A Feast for Crows (2006)
Written By: George R.R. Martin
Narrated by: Roy Dotrice
Genre: Epic Fantasy
Length: 33 h 56 m (Audiobook)
Series: A Song of Ice and Fire, Book 4
Publisher: Random House Audio via Audible
The premise:
It seems too good to be true. After centuries of bitter strife and fatal treachery, the seven powers dividing the land have decimated one another into an uneasy truce. Or so it appears. . . . With the death of the monstrous King Joffrey, Cersei is ruling as regent in King’s Landing. Robb Stark’s demise has broken the back of the Northern rebels, and his siblings are scattered throughout the kingdom like seeds on barren soil. Few legitimate claims to the once desperately sought Iron Throne still exist-or they are held in hands too weak or too distant to wield them effectively. The war, which raged out of control for so long, has burned itself out.
But as in the aftermath of any climactic struggle, it is not long before the survivors, outlaws, renegades, and carrion eaters start to gather, picking over the bones of the dead and fighting for the spoils of the soon-to-be dead. Now in the Seven Kingdoms, as the human crows assemble over a banquet of ashes, daring new plots and dangerous new alliances are formed, while surprising faces-some familiar, others only just appearing-are seen emerging from an ominous twilight of past struggles and chaos to take up the challenges ahead.
Spoilers Ahead!
Discussion: My Year of Thrones continues with Book 4 in the Song of Ice and Fire series: A Feast for Crows. I must begin by telling you that I listened to the unabridged Audible edition of the book.
Ahh, book 4. This is a long deep breath after the excitement of book 3. A looooooong deep breath. So many characters who have to be moved around the chess board in preparation for the big finale.
The events of books four and five take place concurrently, with book four focusing on the characters in Westeros and Dorne, mostly. Martin also throws in some chapters with Arya. Book five, then, takes place north of the wall, and across the Narrow Sea to Pentos and Slavers Bay.
I am undecided as to how I feel about this division. I understand why he did it this way; there are so many characters and this is such a detailed story, that he could not possibly put it all into one book. Having started book five already (I have to, it’s forty-nine hours on Audible! I’ll be lucky to have it done in two months!), I realized that there are some events that happen before they do in A Feast for Crows. I had to text my friend asking why Sam Tarly was still on the wall in book five, when in A Feast for Crows he’s on a ship headed away from Castle Black? He apparently hasn’t left yet.
If you’re interested in reading, or re-reading, these two books as though they weren’t separated, Sean T. Collins has created a reader-friendly combined reading order for A Feast for Crows & A Dance with Dragons. A friend of mine re-read the books this way and highly recommended it. It is too difficult for me to do as I’m listening to the audiobook editions. If you decide to try this new reading order, I’d love to hear your thoughts on it!
Back to book four!
My predominant thought is that this is highly detailed filler. As I said at the start, this is where, after the excitement of book three, the characters need to be moved around the chess board to get them in place for the big finale. But George being George, and A Song of Ice and Fire is a massive world with exceptional detail and depth, he can’t just touch on some highlights and jump us forward. As a writer, this is a great reminder to slow down and immerse myself in the world and the lives of the characters I create.
The second thought I had, was that I wish we had spent more time in Dorne, with Princess Myrcella and all the drama of the Dornish princesses seeking the throne, demanding war against Westeros, and seeking to put Myrcella on the Iron Throne. A Dornish Game of Thrones, if you will! It all ended far too soon. I look forward to seeing how that is going to play out in future books.
Cersei’s obsession with Tyrion is interesting. I can see why she would blame Tyrion for the death of Joffrey. It is convenient for her and an easy explanation, no need to investigate any further for a murderer who cannot be identified. Her anger over the death of Tywin, however, seems to be on the over-wrought side. It, too, is convenient for her to pile that one onto Tyrion and use it as the added fuel she needs to find him and have him beheaded. It is what she’s wanted since birth. I just don’t buy that she’s truly that distressed over Tywin’s death. He was going to make her marry and leave King’s Landing, and now she is free(er) to rule. She could never please her father no matter how hard she tried; she could never live up to what he wanted because she was never a son. Now she doesn’t have to. I want her to be better, more cunning, more clever, not so reactionary. She has been in this Game so long, she ought to be the Master by now, and she just isn’t. Yet.
The zombie version of Catelyn Stark is intersting, and kinda gross, with her torn up face and cut throat. I was not expecting her to show up, and I am curious to see how she fits into everything.
In Conclusion: With the exception of Tyrion Lannister, who wasn’t in this book anyway, I find it fascinating that the female characters are the most interesting ones. Maybe that’s just me, maybe it’s because the historical gender expectations creates the most inherent conflict.
I know a lot of people seem to think book six is going to be the conclusion, but I just don’t see how. If Martin had to expand the events following book three into two books, and he’s added characters, I can’t see one volume wrapping everything up. I guess I’ll see where things land after book five.
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