So this thread is for fans of A Song of Ice and Fire to discuss the fifth installment in the series: A Dance with Dragons. I'm putting any real spoilers behind a spoiler tag, and hope others will do the same. Reaction in the fandom is mixed, from a cursory google, but I loved this book. It has all my favorite characters, they do awesome things, and really get the story going again. A Feast for Crows was something of a letdown, and had very little action, there wasn't a ton of action in Dragons, and most of it was just to move pieces to appropriate places, rather than to actually advance plot. So that was bad. But there was still a lot going on and a lot of new information And hey, Arya chapters! I love Arya! She's on an interesting arc and I'm worried that she may lose herself. It's also hard to see what relevance she has to the story at this point, but hopefully it'll all work out. To be honest, I'm kinda worried that the plot has too many threads for it to be wrapped up in just two more books, but at the same time, I don't want more than two because I want Martin to finish the :***: series already! Was the wait worth it? Honestly, no. Six years is a long time, and Martin's been busy writing other stuff, it doesn't feel like he really cares about this series anymore And now for my major reaction, the number one thing on my mind: Spoiler JON SNOW! NOOOOOOOOO! How dare you kill Jon! :tantrum::tears: Most of the fandom thinks he hasn't died or that he'll be brought back, resurrected by Melisandre or somesuch. I don't. I think he may live on in Ghost, but after the Watch has turned on him like this, he won't be of much use as Lord Commander. His brothers turned on him, he can't lead them after that. But fucking Jon! I love Jon! He was my favorite character, even more than Arya! He was the one I most strongly identified with, most admired, most wanted to fuck be, yes, be, that's what I meant >.> I'll be really mad if Martin was just sending us up, like he did with Brienne (also, Brienne is back and she only gets a brief reference in passing? Totally not frosty). He was the nine hundred ninety-eighth commander of the Night's Watch! We spend three books, thousands of pages, building up to that! And it's all been thrown in our faces. I mean, it's an anyone can die series, but I always thought Jon was exempt :bang: Winter is coming, Jon is dead, the Others are on the march. Westeros is screwed! And now to flesh out my worries about where the series is going: Spoiler This whole thing with Aegon being alive is weird. It seems a bit late in the show to introduce a whole new story arc. Where's it going? How is this going to be resolved in two books? Especially with winter coming here. It's hard to fight a war in winter. It feels like Martin isn't making any attempt to resolve this series, I mean, I get that it has to build up to a denouement, but with a whole new story arc, I just can't see how this Byzantine nightmare will get resolved in just two books. So I'm worried. It's hard to have faith in Martin at this point. I really don't want to have to wait another six years for the next installment.
I'm definitely enjoying the book so far, a big improvement from A Feast for Crows. There's been some action, but like you said, not too much. I'm still only about half way done with the book (haven't had the chance to read for a few days) so even though I really want to open the spoiler tags (and I really do lol), I'm going to have to use some self-control. Yea, George R. R. Martin does get irritating at times. It's going to be bitter-sweet when I finish this book...I mean, who knows how long it will take him to actually write the next one. :dry: I'll be back in here once I finish the book, so prepare for some big discussions!
What? I return to find this thread sunk? It shall not be! Unfortunately, I'm only about a third or so in (I planned to read it over holidays, but got busier than I thought), so I don't dare to read the spoiler parts yet. So far, however, I'm going to say it is a bit of a strange experience. Firstly, reading Martin is always an exciting thing. I love his style, and how he manages to throw around details that flesh the world out, and make you look for foreshadowing. I haven't been bored for a second yet. On the other hand, it feels like he's not entirely sure where to go and just writing as he goes along. Giving us lots of filler that is basically just Martin working through his notes. Highly entertaining notes, but still: it's perfectly possible to summarise the Jon chapters so far in half the amount of words. (then again, I'd happily read a 500 page book on Rhllorite table manners if such a thing existed too, so once more I'm not complaining ). If anything, I'm getting the idea that Martin has to decide between several ways of finishing the story and is afraid to commit, leaving the main characters just pacing around. Kind of like The Wheel of Time, where Neil Jordan ended up moving ever closer and closer to having Rhand make a decisive move, but always stopped just short. That's the best opinion I can come to right now. More insights as I actually manage to finish up the book!
Yeah, I agree, he doesn't seem to want to commit to anything definitive. The ending especially feels like that. Normally there's some sort of denouement at the end of each book, but here it just ends, no wrap-up or anything.
