A Dance with Dragons: A Song of Ice and Fire: Book Five

To preface this review, I wanted to inform you that this is a review of the unabridged audio-book version of A Dance With Dragons (ADWD). Every word of the book is read to the listener in an unabridged reading with the actor changing his voice slightly for different characters and using a neutral voice for narration. I have listened to all of a A Song Of Ice And Fire (ASOIF) in audio-book format as I simply don’t have time to sit down and read such lengthy novels. I highly recommend this type of “reading” for people who have to commute a lot or spend lots of time working with their hands on mindless tasks (for me this entails renovating my 1850 home and landscaping the backyard)., Not wanting to write a spoiler review, let me just say “wow, I did not see that coming!” I think you will be shocked toward the end of the book – I was both saddened and very curious to know more. I can’t say more than that without spoiling it. A Dance With Dragons is better than night soil!, In regards to how long it took for Martin to write this book, I agree with Brent Weeks’ opinion post that George’s readers probably shouldn’t have to wait almost 6 years for the release of a book, but on the other-hand I can understand why it would take so long to write a book like ADWD. It seems to me the average author takes one to two years to write a book. ADWD is fully twice the length of the average novel that comes out – it is truly epic in both scope and words. In addition, George was working on other books in that time-frame as well as dealing with the HBO adaptation of A Game Of Thrones. With these considerations, I see how it could take between three and six years to write the sequel (or in this case parallel) to A Feast For Crows (AFFC). Still, I just wish it didn’t have to take that long. Now that the initial push with HBO is done, with all the publicity and now Hollywood behind him, and a horde of new fans bugging him, I think we can expect to see the next book in the Song coming along within two years – but really, who am I to say?, All that out of the way, now onto the meat of the review. ADWD is an exquisitely written gritty tale, peppered throughout with colorful terms such as “night soil” pulling its readers a little deeper into George’s imagination with every page turned. Simply stated, Martin is just an excellent writer and his huge world is highly organized. The scope is vast with so many plot-lines, sub plot-lines, and side plot-lines keeping the reader entertained and always guessing. His story contains many players – both main and side characters – and you never really know which ones are going to die next. George revisits some of the characters that we didn’t see in AFFC just enough to keep us up to date on what is going on in their lives, while he focuses more on other characters and developing their stories more fully. You will find yourself falling in love with characters you hated in previous books, and you will despise some characters even more! George does a great job with getting us to know his characters, understand what is in their minds and hearts, what motivates them and gets them to do the things they do and even why they repent. It is a joy to watch martin break his characters both mentally and physically as he does it so fantastically. George really knows how to tell a tale and ADWD will leave every epic fantasy reader satisfied that they got their money’s worth., This tale stretches across two continents and really beings to bring the whole story we’ve been reading thus far together. And the dragons, wow! These are some ferocious beasts. These creatures are not the little dragonlings that were crawling on Daenerys’ shoulder on the HBO version of A Game Of Thrones. These creatures are huge behemoths that can spout large gouts of flame effortlessly and endlessly to consume their prey and foes. These dragons are nasty, nasty creatures – there is not much controlling them as they are truly wild beasts., As with the other stories in the Song, ADWD does move along rather slowly compared to many other authors out there. You are however rewarded with richer detail, but not so much as some authors I’ve read who make you want to skip five pages just to find out what is going on. George balances description with plot very well – perhaps balanced more on the description side, but not too much that he keeps you from wanting to read further. It is a page turner and you won’t want to put it down., The only true downfall I can put on this book is that it is actually only half of a story. A Feast For Crows and A Dance With Dragons are mostly written parallel to one another as the scope of the series has become so vast, Martin simply can’t capture a section of a timeline in one book. While I knew this before I even started ADWD, I ended up missing my favorite characters like Samwell, Brienne, and of course Jaime. We do catch snippets of them, but I miss reading them especially after we’ve been waiting more than 5 years. ADWD and AFFC being the whole of a single book also begs the question, will ASOIAF be eight books long now (previously the series was estimated to be 7)?, George seems to be holding true to his philospohy that evil always triumphs over good, chaos over order, falsehood over truth, and darkness over light. But as always he leaves the door open just a crack so that at the end of this series (however long it may be) the good guys could still possibly win out and may indeed triumph. But time is running out. Winter is here. It is a fact that can now be seen even on the Dothraki Sea. Are the dragons going to be the power that defeats the mysterious god of ice we’ve barely heard mention of? Who is Varys actually working for? Lots of questions arise from reading ADWD and hopefully they will begin to be answered in the next book., Recently ADWD was voted on goodreads.com to be the best fantasy novel of the year by readers like you and I. This is definitely deserved. I voted for Patrick Rothfuss’ The Wise Man’s Fear and even after having finished ADWD I would not change my vote. It was a tough year for Pat going against George. I am sure Wise Man would have won had there not been the media hog (deservedly so) that ADWD has become because of HBO. I’d bet 80% of the votes for ADWD would have gone to Rothfuss had ADWD not been in the running, putting it probably on the top, closely contested with Erin Morgenstern’s breakout novel (which is definitely now in my to-read list). But those are the breaks – they WERE released the same year and even if both ADWD and TWMF are excellent stories deserving of the number one spot, “there can be only one”! I am very happy to give A Dance With Dragons 5 out of 5 stars!

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 LANNISTER, Finally, 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 TARGARYEN, Unfortunately, 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 SNOW, Jon 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 SEAWORTH, In 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 GREYJOY, It’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 STARK, Bran 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 MARTELL, Quentin 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 wondering why he is even a part of it. The importance of Dorne’s storyline is becoming more apparent throughout Dance, but it still feels like it’s late to the party., ARYA STARK, Still very much in Braavos, Arya was left blind in her last outing. Hers is one of the most involved stories in all of the Ice and Fire saga, and it continues to be no less enveloping in this latest entry. It’s still unclear exactly where her thread is leading her, but fans shouldn’t be disappointed by her brief appearances in Dance., VICTARION GREYJOY, It’s not very clear how Victarion will ultimately play into the saga, but his parts are not at all dull., JAMIE LANNISTER, When the book finally catches up to the end of A Feast for Crows readers are reunited with Jamie, and his quest to unite the riverlands. He only appears in one chapter in Dance, but it’s a fantastic one, with a very suitable cliffhanger ending., CERSEI LANNISTER, Fans will be very pleased with Cersei’s chapters in A Dance with Dragons. The queen has already been brought low, and will sink even further before things are through. Fans may even begin to feel sympathy for her in this round, though they’d be hard-pressed to ever forgive her. Cersei has been the character that fans love to hate, so Dance is all the more shocking for making her seem more human., BRIENNE OF TARTH, Another character that only appears once, and not as a viewpoint character. Fans won’t get a lot of information about what’s been happening with her, or what her ultimate fate is, but her presence is crucial to the chapter, feels unexpected, and is perfect., THE RED PRIESTESS MELISANDRE, Readers are welcomed into the mind of Melisandre for the first time in A Dance with Dragons and given a look at what her plans might be. It’s revealed that she’s not infallible, and can doubt herself after all. There are some reasonably surprising events revolving around Melisandre in this novel as well., STANNIS BARATHEON, Readers have still not seen events from the viewpoint of the truly legitimate King, and after A Dance with Dragons, it’s uncertain if it will ever happen. Indeed, Stannis has a lot to do in this book, with very little to show for it. He appears a few times early in the book, then mostly those that surround him allude to him for the remainder. It’s fitting that readers should spend more time with his subjects than with the King himself, however., SER BARRISTAN SELMY, Selmy is still with Daenarys and serves as the sole member of her Queensguard. Throughout the saga, he’s been a bit of a secondary character, but with A Dance with Dragons, he leapfrogs right into major character status. His parts are interesting, treacherous, and fitting for the aged knight. Fans will have much more respect for Ser Barristan before the Dance is through., VARYS THE EUNUCH, Appears only once, and very briefly, but is the most shocking and enjoyable chapter in the book., MISSING CHARACTERS, Ultimately, there are a few characters that do not appear in the novel, their fate uncertain., – Catelyn Stark, – Rickon Stark, – Sansa Stark, – Samwell Tarly, – Peter Baelish (Littlefinger), SUMMARY, A Dance with Dragons does indeed feel much like A Feast for Crows did, though is certainly a better novel; it feels dark and gritty. Winter is most certainly coming, as evidenced by Martin’s use of the weather throughout the book. Once it snows in King’s Landing, it’s quite clear how winter is going to affect events in the series., Once Dance catches up to the ending of Feast, things move along a little faster, but this book still doesn’t live up to the greatness of A Clash of Kings and the chaos that was A Storm of Swords. There are moments that drag along, and there are characters included that feel unnecessary or confusing. Fortunately, Martin moves the story along nicely in this book, and it truly feels like there’s an end-game coming, though it’s still unclear what exactly that is., The author has stated that there are at least two more books left in the saga, currently titled The Winds of Winter and A Dream of Spring. Though those titles are intriguing, A Dream of Spring doesn’t sound like the title of a book that would wrap up this amazing series. It seems like in a song of Ice and Fire, things should end in a blazing inferno, and fire should be a part of the title. Mayhaps there will be another entry in the series. Time will tell, of course, but with the delay between these books growing longer, let’s hope not too much time is necessary.

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 LANNISTER, Finally, 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 TARGARYEN, Unfortunately, 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 SNOW, Jon 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 SEAWORTH, In 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 GREYJOY, It’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 STARK, Bran 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 MARTELL, Quentin 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 wondering why he is even a part of it. The importance of Dorne’s storyline is becoming more apparent throughout Dance, but it still feels like it’s late to the party., ARYA STARK, Still very much in Braavos, Arya was left blind in her last outing. Hers is one of the most involved stories in all of the Ice and Fire saga, and it continues to be no less enveloping in this latest entry. It’s still unclear exactly where her thread is leading her, but fans shouldn’t be disappointed by her brief appearances in Dance., VICTARION GREYJOY, It’s not very clear how Victarion will ultimately play into the saga, but his parts are not at all dull., JAMIE LANNISTER, When the book finally catches up to the end of A Feast for Crows readers are reunited with Jamie, and his quest to unite the riverlands. He only appears in one chapter in Dance, but it’s a fantastic one, with a very suitable cliffhanger ending., CERSEI LANNISTER, Fans will be very pleased with Cersei’s chapters in A Dance with Dragons. The queen has already been brought low, and will sink even further before things are through. Fans may even begin to feel sympathy for her in this round, though they’d be hard-pressed to ever forgive her. Cersei has been the character that fans love to hate, so Dance is all the more shocking for making her seem more human., BRIENNE OF TARTH, Another character that only appears once, and not as a viewpoint character. Fans won’t get a lot of information about what’s been happening with her, or what her ultimate fate is, but her presence is crucial to the chapter, feels unexpected, and is perfect., THE RED PRIESTESS MELISANDRE, Readers are welcomed into the mind of Melisandre for the first time in A Dance with Dragons and given a look at what her plans might be. It’s revealed that she’s not infallible, and can doubt herself after all. There are some reasonably surprising events revolving around Melisandre in this novel as well., STANNIS BARATHEON, Readers have still not seen events from the viewpoint of the truly legitimate King, and after A Dance with Dragons, it’s uncertain if it will ever happen. Indeed, Stannis has a lot to do in this book, with very little to show for it. He appears a few times early in the book, then mostly those that surround him allude to him for the remainder. It’s fitting that readers should spend more time with his subjects than with the King himself, however., SER BARRISTAN SELMY, Selmy is still with Daenarys and serves as the sole member of her Queensguard. Throughout the saga, he’s been a bit of a secondary character, but with A Dance with Dragons, he leapfrogs right into major character status. His parts are interesting, treacherous, and fitting for the aged knight. Fans will have much more respect for Ser Barristan before the Dance is through., VARYS THE EUNUCH, Appears only once, and very briefly, but is the most shocking and enjoyable chapter in the book., MISSING CHARACTERS, Ultimately, there are a few characters that do not appear in the novel, their fate uncertain., – Catelyn Stark, – Rickon Stark, – Sansa Stark, – Samwell Tarly, – Peter Baelish (Littlefinger), SUMMARY, A Dance with Dragons does indeed feel much like A Feast for Crows did, though is certainly a better novel; it feels dark and gritty. Winter is most certainly coming, as evidenced by Martin’s use of the weather throughout the book. Once it snows in King’s Landing, it’s quite clear how winter is going to affect events in the series., Once Dance catches up to the ending of Feast, things move along a little faster, but this book still doesn’t live up to the greatness of A Clash of Kings and the chaos that was A Storm of Swords. There are moments that drag along, and there are characters included that feel unnecessary or confusing. Fortunately, Martin moves the story along nicely in this book, and it truly feels like there’s an end-game coming, though it’s still unclear what exactly that is., The author has stated that there are at least two more books left in the saga, currently titled The Winds of Winter and A Dream of Spring. Though those titles are intriguing, A Dream of Spring doesn’t sound like the title of a book that would wrap up this amazing series. It seems like in a song of Ice and Fire, things should end in a blazing inferno, and fire should be a part of the title. Mayhaps there will be another entry in the series. Time will tell, of course, but with the delay between these books growing longer, let’s hope not too much time is necessary.