“When writing epic fantasy, I've always held the belief that middle books are hard. And the longer the series, the more "stuff" in the middle. A Song of Ice & Fire is dealing with this like so many of the predecessors did: slog on through. Unfortunately, at this point in the series it is hard to tell if the slogging will be worth the journey when your heart gets stamped on repeatedly in the process.
This novel, without giving things away, works fairly well in tandem with Feast of Crows. However, was it worth the six year wait? at points - yes. But there were many points where I was seriously tempted to give up. Dany, queen of Slavers Bay shows that she can be almost Twilight-esque when faced with a boy she loves. Arya grows up. Jon questions himself. Bran goes on a journey to really find himself. Sansa deepens her hold on her reality. Characters that we thought might possibly be dead appear. People we hope are dead seem to be spotted everywhere and nowhere reliable. All this book gave me was more questions.
I've passed the novel on to several friends as they read through the entire series and gobbled them up in speedy succession. They saw less of the gaps and enjoyed the heady rush with one who has just discovered a new love. I'm hoping to have that feeling as GRRM wraps up the series over the next two (?) novels.”
Rae wrote this review Sunday, November 13, 2011.
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