Defenestrating Thoughts from the Bivouac

A while ago I finished the fourth book of George RR Martin’s A Song of Fire and Ice series, entitled A Feast for Crows. Like the previous three books, I did enjoy it. But this one seemed to move slowly and there were lots of distracting throwaway subplots. And again, none of the characters can get a break; I think they are all cursed like the tragic families of Greek mythology.

A strange thing with this book is that it only includes about half the characters from the previous books. The author notes that this was necessary because the length of the book was already too long. He could either tell half the story for all the characters (with a “To be continued…”) or tell the full story for half the characters.

I’m not sure what the better method of the two is, but I think most people would have preferred that both books would be released at the same time. The less wait, the better.

So with the story slowing down, half the characters missing, and the doom and gloom plot, this one wasn’t as good as the previous ones. When the next volume is released, I’ll probably just get it from the library instead of rushing to buy it immediately.