Shorts: Of Crows and Dragons
A Feast for Crows (A Song of Ice and Fire, #4)
It’s been more than a year since I read the third book in the A Song of Ice and Fire series, A Storm of Swords. If you have been faithfully following the series – either by reading the books or watching the HBO adaptation – you could easily hazard a guess why. Two words: Red Wedding. In my humble opinion, it is the most memorable and depressing part not just of the third book, but of the entire series as well, bar none. And that is the reason why I was in no hurry to get on to the fourth book. Well, one of many, at least.
Only recently, when the TV series finally showed their version of the Red Wedding, did I finally decide that it was probably high time I finished reading the books.
A Feast for Crows picks up where A Storm of Swords left off. Unlike the excitement and thrill that was prevalent in Swords, however, Crows was a bore. It was no less violent and gory, but it was nonetheless a bore, compared to the first three books in the series. The storyline consisted of goings-on in and around the Seven Kingdoms, and thus, did not include points of view from characters who have, by then, found themselves in the regions outside of Westeros – Braavos, Pentos, and Meereen, among others. Events and happenings at the Wall (and north of it) are also excluded. I will no longer specify the characters whose points of view are included in this installment in order to avoid spoilers, and so I will stop at that. Suffice to say, however, that this was my least favorite of all the five books. My favorite characters were not part of this book (if you knew me at all, you’d know who they are) but it was also interesting to read the points of view of certain (seemingly villainous) characters.
Rating: ★★★
Book Details: Digital edition
A Dance with Dragons (A Song of Ice and Fire, #5)
by George R. R. Martin
Finally, A Dance of Dragons continues the saga – this time, outside of the Seven Kingdoms. Say hello to the Meereenese, Pentoshi, Lysenes, and the Bravos. Say hello to the wildlings and other creatures north of the Wall. Say hello to the Brothers of the Night’s Watch. And, say hello to the.... Dragons? ;)
While Dragons merely resumed the storyline left hanging in Crows, I found it more exciting and fulfilling to read than its predecessor – perhaps it’s because I am “reunited” with my favorite characters, and the events in which they are involved and their concomitant actions to these events reinforced this partiality. In the same vein, the characters that I only mildly disliked in the first books, for one reason or another, became even more annoying in this book – I had to steel myself fromhurling muttering invectives every so often while reading it. But it was more exciting, hands down, than the book that it follows.
And now, I wait for The Winds of Winter.
Rating: ★★★★★
Book Details: Digital edition
by George R. R. Martin
It’s been more than a year since I read the third book in the A Song of Ice and Fire series, A Storm of Swords. If you have been faithfully following the series – either by reading the books or watching the HBO adaptation – you could easily hazard a guess why. Two words: Red Wedding. In my humble opinion, it is the most memorable and depressing part not just of the third book, but of the entire series as well, bar none. And that is the reason why I was in no hurry to get on to the fourth book. Well, one of many, at least.
Only recently, when the TV series finally showed their version of the Red Wedding, did I finally decide that it was probably high time I finished reading the books.
A Feast for Crows picks up where A Storm of Swords left off. Unlike the excitement and thrill that was prevalent in Swords, however, Crows was a bore. It was no less violent and gory, but it was nonetheless a bore, compared to the first three books in the series. The storyline consisted of goings-on in and around the Seven Kingdoms, and thus, did not include points of view from characters who have, by then, found themselves in the regions outside of Westeros – Braavos, Pentos, and Meereen, among others. Events and happenings at the Wall (and north of it) are also excluded. I will no longer specify the characters whose points of view are included in this installment in order to avoid spoilers, and so I will stop at that. Suffice to say, however, that this was my least favorite of all the five books. My favorite characters were not part of this book (if you knew me at all, you’d know who they are) but it was also interesting to read the points of view of certain (seemingly villainous) characters.
Rating: ★★★
Book Details: Digital edition
A Dance with Dragons (A Song of Ice and Fire, #5)
by George R. R. Martin
Finally, A Dance of Dragons continues the saga – this time, outside of the Seven Kingdoms. Say hello to the Meereenese, Pentoshi, Lysenes, and the Bravos. Say hello to the wildlings and other creatures north of the Wall. Say hello to the Brothers of the Night’s Watch. And, say hello to the.... Dragons? ;)
While Dragons merely resumed the storyline left hanging in Crows, I found it more exciting and fulfilling to read than its predecessor – perhaps it’s because I am “reunited” with my favorite characters, and the events in which they are involved and their concomitant actions to these events reinforced this partiality. In the same vein, the characters that I only mildly disliked in the first books, for one reason or another, became even more annoying in this book – I had to steel myself from
And now, I wait for The Winds of Winter.
Rating: ★★★★★
Book Details: Digital edition
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