A Dance with Dragons

All the while I'm reading this book, I’m wondering. When is the Battle of the Bastards? When is Jon’s parentage revealed? The title is A Dance with Dragons. Where are the dragons? When does Drogon lay waste to the Lannister army? As I reach the midway point of the book. Tyrion has spent months on the road, realistically so, for it would take months to travel by carriage halfway across a continent the size of Essos. Tyrion still hasn’t met with Daenerys. That’s when I realized something was missing. There wasn’t enough time in the book for the above-mentioned to happen.Being the sweet-summer child I was back then, and recently watched the show, and then read all the books shortly after. I had no idea George R.R. Martin never finished the books, and I never heard of The Winds of Winter or A Dream of Spring. But winter is finally here. With a tad bit of research, I soon learned all the hoopla surrounding the end of the show, and Martin never finished the books. I think the Game of Thrones show is arguably the greatest ever on TV, and I was just fine with how it ended. A little theory of mine is that seasons 6,7, and 8 will make up the bulk of The Winds of Winter (a safe, and obvious bet to make), and A Dream of Spring will start soon after. With Arya sailing west of Westeros, Sansa remaining Queen in the North, and Jon and Tormund battling giant Ice Spiders north of the Wall.As for this massive tome of a book. It comes in at a whopping 1016 pages, with appendices of all the great houses and major players included. There are in-book maps of Beyond the Wall, The Free Cities, and Valyria, as well as the customary maps of the north and south of Westeros. All your favorite POV’s are back. Jon, Tyrion, and Daenerys lead the way in this epic slow-burn of a tale. Buckle in for this one, folks, it’s going to be long.

Mind Boggling!Another interesting and mind boggling book added to the series. The drama continues with many twist and turns as plots within plots materialize. The book itself was not smooth flowing until the second half of the book. The chapters seem to cover the in-between scenarios that happened either before or after some of the drama that unfolded in the last 4 books.These chapters were in no order and I got bored with too much description of the surrounding lands, their histories, and the men who came beforehand. I just had a hard time getting through some of the chapters because it was at a stand still with nothing happening that was in my opinion not relevant to the main plot or maybe it was just me being impatient and wanting to get to the main point of finding out the outcome.Everyone in this series is going mad to take over the seven kingdoms, not just one king within the seven but several lords in their own lord-hoods. To top it off, there are those outside the seven kingdoms across seas that have their sights on the throne as well but their kingdoms are full of their own destruction and underhandedness of chaos to include all the cut throats fighting each other to gain the princess and her dragons to take the throne. Yet all the while, evil magical and paranormal forces consume the ordinary folk through false religious covers (sorcery/demon worship) and old magical powers.Overall though, the many plots within continue to get closer to a climax. Hopefully the readers don't have to read through 5 more books to get to there. The writing is great and the characters are well established and just when you think you have a favorite character the author has a way of making the good one bad and the bad one a hero.Great Read!******** Spoilers Below this Point **************NOTESto read before I read the 6th book whenever it is released:Night's WatchJon Snow - one of my favorite characters and his white Dire wolf. I like what he does by opening the gates to the wildlings and in this book his sworn brothers are not happin with him and in this book in the end Jon is stabbed but it doesnt state whether he is dead or not because Lady Melisandre the red priestess is there and you never know what kind of sorcery she will do.2. Samwell Tarly is not mentioned in this bookHouse Stark1. Bran is beneath ground with the Three Eyed Crow (last greenseer/sorcerer)and the children of the forest. He has become part of the Direwood and is learning to fly but this book doesn't spend much time on him, just one chapter. Hodor is still with him.2. Rickon - this book doesn't cover him at all and he was split from Bran in the 4th book. He is with Osha the wildling woman.3. Jon Snow still doesn't know his brothers live.4. Lady Stark is still alive in the 4th book but she is not mention in this book.********************House Tully1. Bends the knee to King Tommen in the book due to Jamie Lannister.****************King of the Seven Kingdoms1. Tommen - 8 year old King, son of (ex Queen)Cersei2. Cersei - ex Queen - yes I hate her and she is finally charged with treason, insest, fornication and was degraded through out the city by having to walk naked through her own people - she deserves death but we won't know what her outcome is until after her trial when Ser Robert Strong fights for her innocence.3. Ser Jaime Lannister - bad guy gone good, however the book leaves Jaime in limbo and was last seen takeing off with Ser Brienia4. Tyrion Lannister - My favorite character! I love his sense of humor, his part in this series is the best. In this book he finds himself across seas mixed up with a knight and another dwarf and are slaves. Tyrion does get himself and his company out of the slavement but signs away with lots of promises that he may not be able to keep.5. Ser Kevan lannister - I liked him, he is Cersei's Uncle but he is killed at the end of the book.6. Margaery - New Queen, married to Tommen - I like her sweet personality but you can tell that she is up to something in the long run.7. The People of the Faith - The High Septon - I hate those religious freaks.**********King at the Wall1. Stannis Baratheon - Rightful King some think and in this book he is at Castle Black for a while until he goes out during the on coming of winter to take over Winterfell but in the end of this book it is left in limbo with everyone thinking he was taken and killed.2. Lady Melisandre - The Red Women, a priestess of R'hllor, the lord of light - I can't stand this women. This is where the evil comes in or sorcery comes in. She burns people to get a seeing in the fire.3. Mance Rayder - King beyond the Wall - this guy is suspecious and I don't trust him. I think him and Melisandre are up to no good and will change everyone to demons or something in the end but in this book it is left with him still missing from castle rock and no one has heard from him. He was suppose to have been burned but Melisandre used magic to disguise Rattleshirt (Lord of Bones)...

[UPDATE]In addition to my original review (below), I wanted to point a couple of things out to other readers giving this and the other four books low ratings, and to provide a dose of fairness and perspective for prospective readers to consider.First, this is not the television series, it is a collection of books for "A Song of Ice and Fire" as written by George R. R. Martin before HBO turned them into the foundation for their own version known as "Game of Thrones" (a so-called "game of thrones" being a central subplot in the series of books). The stories told by the books and by the HBO series are similar but not necessarily the same. The books are far more detailed, allow for much more character development, and truly go into all of the history and dynamics of certain story lines, much of which the "Game of Thrones" shows cannot get into because they are limited to a dozen or so episodes per season with each episode being between 50 and 55 minutes based on how HBO runs things. The shows are not the same as the books; the shows are based somewhat loosely on the books; the shows leave a lot of important things out as far what the books contain; and, the books are not written so as to hold your attention for about one hour per week for several weeks out of the year (if they were, it would take you a couple of decades to read the books!). That being said, if you enjoy the show (it is a great show), stick with watching it until the HBO series' finale and then consider picking up and reading the books. Otherwise you will find yourself enjoying (or maybe not enjoying) two different stories that do have some similarities but leave you asking, "Why did HBO leave those characters out until now or why did they choose not to include that critical event?"Second, the books are not written so that every character is part of every chapter or every few chapters with one long continuous storyline. Martin says as much when he explains how he wrote the books and why he chose to write them the way he did. Read all of what Martin writes and you will know this to be true (there's more than the Introduction, character chapters, and Epilogue to be read). If you focus only on the fact that each chapter is written from one character's point of view for a time that may have come before, during or after a previous chapter, then you will see the books only as a series of short stories involving related characters. However, if you pay attention to the details as you read the books, you will see little things explained or experienced by one character in a given chapter that relates to something that has been experienced or foretold by another character in a previous chapter so that all the chapters are tied back to a central storyline. This is how Martin has written the books, this makes it possible to develop an entire world full of many different characters in vivid detail, and this is what makes each book a true page turner (at least for me). If you did not enjoy this type of storytelling in the first three books (especially the third book), then why did you continue reading two more very long books for a story written in a way that you do not like?[ORIGINAL REVIEW]A fantastic fifth installment of the "A Song of Ice and Fire" series. I have loved reading these five books. This series of books are now all in my Top Five favorites. I can only hope that Lord Martin sees fit to bestow gifts of early deliveries for the final two books in the series upon his leal and avid fans...If you have enjoyed the first four books as much as I did, this fifth one will not disappoint.

Fans have been looking forward to this one for a LONG time. A Dance with Dragons completes the story begun six years ago, when A Feast for Crows was published in October, 2005. In Feast, fans were given the full story, but only for half the characters. Fan favorites like Tyrion Lannister, Jon Snow and Daenarys Targaryen were noticeably missing from the chapters of the book. Martin's now-infamous claim that Dance would be finished within a year ended up haunting him relentlessly until the day that A Dance with Dragons fell into everyone's eager hands. A Dance with Dragons not only completes the story of that missing half, but also continues the story forward. In fact, Dance is the largest book in the series, weighing in at 1,040 pages.So how does this fifth entry in the Song of Ice and Fire series match up to the rest? Read on to find out.Note: It's presumed you've read the series up to the ending of A Feast for Crows, so if you haven't, don't read on.The Prologue certainly draws comparisons to that in A Game of Thrones, taking place far north of the Wall, and giving us glimpses of the White Walkers. This serves to continue the inexorable march of the undead towards the rest of Westeros. Martin is most certainly taking his time drawing out the inevitable confrontation with the Others, however, and some readers may wonder if he'll ever be able to complete this saga, much less in the two books he claims remain. Nevertheless, it's a promising start to the novel.TYRION LANNISTERFinally, after ten long years, fans get new Tyrion material. His story begins perfectly in Dance and we see the Imp wallowing in self-pity and taking careless chances, his life no longer important to him. It doesn't take long for that attitude to change, with the help of some unlikely allies, and rather unexpected revelations.Tyrion sees his ups and downs in this novel, and his luck continues to hold, especially near the end. He's matched up with another dwarf, but where this pairing is going is hard to say. Tyrion's line that he has a heart for "cripples, bastards and broken things," is never so apt as in this novel. His story does wander a bit, and he's not as endearing as in his previous forays, but he's still very much Tyrion Lannister, and he entertains us nonetheless.DAENARYS TARGARYENUnfortunately, Daenarys Targaryen's return after a decade-long hiatus does not go as well as the dwarf's. She is certainly a willful young woman, but she borders on annoying and insolent throughout the novel. She seems to disregard every piece of advice her advisers give her, always questioning herself, but then stubbornly refusing to reconsider. Though she's the mother of dragons, we unfortunately see very little of them until the latter parts of the book, which is frustrating, considering how integral they seem they must be to the series.There are some truly exciting portions of the novel in this book, however; One scene in particular seems to be what fans have been waiting for since the moment the dragons were brought to life in the burning embers of Khal Drogo's funeral pyre. It should bring a chill to readers' spines, and was perfectly written-leaving the reader wondering about the fate of the character, of course.JON SNOWJon arguably has the best plot line in the novel, both fleshing out his character further, as well as one of the most surprising final chapters of the book. Strange how the Starks all seem to have the best stories.There's also an early scene where Jon dispenses justice Eddard-style. It's an unexpectedly welcome scene, not only makes for good reading, but also draws the reader back into the story, which until then founders a little bit.DAVOS SEAWORTHIn A Feast for Crows we learn that Davos is dead. Since Dance takes place during the same timeframe, we get to see his actual situation play out. Without spoiling things, let's just say that Davos' parts are rather boring, most of the time, though Martin leaves things sufficiently appropriate for Davos Seaworth.THEON GREYJOYIt's been 13 years since we last got into the head of Theon Greyjoy, all the way back in the second book of the series, A Clash of Kings, published in 1998. Martin seemingly killed off the young kraken, but readers have heard bits and pieces about him throughout the series. In A Dance with Dragons, fans finally learn the fate of Theon. Theon's storyline is one of the most interesting of the book, second only to that of Jon Snow.BRAN STARKBran has a very interesting story in the novel, but one that seems to end much too quickly. His almost feels like a dropped story thread, and fans will wonder what's happening with him later in the book without ever finding out. This is presumably one of the characters who will see more time in the next entry in the saga.QUENTIN MARTELLQuentin Martell is the son of the Prince of Dorne, and fans are given quite a bit of time with this character. Ultimately, his part doesn't feel that important to the story, and one is left wonderi...

I just finished reading this book (on my Kindle) and I enjoyed it. I read a fair number of the other reviews here before purchasing it, many negative, leading to some trepidation, but in the end I was not disappointed. Whether this is because my expectations had already been lowered, or because I am a less critical reader than others, or because the book is actually not as bad as its critics have claimed, is open to debate.I want to address the most common complaints of those other reviews, namely that the book is just filler material, nothing happens, no plot points are resolved, etc.The author states quite clearly in the preface to the previous book and this one, that the events of the two books (the 4th and 5th in the series) take place in parallel. He had too much material for one book, and instead of splitting that material chronologically, making two books each covering a shorter time period, he chose to instead split the characters into two groups, concentrating on one group in the fourth book and another group in this book. I don't think that was a good idea, and the result speaks for itself (irritated fans), but what's done is done. If you read the fourth book right after it was published and then had to wait a long time for the fifth book to come out, the effect of that decision is more pronounced. But now that both books are out, if you read this book while the previous one is still fresh in your mind, it is not as jarring.The book is long, and some parts seem long-winded. Perhaps an editor should have taken a knife to it and trimmed a few sections. I mean, I an not really interested in every course that was served at a feast, the coat-of-arms of every man in a force, or the fate of every boat in a storm-tossed fleet. But the long-winded sections are not rampant. You are confronted with one occasionally. Considering the size of the book, if it had been trimmed by 20%, it would still have been plenty long enough in number of pages. If the author were being paid by the word (which I doubt), he'd still have made plenty of money. I don't find the idea credible that the author was deliberately padding out the novel. I suspect it is more a case of the publishers just trying to get the thing out the door. It's a damned-if-you-do and damned-if-you-don't situation. Another round of editing might have improved the book, but the fans might have had to wait another year to see it.Since the events of the fourth and fifth books transpire within the same time frame, then in the chronology of the book's universe, you cannot say that something happened in the fourth book, but nothing in the fifth book -- everything that happened in one, happened in the other (notwithstanding that the fifth book's time-frame extends beyond that of the fourth book). Even taken on its own, this book does advance the plot, and it does resolve some plot points. Bran's long journey to find the three-eyed raven has a resolution. As in all the previous books, not all the (remaining) major characters survive.Unless you were hoping for this to be the last book of the series, it obviously cannot resolve all the plot points. If it were the last book of the series, then some people would be moaning about that, trying to get their fixes by contributing their own (lame) fan fiction. If you're tiring of the series, and you just want the story to end so that you can close out your investment in it, then I guess you have a complaint. But if you like the series, and you want more, well, then you got what you wanted.The pace of the story slowed down starting with the fourth book, and the slower pace continues in this one, but you can still feel it building toward a conclusion. If one of the things you most loved about the series was its pace in books one through three, and you didn't like the slowdown in book four, then this book is just going to exasperate you the same way the previous one did. Although I did prefer the faster pace of the first three books as well, I still find the story compelling even when if it is now more drug out.You don't have to be a genius to predict that the result of Winter and the others coming down from the north, and a princess with dragons coming up from the south, is going to result in some cataclysmic battle, where the reintroduction of dragons into the world actually saves it, in spite of all the destruction they cause. I'm looking forward to it, just not as impatiently as some others.GRRM is going to have to get his a-- moving on the next book (or books) though. If the TV series, just finishing up the second season, goes through more or less a book per season, and the production for a given season needs to start about a year in advance of its broadcast, and the next book therefore has to be available to serve as a guide for the development scripts, then we've got about two years until the scriptwriters needs book six.