Review: A Dance with Dragons

A Dance with Dragons by George R.R. Martin
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This last book (so far) has been the toughest to read. As long as it took me to read the first four books, is about the length of time it has taken me to read this last one alone. A Dance with Dragons is the "other half" of book four of the Song of Ice and Fire (aka A Game of Thrones) series. Book four, A Feast for Crows, tells the continuing story of the fight for the Iron Thrones of Westeros, concentrating on major characters such as Cersei, Jaime, Tommen, Arya, and Sansa, while book five concentrates on major characters Bran, Jon, and Tyrion, along with many secondary characters like Theon and Asha Greyjoy. The timeline for these two books are in parallel. Martin states that the overall story at this point was simply too big for one book, so he simply divided the story into the two books.

In both of these books, there is little to no action. The story at this point is mostly background for what we hope will be major action in the forthcoming novel(s). If you've ever been told to read a book and to not give up after the first hundred pages because "they are background that's needed for the rest of the book", consider books four and five that hundred pages of background tied up in roughly two thousand pages total.

I don't dislike this book or any of the Game of Thrones books, but book five felt like a long slog through a lot of needless information. Many chapters were highlights of what seem to be minor characters and many of those character's stories are just left hanging. This book is full of loose ends. I would certainly suggest that anyone invested in the series to read this one, but with a warning that it drags out and is far from riveting. Take your time with this one, it's not like you need to be in a hurry to finish since book six doesn't seem to be on the near horizon.

View all my reviews