A Feast for Crows by George R. R. Martin

  A Feast of Crows by George R. R. Martin

2005, Bantam
Series: Book 4 of A Song of Ice and Fire

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Rating

Synopsis: After centuries of bitter strife, the seven powers dividing the land have beaten one another into an uneasy truce. But it's not long before the survivors, outlaws, renegades, and carrion eaters of the Seven Kingdoms gather. Now, 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—emerge from an ominous twilight of past struggles and chaos to take up the challenges of the terrible times ahead. Nobles and commoners, soldiers and sorcerers, assassins and sages, are coming together to stake their fortunes...and their lives. For at a feast for crows, many are the guests—but only a few are the survivors.

The Good: I think this is where the TV show veers sharply away from the books. This book has a ridiculous amount of surprises, even for the avid show fan. You go in expecting one thing, or if you watch the you are expecting something different, what you get is something completely off the wall unexpected - and that's sort of amazing. Huge, HUGE, shocking revelations in this book just blew my mind. Sansa and Jaime really shine here, their stories fleshing out and growing their characters. The book slowed down a lot on the action and replaced it with political intrigue and setup for future events. The pace was slow but completely engaging.

The Bad: I hadn't noticed while reading, which probably says something, but this book only covers half of the characters. The last section of the book mentions that this installation in the series focuses on those close to King's Landing and that the next book will focus on those farther away like Stannis, Daenerys, Jon and Tyrion. So, while very long, the book only covers half of the current story. The next book is supposed to cover the same exact time period, which really should have been covered here. I would have rather had half the time covered, but all the characters - all the story lines playing out at once.