A Feast for Crows (A Song of Ice and Fire, #4) in Building a SciFi/Fantasy Library

May 08, 2012 Dave Johnson rated it really liked it

personally i think this is the weakest book in the series so far. because i like the series and didnt get bored with the book per se, i give this a 4, but comparing it to others in the series, it would probably be a 3. i know the criticisms of this book, having read some reviews online, namely that because he split the story into two parts, he left out about half of the characters, and many people think that the "better" cast is in Dance with Dragons, the next book and continuation of the story. personally i think this is the weakest book in the series so far. because i like the series and didnt get bored with the book per se, i give this a 4, but comparing it to others in the series, it would probably be a 3. i know the criticisms of this book, having read some reviews online, namely that because he split the story into two parts, he left out about half of the characters, and many people think that the "better" cast is in Dance with Dragons, the next book and continuation of the story. personally, i still like the cast in this book. granted, i would have loved to read more about Bran, Jon, Dany, and Tyrion, but i still got Arya, Jaime, and Cersei, which were interesting. he also added in some new plots within the Iron Islands and Dorne--which i found really fascinating, but slow to start. and i think that's the overall opinion i have of this book: it's slow. my main critique of Martin's Song of Ice and Fire series is that they're slower than they need to be. he wouldnt have to cut a lot, really, just a little here and there, and that would take away from the slow feel this has. for instance, Brienne has the worst arc out of all the characters. she was interesting in Storm of Swords, but here all she does is travel, looking for something. at one point (no spoilers) she even realizes she's going the wrong way! reading that made me want to scream! why even write chapters about her? the only ones that added anything were the last one or two. and i understand that you cant JUST have those two, but if Martin condensed her story down, i think that would've been stronger. of course, i realize that's easy for me to say (lol). i really liked the dynamic between Cersei and Jaime in this book, more so that in others. Samwell's was fairly interesting, affording us some glimpses at some new places and he served to kind of bridge the stories of westeros and valyria. now, arya's was flat out awesome. i've always liked Arya's arcs, and this book was no different. Sansa had some interesting things happen as well, though, really not all THAT much really did happen.

one thing i loved about this book was that, like Storm of Swords, the characters' actions have consequences, and in some storylines, it felt like a noose falling around their necks, slowly tightening every page. overall, it was a satisfying read, though clearly the weakest in the series. yet even the weakest of Martin's is still better than most crap being published nowadays. next i'm reading A Dance With Dragons--can't wait! man, i really hope that Martin finishes this series soon. at the very least i really hope that the next book comes out in only a COUPLE of years and not, like, 8. :-/ ...more

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May 11, 2012 Dale Pearl rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: epic, fantasy

This book gets a higher rating than the previous in this series, however, I found this one substantially more of a snoozer. Once again, all my favorites get either killed off or blinded or not discussed hardly at all. Though I am happy that Jamie is a changed man I'm not so interested in following his storyline, The Greyjoys don't interest me either, nor the Highgardens. I bonded to the Starks, however, of that family line I hated Catelyn and Sansa... sadly it would appear that those are Mr. Mar ...more

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May 31, 2013 William rated it liked it

Shelves: e, fantasy, series, man-fiction, read-in-2013

It was a good continuation but the cliff hanger endings and multiple characters are killers. I have read a lot of series and most include books that could be read as stand alones. That would be very hard with this series. I am amazed at the depth of the story and the multitude of characters. I have to refer to a wiki to keep up. I am now on the 5th book and will continue until done.

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