Posts tagged Book Reviews

It goes without saying that A Feast for Crows is possibly the most controversial book in George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire. Five years in the making, it followed A Storm of Swords, arguably the best book in the series and certainly the most eventful. Absent are fan-favorite characters Dany, Jon and Tyrion (well, almost absent – Jon Snow does put in an appearance early in the book, and Tyrion does appear as a monster in a dream).  Absent too are the huge earth-shattering events of the previous three volumes.

When Martin finished A Storm of Swords, he intended there to be a five year gap in the story before the opening of what was then considered to be the next volume, A Dance with Dragons. However, after writing a big chunk of the next novel, Martin found that the five year gap was untenable from a storytelling perspective. He discovered that he had to recount many of the events from the gap in flashback, which was slowing the main story thrust of the novel. He decided to step back and write a book that covered that five year gap. However, the book soon grew out of control, and ultimately he decided to split the book in two volumes — A Feast for Crows and a new incarnation of A Dance With Dragons.

At the heart of Martin’s problem was something he came to call the “Mereneese Knot.” I won’t get into the story specifics (although I will say that I interviewed him about the knot, among other things, in episode 149 of Television Zombies), but that huge writing problem meant that certain characters could not appear in volume four of the novel until it was resolved. So he took all of the events that took place in the south and wrapped them into A Feast for Crows, and took all the events in the North and across the Narrow Sea and put them into A Dance With Dragons.

The problem is, and this is pure conjecture on my part, that the POV chapters set in the south were originally intended to be supporting stories  – not at all the main plot of the novel. And my guess is that since there wasn’t enough there, he padded the book out with POV’s taking place in Dorne and the Iron Islands, POV’s that likely wouldn’t have happened if the split had not occurred. This is not to say that the non-named POV chapters don’t have merit, or important things don’t happen in them, it’s just that they could have been explained in brief exposition and not taken up half a book. A Feast for Crows, I believe, was a stopgap intended to placate readers while he wrestled with A Dance With Dragons.

However, that said, A Feast for Crows is still a damned good book. It centers on the Lannister twins — Jamie and Cersei — and the different paths they take. Jaime, determined to write his own story in the Kingsguard’s White Book the way that he would want to be remembered struggles to find honor and redemption, while Cersei desperately tries to retain her grasp on power in Kings Landing.

Both arcs are surprisingly satisfying — I thought Jaime was one of the most compelling characters in A Storm of Swords, and he really stands out as the hero of A Feast for Crows. Is Jaime a bad man trying to be good, or a good man who did bad things? It’s hard to say, but I very much like where his journey takes him. Cersei, on the other hand, finally plays her cards — the audience has never been aligned with her POV, and once we are, her take on events becomes, maybe not surprising, but not necessarily as expected. Unintended consequences have long been a theme of A Song of Ice and Fire, and nowhere is that more apparent than in Cersei’s arc in Kings Landing.

Supporting the Jaime and Cersei POV chapters are chapters featuring Brienne, Sam, Arya and Sansa. All interesting — particularly Arya’s two brief  chapters — though mostly padding. The chapters set in Dorne and the Iron Islands help to move playing pieces into position on the board, but are not as compelling as the named chapters (though I will say I liked getting more of an insight into those two settings).

If viewed as a direct sequel to A Storm of Swords, then A Feast for Crows is nothing short of a massive disappointment. But if viewed as an epilogue to A Storm of Swords and as a prologue to A Dance With Dragons, A Feast for Crows is not without merit. Few fantasy novelists have taken the time to show the impact of war on regular people — and Martin definitely spends a great deal of A Feast for Crows doing just that. It is a bleak novel, featuring a cast of characters who all feel left behind by their friends, family and loved ones. People who are trying to pick up the pieces after having lost everything. Longtime readers of Martin’s work will see glimpses of some of his darker novels and short stories here — yes, A Song of Ice and Fire is still pretty upbeat compared to a lot of Martin’s older work (see Dying of the Light, for instance).

Unfortunately, most of the chapters are unnecessary, and it is the weakest volume in the series to date. But the weakest volume in a great series is still pretty great, all things considered. Just make sure you go into the book knowing what to expect and enjoy it for what it is. And with A Dance with Dragons just around the corner, you don’t have to go on thinking that A Feast for Crows might be where everything ends.