Book Review: A Dance With Dragons by George R. R. Martin

George R. R. Martin’s A Dance with Dragons manages to do what its less exciting twin, A Feast for Crows, couldn’t — reignite my love for the A Song of Ice and Fire series.

Events are more exciting than those of A Feast of Crows, and Martin drops more than a few page-turning cliffhangers throughout the book as he builds the grand narrative back up to another climactic peak. But, it’s a ponderous build-up at times, with disappointingly empty chapters and side-plots and supporting characters that seem to veer nowhere.

The book has a better pedigree than its predecessor. It’s filled with Martin’s best and most beloved characters in Tyrion Lannister, Jon Snow, Arya Stark, and Daenerys Targaryen. Martin throws into that mix some familiar faces like Theon “Reek” Greyjoy, who’s misery may top all of Westeros, which is saying much. And, one of my favorites, Davos Seaworth, appears early only to disappear for the remainder of the book in a puzzling absence.

For most of these favorites, things happen. Jon Snow deals with the hard (and sharp!) realities of being a leader of the Night’s Watch. Arya earns her mysterious stripes. Tyrion travels vast distances and sees many thing. But, Daenerys — ah, Daenerys is the trouble. Really, it’s her book and her transformation. But, like Cersei Lannister’s chapters in A Feast for Crows, her chapters plod on, one after another of off-stage events as she struggles to be queen. Her transformation is glorious, but getting there is a slog.

Then there are the new bloods — perspective characters like Oberyn Martell, Victarion Greyjoy, and Jon Connington. Martin seems to be playing with these new voices and events. His success wavers. Quentyn Martell feels superfluous, even irrelevant. Victarion more so, though he seems to have something major in store for Daenerys.

Given the death and destruction Martin inflicts on his characters, especially to the Stark family, there must be room for new voices like these. But, several thousand pages in, is Martin’s exploring a vast, wondrously dangerous playground or weaving one of the grandest fantasy narratives ever written? That question keeps me interested, but a little disappointed when these detours end abruptly. They drive home, painfully, his themes about ruthlessness and ambition, of fickle fates and violence, but test our trust that there is anything here worth rooting for, worth investing in.

Still, with A Dance with Dragons,  there is a sense that Martin is that good — that all my fellow readers and I suffering for our favorite characters will see some pay off, some day, and we’ll earn a grand and satisfying ending.

A Dance With Dragons by George R. R. Martin: ★★★★

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