A Feast for Crows, George R. R. Martin

 

A Feast for Crows by George R. R. Martin is the next book in A Song of Ice and Fire

Started: January 29, 2024
Completed: March 2, 2024
Recommendation: Recommended
Recommended By: Nobody

Words for which I sought help:

piebald -- having irregular patches of color, typically black and white

Review:

If you have read this far in the series, it is unlikely that you would suddenly stop.  This was, however, clearly a middle of the series book.  Plots moved forward, but there was little character development.  For the most part, things went on as one would expect. There were a couple of surprises because Martin does things that are atypical for a series (like killing off main characters), but there are such a plethora of characters from which to choose.  On a broad scale, this book has a lot less blood, but, having said that, there remains plenty.

A Storm of Swords, George R. R. Martin

 A Storm of Swords by George R. R. Martin is the next book in A Song of Ice and Fire series.

Started: 4/8/2021
Completed: 4/17/2021
Recommendation: Recommended
Recommended By:  Nobody

Words for which I sought help:

hippocras -- a drink made from wine mixed with sugar and spices, usually including cinnamon, and possibly heated

skirl -- (of bagpipes) make a shrill wailing sound

Review:

It is amazing the huge cast of characters.  It is equally impressive that this enormous group can still be followed.  The constant transition from one character to another is rather amazing and offers continuity to the characters while, at the same time, offering different perspectives on the same events.  This can be rather violent at times, but rarely gory.  Roy Dotrice does a great job reading the book and has a way of presenting this huge cast of characters differently although there are a few (particularly old men) who tend to have a very similar sound.  One can only do so much.

The pace of the story as a whole is plodding.  Each of the subplots seems to run at its own pace, however, with large sections of the book covering only a few days while other sections seem to cover weeks very quickly.  It is a bit hard to see, on some occasions, how the timelines interact.  Nonetheless this is quite a story and it is well written.

A Clash of Kings, George R. R. Martin

A Clash of Kings by George R. R. Martin is the second book in the
A Song of Ice and Fire series.

Started: 1/14/2020
Completed: 1/22/2020
Recommendation: Recommended
Recommended By: Everyone

Review:

If one is reading this book, then one has pretty much been caught by the general premise that there is going to be one huge clash upcoming.  It is pretty much impossible to buy into that premise and not be busy reading the prelude.  This is mostly prelude.  There is a lot of work setting up future stories, but this book is not one that stands alone.

A Game of Thrones, George R. R. Martin

A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin is the first book in the Song of Fire and Ice Series.  I was told about this book many years ago, long before the HBO series was shot, but had never gotten around to reading it.  This is the first book in the A Song of Ice and Fire series.

Started: 9/28/2019

Completed: 10/6/2019

Recommendation: Recommended

Recommended By:  Aaron

Review:

The rumors of the series on HBO suggest that this series is awash in blood.  It occurred to me that the series could only capture a portion of the series and that, therefore, it would capture the most "exciting" portions.  This is often life and death.  My suspicions bore true and the book was much more than simply a swim through gore.

That is not to say that the gore is not rampant, but it does not seem like it is purely for its own sake.  There is a certain amount of blood and gore to be expected in a medieval fantasy.

The scope of the book is fantastic and this book was clearly not written to stand on its own.  Too many things simply get started.  Be careful, it is addictive.