George R.R. Martin's "Broken Men" speech read by the creator of DEADWOOD

This week's Game of Thrones missed a trick by not having Ian McShane's septon read out the "Broken Men" speech from A Feast for Crows, when Septon Meribald describes the fate of those soldiers who fleet the battlefield, becoming "broken men".

McShane didn't do it, but Genius.com did the next best thing by roping in David Milch, the writer/creator of Deadwood (and thus McShane's old boss), to read the speech from the books instead.

The speech is widely regarded as one of the highlights of George R.R. Martin's writing and his "unromanticising" of medieval warfare.

New trailer for GAME OF THRONES Season 6

HBO have released a second trailer for the upcoming sixth season of Game of Thrones. This trailer has a lot of new images and footage that hints at the future direction of the season.

After the images I look at some possible directions the season may take. Beware MASSIVE SPOILERS AFTER THE CUT.

A Song of Facts and Figures: A Feast for Crows

The original cover art for A Feast for Crows, by Stephen Youll. A few copies of the novel were actually printed with this artwork in place, and can command steep prices.

A Feast for Crows

Writing Period: Summer 2001-May 2005

Originally Published: 17 October 2005 (UK), 8 November 2005 (USA)

Word Count: 300,000

Manuscript Page Count: 1,063

Hardcover Page Count: 755

Paperback Page Count: 864 (US), 852 (current UK)

Chapters: 46

POV Characters: 12 + Prologue

When George R.R. Martin sat down to start writing A Dance with Dragons, then planned to be the fourth volume of A Song of Ice and Fire, he imagined it was going to be fairly straightforward. It had taken him nine years to write the first three books in the series, but having just penned the massive A Storm of Swords in record time and seen it have a rapturous critical reception, he was highly motivated to finish the series off at a fast pace. When fans asked him when he thought the book would be on the shelves, he confidently said "Late 2002".

This didn't happen.

A Dance with Dragons was supposed to start five years after the events of A Storm of Swords. The young children characters would all be older, some of the chaotic events from the previous novels would have had time to have died away and some of the more (arguably) humdrum aspects of the story - characters travelling and learning - would happen off-page. It was a nice idea and worked well for some characters (Jon, Daenerys, Arya, Bran) but for others (Cersei, Brienne, Jaime) it didn't work at all. Martin found himself having to refer to events that had happened in the interim, sometimes filling out entire chapters with flashbacks to that interim period. For over a year he struggled with making this structure work and eventually gave up.

At Worldcon in August 2001, Martin announced that he had effectively scrapped 500 pages of manuscript he had written for A Dance with Dragons. Instead, he had started writing a new fourth book that would instead start immediately after the events of Swords. This book was entitled A Feast for Crows. In the event it would take a further three and a half years to finish the book (sort of) and more than four to bring it to the shelves.

The primary problem with Crows was that Martin was now "filling in the blanks" of the previous five-year gap for some characters, but other characters were now ready to move into the next phase of the storyline. In some cases it appears new material was created for them, in others it appears Martin simply got them going to where they'd have been after the abandoned gap. He also widened the cast, bringing in new characters in Dorne and expanding the POV roster to include previously-seen characters in the Iron Islands, but now raised to much greater prominence. At one point he planned an enormous (Robert Jordan-style) mega-prologue divided between all the Dornish and ironborn characters, but then changed his mind and split this up into more traditional chapters.

The original and unused UK cover art for Crows, by Jim Burns. Note that this was prepared a long time before the split, hence the presence of Jon Snow.

Martin wrote and wrote during this period, occasionally publishing sample chapters on his website or reading them at conventions. Three Daenerys Targaryen chapters were combined into a chapbook and given away at a fantasy convention. He also started using the web more, particularly the "Update" section on his website, to talk about progress on the book. Updates were given, the book was getting larger and larger, but still with no end in site. For some fans, the fact that they'd gotten three large books within four years of one another but had now had to wait for four and more for one was incomprehensible.

In early 2005, Martin reassessed his status. The book was huge, having topped 1,600 manuscript pages and heading northwards at a rate of knots. Some characters in the book had pretty much complete story arcs, such as Jaime, Cersei and Brienne. Others were incomplete, such as Arya. Others still (including the important central trio of Daenerys, Jon and Tyrion) only had a few chapters written for them. Martin and his publishers began discussing splitting the book into two volumes, with the second volume to follow on a year or so from the first. At first they debated doing this chronologically, but Martin found this unsatisfying as there were few good places where he could end the first half of the narrative.

Martin's friend and sometimes-collaborator Daniel Abraham (more recently famous for his role as one half of James S.A. Corey, the writing machine behind The Expanse SF series, as well as his own, excellent fantasy series The Long Price Quartet and The Dagger and the Coin) suggested an alternative scheme: splitting the book by geography, as the completed characters were mostly located in the south of Westeros and the incomplete ones were either in the distant North or on the eastern continent. Martin preferred this plan, noting he'd done something similar in his Wild Cards books (where one oversized volume had been split in two, between characters in New York City and others outside the city). In May 2005 he announced that the book was done, if somewhat faster and more abruptly than expected.

George R.R. Martin also made an announcement he later ruefully regretted: he had 500 manuscript pages now complete for the fifth volume (still to be called A Dance with Dragons) and this book would follow "a year later".

 

 The final US cover art for A Feast for Crows.

Cover Art

The explosive burst of sales between A Storm of Swords and A Feast for Crows - despite the gap, George R.R. Martin had overtaken Robin Hobb to become HarperCollins Voyager's most popular living author by the end of 2005 - had made both the UK and US publishers decide to rejacket the entire book series. This meant that early covers prepared for Crows in the same style as the first three books were now abandoned and new covers were prepared. These were more minimalist, with icons rather than characters. Long-term fans preferred the earlier style of cover, but the new covers did seem to attract more buyers during the long drought between Crows and Dragons, even before news of the TV series broke.

Randyll Tarly, Wielder of Heartsbane, Defeater of Robert Baratheon, Driver of the Van of Victory.

What Would Randyll Tarly Do?

During the writing of the Wild Cards shard-world anthology series, a very minor character showed up at a party, said "Where is the cheese?" and then died. Years later, George R.R. Martin would get still get fans asking about the character. He called this the "Boba Fett Effect", where a small, minor character with barely any lines shows up and somehow ends up being considered a cool badass. Early volumes of A Song of Ice and Fire featured this to some extent: Bronze Yohn Royce had (bewilderingly) a few fans from the second he was mentioned, as his name sounded cool. Almost disposable characters like Bronn turned out to be far more popular than first envisaged.

For A Feast for Crows, Martin felt confident he had repeated the trick by introducing a new, lethal and enigmatically cool character who was bad, mad and dangerous to know. He may even had been right, if the character hadn't been Darkstar ("For I Am of the Night"). Darkstar turned out to be an underwhelming damp squib, represented in fan art as an edgy wannabe teenager trying to hang out with the cool crowd and not cutting it.

Instead, being contrary bastards at the best of times, Martin's fans in the Brotherhood Without Banners decided that the true hero of A Song of Ice and Fire was Randyll Tarly, "The Best Father in Westeros." It was argued that by forcing his son Samwell to go to the Wall, he had made him man up and eventually get into a position to save Westeros entirely from the Others. He was "Tough, but fair". He was described as the best general in Westeros and, commanding the "Tyrell van" had defeated Robert Baratheon at the Battle of Ashford. Cue fan art showing a Ford transit van trundling onto the battlefield and Randyll Tarly defeating Robert's entire army single-handedly. And so forth.

The Randyll Tarly meme eventually died down (to the bemused relief of George) but with news that he may appear in Season 6 of Game of Thrones spurring increasingly badass casting suggestions (James Purefoy and Ray Stevenson leading the charge), it may yet return.

Game of Thrones: Season 5

Westeros is trying to recover from the devastation of the War of the Five Kings. Bandits and raiders are rife in the countryside and the Greyjoys and Stannis Baratheon remain in arms against King Tommen. In King's Landing, the machinations of the Queen Regent threaten to shatter the alliance between Houses Lannister and Tyrell, whilst Jon Snow's determination to forge an alliance with the wildlings proves controversial with his brothers in the Night's Watch. Far across the sea, Daenerys's attempts to restore peace to the ancient city of Meereen are threatened by a band of rebels enraged by her decision to ban slavery and by the fact that she has lost control of her dragons.

Much will be written about the fifth season of Game of Thrones in the months and years to come. This was always going to be the season in which George R.R. Martin's novels and David Benioff and D.B. Weiss's TV show were going to dramatically diverge from one another, the near-inevitable result of both the needs of dramatisation (which would likely not bear the introspection and subtlety of the fourth and fifth books in the series) and the fact that the TV show is now outpacing the books, requiring both outright invention on the part of the producers as well as drawing on elements from books as-yet unreleased, or even unwritten.

This process has mixed results. In some cases, the adaptation continues to hit its sweet spot of getting complex stories from the novels across on screen in a simpler form, but one that is also clearer, more concise and retaining the thematic essentials whilst paring away unnecessary (if still interesting) supporting material and characters. King's Landing particularly benefits from this, with lots of minor politics involving new or vanishingly minor characters swept aside in favour of a more ruthless focus on Cersei's growing hatred of the Tyrells and the arrival of the High Sparrow, played with flawless passion by Jonathan Pryce. This culminates in the excellent, distressing "Walk of Shame" sequence, in which Lena Headey knocks it out of the park as Cersei is humiliated to the point where even the most hardened viewer may feel sorry for her, despite her many crimes.

Almost as well-handled (until its conclusion) is the story at the Wall. Lots of minor crises within the Night's Watch are jettisoned in favour of Jon Snow being given a more decisive story arc: becoming Lord Commander, leading a fleet to rescue the wildlings, getting in over his head at the Battle of Hardhome and then being forced to flee but at least having secured a new alliance.

Then we have the infamous Dornish storyline. This is botched, and botched quite badly. It's a waste of both superlative casting (Alexander Siddig is fantastic, but doesn't have much to do) and beautiful scenery (the result of Spain being added to the shooting locations), with the show delivering the feeblest fight sequence in its history, some of the most risible dialogue and, in the relationship between Tyene Sand and Bronn, who is old enough to be her grandfather, some of its most cringe-inducing flirting (despite the heroic efforts of both actors). There are moments where you can see why the producers thought it was a good idea, such as the "reasonable" negotiations between Jaime and Doran and the final scene with Jaime and Myrcella, but it could be argued that the producers should have followed their first instincts and simply not gone to Dorne at all. The fact that the story is also missing its key scene from the books (the one that made the whole story in the books make sense) also hurts it badly.

Then we have Meereen and the Winterfell/Stannis situation, which can both be described as "problematic". The Meereen story is simplified from the books, which might be a good thing, with less interchangeable characters, less factions and less politics involving minor tertiary characters. However, the TV series fails to replace these elements with anything more interesting. Instead we have repeated (and redundant) scenes of the Sons of the Harpy slaughtering curiously ineffectual Unsullied by the dozen and repeated (and redundant) scenes of Daenerys musing on opening the fighting pits or not. There are some golden moments here, such as Tyrion and Daenerys finally meeting and the final, epic showdown in the Great Pit, but otherwise it's a story left spinning its wheels for too long.

The Winterfell story is even more variable. Combining the wildly disparate and disjointed Brienne, Sansa, Theon and Ramsay arcs from the novels into one storyline that fuses them together is a bold move and one that actually makes sense and almost works. It is sabotaged by again benching characters for long periods (Brienne's Season 5 storyline can be summed up as "The Woman Who Stared At Masonry"), running roughshod over motivations (Littlefinger seems uncharacteristically uninformed and stupid) and introducing controversy for controversy's sake (the ending to the sixth episode). Excellent acting by all involved does elevate the story and some scenes are genuinely brilliant. Roose Bolton's matter-of-fact recounting of Ramsay's conception seems to disturb even the unflappably demented Ramsay, whilst Alfie Allen sells Theon's internal struggle to become his old self again with tragic intensity. Sophie Turner also rises above some questionable story twists to deliver some of her finest moments in the role of Sansa to date.

However, it is Stannis's storyline that walks off with the prize for the most howl-inducingly frustrating. Since his introduction in Season 2, the show's depiction of the character has suffered in comparison to the novels, where he is one of Martin's most subtle and complex characters. His motivations are simple on the surface but more complex underneath and he is a character that is determined more by bad PR than reality (the common observation that Stannis humourless is undercut by occasional, very dry almost-quips). Fleetingly, the TV show has shown the same character such as during his determination at the Blackwater and in his first meeting with Jon Snow. But it's not until Season 5 that it seems to nail his character: correcting the grammar of the Night's Watch, nodding approvingly over Jon Snow's leadership tactics and being more fatherly with his daughter. Of course, it was a trap, all done to make his preposterous and utterly unconvincing about-heel turn towards the end of the ninth episode all the more painful to watch. Stephen Dillane was superb in the role, but it does feel like the TV show's producers and writers fundamentally misunderstood the character throughout the series.

Almost as disappointing is the end to Jon Snow's storyline. In A Dance with Dragons, Jon gradually sends away his most experienced men to man the other castles on the Wall, inadvertently removing the Night's Watch officers who were at the Fist of the First Men and fought the White Walkers there. This leaves behind a cabal of men who haven't seen the true threat from the north and whom it feels convincing would turn on and betray their commander. In the TV series this does not happen, and Castle Black is stuffed full of rangers who have just seen thousands of corpses rise from the dead and the White Walkers themselves in the full terrible majesty of their power. The notion that the Watch would betray Jon under such circumstances is laughable, not helped by the climactic Caesar moment being staged in a manner more befitting Monty Python (with the assassins neatly lined up in a row to each stab Jon and utter their catchphrase, and he politely doesn't keel over until they're all done). Poor stuff.

There are other moments in the fifth season of Game of Thrones when it feels like the show is dealing with pure myth: the voyage through the ruins of Valyria is a genuinely awe-inspiring moment of magic and the Battle of Hardhome is the best action sequence conceived for the series so far, a full-on zombie rumble that would do Sam Raimi proud and which blows every single zombie action sequence in five seasons of The Walking Dead completely out of the water. The depiction of Braavos is pretty good, and the scenes in the House of Black and White are creepy. The scenes with the dragons are amazing, the more frequent use of CGI establishing shots gives the show a sense of scale that favourably compares with the best films and the production values remain jaw-dropping. The show still has the best cast on television. It remains, even in its weakest moments, watchable.

But there's also the feeling that the fifth season is a little too disjointed, more willing to lean on lazy coincidence and cliche than previous seasons. There's also a distressing lack of attention to detail, with Dorne's location on the title sequence map not being quite right, Jon Snow's fleet apparently landing on the wrong side of the Wall and the plausible military side of things being completely thrown out the window (if Stannis was really a master tactician, he would never do the things he does in the finale).

The fifth season of Game of Thrones is the weakest to date, delivering some of the worst moments and episodes, but it still manages to shine with some real moments of dramatic power. It certainly leaves things in an interesting place going forwards, even if it feels implausible that this huge story (even the TV show's truncated version) can be wrapped up in just twenty more episodes. But we will see how the sixth and penultimate season handles things next year.



501: The Wars to Come (***½)
502: The House of Black and White (***½)
503: High Sparrow (***½)
504: Sons of the Harpy (****)
505: Kill the Boy (****½)
506: Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken (**½)
507: The Gift (****)
508: Hardhome (*****)
509: The Dance of Dragons (****)
510: Mother's Mercy (***½)

Forthcoming: Season 6 (March/April 2016)

New ASoIaF TV tie-in editions revealed

HarperCollins Voyager and Bantam Spectra have revealed their new tie-in editions for the new season of Game of Thrones, and they are taking rather different approaches to it.

First up is HarperCollins, who are using their fourth paperback volume for the job. A Storm of Swords Part 2: Blood and Gold, appropriately is the second half of A Storm of Swords. For the cover, they have surprisingly gone with a re-coloured version of last year's HBO logo rather than the current year's. With each season having its own logo, there was no need to re-use last year's one.

With the UK paperback volumes of ASoIaF split into seven volumes (so far), they have enough books to cover most of the series, and of course more than enough when The Winds of Winter comes out.

For the USA we have Bantam's cover for A Feast for Crows, which does feature this year's logo. This is a little bit more awkward, as after this Bantam only have their one-volume paperback edition of A Dance with Dragons for next year and then they run out of books to match up with seasons. The Winds of Winter may be out in hardcover in late 2015 or early 2016 (hopefully), but based on the last two books it likely won't be released in paperback until after the show concludes (in 2018 at the latest).

New SONG OF ICE AND FIRE covers for the UK

HarperCollins Voyager have unveiled new cover art for the Song of Ice and Fire novels by George R.R. Martin.

Click to embiggen.

The new books emphasise landforms and geography, unlike the previous covers which featured military and medieval iconography.

They're striking, but to my mind don't quite capture the feel of the series. In particular, A Clash of Kings featuring (presumably) the Red Waste on the cover is a little odd given that only one chapter takes place there. It's also mildly disappointing that Voyager still haven't recombined A Storm of Swords and A Dance with Dragons into a single paperback volume each, given how many larger or comparable novels out there are available in one paperback volume (The Wise Man's Fear, The Naked God, Atlas Shrugged, The Lord of the Rings, Diana Gabaldon's novels etc). I'm also hoping that the Game of Thrones tie-in note are stickers and not part of the cover, as they are rather incongruous. The current paperback set rather subtly and elegantly notes the GoT reference in a small section on the back cover, which is a better idea.

The new covers will be available alongside the previous ones and will not replace them outright.

GAME OF THRONES Season 4 discussion

Myself, Elio from Westeros.org and Charlie Jane Anders have thrown some ideas around about how Game of Thrones' fourth season will unfold over on io9. Obviously, massive spoilers from A Feast for Crows and A Dance with Dragons are included.

I may expand on some of the ideas further here, but the general thrust of the argument is that I think the show needs to start hitting some AFFC/ADWD storylines by the end of Season 4 if they are going to fit all seven books into just seven or eight seasons, whilst Elio takes the view they can be a bit more relaxed and use most of the season to address the remaining Storm of Swords material. I guess we'll find out in March 2014.

Roy Dotrice records new edition of FEAST FOR CROWS audiobook

Roy Dotrice has recorded a new audiobook version of A Feast for Crows, the fourth novel in the Song of Ice and Fire series. Dotrice recorded the first three books in the series many years ago, and the fifth more recently, but was unavailable when the fourth novel was released in 2005. Another actor, John Lee, recorded the audio version of Crows, but fans have long expressed a wish for a Dotrice version of the book to make a matching set.


Random House Audio have listened to their concerns. The new edition of the audiobook will be available as a digital download from Audible (US, USA) this week, on Thursday, whilst a CD edition will follow in March 2012.

NEW YORK, NY (December 12, 2011)—Random House Audio announces today that it will release a new recording of George R.R. Martin’s A FEAST FOR CROWS, the fourth book in Martin’s bestselling series, A Song of Ice and Fire, narrated by fan favorite, Roy Dotrice.

Dotrice earned a passionate following from listeners and a Guinness World Record for his work on the series, creating 224 voices for the first book in the series, A GAME OF THRONES.

The new recording will be available December 15th, published by Random House Audio, and HarperAudio UK, and clocks in at 33 hours, 48 minutes long.

A U.S. & Canada CD edition will be published by Random House Audio in March 2012 to coincide with the second season premiere of the HBO series, “Game of Thrones,” which will feature Dotrice onscreen as Hallyne the pyromancer, chief of the Guild of Alchemists.

“Fans from all over the world requested a Roy Dotrice recording of A FEAST FOR CROWS,” says Amanda D’Acierno, Vice President and Publisher, Random House Audio. “We are so pleased to be working with HarperAudio in the UK to publish this edition for our listeners.”

The A Song of Ice and Fire series has more than 12 million of the five books in print, including more than 313,000 audio CDs and digital downloads. The series has developed a huge cult following, peaking this year with the release of A DANCE WITH DRAGONS and the premiere of the HBO TV adaptation.

A Song of Ice and Fire So Far Part 4: Swords and Crows

This post concludes my look at the story so far for A Song of Ice and Fire, ahead of the arrival of the fifth book.

Note, if you are watching the TV series alone this article contains spoilers of such magnitude that your eyeballs will be sucked out of their sockets and catapulted into low orbit where they will hit the International Space Station and make it explode. Do not read on unless you want the entire future outcome of the TV series spoiled for you in detail.

Awesome.

A Storm of Swords
The newly-allied Lannisters and Tyrells have smashed Stannis Baratheon's attempt to take the Iron Throne, destroying much of his army and navy in a huge battle on the Blackwater Rush and the surrounding shores. King Joffrey Baratheon gave thanks to his new allies and agreed to uphold the bargain brokered by Littlefinger: he set aside Sansa Stark and became betrothed to marry Margaery Tyrell instead. Curious as to what sort of man Joffrey was, Margaery's grandmother, the noted 'Queen of Thorns', interrogated Sansa closely on Joffrey's character and nature, and was not impressed by what she had heard.

At the Fist of the First Men, the gathered strength of the Night's Watch waited for word from Qhorin Halfhand and Jon Snow, but they came under attack by both wights and the Others themselves. Samwell Tarly, to his own shock, killed an Other with an obsidian blade, part of a cache found under the Fist. The Night's Watch retreated to Craster's Keep, home of the wildling Craster who was a friend of the Watch, but there some of Lord Commander Mormont's men turned on him and murdered him. Craster was also killed. Chaos erupted and the Watch scattered. Sam escaped with one of Craster's daughter-wives, Gilly, and they fled south to the Wall. News of the disasters reached Castle Black, and Maester Aemon sent out ravens to the various kings begging for aid.

The original UK cover of the one-volume Storm of Swords (and Part 1 of the two-volume edition), art by Jim Burns.

Meanwhile, Catelyn Stark had decided to unilaterally release Jaime Lannister from imprisonment in Riverrun in return for Jaime ensuring that Arya and Sansa were returned to her, banking on Brienne of Tarth to escort Jaime to King's Landing and her daughters back. However, Cat's actions angered her brother, Edmure, who sent men to recapture Jaime. Jaime and Brienne escaped, sinking one of the riverboats pursuing them, but were apprehended by the Brave Companions, sellswords who had served Lord Tywin Lannister who had gone over to the Starks. The leader of the Companions, Vargo Hoat, cut off Jaime's sword hand on a whim and made Brienne fight a bear for his amusement, though Jaime intervened and, even one-handed, killed the bear. At Harrenhal, Lord Roose Bolton made clear his displeasure at Hoat's actions. Jaime was treated most courteously by Lord Roose, who had sent a large number of troops south-east to sack Duskendale, a bold but foolish move due to the proximity of King's Landing and the large Tyrell and Lannister armies. Roose allowed Jaime and Brienne to return to King's Landing, escorted by Qyburn, a maester of dubious repute. Before departing, Jaime asked Roose to pass on his regards to Robb Stark.

Returning to Riverrun from their campaign in the Westerlands, Robb Stark and Brynden Tully expressed their displeasure to Edmure. Edmure was supposed to allow the Lannister armies to pursue Robb and fall into a trap which would have either destroyed them or left them too far west to aid King's Landing when Stannis attacked. Edmure was angry in turn, as no-one bothered to fill him on the plan. The news of Winterfell's destruction - which Ramsay Snow had blamed on Theon Greyjoy, who was now his prisoner at the Dreadfort - filled the northmen with disquiet and Robb reluctantly agreed that he needs to abandon the military campaign in the south. He must withdraw to the North, retake Winterfell and make further plans from there. Unfortunately, this meant abandoning the Riverlands to the Tyrells and Lannisters. The river lords vowed to fight on in his name. Unfortunately, Robb's plan has been complicated by an unforeseen event: after being wounded in the assault on the Crag, the stronghold of House Westerling, and hearing of the deaths of his two brothers, Robb was 'comforted' by Jeyne Westerling. Robb married her out of honour, but in doing so broke his marriage contract with the Freys. As a result, House Frey had withdrawn its troops back to the Twins. In addition, Robb was forced to execute Lord Rickard Karstark for plotting to murder Jaime Lannister whilst he was a prison, losing him the support of the Karstarks as well.

The original art of the second volume of A Storm of Swords, by Jim Burns.

Arya Stark and her friends, fleeing north from Harrenhal, ran into the Brotherhood Without Banners, a group of 'outlaw' knights and fighters led by Lord Beric Dondarrion and the red priest, Thoros of Myr, as well as containing some of Lord Eddard's household guard from Winterfell. They were sent out by Eddard Stark to arrest Gregor Clegane before the Lannister coup. Bereft of orders from Eddard and not recognising the authority of Joffrey, they had fought against the Lannister armies in the Riverlands as an independent unit, mostly concerned with protecting the smallfolk. The Brotherhood welcomed Arya into their ranks, but were reluctant to go to Riverrun and hand her over to Catelyn and Robb, not wanting to officially ally with Robb's forces. They also encountered Sandor Clegane, who had fled the Blackwater in terror. They prepared to execute Sandor for his own crimes, but he demanded trial by battle and killed Beric. Astonishingly, Thoros was able to resurrect Beric using magic, though Beric seemed more distant and withdrawn afterwards. They let Sandor go. After marching around the Riverlands a few times, Arya got tired and broke off to head to Riverrun by herself, but Sandor Clegane caught her. He decided to take her home himself and collect a reward.

At Dragonstone, Stannis Baratheon was in a grim mood. The storm lords had gone over to Joffrey, leaving him with only a handful of troops and a few ships left. Any realistic chance of him claiming the Iron Throne appeared to be gone, and it was only a matter of time before the Tyrells and Lannisters assaulted Dragonstone and Storm's End directly. He debated strategy with Davos Seaworth, whom he had made his new Hand, and with the red priest Melisandre, to no avail. Davos decided to learn how to read, helped by Stannis' maester, whilst Melisandre drew some of Stannis' blood and vowed that she could curse Robb Stark, Balon Greyjoy and Joffrey Baratheon to ensure their deaths.

The current UK cover for A Storm of Swords, Part 1, art by Larry Rostant.

Robb Stark's host joined with Roose Bolton's army. Robb was aghast to hear that a large number of Stark troops were killed in a futile assault on Duskendale, which Roose blamed firmly on the impudence of their commanders. Robb noted that the ironborn had taken Moat Cailin, blocking the way back into the North, and that Moat Cailin had never fallen to assault from the south. He decided to send Lady Maege Mormont and Lord Galbart Glover into the Neck to find Greywater Watch, the stronghold of Lord Howland Reed, his father's best friend, and use the Reeds' knowledge to outflank the castle. He also needed to win back the Freys, which he planned to do by offering Edmure's hand in marriage in place of his own and making an abject apology to Lord Walder. Maege and Galbart depart, and the remainder of Robb's host headed for the Twins.

Walder Frey accepted Robb's proposal and a great feast was held to celebrate the wedding. However, during the ceremony Catelyn noticed that the Bolton and Frey men had secretly armed and armoured themselves. She tried to warn Robb, but the Boltons and Freys turned on the Stark forces and butchered them, though not without sustaining some losses themselves. Roose Bolton sent Robb Stark regards from Jaime Lannister and stabbed him through the chest, killing him. Catelyn took a hostage, an idiot grandson of Walder Frey's, and trid to bargain to no avail. She killed her hostage and was killed in turn by the Frey troops.

The current UK cover art for Part 2, by Larry Rostant.

News of the 'Red Wedding' began to spread and Sandor and Arya turned away from the Twins and fled down the Trident. They found several troops loyal to Sandor's brother Gregor in an inn and kill them, but Sandor was badly wounded. Arya harshly left him to die and made her way down the river to the mouth, where she found a Braavosi merchant ship at anchor. Using a phrase and a coin given to her by Jaqen H'Ghar, Arya was able to convince the crew to take her to safety beyond the Narrow Sea.

At Pyke on the Iron Islands, Balon Greyjoy was swept off a rope bridge by a high wave, killing him. The next day, his brother Euron, the infamous pirate and reaver known as the Crow's Eye, sailed into Lordsport, sat himself down in Pyke Castle and declared himself King in his brother's place. Thus act pulled the Greyjoys back from their various conquests: Asha Greyjoy returning from Deepwood Motte and Victarion back from Moat Cailin. To avoid the threat of an internal feud over the Driftwood Chair, the priest Aeron Greyjoy called a kingsmoot to decide on the new king. To Aeron's horror, the godless Euron won the moot and was confirmed as king after producing a horn from Valyria that he claimed could control dragons. Victarion reluctantly sweared loyalty to Euron, whilst Asha fled back to Deepwood Motte with her loyal retainers and Aeron began gathering opponents to Euron unhappy with his lack of piety to the Drowned God.

The original American cover of Swords, art by Stephen Youll.

At King's Landing, news of Robb and Balon's deaths reached the capital and was met with jubilation, with the expectation of total victory now close at hand. Lord Tywin took over as Hand of the King from the wounded Tyrion, whom he now married to Sansa Stark to give the Lannisters a claim to Winterfell. However, Tyrion, feeling sorry for the captive Sansa, refused to consummate the marriage. The rest of the castle rapidly learned of this and he became a laughing stock. In an attempt to win the Vale to their cause, Littlefinger volunteered to marry Lysa Arryn, who had been infatuated with him since childhood, and set out for the Eyrie. Shortly after this Oberyn Martell, the Red Viper, arrived at the city with a number of Dornish retainers to take up the small council seat promised to House Martell by Tyrion, and also to claim Gregor Clegane's head for the rape and murder of his sister Elia during the Sack of King's Landing.


The marriage of Joffrey and Margaery was held, and Joffrey and Tyrion clashed several times during the feast. Joffrey suddenly began choking and then died, apparently the result of poison. Cersei had Tyrion seized and charged with the crime, whilst Sansa, aided by Littlefinger (who had secretly remained behind whilst everyone thought he was in the Vale), escapes the city by ship. Tyrion considered asking for trial by battle, but knew that Cersei would name Gregor her champion, a prospect that scared off most potential champions, including Bronn. Oberyn Martell had no such fears, however, and in a fierce battle he was almost victorious, using a poisoned spear to badly wound Gregor. Gregor was still able to kill Oberyn by smashing his skull, and Tyrion was condemned to death.

The cover of the first part of the two-volumed limited edition, with art by Charles Vess. This is the unused Meisha Merlin edition of the book; the SubPress version has the same art but different lettering.

Jaime and Brienne reached King's Landing to find the situation volatile. The Dornish were furious with Oberyn's death, whilst Tywin had to negotiate a new marriage pact for Margaery, this time with Joffrey's young brother Tommen. In addition, Ser Loras Tyrell believed that Brienne was responsible for Renly's death, and ordered her locked up. Jaime found both Sansa and Arya missing, so was unable to send them back to Catelyn, which of course was moot once news of her death was known. Fed up with being told what to do by his father and sister, Jaime resolved to be the best Lord Commander of the Kingsguard he could be. To start with, he convinced Loras to release Brienne. Giving her the reforged Valyrian steel sword Oathkeeper (reforged from Eddard's own sword, Ice), Jaime asked her to travel the Riverlands, find Arya and Sansa and get them to safety, somewhere.

On Dragonstone, Davos Seaworth, fearing that Melisandre would demand the life of King Robert's bastard son Edric Storm to fuel her magic, sent Edric away in secret. He then took Aemon's letter from the Night's Watch to Stannis and Melisandre and read it to them. Melisandre, who believed a great war was raging between R'hllor, Lord of Light, and the Great Other, the god of dark and cold, realised that the struggle had already begun beyond the Wall. She convinced Stannis to take ship for Eastwatch-by-the-Sea with all his remaining strength. His remaining five thousand men were not enough to continue his claim for the throne in the south, but could make all the difference on the Wall.

Jon Snow, a captive of the wildlings, was taken by Mance Rayder, the King Beyond the Wall, and convinced him of his newfound loyalty. Rayder in turn revealed that the wildling clans and tribes had been driven south by the invasion of the Others. Rayder was looking for the Horn of Winter, the legendary artifact that could bring down the Wall, though he planned to take it intact to use as a defensive fortification. To this end, he ordered Jon and a group of wildlings to scale the Wall, loop round and take the almost-unmanned Castle Black from the south and allow the wildlings through. However, once over the Wall, Jon fled back to Castle Black and raised the small garrison, organising a defence that saw most of the raiding party killed, including his lover Ygritte. Jon began preparing defenses against the main wildling assault, aided by the survivors of the massacre on the Fist of the First Men who were trickling back in.

Bran Stark, fleeing the sack of Winterfell, headed north with his loyal servant Hodor and the two children of Howland Reed, Meera and Jojen. Jojen had the 'greensight' and determined that Bran must go north of the Wall and find the three-eyed crow who had spoken to him in his dreams. They reached the Wall at the castle known as the Nightfort but could find no way through until Samwell Tarly and Gilly came through the gate. They had been escorted to the Nightfort by a strange warrior named Coldhands, who was expecting Bran and his friends. Samwell and Gilly returned to Castle Black, having agreed not to speak of the incident, whilst the enigmatic Coldhands led Bran north.

The cover of the second volume of the Subterranean Press limited edition, art by Charles Vess.

The wildlings assaulted the Wall in force, using giants, mammoths, siege weapons and battering rams. Despite some minor successes, they were halted by Jon's defenses. Jon's work was nearly undone when Alliser Thorne and Janos Slynt arrived from King's Landing and had him arrested for the alleged murder of Qhorin Halfhand. They sent him out as a suicidal assassin to kill Mance Rayder under a flag of true, but instead the wildling army was routed by the arrival of Stannis' five thousand troops. Mance Rayder was captured and some of his commanders agreed to bend the knee to Stannis. The Night's Watch held its vote for a new Lord Commander and, thanks to some negotiations carried out by Samwell Tarly, Jon Snow was elected Lord Commander, to the utter fury of Thorne and Slynt. Stannis offered to legitimise Jon and make him Lord of Winterfell, but Jon refused.

In the far east, Daenerys Targaryen was returning to Pentos from Qarth on a ship arranged by Magister Illyrio. However, Ser Jorah Mormont convinced her to sail into Slaver's Bay and try to buy an army of Unsullied, the famous warrior-eunuchs of Astapor. Sickened by the misery of the slave trade she saw, Daenerys unleashed her dragons to kill the slave-masters of the city and freed all of the slaves. Aware that two other great slave cities lie on the coast, she took her followers to Yunkai and forced them to free their slaves as well, though the city's rulers remained in command. The rulers of Meereen, the largest and greatest of the slave cities, did not prove so cooperative. She discovered that Whitebeard was really Ser Barristan Selmy and that Ser Jorah had been sending intelligence back to King's Landing as late as Qarth. To make amends, they led a suicidal mission into Meereen via the sewers and were able to open the gates and allow her army to enter the city. Daenerys took control of Meereen, but learned that the council of rulers she'd left in Astapor had been overthrown by a tyrant, Cleon the Great, who had vowed to rule in her name. Aware that the same thing could happen to Meereen, she decided against pressing on immediately to Westeros. Instead she would stay and rule, and learn how to become a queen.

In King's Landing, Jaime and Varys released Tyrion from his prison cell and agreed to help him escape. However, on the way through a secret passage Tyrion discovered the tunnel connected to his father's quarters in the Tower of the Hand. There, he discovered that his father had been sleeping with a whore Tyrion himself had fallen in love with, Shae. He killed them both in a fury before leaving the city on a ship arranged by Varys.

At the Eyrie, Sansa found a new home, but also a new threat, as her aunt was insanely jealous of her even talking to Littlefinger. Sansa learned in one of her aunt's diatribes that Lysa had poisoned Jon Arryn and blamed it on the Lannisters at Littlefinger's urging. Littlefinger, aware that Lysa is going insane, pushes her thousands of feet to her death and blames it on the court singer, Marillion.

Finally, the Brotherhood Without Banners found Catelyn Stark's body in the Trident, some miles downriver from the Twins. They pulled her ashore and Beric was able to restore her to life, but only at the cost of his own existence. Catelyn, now dubbed 'Lady Stoneheart' by the Brotherhood, commanded them to seek out and murder all of those who had a hand in the Red Wedding.

The unused UK cover art for Crows, art by Jim Burns.

A Feast for Crows
In Oldtown Pate, a novice at the Citadel, was killed by an assailant who resembled Jaqen H'Ghar. Jaqen, apologetic about the need to kill him, took on Pate's face and infiltrated the Citadel for purposes unknown.

In King's Landing the funeral of Tywin Lannister was held. Cersei, the Queen Regent, asked her uncle Kevan to serve as King's Hand and Kevan agreed, but only if she would return to Casterly Rock and leave him to govern the realm. She angrily rejected his insinuation that she was an incompetent ruler. She named the biddable Harys Swyft as Hand and installed the small council with her own minions: Gyles Rosby as master of coin, the sellsail Aurane Waters as master of ships and the sinister Maester Qyburn as master of whisperers, since Varys had vanished. She also had the Tower of the Hand burned down. Qyburn had been trying to keep Gregor Clegane alive and requested Cersei's permission to carry out certain experiments on him he thought might be useful. She agreed.

The current UK edition, cover art by Larry Rostant.

At the Wall, Samwell Tarly was told by Jon that he must travel to Oldtown and become a maester at the Citadel, with a special focus on finding out as much as possible about the Others from the library there. Gilly and Maester Aemon would go with him, as would Mance Rayder's baby son, swapped with Gilly's newborn son, to protect them from Melisandre's fires. They took ship from Eastwatch and travelled to the Free City of Braavos. However, Aemon fell ill and they were stuck in the city for weeks waiting for him to recover. One of their escorts, Dareon, abandoned the mission in favour of making money and getting drunk in the taverns of the city. Samwell found a ship from the Summer Isles whose captain called in at Qarth and saw Daenerys Targaryen and her dragons there. The captain agreed to take Samwell's party on to Oldtown. Aemon realised that Daenerys must be the true Prince Who Was Promised, with her dragons as her sword of flame, and resolved to travel to Meereen to offer her counsel. Instead, he died at sea. Gilly comforted Sam and they become lovers.

In Braavos, Arya found refuge at the House of Black and White, the temple Jaqen served. She discovered that the House was dedicated to the Many-Faced God, the god of death, and served by the Faceless Men, the elite and infamous order of assassins. The priests agreed to train her in their ways, but insisted she must leave the identity of Arya Stark behind. She tried to do so, becoming Cat of the Canals, but upon finding Dareon, a deserter from the Night's Watch, her Stark heritage reasserted itself and she executed him for desertion and oathbreaking. The priests, annoyed by her lapse, took her sight away in punishment.

The unused US cover art for Crows, by Stephen Youll.

In the Riverlands, Brienne searched for Arya and Sansa to no avail. She found some assistance from Pod, Tyrion's former squire, and Ser Hyle Hunt. They found several surviving members of the Brave Companions and killed them all. At a septry in the mouth in the Trident, she learned from a holy brother that Arya Stark was seen taking ship for places unknown, and that 'the Hound' had been found nearby and had died. However, another warrior had taken on the name of the Hound, sacked a nearby town and was causing havoc in the area. Brienne found and killed him, but in turn she and her friends were captured by the Brotherhood Without Banners and taken before Lady Stoneheart, the resurrected Catelyn. Catelyn determined that Brienn had betrayed her mission by letting Jaime go free without finding her daughters first, and threatened to hang Brienne if she didn't kill Jaime. When Brienne refused, Catelyn had her hanged, but as she did so, Brienne screamed out a word.

Paxter Redwyne's fleet from the Arbor, loyal to Lord Mace Tyrell, put Dragonstone under siege whilst Mace's army did the same to Storm's End. Cersei had the High Septon, a vain man whom Tyrion had installed, assassinated, but was dismayed to find his replacement a religious martinet. However, Cersei then discovered that the new High Septon could be reasoned with and they reached a deal: the Faith of the Seven would forgive the crown its massive debt if in return Cersei would restore the warrior orders of the Faith Militant, which had been disbanded after a war lasting a dozen years against Kings Aenys, Maegor and Jaehaerys. To Pycelle's horror, Cersei agreed, and soon the Warrior's Sons and the Poor Fellows were armed once more.

At the Eyrie, the lords of the Vale confronted Littlefinger, angry with his position as Lord Protector of the Vale. One of the lords became angry and bared steel at the meeting in violation of custom, allowing Littlefinger to shame the lords of the Vale into agreeing to let him remain Lord Protector for one year. Sansa realised that Littlefinger set the whole thing up. Impressed, Littlefinger told her more of his scheme. Little Robert Arryn was sickly and weak. His heir was Harry Hardyng, a popular young knight and warrior. If Harry were to marry Sansa, that would give Sansa an army with which to retake Winterfell. With snow falling more thickly about the Eyrie, the court of the Vale removed itself to the more clement location of the Gates of the Moon, located at the base of the mountain.

The first part of the SubPress limited edition, art by Tom Canty.

Jaime Lannister rode to Riverrun with a number of men, including Ser Ilyn Payne and Ser Ronnet Connington, though he grows tired of the latter and sent him off to deliver Wylis Manderly, a former hostage now released since House Manderly has returned to the king's peace, to Maidenpool, from where he could take ship for White Harbour. At Riverrun Jaime forced Ser Brynden Tully to surrender the castle, but Brynden escaped by the river. The Freys took possession of the castle, their reward for the Red Wedding, and Edmure Tully was sent back to Casterly Rock as a captive. Jaime then saw snow falling across the Riverlands and realised, with horror for there was no time to gather another harvest, winter had arrived.

The ironborn launched a fresh campaign, invading and capturing all of the Shield Isles and raiding heavily along the coast of the Reach. King Euron summoned his brother Victarion and told him he was sending Victarion and the Iron Fleet to Slaver's Bay. There they would seize Daenerys Targaryen and her dragons using the magic horn, and bring her back to Westeros to be Euron's wife, after which he would use the dragons to conquer the entire continent. Victarion agreed, but secretly planned to betray Euron by taking Daenerys for himself. The Iron Fleet set out for Meereen.

At King's Landing, word of the ironborn attacks reached Margaery Tyrell, who angrily demanded that Cersei send help. Cersei had become increasingly tired of the Tyrells and their demands and refused to break the siege of Dragonstone. Ser Loras volunteered to take the castle. If he succeeded quickly, Cersei agreed that Paxter Redwyne's fleet could return to the west coast and fight the ironborn. Ser Loras set out and Dragonstone indeed fell, but at the cost of Ser Loras being severely wounded. Neverthless, Redwyne's fleet set out for home, as agreed.

The second part of the SubPress limited edition, art by Tom Canty.

Deciding that Margaery was an unsuitable wife for her son, Cersei set out to discredit Margaery by insinuating that she was not a virgin to the newly-powerful High Septon. The High Septon had Margaery imprisoned and examined, and it was confirmed she was indeed not a virgin (though Cersei herself noted that such a thing is not uncommon amongst young noblewomen who spend a lot of time riding horses). Cersei's plan spectacularly backfired when the High Septon puts the false accusers of Margaery to torture and discovered the plot, and so he had Cersei imprisoned as well. Mace Tyrell lifted the siege of Storm's End and raced back to the city. Cersei sent for Jaime, but he refused to return to the capital. Qyburn offered another choice: his experiments on Gregor had been completed (despite his head being sent back to Dorne to appease Prince Doran for Oberyn's death) and now a mighty champion stood ready to defend the queen in a trial by battle. However, Cersei knew that only knights of the Kingsguard could defend the royal family, and the Kingsguard were all still alive. During the chaos, Aurane Waters absconded with the newly-rebuilt Royal Fleet.

In Dorne, Princess Myrcella Baratheon, betrothed to Prince Trystane, fell into a conspiracy set in motion by Princess Arianne Martell, heir to the throne of Dorne. To avenge themselves upon the Lannisters, Arianne planned to declare Myrcella Queen of the Seven Kingdoms (by Dornish law, Myrcella would have a superior claim to the throne to Tommen), with Dorne - as yet untouched by the war - backing her. She had even convinced Myrcelle's bodyguard, Ser Arys Oakheart, a knight of the Kingsguard, to back the plan. However, the plan was discovered by Prince Doran. There was a struggle and Myrcella was injured by one of Arianne's allies, Ser Gerold Dayne, the Darkstar, whilst Ser Arys was killed by Doran's captain of the guard, Areo Hotah.

Taken back to Sunspear as a prisoner, Arianne was confronted by her father. He told her that the Martells were playing a long game designed to get revenge for the deaths of Elia and Oberyn. Arianne had been secretly promised in marriage to Viserys Targaryen (though he had not been told of the plan) since she was young. At the right time, Viserys would have crossed to Dorne with an army from the eastern continent and they would have made a play for the Iron Throne. However, Viserys' death changed all of that. As a result Arianne's brother Quentyn was now on his way to Meereen to win Daenerys' hand in marriage and bring her - and her soldiers and her dragons - back to Dorne to fulfil the plan and help them destroy the Lannisters once and for all.

Samwell and Gilly finally reached Oldtown, though the ironborn campaign had continued, with them raiding Oldtown and conquering a stretch of the Arbor as well. Samwell arrived at the Citadel and met Archmaester Marwyn, seen as a maverick by the other maesters for his interest is in the 'higher mysteries' or magic. Marwyn revealed that in the last few months the old Valyrian candles, used to help them communicate across vast distances, had suddenly started working again. When Samwell told him about Daenerys, Aemon and the Prince Who Was Promised, Marwyn realised that these events were all connected. He took ship for Meereen, telling Samwell to learn as fast and as hard as possible and get back to the Wall, where he would be needed. He commended Samwell to the care of two young students: Alleras (who is almost certainly Sarella, one of Oberyn Martell's bastard daughters, in the Citadel for purposes unknown)...and a boy named Pate.


SourcesThe novels.
The 'Dunk and Egg' prequel novellas.
The RPGs published by Guardians of Order and Green Ronin.
Information directly from George R.R. Martin collected at the So Spake Martin site on Westeros.

A Feast for Crows by George R.R. Martin

The Seven Kingdoms lie bleeding and battered. The War of the Five Kings has ravaged the countryside, many tens of thousands are dead, and a years-long winter is finally descending on the continent of Westeros with unmitigated fury. The war is petering out, with the Tyrell-Lannister alliance apparently victorious, but in far-off Dorne, on the remote Iron Islands and in the isolated Vale of Arryn plans are being laid that may mean the current peace will be short-lived indeed. In King's Landing, Cersei Lannister rules as Queen Regent, but without the moderating influence of good counsellors, she is ill-equipped to handle the Tyrells' jockeying for power. Her brother Jaime has his own battles to fight, whilst Brienne, the Maid of Tarth, embarks on an impossible quest into the heart of the warzone to find a single lost girl. From the Wall comes Samwell Tarly, bearing an urgent message to the Archmaesters of the Citadel, whilst beyond the Narrow Sea in Braavos, Arya Stark must learn to survive amidst a mysterious organisation with ancient secrets to protect.


A Feast for Crows is the fourth volume of A Song of Ice and Fire, and at the time of publication was the most troubled book in the series to write. George R.R. Martin had planned to have a five-year narrative gap between the events of A Storm of Swords and the following book, A Dance with Dragons, with the readership rejoining the action after the various characters had had a chance to regroup and learn new skills and get a bit older. In the event, this plan proved unworkable, with Martin unable to come up with a reason why the Others would wait five years before making their next move or why events in the Iron Islands or Dorne would not play out for another half-decade. There were also issues about major factions (such as the Faith Militant) appearing out of nowhere. With the writing not cooperating and the book being weighed down by flashbacks, Martin scrapped eighteen months' work on the fourth volume and decided to write A Feast for Crows instead to fill in the gaps in the story.

Of course, as is now widely known, this also proved tricky, and the published novel eventually only contained the stories of a number of the series' major characters, such as Sansa and Arya Stark, Sam Tarly, Brienne of Tarth, and Cersei and Jaime Lannister. A number of the series' other POVs, including the arguably central trinity of Jon Snow, Tyrion Lannister and Daenerys Targaryen, were shunted into A Dance with Dragons (now the fifth volume), and it appears a whole host of new timeline problems were introduced (which ADWD will hopefully resolve). The result is a book that is somewhat problematic and has a number of issues, although in general terms it is as well-written (possibly even moreso) as the rest of the series.

On the plus side, Martin's skills with character, description and worldbuilding remain strong and indeed growing. A Feast for Crows introduces a number of new POVs, either 'proper' ones like Cersei and Brienne or 'temporary' POVs like Arianne Martell or various members of the Greyjoy family, and Martin gets us into these characters' heads and worldviews as ably as ever. His skills with political intrigue remain strong, with Littlefinger's machinations in the Vale, the complex political situation in Dorne (impressively depicted, as we only get a few chapters to convey this part of the story) and the jockeying for the crown in the Iron Islands all handled well. A Feast for Crows is also the most thematically tight novel in the sequence. This book is about the aftermath of the grand conflict in the first three books, and shows how the game of thrones has left tens of thousands dead, hundreds of thousands homeless and millions at the mercy of the coming winter. For a series often criticised for only showing the nobles' point-of-view, A Feast for Crows redresses the balance by showing the impact on the common folk and how they respond (turning to, as historically was and remains often the case, religion to help them).


However, whilst writing what is almost a side-novel to the main series showing the impact of characters' apparently minor decisions in previous books on the masses or the aftermath of events is certainly a valid thing to do (as with what Erikson did with Toll the Hounds, for example), it is fair to say that doing so in a series where the books take many years to be written and published does lead to a fair degree of frustration, particularly for those readers who came off A Storm of Swords expecting the next book to be as incident-packed and furious-paced as the previous ones, and instead found a much more sedately-paced novel focusing on 'quieter' events. At the same time, it is hard to say there is much in A Feast for Crows that is unnecessary. An enormous amount of pipe-laying is going on here, characters are being maneuvered into position, whilst schemes and intrigues are being set in motion that are designed to either re-ignite the war, or ensure Daenerys returns to Westeros as soon as possible, or to shatter the alliance between the Tyrells and Lannisters once and for all.

The only story that feels like it could have been told in less detail was Brienne's grand tour of the shattered riverlands, which, despite providing some interesting alternate perspectives on events and hinting at the fate of a major character from the previous book, feels a little overdone and if the end of the sequence is as it first appears (as unlikely as that is with a Martin novel), even a little pointless. I suspect that the relevance of Brienne's wanderings will become clearer in The Winds of Winter, if not sooner. The only other complaint I had was that the rationale for Cersei's character - yet another prophecy in a series whose first volume I once lauded for not having any hard-and-fast prophecies - felt somewhat unconvincing on a first read. On the series re-read I was surprised to see some elements in A Clash of Kings and A Storm of Swords setting up the revelation involving Cersei's childhood, but overall given the existing reasons for Cersei to loathe Tyrion, it seemed a bit over-the-top to include supernatural reasons as well, although some sort of additional reasoning for Cersei's hatred of Margaery Tyrell - a major driving force of this book's storyline - was indeed required.

A Feast for Crows (****) is well-written and engaging, but also slower-paced and more thoughtful and reflective than the previous three books in the series, something that has divided a lot of readers. It is available now in the UK and USA.