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A Feast for Crows (A Song of Ice and Fire, #4)

George R.R. Martin

Start date: January 1, 2017

Finish date: January 31, 2017

Discussion: Book of the Month

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What Members Thought

Apr 02, 2015 Lauren⁷ 💜 rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: library-has-a-copy

After reading the reviews for this book on Amazon and on here, I will admit that I was somewhat dreading reading this book and I even briefly considered throwing in the towel and quitting the series with this book and just watching the show to learn what happens next. But my desire to finish the series and knowing how much better the character development is in the books won out. And I'm glad it did. I don't exactly think this book was the high point of the series and it's definitely not my favo After reading the reviews for this book on Amazon and on here, I will admit that I was somewhat dreading reading this book and I even briefly considered throwing in the towel and quitting the series with this book and just watching the show to learn what happens next. But my desire to finish the series and knowing how much better the character development is in the books won out. And I'm glad it did. I don't exactly think this book was the high point of the series and it's definitely not my favorite, but I also don't think it's as bad as people make it out to be either. I will admit that I sorely missed the presence of Tyrion, Jon and Dany, but I didn't mind spending so much time with Arya, Brienne, Jaime and Samwell, etc. I liked the fact that, because of the tighter focus, Martin was able to lavish so much character development on what had been, heretofore, some of his not as developed characters. I greatly enjoyed spending so much time in Brienne's head and really getting to know her. She's probably one of the few decent people left in Westeros and is now a favorite character of mine. And speaking of decency, I think Jaime's development was probably the most pronounced and I think he's definitely come the furthest of any character to date in the series. Martin took him from being a despicable man with barely a shred of honor who would (view spoiler) to a semi decent guy who (view spoiler) to a fairly decent guy who when (view spoiler). I think the loss of his hand humbled him greatly and ultimately to his betterment. I wouldn't say he's one of my favorite characters at this point, but I don't despise him nearly as much as I once did. Cersei was the opposite. Cersei is a horrible person and I was so glad to (view spoiler) She's an utterly despicable person and probably the character I hate the most. That being said, I didn't mind spending all that time in her head as I like well developed villains and it was nice to get such insight into Cersei and to learn why she is the way she is and what drives and motivates her. Then we have Arya. She's always been a favorite of mine and I like the direction that Martin is taking her story in. (view spoiler) I liked how with her storyline, Martin is developing the world of Westeros further. It was really cool seeing (view spoiler) and getting to know the city and its colorful inhabitants. And because it's clearly based off of Venice, that made visualizing the city even easier. And as for Sansa, I ended up liking her storyline. I was right in my earlier reviews that as the series has gone along and she's changed and grown up, I have warmed to her. She's no longer a ninny or a wuss. The poor thing is still a pawn though and I'm glad not to be in her shoes. (view spoiler) Samwell didn't have too much page time, but I enjoyed what was given and I find the idea of (view spoiler). I was meh on Martin's decision to follow minor characters. I found the characters and their story lines to be pretty middling. A few were kind of interesting and imparted interesting information, but that information was either seemingly useless to the overall storyline (view spoiler) or it was useful (view spoiler), but it could have been imparted by other characters just as well. But I did appreciate his further development and exploration of Westeros with those characters. As for the actual plots, they were all good and I did enjoy them and I look forward to seeing how it all plays out in A Dance With Dragons. To wrap up, though this isn't the best of the series, I did still enjoy it and I do still recommend it. ...more

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Jun 01, 2011 Sasha rated it liked it

One of the things that both singles Mr. Martin’s books out and makes them difficult to read at the same time is his vast number of POV characters. I understand that in this series, each character has some part to play, but there are some POV characters that are never named or revisited, and so their presence seems quite pointless. Juggling so many actors on the same stage must be quite an exhausting affair, so I can understand why it took him so long to write the next book in the series, A Dance One of the things that both singles Mr. Martin’s books out and makes them difficult to read at the same time is his vast number of POV characters. I understand that in this series, each character has some part to play, but there are some POV characters that are never named or revisited, and so their presence seems quite pointless. Juggling so many actors on the same stage must be quite an exhausting affair, so I can understand why it took him so long to write the next book in the series, A Dance With Dragons. Overall, I think that it’s a bit disadvantageous to write from so many points of view, because once I decided which characters I liked and disliked reading, I skimmed their sections or skipped them entirely, which is not something you want your readers doing. I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one who has done this with Mr. Martin’s books.

Another thing that is bothering me about this series is the pace. There are over a thousand pages of reading and not all that much has happened. When considering that this is in fact the fourth book in the series, you’d think that something significant that will affect the entire of Westeros would have happened already. There’s a lot of subtle politics (and some not-so-subtle), banter, and plotting, but as for follow-through, I feel like the characters are failing in that respect. What is the point, I ask? A lot of stuff is going on—wars, economic decline, waxing and waning political tensions—but there does not seem to be an overarching endgame and that troubles me. Where is Mr. Martin going with these books? And why is he taking so long to get there?

I won’t go into specifics with this book because I don’t want to spoil the first three in the series. However, I will say that a few new point of view characters really add an interesting dimension (Cersei and Brienne, for one). However, I did miss the voices of some of the past POVs, like Tyrion. I hope that in the next book they will be revisited. Overall, of course, Mr. Martin is a fantastic writer. He seems to know what he’s doing, even if I don’t. His descriptions are rich and flavorful, and the plot twists are quite excellent. He’s very good at characterization, and has certainly developed some characters that I had never considered before into some of my favorites. I just hope that he manages to pick up the pace in his following books. ...more

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Jul 14, 2020 Elise rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

This is a great book to an already great series. The intrigue and the different stories for each person. The intricacy of each story and keeping everything straight. There is just so much to this entire story. I love the fantasy world and how will George R. R. Martin tells each little bit of story so well, with deep description and keeping all the stories for every character with no inconsistencies. I like that we are starting to get to the soul of each character in this book. In the other ones ...more

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Sep 11, 2007 Tani rated it really liked it

Shelves: male-author, fantasy, favorites

For the most part, I really enjoyed this book a lot. I think Martin does a great job with making all the different character both interesting and unique, and I'm very interested to see what's going to happen next. However, I did feel like the book dragged a little in places, causing me to wonder every once in a while if anything had really happened in the previous chapter. Regardless, I don't feel at all disappointed by this addition to the series. ...more

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