Staff Pick - A Feast for Crows by George R.R. Martin

[Brian Bess]

After the 'Kings' have gone


Spoiler warning: As with reviews of previous volumes, this review will disclose key elements of plot and character developments. While it is unlikely that one has read this fourth volume of Martin's 'Song of Ice and Fire' series without reading the three preceding volumes, in the event that the reader has not, proceed at risk of disillusion.


A mood of desolation and exhaustion pervades this volume, after the explosive series of events from its predecessor, 'A Storm of Swords.' Previous claimants to the throne are either dead or have retreated in a weakened state. Personnel changes have also taken place within the hierarchy of Kings Landing and the survivors are regrouping or trying to find a secure spot in this uneasy world of shifting alliances. It was always an uneasy world and there were already shifting alliances but when forces oppose each other there is still a balance of sorts established as a result of the mere fact that there is a constant conflict.


One of the criticisms lodged against Martin with this volume is that he spends too much time on characters we've never met before and excludes some of the most prominent characters of the previous volumes such as Tyrion, Daenerys and Jon Snow. I can understand that frustration and went into this novel knowing I would not see those characters. The newest set of characters participates in an intrigue set in the region of Dorne. We have heard of Dorne and met a few of its natives, notably the unfortunate Oberyn Martell. Now we meet others from his family, notably his brother Doran and his daughter Arianne. We know that Arianne is beautiful and uses her beauty as a tool for sexual allure and seduction. While she is certainly as beautiful as Cersei and undoubtedly nobler than Cersei her scheming is clumsier and her plot is botched. The internal intrigue is never fully developed for this reader. We are bombarded with new characters and a new subplot that is rushed and insufficiently resolved. Doran is neither as diabolical nor as memorable as Tywin Lannister and Arianne is also not as memorable as Cersei. Perhaps if we had had time to get to know these characters and their environment and circumstances more thoroughly the ensuing conflict would have been more memorable.


Speaking of Cersei, we know her quite well by now and we know everything we need to know about her circumstances, how relentlessly manipulative she is as well as her frustration as a woman wielding power in a world dominated by men, which largely sees royal women as tools for marriages based on political alliance and for begetting male heirs. We sympathize with her even as we hate her. I must admit that it was almost alone worth the price and time invested in the novel to see Karma finally catch up with her as she is caught in her own web of deceit.


One of the more interesting supporting characters is Aeron Greyjoy, who in his previous life was a carousing warrior who 'died' when his ship was sunk and reborn as a priest of the Drowned God. A sort of John the Baptist figure, he initiates 'drowned men' into his order by literally drowning them and then resuscitating them. If the resuscitation is successful, they are literally reborn as Drowned Men.


Another character from preceding volumes who now largely travels 'solo' is Brienne of Tarth, the giant female knight. She has been tasked by Jamie Lannister to fulfill Jamie's promise to Catelyn Stark to find her daughter Sansa. Brienne is the most authentic knight in the entire series, following a code of honor and chivalry that few others in this jaded world respect. The irony of her pursuit is that she follows leads which result in her following the trail of the wrong Stark girl, Arya. These are understandable mistakes for someone who has no knowledge of what has really happened to either girl. What Brienne lacks the intelligence or cunning of Tyrion or Cersei she possesses in bravery. She also possesses the wits for survival that the unfortunate Theon Greyjoy, for example, lacks.


Meanwhile, Sansa and Arya are both implementing a strategy for survival that entails living as alter egos, Sansa as Aleyne Stone, the bastard daughter of Peyter Baelish, Arya as the Cat of the Canals, a street urchin and dispenser of vigilante justice. Arya has already survived through a few personages in other circumstances and is quite skilled at it. Naïve Sansa does not come by it as naturally but she is catching on. The fact that she is still accepted without suspicion so far as Aleyne is testimony to the success of her role-playing.


This novel, while not as initially compelling as its predecessors, is nevertheless a necessary link in the chain of installments in this massive saga. One of Martin's chief assets is his ability to create distinct, flawed yet identifiable characters. That gift has not abandoned him here although he perhaps needed to provide a bit more background for sufficient empathy to develop for some of the newer arrivals. As with the previous volumes, I am totally amazed by the density of his world building, the thoroughness of its fantasy history and the intricacy with which he weaves minor characters from previous volumes into more prominent roles later. I don't complain because it takes him so long to write a volume. A saga this complex takes massive time and energy and I'll be grateful for subsequent volumes whenever they appear.