I need to re-read the book again, but I thought the book left it open as well...?

I don't see why they wouldn't make it more powerful, like you're saying, if they didn't at least want the speculation there.

I like Tyrion.
Do the books have you feeling/rooting for him and hating the other Lanasters like the show's doin?

Short answer is yes.

"I see what you did there."

At least someone did ;)

I think Gates of Slumber should do a concept album of these books.

Yeah, you root for Tyrion, not as a Lannister, but as Tyrion. Can't wait for A Dance With Dragons and hopefully his re-appearance. One of the 'bad' things about A Feast For Crows is the lack of Tyrion.

I try to judge things on what is there, not what is not, but after three books with Tyrion his absence is noticeable.

100% agreed...I understand the whole issue they had with "Feast" and what they were going for by splitting it up and all that, but seeing how long we had to wait for "Dance" anyway I would have preferred it if they had kept the story more linear as originally intended.

Feast, to me, is more of a companion piece than anything else. It does little to resolve anything nor move much forward. It's more like "spotlight on characters you don't really care about so much".

Yeah, I am about to reread it just for context and continuity's sake, but the story moved a lot better when you got all the perspectives under one cover....going to feel weird backtracking with "Dance"

I'm halfway through Song of Swords and all this talk of Feast is making me nervous. Question (and try to answer without spoilers): The spotlight on the characters in Feast: are they characters we've met or heard about?

If that's the case, then I can see how Feast is entertaining at least because one of my favorite things that happens in Song of Ice and Fire is some of the contextual songs/stories.

There are some really big events that happen in Feast, but they don't seem so big yet because we don't have the next 3 books to relate just how important they are. I actually like, or don't like but in a good way, a lot of the characters in the book; but some combination of the events and the writing didn't grip me like the previous books did. There's some cool, important stuff that happens to everyone, but the pace felt slower because most of the really great characters that move the story along quickly because they're so interesting were MIA. Some of the new stuff felt like a distraction, as well. I was a little irritated that, 4 books into the series, whole new plot elements were being introduced.

I think Martin started losing control of the story with Feast, and it simply got too big for him (hence the splitting of the book into two books). I have faith that he'll be able to wind it down in a satisfactory fashion, but to do so he's going to have to narrow the scope. I expect he'll do this by killing people. That's generally a crappy way to do so, but Martin is just so good at doing it that I think I'll be fine with that approach.

As for the Q on Feast: primarily yes. A couple regions that have been visited before get a heavier focus, thus bringing with them some new POV's. The primary focus is on well established characters, though.

Okay. A Feast For Crows is not bad. It offers a LOT of new stuff. Dorne which after A Storm of Swords introduced us to the Red Viper is quite fun, Dorne is probably the most advanced area of Westeros, socially, it's still very feudal but women have much more power and status. More Iron Islands material without Theon.

It has Brienne and Jaime chapters. Cersei gets POV chapters. Arya chapters, Sam solo chapters. It just does not have any Jon, Tyrion or Dany. If you go in knowing this I don't see how it can be disappointing.

There's a lot of good stuff in there. It's just different. Would have flowed better if there had been Jon, Dany and Tyrion chapters? Yes, but you're going to get that in A Dance With Dragons.

For me, I like Brienne and Sam, I like less traditional characters in fantasy stories, the story of a questing knight who happens to be an abnormally large and strong and unattractive female fascinated me. And a coward like Sam? Come on, it's Sam the Slayer, finally finding his place in the Watch.

This. I dig.


^edit: Not thrilled, but can dig.

Technically, Jon is in Feast. He shows up briefly at the beginning.

Is Feast not interesting? No, it's not uninteresting. In fact, as Jam mentions, you get a POV perspective of Cersei that in the first three books was not present. So that's cool. Also, significant things happen to her which is fine. Significant things happen to Brienne which is pretty interesting but not, overall, terribly integral to the story. Well, it is in a way ....

Let me put this way: With everyone defending Feast (and I didn't attack it, mind you, but merely pointed out that it's kind of an anti-climatic piece after the third book), do you people honestly think that if this thing last four seasons, they'll run with the story lines of Feast? Yeah, they might to a point, but, more than likely, they'll take what is pertinent from Feast and fuse it with stuff that happens in Storm and the new one. In other words, season four will not be based solely upon Feast, which, if you think about it, kind of makes it a failure.

Just witnessed the Red Wedding. Yipes.

I'm coming up on it in my re-read, actually I think it's the chapter I stopped at.

And I was wrong (slightly) about the Arya chapters. It's the Bran ones that also set my teeth on edge. Here's where Martin comes dangerously close to Steven King territory.

it's a nice day for a...red wedding?


I'm sure you are right Godshifter...they'll carve the meat from "Feast" and "Dance" rather than carry a season on "Feast" alone...us readers are fickle as it is with these books, but an average tv viewer just will not tolerate their favorite character disappearing for a season....pretty sure HBO is cognizant of that.

Now that the TV show is over: Let's have casting predictions for Clash of Kings (or Game of Thrones season 2 according the the bump after the finale)!

My choice for Davos Seaworth


I have no idea who'd they'd get to play Stannis.

Christopher Eccleston would make a good Stannis.

Can't wait to see the season finale tonight

It ruled. That's how you end a season.

I concur...I finally caught up on my reading only to learn the fifth book is set to be released in July...I haven't read this much since Book-It dangled the reward of Pizza Hut as a child, but at least I'll have until Spring 2012 to finish it all...

Found myself agreeing for once with Sansa as she considered her options on the walkway as Joffrey forced her to stare at Ned's piked head...if only she'd acted on her impulse...