A Feast for Crows (A Song of Ice and Fire, #4) in SOS: Serious Overload of Series

Apr 02, 2015 Lauren⁷ 💜 rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: library-has-a-copy

After reading the reviews for this book on Amazon and on here, I will admit that I was somewhat dreading reading this book and I even briefly considered throwing in the towel and quitting the series with this book and just watching the show to learn what happens next. But my desire to finish the series and knowing how much better the character development is in the books won out. And I'm glad it did. I don't exactly think this book was the high point of the series and it's definitely not my favo After reading the reviews for this book on Amazon and on here, I will admit that I was somewhat dreading reading this book and I even briefly considered throwing in the towel and quitting the series with this book and just watching the show to learn what happens next. But my desire to finish the series and knowing how much better the character development is in the books won out. And I'm glad it did. I don't exactly think this book was the high point of the series and it's definitely not my favorite, but I also don't think it's as bad as people make it out to be either. I will admit that I sorely missed the presence of Tyrion, Jon and Dany, but I didn't mind spending so much time with Arya, Brienne, Jaime and Samwell, etc. I liked the fact that, because of the tighter focus, Martin was able to lavish so much character development on what had been, heretofore, some of his not as developed characters. I greatly enjoyed spending so much time in Brienne's head and really getting to know her. She's probably one of the few decent people left in Westeros and is now a favorite character of mine. And speaking of decency, I think Jaime's development was probably the most pronounced and I think he's definitely come the furthest of any character to date in the series. Martin took him from being a despicable man with barely a shred of honor who would (view spoiler) to a semi decent guy who (view spoiler) to a fairly decent guy who when (view spoiler). I think the loss of his hand humbled him greatly and ultimately to his betterment. I wouldn't say he's one of my favorite characters at this point, but I don't despise him nearly as much as I once did. Cersei was the opposite. Cersei is a horrible person and I was so glad to (view spoiler) She's an utterly despicable person and probably the character I hate the most. That being said, I didn't mind spending all that time in her head as I like well developed villains and it was nice to get such insight into Cersei and to learn why she is the way she is and what drives and motivates her. Then we have Arya. She's always been a favorite of mine and I like the direction that Martin is taking her story in. (view spoiler) I liked how with her storyline, Martin is developing the world of Westeros further. It was really cool seeing (view spoiler) and getting to know the city and its colorful inhabitants. And because it's clearly based off of Venice, that made visualizing the city even easier. And as for Sansa, I ended up liking her storyline. I was right in my earlier reviews that as the series has gone along and she's changed and grown up, I have warmed to her. She's no longer a ninny or a wuss. The poor thing is still a pawn though and I'm glad not to be in her shoes. (view spoiler) Samwell didn't have too much page time, but I enjoyed what was given and I find the idea of (view spoiler). I was meh on Martin's decision to follow minor characters. I found the characters and their story lines to be pretty middling. A few were kind of interesting and imparted interesting information, but that information was either seemingly useless to the overall storyline (view spoiler) or it was useful (view spoiler), but it could have been imparted by other characters just as well. But I did appreciate his further development and exploration of Westeros with those characters. As for the actual plots, they were all good and I did enjoy them and I look forward to seeing how it all plays out in A Dance With Dragons. To wrap up, though this isn't the best of the series, I did still enjoy it and I do still recommend it. ...more

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Aug 31, 2013 Jenifer rated it it was amazing

Shelves: audiobook, fantasy, 2013-read

I honestly do not know what took me so long to read this series...I love it! A Feast for Crows was a little different from the previous three books in that it seemed more about the characters setting up strategies rather than fighting bloody wars (all though was still quite a bit of violence).

One reason that A Feast for Crows is so different from the previous books is that as George RR Martin was finishing book four, he and his publishers realized that it was nearing 1800 pages and someone made ...more

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Sep 27, 2008 Sandy rated it it was amazing

Shelves: supernatural-thriller, fantasy-thriller, medieval-fantasy

I finished this book last night and am in severe withdrawal. I downloaded and read the chapter of the next book that's posted on Martin's website. Read it. I'm still grieving. I want to know how all those stories end. Martin creates characters which are utterly compelling. Some of them anyway. Others I have to force myself to go back to after skipping ahead to the stories I like.

The stories move forward inexorably, like history.

This is a flawed series: The books are too long and too complex. I w ...more

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Dec 08, 2008 Laura Lulu rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fantasy, epic, chubby-chunkster, dragons

Reread (listened to audiobook) and I'll give it 5 stars this time around. The only reason I gave it 4 the first time is because I was pissed at GRRM for cutting the book in half. And then waiting 6 years to get Dragons to us. But now that I have it in my grubby little hands, I'm a bit more forgiving. :)

*Original Review* The only reason this one got 4 stars instead of the 5 I gave to GRRM's others is because I didn't find out til his little blurb at the end that this is "half" of a book--book 5 w ...more

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Jan 19, 2013 Jen rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2013

My least favorite book of this series so far, but it's not a bad book. Minor characters are being built up some, and we do get to see some of the other characters. Cersi is crazy. Sadly, I'm really looking forward to seeing what happens with her. I'll be diving into the fourth book fairly soon. It's time for a break from this series, but I do need to know what happens. ...more

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