Feast For Crows rocks so far!(small spoilers)

A Feast For Crows does not not disappoint me, contrary to some opinions. Maybe action isn`t as epic as in ASOS, but it is really dark, vicious and personal, vile men and women plot, and crows indeed feast upon Westeros. So far I have read Sansa chapters( Littlefinger rocks again, and sweet girl learns much from him), most of Cersei( she is so arrogant, vicious and yet blind, fun to read. Even has some lesbian action!). Finally the best so far, Iron Isles. Asha is great character, but her Pirat uncle Euron is the biggest badass ever! Here is his great quote:



"Who knows more of gods than I? Horse gods and fire gods, gods of cedar wood, of empty air..... I know them all! I have seen their people garland with flowers, and shed the blood of goats and bulls and children in their names. And I have heard their players, in half a hundred tongues. Save me, succor me, make me wealthy.... protect me! Protect me from my enemies, protect me from the Darkness, from the slayers. Protect me from Silence!( his ship)"-He laughed- "Godless? Why, Aeron, I am the godliest man ever to raise sail! You serve one god, but I have served thousand. From Ib to Asshai, when men see my sails, they pray."

The priest raised a bony finger. "They pray to trees and golden idols and goat-headed abominations. False gods...."

"Just so" said Euron, "and for that sin I kill them all. I split their blood upon the sea and sow their screaming women with my seed. Their little gods cannot stop me, so plainly there are false gods."

wow. I have to say this description and excerpt reinforces my plans involving the book. :\

Its out?

Ive been so out of touch that I didnt even realize it was out yet.

Cool..

It's going to be a long year waiting for the paperback..

Banshee

Eboe said:

Ive been so out of touch that I didnt even realize it was out yet.

Click to expand...

Its out in the UK. Out in US this Tuesday. 11/8.

Which would explain why the bookstore didn't have it when I visited. Maybe this Saturday.

the offical North America release date is November 8th. I got my copy today (the joys of working in a book store . I won't post spoilers but suffice to say... it's damn cool.

Well, I just finished it. As there is a small spoilers warning in this header, I'll make us of it and warn you all now - but I promise I have not included anything below of any consequence. It's pretty much spolier free.

General: I began to read and did not stop unless duty called - of the type that could not be put off. Five years was too long a wait.

But the truth is, I'm still waiting. We got half a book. An enjoyable enough half, but this is no feast - it's merely an appetizer.

The Good

Martin is, as ever, a masterful writer. If the pacing in this one suffered, the prose didn't.

A brief look inside the schemes of Littlefinger. The man tells Sansa many of his plots and methods and he truly is a master of his craft. The rest of the players are rank amateurs compared to Lord Petyr. You almost have to cheer for the man.

A glimpse at the Cult of the Drowned God Aeron Damphair is not only a fanatic and a prophet, he is one damned spooky man with a creepy religion and a baptismal rite that takes no prisoners. This man is the only fictional character in a fantasy novel who has actually scared me a little.

Dunk & Egg vs Brienne and Pod Those who have read the tales of the Hedge Knight will notice various references to Dunk and Egg throughout AFFC. But it's more than the references. There is a clear nod towards the duo being reborn as Brienne and Podrick Payne. Sadly, neither get enough time in the book. No one really get enough time in the spotlight except the one point-of-view character that you will come to with a *sigh* as the novel wears on.

Cersei's Smallest Council While there is a great deal to be said about Cersei Lannister below, the chapter on the Small Council is well done. There is no exposition or narrator's description or judgments made during the look see inside the council meeting. Instead, the reader has an unfiltered opportunity to see how well the new Regent of the Seven Kingdoms has chosen her players.

The Bad

Where's Arya? It's not that Arya is not in AFFC. Ostensibly she is. But there's just not enough of her. Not nearly enough.

Samwell Tarly Ditto for Sam. Sam and Aarya are the two points of view that most fans of the series want to read about most - given what we have in AFFC. But we see neither of them enough - which is a real shame.

Dorne I guess this was necessary but a dozen pages on being trapped in a prison cell gets as tedious to read as it was for the prisoner to endure. 'Nuff said.

The Ugly

Cersei...Cersei...Cersei Look. It's not that they weren't enjoyable chapters. Any of them taken on their own has its moments and they do advance the metaplot of the Seven Kingdoms well enough.

But between Jaime and Cersei, the book is well over half about them. I didn't do a page count, but I expect Cersei grabs at least a third of the pages on her own. It's just too much; in fact, it's way too much.

Had there been another 200 pages of Brienne Arya and Sam, it would have been ok. But as it stands, about half way through the book you reach the end of the chapter and the next page says "Cersei" and you start to groan: "Again?? Gods no - not again!!"

I would have much enjoyed 40 pages less of Cersei and 40 pages more of Sam and Aemon Targaryen. I would say "that's just me" - but I don't think so.

Overall

A good burger and fries to a starving man is a welcome meal. But it isn't a banquet - and this just isn't a Feast. For those waiting for the REAL contnuation of the story, AFFC isn't it. It's a Lannister in Baratheon's tunic - a pretender to the throne. My big fear is that a Dance with Dragons may not be "it" either.

Don't get me wrong. I love this series - but the absence of Jon, Danny Bran and Tryion is painfully obvious at times. That's not to say that the other great characters GRRM has come up with weren't equal to the task - but he simply didn't use the other great ones he does have enough. Not nearly enough.

3.75 out of 5.

Get to work George!! Five years and only this to show for it? SLACKER!! Get writing!!

Further to my review/complaint that there was just way too much Cersei and not enough Sam, Sansa and Arya in a FFC, here's the chapter/page breakdown in AFFC:

Prologue: Oldtown 15 (no real pov character)
Cersei 10 chap, 148pp
Jaime 7 94pp
Brienne 8 115
Dorne 4, 54
Sam 5, 59
Arya 3, 40
Iron Isles 5, 69
Sansa 3, 50


As you can see, the noverl is very light on Sam, Sansa and Arya pov chapters. A series that became beloved by readers as being about the Starks and their struggles has turned very much into a story about the Lannisters and their struggles. Particularly given the absence of Tyrion and the domination of the pov character, Cersei, this was not a welcome development.

I imagine the pacing and "non-Stark" perspective of AFFC is effected very much by the absence of Jon and Bran from a book that was originally intended to contain their chapters - but there you have it.

In the end, the devotion of only 3 chapters to Arya seems to be a real kick in the teeth to fans who have been waiting for five years. I somehow expect that the same light treatment of Bran awaits us in a Dance with Dragons.

Both Bran and Arya develop the "magic" side of the story - and GRRM seems to want to save that plot element for when Winter sets in and the final battle against the Others is joined.

I'm picking up the book today. But from what I read online, it will be a step down from the other books. All my favorite POV's were cut. GRRM Better make this up in the next book or I'm done.