Long-awaited doesn't begin to describe this fourth installment in bestseller Martin's staggeringly epic Song of Ice and Fire. Speculation has run rampant since the previous entry, A Storm of Swords, appeared in 2000, and Feast teases at the important questions but offers few solid answers. As the book begins, Brienne of Tarth is looking for Lady Catelyn's daughters, Queen Cersei is losing her mind and Arya Stark is training with the Faceless Men of Braavos; all three wind up in cliffhangers that would do justice to any soap opera. Meanwhile, other familiar faces—notably Jon Snow, Tyrion Lannister and Daenerys Targaryen—are glaringly absent though promised to return in book five. Martin's Web site explains that Feast and the forthcoming A Dance of Dragons were written as one book and split after they grew too big for one volume, and it shows. This is not Act I Scene 4 but Act II Scene 1, laying groundwork more than advancing the plot, and it sorely misses its other half. The slim pickings here are tasty, but in no way satisfying. (Nov.)
Author: George R. R. Martin
Series: A Song of Ice and Fire (Book 4)
Genre: Fantasy
Publisher: Bantam (November 8, 2005)
Media type: Hardcover, Paperback, Kindle, Audio Book
Pages: 784 pages
ISBN-13: 978-0553801507
Followed by: A Dance with Dragons
Preceded by: A Storm of Swords
Publication date: 17 October 2005
Reader Review
The song is becoming a noodling free-jam
It's doubtful that any sort of review will stop someone who has read the first three books from reading this long-awaited and justly anticipated instalment. Nevertheless, I'd like to voice an opinion which falls between the extremes which seem to be the most prevalent sort of reponses to this book.
Mr Martin is a great fantasy writer, and I don't think that has changed. However, A Feast For Crows is not up to the standard of this first three in the series. What I suspect HAS changed is the commercial pressure that has been placed on Mr Martin, combined with (I hate to say it) a growing over-indulgence which has been allowed him. When George Martin defends the delays, longer-than-expected lengths, and the seemingly extraneous side-stories, he is fond of referring to Tolkien by saying that "the story writes itself" (or something like that). I don't doubt that Martin experiences this "divine inspiration" like many other great artists, but this time around he seems to have been unable (or more likely, unwilling) to step away from that feeling to undergo the painful process of editing. When the pressure to make a release led to a cutting in half of the anticipated book, thus allowing two books of about 700 pages rather than one of about, say, 1000, it seems that Martin took it as a cue to go easy on the editing. The splitting of the book is itself substantially detrimental, but Martins lack of self-criticism is the real reason why this book is somewhat disappointing. Not everything created by the divine inspiration of great artists is great art.
People who are claiming that there is no plot development, either within the book or for the series, are of course exaggerating. There are certain interesting revelations and developments that will no doubt play a role in the eventual (and I say that optimistically) resolution of the series. Take for (spoiler-free) example the potential rise of the Church of the 7 gods as a major political player, the implied motivations of the masters in Oldtown, the (loss of) direction that Berric Dondarions outlaws have taken, the grand plans of the new king of the Iron Islands etc. However, these sort of developments are only seen accidentally through the characters, who have become the real focus of this book.
This is where Martin seems to have gone astray. The chapters of the three characters who by far dominate this book in terms of length (Cersei, Jaime, and Brienne) are all in turn overly-dominated by a personal theme. Cersei has become paranoid to the point of insanity, particularly with regards to a prophesy she was given as a girl (which, by the way, felt like a new idea of Martins specifically for this book, but doesn't seem to fit entirely comfortably with Cersei's character from the previous books). Jaime is torn between love/trust and hate/mistrust of his sister. Brienne struggles with doubt about her worth in playing the role of a knight as opposed to an ordinary, though ugly, high-born maiden. The problem is that not only are the bigger events of the "game of thrones" made subordinate to these longwinded inner struggles and dialogues, but that they tend not to go anywhere. Admittedly Cersei's paranoia has important ramifications in her final 2 chapters, but is it really necessary to spend her first 8 chapters or so just to give the sense of her paranoia? I feel it could have been done in 3 or 4 chapters, and thereby made more engaging rather than tiresome. The same applies at least as much for Jaime and Brienne.
Speaking of Brienne, I think that Martin has blatently sacrificed the flow of the story within and between books in favour of setting up a "cliffhanger" ending. In the previous books, anticipation for the following book has been achieved by a partial resolution of the characters (Jon Snowe becomes Lord Commander and refuses Stannis' offer, Tyrion kills Tywin and leaves Westeros, etc) and leaves you able to intelligently speculate about their future. Brienne's predicament at the end of her final chapter is a matter that would be resolved in a matter of seconds in real-time, but unfortunately Martin has opted to finish it like a lame soap opera full of cheap tricks to make me watch the next episode, or a typical horror movie setting itself up for a money-making sequel. I dare say she will survive, but I am still left feeling a little more cautious of Martins artistic credibility.
When I say that those three characters dominate the length of the novel, I am not exaggerating. The rest of the POVS are a mixed bag. I thought that the ones covering Dorne and the Iron Islands contained some interesting developments, although they are yet to take on their full significance, which makes them less engaging. I felt Arya had potential to become one of the more interesting characters at the end of the previous novel, but so far (in her 3 chapters) has failed to deliver. Her primary role here seems to be to describe life in the city of Braavos. Sansa's chapters are somewhat interesting but still contain a lot of filler (especially her last one, which I barely skim read up to the last page, something I never felt inclined to do in any of the prevous books). The same goes for Samwell.
Essentially, AFFC contains writing that is as good as any of the previous books, but it is hidden and scattered between too many words, which costs us readers more of our time and money. Martin just seems to do a little too much taking and not enough giving in this instalment, and if things continue like this in the next instalment, he will lose my interest. I'm sure he is aware of the dangers of prolonging a story to the point of tedium. Let's hope that feedback to this book will make him raise his editing game, and get this song back into a refined composition rather than a noodling free-jam.
- by A. A. Fox
A Feast For Statisticians
OK, I did something a little different in this review. Soon there will be literally hundreds of reviews for this book, all giving similar reasons why people like or dislike A Feast For Crows. Instead of adding, and probably losing, my voice in amongst the clamour, I've done a bit of mathematics for you. I actually went through the book and noted which characters had chapters of their own and how many pages each of those chapters had, then I figured the numbers out as percentages (yes, I know, I need to get out more). So now, for your literary edification and illumination, I present to you a list of what actually happens in the book, according to my calculations (all rounded off).
CERCEI: 22.5%. That's right, folks, the Lannister Queen has more than one page in five, and nearly one page in four, devoted entirely to her point of view. If you've always wanted to know what goes on in her scheming little mind, then boy, do we have a show for you! Considering that there are thirteen people altogether who get chapter viewpoints of their own, Cercei's 22.5% share means that, on average, everyone else only gets 6.5% each. You could say that Cercei has the lion's share (terrible pun, I know).
BRIENNE: 17.5%. Next on our little list comes the Maid of Tarth. Most of the time we spend with her is on character development, rather than juicy action. Not that there's anything wrong with that at all, but you've been warned. If you were expecting her to become Lara Croft: Tomb Raider reborn, think again. Also, of some small statistical note, more than 60% of the pages in this book are devoted to the female character's points of view. Just so you know.
JAIME: 15.5%. The ever-more-interesting brother, and erstwhile lover, of Cercei continues in his evolution from out-and-out bad guy to, well, kind of a good guy. We're going to have to read the next book to see which way he jumps for sure, but so far he's certainly more inclined towards honesty and honour than he seemed to be in the first couple of books.
SAMWELL: 9%. The first character with less than ten percent of the ink investment is Sam. One of the more down-to-earth minor characters from the previous book, he gets fleshed out a little more here (excuse the pun).
SANSA: 8%. One of the few remaining Starks, and one of only two who get chapters of their own in this book, Sansa is also evolving as a character. In this book she is very slowly starting to show signs of an independence that she heretofore lacked. Of course, with only three chapters of her own, she doesn't show much. Not that she was ever on the front lines of either political intrigue or physical combat.
ARYA: 6% The only other person from House Stark with chapters from her own viewpoint. Arya has always been an interesting character to me. Her moral ambiguity, like Jaime's, is stretched further in this book. I'm a little nervous as to how she'll shape up in the end. At this point, it's a little difficult for me to tell, though I have optimistic expectations.
WHO? WHAT? HUH?: 21.5%. Seven people, some of whom are hardly mentioned, or not mentioned at all, in previous books, have their own chapter or two each in this book. So more than one page in five is from the viewpoint of someone you probably can't remember reading about before. And half the time the same viewpoint doesn't come up again in this book at all.
TYRION, JON, DAENERYS, STANNIS, DAVOS, ETC.: 0%. These characters don't appear at all. We have to tune in to the next episode for updates on their adventures. I wondered about this when I bought the book and saw that the maps at the front only showed Westeros.
So there you have it. If you're here reading reviews because you've gotten halfway through the book, don't like it, and want to see what everyone else thought, then I'd recommend that you keep reading. Slog through a few more pages; it does pick up at around the halfway mark. Although, in my mind, the endings for the various characters are fairly anticlimactic. Nothing is really resolved, unlike the previous books. And it's going to be the same for the next book, apparently, since Martin says that it will only focus on the characters who were expected to appear in this book but didn't.
I've given A Feast For Crows three stars, where the previous books in the series would have each earned at least four stars from me.
- by Mark Pawlyszyn
An Unfortunate Consensus
I was warned, as no doubt most A Song of Ice and Fire fans were as well, that A Feast For Crows was an unworthy follow up to the darling of the series thus far, A Storm of Swords. Stories of the publication issues, the extreme length of the original manuscript, and the expansion of the series as a whole, with Martin choosing not to skip over the five or so years that was originally planned after the events of A Storm of Swords, were rife. Even the very people that recommended the series to me in the first place were quick to warn me not to get too amped up for Feast, as it was an inevitable disappointment.
Three years and as many re-reads later, and I still have no idea what they're talking about. While it remains true that Danaerys and Tyrion are missing from the book entirely and Jon Snow is only seen in short glimpses, their absence is more of a subjective loss than an objective one. The core strengths of the series are still in ample supply; Martin's flair for detail and character are as strong as ever, and the mysteries that are hinted at throughout the book are as engrossing as any other.
As the title implies, A Feast For Crows is a story that is, at its heart, about the aftermath of great events; in a word, loss. Murders of very real crows pick through the slain of the War of Five Kings, and the center of so many of the plots and counter plots of the previous books are either slain, indisposed, or crippled (the crippling being emotional or metaphorical as well as physical), leaving a power vacuum that the clever but short-sighted schemer Cersei Lannister is eager to fill.
Make no mistake, A Feast For Crows is largely Cersei's book. Fans who find her irritating to the point of distraction will not enjoy her chapters, as they are generally filled with Cersei celebrating her intelligence after committing some folly. Subjective opinions of Cersei aside, her chapters are subtly handled; it's easy to cast her aside as a madwoman or an idiot, but Martin implies throughout it all that the core of Cersei's motivation is fear. She fears for her only son and daughter, she fears for her own safety and the safety of her house, and her throne. The pillars of her world have been pulled from under her: the rock that was Tywin Lannister lies rotting on a bier, and her brother/lover Jaime has changed, in her mind, for the worse. In her inability to cope with events, she mistakes folly for genius, and her actions ultimately seed her own doom.
There is a bit of a fourth-quarter effect in some of her chapters, however. The prophecy of the valonqar seems to fit, but there was no mention of it in previous volumes. While this can plausibly be simply because Cersei never had a POV before, it still seems like it was tacked on. Without it, she still has reason to fear Tyrion, and even that simple motivation when seen through the lens of a scared mother who doesn't allow herself to grieve is enough to qualify her actions. The volunqar storyline, however, neatly parallels her character arc in Feast; it is strongly implied that in her fear, she partly fulfilled Maggy the Frog's prophecy by killing the only other person who was present when it was foretold. In that way, even if the volunqar story was thought up the weekend before publication, it still has a significant and worthy impact on the plot.
The other reason people seem to mislike Feast is Brienne of Tarth. In terms of the number of chapters and page time given, Brienne comes in a close second only to Cersei. So, again, the subjective dislike of Cersei and Brienne have a very significant impact on the opinions of Feast at-large. However, Brienne's story, despite being full of what Jaime calls "bleating," contains the larger portion of action in the entire book. Jaime is forced to fight his battles with wits and words instead of steel, and aside from the Ironmen, the rest of the realm is winding down from the war and fighting grows less frequent. Mileage may vary, but for my money Brienne's quest was a fascinating look at the deplorable state of the seven kingdoms, and there is a brutal grimness to her chapters that suggests that Westeros will get worse before it gets better.
Jaime is at his best in Feast, hands down. His chapters are more interesting, if less action-focused, than his chapters in A Storm of Swords. It is in Feast where Jaime truly begins to change. Tyrion's mocking words at the end of Storm haunt him to the extent of rebuffing his sister, and as her attitude abruptly changes toward him, his own changes toward her as well. His struggle is largely personal, as he has to contend with the demons of his past while at the same time relying on them to keep him alive; the very reputation that he loathes is, right now, the only thing staying the blades of so many people who would see him dead, and House Lannister cast down.
Feast also features Littlefinger at his best, divulging more of his plans than in any other book, and Sansa's growth from a dreaming woman-child to an intelligent, capable young adult is astonishingly well handled. Samwell Tarly advances the master-plot of the Prince that was Promised and gives a quick look at the developing understanding of events to come, and the focus on the Ironmen, as well as a much-needed look at Dorne rounds out A Feast for Crows as one of the more comprehensive entries in the series, despite the exclusion of Jon, Tyrion and Dany.
There are some complaints that Feast is a sideshow, that is doesn't advance the main storyline in any meaningful way, but I find that a little hard to grasp. Though there could be more focus on the chapters outside of King's Landing (I don't think three Ironmen POVs are necessary; having just Victarion or Just Aeron or just Asha would have sufficed - same goes for Dorne: are Arys' AND Areo's AND Arianne's chapters necessary?), their impact on the events to come are HUGELY important. Doran Martell's plotting against House Lannister is revealed, suggesting that Dorne will be a huge player in books to come. The Ironmen are making ever more aggressive strides toward conquering the Seven Kingdoms at large, and they also are interested in Danaerys. I'm still at a loss as to what people expected from Feast; no, it doesn't end in an epic confrontation like at the end of Clash or Storm, but the subtle advances of the master plot and the focus on the fallout of the War of Five Kings is just as important in the grand scheme.
I would like to make it clear to any potential readers; the only loss in A Feast for Crows is the loss of Jon, Dany, Tyrion and Bran. It is unfortunate, but I don't feel as if it ruins the series or even bogs it down. The pace of this book is on akin to A Game of Thrones, but where in the debut volume events were ramping up, in this volume they are winding down. Coming in at over 900 pages, even with the exclusion of the Dornish and Ironmen chapters, including four of the ball-carrying POV characters would have expanded Feast beyond a doorstopper; it would have been a veritable tome. Further complaints are, I feel, more directed at fans' annoyance at the absence of A Dance With Dragons. Feast is no weaker than any other novel in the series. It is as GRRM states it is in the afterword; the full story with half the characters.
Feast is a worthy entry in the series, and well worth re and re-reading, as are all the rest. The subtlety of the writing and characterization, the hints and snapshots we get of the larger events, the development of the characters and the overall tone of loss in this book are not the flashy, quippy, action-packed events of A Clash of Kings. Nor are they the epicly brutal events of A Storm of Swords. This is a book about the victors licking their wounds, the losers facing their fate, and those who have been left untouched preparing for worse.
- by Talmaos
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