellfish to many as she gathers information, to be quite evocative and beautiful. Martin could have covered this episode in her saga in a few paragraphs, but instead took a longer and more artistic option, and the result is quite lovely.This story begins after Tyrion Lannister murders his father Tywin and flees. His sister Cersei Lannister, still Regent but now in charge with her powerful father gone, needs a new Hand to replace him. Her brother Jaime won’t take it, earning her resentment, and catalyzing a growing rift between the two.For Jaime’s own part he’s jealous over the infidelities of his twin, whom he incestuously loves. Others turn her down too. Cersei is fun to read, but truly an evil queen. We don’t dismiss her, though, because the theme of this vicious game is what it takes to seize power and hold it, and what happens to those who lose. Our world isn’t that different, and we have to ask ourselves, if we were in Cersei’s place, might we make the same choices?Not wanting Jaime around, Cersei sends him north to secure the huge, strategic Harrenhal castle and to take Riverrun, where the last Tully brother holds out. The TV series didn’t develop the siblings’ growing alienation as much, or Jaime’s realization of the monster his sister is becoming.Sansa and Littlefinger hole up at the Eyrie. Sansa must keep a secret - that Littlefinger murdered his bride Lisa Arryn - and deceive Arryn bannermen, suspicious of this newly arrived usurper. Sansa sees the depth of Littlefinger’s corruption: he murdered Lisa to protect Sansa, but had planned to all along to seize power over the fief.Arya arrives in Braavos, finds the House of Black and White, and finally wins their trust enough to begin training as an assassin. She is ordered to eradicate every trace of her former self, but nurtures deep down her secret dream of revenge.Sam endures a harrowing voyage south to shelter Gilly and her baby with Sam’s family. They lay over in Braavos, where Sam encounters Arya without either realizing their connection through Jon Snow. They are stranded when the Night Watch’s aged maester they accompany - one of the last of the royal Targaryens - is too sick to go on. Sam gloms to Gilly’s tragic secret as he searches desperately to get to Oldtown and the Citadel.In the Iron Islands, with Balon Greyjoy dead, a new king must be chosen by the people. Balon’s niece Asha throws her hat in, but too few ironborn will accept a woman leader. Another of Balon’s brothers, now high priest, desperately tries to stop another brother, the wicked Euron - whom readers know murdered Balon - from becoming king. A third brother contends but doesn’t have Euron’s ability to sway a crowd. The TV show had Asha’s brother Theon involved here, but in the book he’s been MIA for a couple of volumes.Brienne roams the riverlands searching for Sansa, trying not to name and thus endanger her. Brienne must endure men resentful of a woman knight, including Sam’s nasty father Randyll Tarly, who’s scouring outlaws from the war-ravaged land. It’s a lot easier when it comes to blows, since the towering Brienne can vanquish almost any man she fights.The book develops, much further than the TV show, the Sand Snakes plotting in Dorne against their crippled and cautious uncle. They want revenge against the Lannisters for their father’s death. Cersei’s daughter Myrcella is a Martell hostage and a pawn in the game. The focus on TV is the prince’s colorfully violent bastard nieces, but here it’s on his more conventional daughter Arienne, who plays a high-stakes game using her feminine wiles on Myrcella’s bodyguard, Arys Oakheart of Jaime’s officially celibate King’s Guard.Back in King’s Landing, Cersei surrounds herself with mediocrities after alienating those few good people who might have helped her. She wants to eliminate her young son’s bride, Margaery Tyrell, as a rival. She fears the latter aims to depose Cersei through the boy king she increasingly influences.We don’t see Tyrion, Daenarys, Jon, Stannis, the Onion Lord, or Bran (I don’t miss him, he bores me, along with his frog-gigging companions), but the story still drew me in.Westeros is a chaotic mess after years of civil war. Much of it, particularly the central Riverlands, is a smoking, corpse-choked ruin, full of orphans, broken people and bandits. There are rumors of dragons across the sea.

Expectations were without a doubt going to be high coming off of what many people (including myself) considered to be the best novel in the series: A Storm of Swords. Perhaps the expectations were impossibly high. Too high for any author to meet, including George Martin. With some of the decisions that Martin had to make for this book to come out at all, there was likely to be some vocal backlash from certain fans. (In an attempt to not regurgitate a summary of A Feast for Crows, which many of people have already done. I will focus on how the novel compares to previous books, and try and quell reader's fears.)The problem proved to be what most people predicted at the end of A Storm of Swords: the series got too damn big. Although there are many fantasy series out there with more books in them. I mean look at Robert Jordan, his novels have managed to span fourteen volumes, not including the prequel novel, and a companion book. I'm pretty certain that he is in large part the reason for deforestation. Not to mention the likes of Piers Anthony (whom I am very fond of) and select other authors who don't seem to understand the word "ending". However, unlike many other fantasy authors that seem to fill half of the novels with mere bloating tactics, while their ongoing plot arches are paper-thin and miles wide. Martin develops A Song of Ice and Fire, with a scope that is unmatched by any author. If you want depth, you're looking at the Mariana trench of fantasy sagas. It is safe to say that A Song of Ice and Fire didn't just raise fantasy's literary bar, it became the standard for which everyone else must try and match.With A Feast for Crows, Martin found himself faced with the insurmountable odds of tying in characters and story lines, which after half a decade of buildup, ended up with him cutting it in half. The unfinished storylines and their characters were simply held off until the next book in the series, A Dance with Dragons. Feast's length is closer to that of A Game of Thrones than Storm, which might make some people disappointed after such a long wait. But I think it was a better choice for the story - or to put it more aptly, this installment of the story. Considering that Feast was originally supposed to be two times longer, its most impressive quality is that it flows so smoothly together, and how concise the narrative remains.As the story opens, the reader is introduced with a flurry of new characters (a necessary device, considering that most of the characters from the first three novels are now dead), some minor characters are now prominent figures, and several chapters that detail the relative calm across the land following the calamity of war. The best part, for me anyways, is that some of the new point of view characters recap key plots that may have slipped many readers' minds over the series.Some readers might be disappointed that we don't see much of the bloody and violent action of previous volumes in Feast. There is a lot of exposition, as Martin has to bring us up speed on not only characters we remember, but also on the new ones he's introducing. Martin obviously has a skill for worldcraft with compelling storytelling that remains virtually unchallenged in fantasy, but it also comes with, what many consider a down side. Many of the characters have lengthy discussions of politics, both present and historical. Like I said, many people believe this to be the worst part of the book. However, I felt that it was the most interesting. There is something to be said for the level of painstaking detail of history that Martin placed into his novel.If A Feast for Crows is only a transitional volume in this gigantic saga, it is still a story told with as much passion and humanity as Martin has brought to any previous volume. And it adds much detail and texture to an already rich and layered world. The choices of what to cut and what to hold back obviously were not easy ones, considering the book's long and frustrating gestation. But readers who have managed to avoid building up unrealistic expectations will find that Martin has brought his story to a necessary, believable, and appropriate pass. In the aftermath of catastrophic war, in the endless, vain and violent quest for power and more power, no matter whose banners are flying at the end of the day, there are no real winners. Except the crows.Five StarsP.S. I know that many people have written about how you could skip the Cersei chapters. DO NOT DO SO!!! You would be doing yourself a great disservice. She is without a doubt the most interesting character in this particular novel.

Another outstanding novel in the A Song of Ice and Fire series. All the books in this series are brilliant. The deeper layers one uncovers after multiple reads are extraordinary.My one complaint is with Amazon - no matter how many times I order the paperback version of this particular novel I keep receiving the mass market paperback. I’m on order number 3 and will continue returning the mass market version until Amazon can get it right. All other books in this series I have received in the version I have ordered (paperback). But for some reason A Feast for Crows continues to arrive at my door in mass market size (not paperback). Perhaps I am not the only one experiencing this struggle.

will read again 10/10.

An interesting change for me, in a couple of significant ways, both of which affected my enjoyment of the book. Overall, highly positive once again, this series is absolute top tier. The first change was due to a decision from George R.R. Martin himself. He decided to split this part of the story into two separate books – A Feast for Crows and A Dance With Dragons, due to length. He also decided to mess around with the timelines a bit, as events in books 4 and 5 run along simultaneously, though we, the reader, will be reading one after the other. One of the books focuses on a particular set of characters and locations, and the next one focuses on the others. This may have affected a significant number of readers, particularly if their favourite characters were not in this book. Personally, I think it was the correct decision, as explained by the author. He preferred to write two separate complete stories, rather than four halves, two in each book. In his words, he wrote “a book that told all the story for half the characters, rather than half a story for all the characters.”The other factor that actually had a much more positive impact on me was that I remembered very little of the television show, unlike the earlier seasons. While A Storm of Swords is, perhaps rightfully, known to be the best of the series, the tv show certainly spoiled three massively shocking events that took place. This book either deviated more from the show (actually the other way around), or it may have been a case of memory failing me, either way, it was definitely a good thing.Somewhere out in the multiverse, there is a reality / timeline where George R.R. Martin has finished this series. Then again, there are realities / timelines where he never wrote it in the first place. In our timeline, we got to read five of these books, and for that I am eternally grateful. The series is an absolute masterpiece, and nothing in fantasy really compares to it.

El libro es en tamaño de bolsillo, perfecto para que no pese demasiado a pesar de ser muy extenso.Como siempre con este tipo de libros hay que tener cuidado con la portada y contraportada ya que tienen a doblarse y deteriorarse con facilidad.

Antes que nada, es importante mencionar que este es la edición 2011 lanzada en el Reino Unido, muy diferente a la edición estadounidense. A mí personalmente me gusta más esta edición ya que el diseño es más simplista y no tan cargada de colores tan intensos como la versión de E.U. Si todavía puedes coleccionar esta gama de ediciones, lo recomiendo ampliamente ya que son más bonitos en mi opinión. Aunque ya son algo difíciles de conseguir.El libro es genial, escrita expertamente por George a su más puro estilo descriptivo y rico en palabras del viejo inglés. Si eres paciente, la recompensa es buena pero le costará trabajo a más de uno el poder leerlo de manera continua, el inglés que emplea es complejo y puede llegar a ser un poco cansado. 10/10