A Feast for Crows

A Feast for Crows. From the title, it sounds like this book will be focus heavy on the wall. It doesn't. In a Feast for Crows, George R.R. Martin (I'll refer to him as George later) focuses on his characters in the Riverlands, King's Landing, Bravos, Dorne, the Eyrie, and the Iron Islands. We are treated to chapters narrated by Samwell, Arya (Cat), Cersei, Jamie, Brienne, Sansa (Alayne), and various points of view from the Iron Islands and Dorne.

The start of this novel picks up right where the third leaves off. We learn about the aftermath of Tyrion's rampage through the city. It seems to be the tipping point for Cersie. In the past I've tried to find redeeming qualities for her, but in this book she snaps. How will she rule kings landing without her oppresive father Tywin? What about the Tyrell girl? We find out about all that and more. As crazy as Cersie is, her chapters are the cement that holds this book together. She keeps the pace moving, and is always doing something crazy.

Samwell is another interesting piece of the puzzle. I won't spoil it, but I really enjoyed his chapters. Jon sends him on a new mission and is told to bring along Gilly and Maester Aemon. George's focus on Aemon was a great tribute. Sam's love for Gilly and his dedication to Aemon is what brings the heart to this novel.

Jamie spends this novel trying to overcome his demons. How does Westeros's greatest swordsman learn to fight again? How does he cope with Cersie's actions while he's gone. His moment's guarding Tywin's body are haunting. I couldn't help feel bad for his character. No matter how hard he tries, people only see him as a kingslayer and oathbreaker. His dedication to keep his word to Catelyn Tully is admirable, and the end of his last chapter really shows how much his character has grown.

Arya (Cat of the Canals). She's a little spitfire. The new world of Bravos is fascinating. We have heard much of it in previous books, but this is our first glimpse of the city. Not as great as the previous characters, but Arya's transformation in interesting. We meet a lot of characters. It's hard to keep track of most of them, and that plays negatively towards her chapters. I've heard a lot of excitement over Arya in Bravos, so I think I just expected a little more. She is bold and brash. That's what we love about her, but it plays against her in Bravos. She learns to be secret and fly under the radar, but her temper gets the better of her. I expect we'll see more of her in the future. She has a major lesson to learn.

Sansa (Alayne) is hiding away as Littlefinger's Bastard daughter in the Eyrie. We see her interactions with Lord Robert (who is one spoiled, sheltered child). How she puts up with him, I have no clue. She's learning to play the game. With Littlefinger's guidance, she's going to be a force to be reckoned with.

Brienne.... “I'm looking for a highborn maid of three and ten.....” How I wanted to like your chapters, but they were so dull. It felt like the same thing over and over. I know a quest is 99% boring, 1% excitement, but that's how her chapters felt. Her chapters pick up the pace towards the end of the book, but many in the middle I found myself skimming. If you think “that's why you didn't like it, you didn't fully read her”. No. I read many of her chapters and I felt that George gave her way to many. Sorry Brienne.

Dorne. Dorne is an exciting place. I couldn't wait to see the homeland of Prince Oberyn. The desert and the fierce fighters. The “sand snakes”. I loved reading about the world of Dorne, but the POV choices I could have done without. I forget all their names, but Dorne is split up in to the POV of Dorne's captain of the guard, Princess Myrcella's kingsguard (one of Jamie's sworn brothers), one of the sand snakes or Prince Doran (It was early, I can't quite remember), and Doran's daughter the princess. The POV really killed this. I would have preferred two points of view. Ideally one. There were too many here and it worked against the book.

The Iron Islands.... nobody cares. It has the same flaw as Dorne. Too many points of view. What happened on the Iron Islands could have been interesting if George stuck with one character. There are so many names thrown around in this world and in Dorne that it's hard to keep track of who is who. After awhile all the names roll together into the same person. George does a nice job adding details to refresh the reader who each character is, but sometimes it's just too much.

It's hard for me to rate this book. Cersie, Samwell, Sansa and some of Jamie's chapters are all fascinating, but the Iron Islands really killed it. I give this book 3 stars. I would never sit through this book to read it again. Compared to the other novels, this one drags in many places. There is TOO much description. I appreciate the visual worlds he creates and the intricacy, but he needed to step back. If you focus too much on the details you lose sight of the overall design. That's what happened here.