A Feast for Crows (A Song of Ice and Fire) 
asked by fabio on November 11, 2006 3:18 PM
Few books have captivated the imagination and won the devotion and praise of readers and critics everywhere as has George R. R. Martin’s monumental epic cycle of high fantasy. Now, in A Feast for Crows, Martin delivers the long-awaited fourth book of his landmark series, as a kingdom torn asunder finds itself at last on the brink of peace...only to be launched on an even more terrifying course of destruction.
A Feast for Crows
It seems too good to be true. After centuries of bitter strife and fatal treachery, the seven powers dividing the land have decimated one another into an uneasy truce. Or so it appears....With the death of the monstrous King Joffrey, Cersei is ruling as regent in King’s Landing. Robb Stark’s demise has broken the back of the Northern rebels, and his siblings are scattered throughout the kingdom like seeds on barren soil. Few legitimate claims to the once desperately sought Iron Throne still exist—or they are held in hands too weak or too distant to wield them effectively. The war, which raged out of control for so long, has burned itself out.
But as in the aftermath of any climactic struggle, it is not long before the survivors, outlaws, renegades, and carrion eaters start to gather, picking over the bones of the dead and fighting for the spoils of the soon-to-be dead. Now in the Seven Kingdoms, as the human crows assemble over a banquet of ashes, daring new plots and dangerous new alliances are formed, while surprising faces—some familiar, others only just appearing—are seen emerging from an ominous twilight of past struggles and chaos to take up the challenges ahead.
It is a time when the wise and the ambitious, the deceitful and the strong will acquire the skills, the power, and the magic to survive the stark and terrible times that lie before them. It is a time for nobles and commoners, soldiers and sorcerers, assassins and sages to come together and stake their fortunes...and their lives. For at a feast for crows, many are the guests—but only a few are the survivors.
From the Hardcover edition.
A Feast for Crows
It seems too good to be true. After centuries of bitter strife and fatal treachery, the seven powers dividing the land have decimated one another into an uneasy truce. Or so it appears....With the death of the monstrous King Joffrey, Cersei is ruling as regent in King’s Landing. Robb Stark’s demise has broken the back of the Northern rebels, and his siblings are scattered throughout the kingdom like seeds on barren soil. Few legitimate claims to the once desperately sought Iron Throne still exist—or they are held in hands too weak or too distant to wield them effectively. The war, which raged out of control for so long, has burned itself out.
But as in the aftermath of any climactic struggle, it is not long before the survivors, outlaws, renegades, and carrion eaters start to gather, picking over the bones of the dead and fighting for the spoils of the soon-to-be dead. Now in the Seven Kingdoms, as the human crows assemble over a banquet of ashes, daring new plots and dangerous new alliances are formed, while surprising faces—some familiar, others only just appearing—are seen emerging from an ominous twilight of past struggles and chaos to take up the challenges ahead.
It is a time when the wise and the ambitious, the deceitful and the strong will acquire the skills, the power, and the magic to survive the stark and terrible times that lie before them. It is a time for nobles and commoners, soldiers and sorcerers, assassins and sages to come together and stake their fortunes...and their lives. For at a feast for crows, many are the guests—but only a few are the survivors.
From the Hardcover edition.
Reviews
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I have to say this book was a disappointment. The first three books in this series were unquestionably 5-star reading.
A Feast for Crows, however, truly was -- as one reviewer described it -- a chore to get through. I wondered often as I read it whether Martin would have fared better to collapse this book and the sequel, A Dance with Dragons, into one volume after all. The argument that the book would have then been "too long" doesn't wash with me since many of the chapters here -- far too many -- felt like "packing material", popcorn and bubblewrap that you have to get through to get to the good stuff that you really wanted and paid for. A Feast for Crows would have been a far better book if the dross chapters had been eliminated and the pure gold chapters from the next book added in. Ah, well. Too late for that now, I suppose.
Sadly, in this book, I just got bored. Not only once, but again and again. And I am astounded to say that because Martin is a magnificent writer and storyteller. But I was seriously bored with much of this book.
I did not like Martin's departure from the style of previous books of adding so many nameless ("The Prophet", "The Kraken's Daughter", etc.) point-of-view (POV) chapters. Sheesh. Why not just say their names? "Aeron" ... "Asha" ... Worse still, most of these "secondary" POV chapters were quite dull. I did not like these characters and I did not want to invest my time in them because it is not THEIR story I am interested in in this series. I imagine that Martin used this device so that readers would know these were not primary characters, but the problem is that these secondary POV characters are just ... second-rate and dull. If the story of the Ironborn was really worth telling, for example, then I'd rather the author had created a "real" POV character to tell it.
Even the primary POVs in this volume, including Brienne, Jaime, and Cersei, are not particularly likable or interesting, so you don't much care what happens to them either. That leaves about 20% of the book that really held my interest. Only the Samwell, Arya, and Sansa chapters held my attention here, and the latter two characters appear very little in this particular volume. The one good thing about this overall structure was that at least I knew before reading a chapter that I probably wasn't going to enjoy it: "Brienne", "Cersei", "Jaime", "Unnamed" = Not Terribly Interesting. Best not be sleepy if you want to get through any of these chapters in one sitting.
The sharp, knucklebiting, fascinating suspense so ably maintained from chapter to chapter in the first three books is diluted and lame here. I more often than not fell asleep reading these chapters. Yes, FELL ASLEEP. That never happened in the first three books. Never.
This book just felt like too much icing and too little cake. Even so, I am committed to this series for the long haul. Martin at his worst is better than most writers in this genre at their very best. He is a most gifted and talented writer, and I trust he can get back on course for the next book in this series. I am keeping my fingers crossed that there is someone in this process that can effectively tell Martin, for future volumes in this series, "Yo, dude. This chapter is well written, surely, but it really ought to be cut..."
A Feast for Crows, however, truly was -- as one reviewer described it -- a chore to get through. I wondered often as I read it whether Martin would have fared better to collapse this book and the sequel, A Dance with Dragons, into one volume after all. The argument that the book would have then been "too long" doesn't wash with me since many of the chapters here -- far too many -- felt like "packing material", popcorn and bubblewrap that you have to get through to get to the good stuff that you really wanted and paid for. A Feast for Crows would have been a far better book if the dross chapters had been eliminated and the pure gold chapters from the next book added in. Ah, well. Too late for that now, I suppose.
Sadly, in this book, I just got bored. Not only once, but again and again. And I am astounded to say that because Martin is a magnificent writer and storyteller. But I was seriously bored with much of this book.
I did not like Martin's departure from the style of previous books of adding so many nameless ("The Prophet", "The Kraken's Daughter", etc.) point-of-view (POV) chapters. Sheesh. Why not just say their names? "Aeron" ... "Asha" ... Worse still, most of these "secondary" POV chapters were quite dull. I did not like these characters and I did not want to invest my time in them because it is not THEIR story I am interested in in this series. I imagine that Martin used this device so that readers would know these were not primary characters, but the problem is that these secondary POV characters are just ... second-rate and dull. If the story of the Ironborn was really worth telling, for example, then I'd rather the author had created a "real" POV character to tell it.
Even the primary POVs in this volume, including Brienne, Jaime, and Cersei, are not particularly likable or interesting, so you don't much care what happens to them either. That leaves about 20% of the book that really held my interest. Only the Samwell, Arya, and Sansa chapters held my attention here, and the latter two characters appear very little in this particular volume. The one good thing about this overall structure was that at least I knew before reading a chapter that I probably wasn't going to enjoy it: "Brienne", "Cersei", "Jaime", "Unnamed" = Not Terribly Interesting. Best not be sleepy if you want to get through any of these chapters in one sitting.
The sharp, knucklebiting, fascinating suspense so ably maintained from chapter to chapter in the first three books is diluted and lame here. I more often than not fell asleep reading these chapters. Yes, FELL ASLEEP. That never happened in the first three books. Never.
This book just felt like too much icing and too little cake. Even so, I am committed to this series for the long haul. Martin at his worst is better than most writers in this genre at their very best. He is a most gifted and talented writer, and I trust he can get back on course for the next book in this series. I am keeping my fingers crossed that there is someone in this process that can effectively tell Martin, for future volumes in this series, "Yo, dude. This chapter is well written, surely, but it really ought to be cut..."
reviewed by vladi on November 19, 2006 2:50 PM
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As a huge fan of the first books in this series, I have been enormously disappointed by this most recent episode -- the series now seems to be going the way of Jordan"s "the Wheel of Time". Truly the energy and sweep of the first books is understandably difficult to maintain, but all good things must come to an end -- preferably without being spun out interminably. Other reviewers mention variously 1) that half the book was cut by the publisher to get to 1000 pages and 2) that the book is too long by several hundred pages as it is. Either way, this is a story that has bogged down, and needs some energy to overcome the mercenary logistics of word count. So, save your money and hope that Martin comes back up to bat in the next episode.
reviewed by astrofizzy on November 29, 2006 9:06 AM
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This book kind of sucked. I hope that Martin still has something left because at this point he is ending books in a soap operatic fashion with crappy unfinished endings that leave the reader (watcher) on the edge of the couch. It is gimicky and reflects weak or unsure plot development and writing. Maybe he just wanted to stretch to more books for more money? I think it is pretty pathetic. Everyone was worried about him running down Jordan's path but it seems he found out how to turn something awesomely rich in detail, depth, action, and complexity into something complexly rich in putrescent useless filth. Anytime an author has to end or start a book with an explanation of why it does not deliver what is expected or wanted beware for the fountain pen tapping the cesspool (i.e.Dark Tower Series).
Still entertaining writing and some surprises, but is it still surprising when the formula is: something or someone is good = almost certain death and destruction. Evil, cheating, lying = success! (yea)
The formula is annoying when any gloriously huge pile of goodness is thwarted by a very simple monstrous act of evil. I know this is more realistic than most fantasy but how far does he need to stack the deck before the gloriously just? Daenyrys comes in to save the 7 Kingdoms?
All my complaining without, I will ravenously devour each book he puts out , regardless how annoyingly he hooks me to read them. Complex characters, hidden secrets, and mostly rational action blah blah blah. So Martin has what most fantasy severly lacks.
Everyone who has gotten this far has their own opinion and my drunken rantings will not change anything. But this was a 600 page book that could very likely just be skipped in the series. A voracious reader such as myself could not possible skip this book but if you are a casual reader and don't like Jordan's drawn out detail you can probably get away without reading this book at all. 600 pages of transition is a bit much.
Martin thrives on having his characters do exaclty what the reader does not want them to do. Maybe he can actually produce another book, another piece to the story, without intentionally antogonizing the reader into reading more. It is hard to believe that the story presented to us is exactly what he wanted to write. Unless he naturally writes medieval fantasy identical to the writers of the crummy TV show Lost.
I might actually give this a 2.5.
Still entertaining writing and some surprises, but is it still surprising when the formula is: something or someone is good = almost certain death and destruction. Evil, cheating, lying = success! (yea)
The formula is annoying when any gloriously huge pile of goodness is thwarted by a very simple monstrous act of evil. I know this is more realistic than most fantasy but how far does he need to stack the deck before the gloriously just? Daenyrys comes in to save the 7 Kingdoms?
All my complaining without, I will ravenously devour each book he puts out , regardless how annoyingly he hooks me to read them. Complex characters, hidden secrets, and mostly rational action blah blah blah. So Martin has what most fantasy severly lacks.
Everyone who has gotten this far has their own opinion and my drunken rantings will not change anything. But this was a 600 page book that could very likely just be skipped in the series. A voracious reader such as myself could not possible skip this book but if you are a casual reader and don't like Jordan's drawn out detail you can probably get away without reading this book at all. 600 pages of transition is a bit much.
Martin thrives on having his characters do exaclty what the reader does not want them to do. Maybe he can actually produce another book, another piece to the story, without intentionally antogonizing the reader into reading more. It is hard to believe that the story presented to us is exactly what he wanted to write. Unless he naturally writes medieval fantasy identical to the writers of the crummy TV show Lost.
I might actually give this a 2.5.
reviewed by ibook on November 29, 2006 11:14 AM
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The book and this series, has been a good read, good story, and entertaining, although the story seems to be a bit long and drawn out. Capitalism has its price does it not (more books more money)? The series far surpasses its counter parts in the same genre such as the authors of the "Wheel of Time", and Terry Goodkind. I found them to be tedious and boring to be honest with you. I do not understand people's fascinations with that type of writing; then again, some people think that Steven King is a good author.
reviewed by pauls on November 29, 2006 4:39 PM