Finished, now I can take Triumph off ignore.
Just finished. I really liked the book, although I must say the final couple chapters (including the epilogue) kind of left me feeling meh. Maybe I'll change my mind in the morning when I'm more...awake. Some thoughts:
ADWD brings Martin's world to life like no other book in the series has. While the first three books certainly feature a host of impressive worldbuilding, ADWD and AFFC take things to another level by introducing more culture and worldviews. Slavery and humanity play major themes throughout the novel, and this is best illustrated in the Jon and Dany chapters; they essentially mirror each other. Each attempt to do what's best for not only the men and women they preside over, but also the rest of mankind.
The book works best in the North, where nearly every POV is good or great. In Essos things are more complicated. Dany easily has the worst POV in the novel, but it improves over time. The biggest problem is what while the worldbuilding in Essos is quite impressive, the characters that inhabit it simply aren't nearly as interesting. Dany's council seems a poor substitution for that of King's Landing, or the power players in Dorne. While the overall Dany arc is certainly fascinating, watching it unravel is less so.
I'll put the rest in spoilers
spoiler (click to show/hide)
I loved Tyrion's entire arc. The Tyrion in ADWD is a broken man yet displays all the charm and wit that make him the best character in the series. His travels with Griff were some of my favorite chapters in the books. But perhaps my favorite part of his POV was the introduction of Penny, who seemed to capsulize the novel's focus on slavery. She sees herself as nigh worthless and is more than content to dance and entertain her betters, never daring to get in their way or demand any type of dignity. As a street performer and as a slave her personality doesn't change. Tyrion's reaction to her mindset makes for some great moments.
-Loved Jon's arc. It reminded me of the story of the Hightower lord who ordered Oldtown to be put to torch to stem the spread of disease; shortly after his actions he was dragged off his horse and murdered. And yet he saved the realm. Jon's actions may just hold off the Others long enough to save it. And on a side note, that story makes me wonder whether Dany will burn all of Mereen when she returns, to stop the spread of the flux...
-I also loved Reek's chapters. I felt sorry for him, something I never thought I'd do. His chapters also served to illustrate just disgusting the Boltons are. Holy shit, they both need to die.
-Davos had few POVs, but they were all amazing - including what is my favorite moment of the book: The North remembers.
-Quentyn...I must say his POVs were good, but I was baffled by his decision to tame the dragons. I understand he didn't want to fail his father, but for such a cautious man it seemed like quite an idiotic decision to free the dragons. They were about to claw their way out eventually. And considering Dorne would declare for Dany regardless, it seems almost a waste to kill him off like that.
Griff's chapters were great as well. It seems obvious Aegon is not the real Aegon, given the prophesy. Yet he seems like quite a badass. Could he possibly be a bastard of Rhaegar's? On one hand Ned doubts Rhaegar visited brothels (GoT), on the other hand Cersei suggests he frequented them (AFFC). The boy clearly displays physical traits of a Targeryen. I wonder if he'll end up having greyscale though.
-Haven't seen much discussion on the epilogue. It kind of left me cold. I loved seeing Varys again but it seemed almost like a superhero villain monologue, revealing his master plan. I kind of wonder if my disappointment has more to do with me thinking Arya was about to assassinate Tommen. The tomcat in the window, the veiled little boy at the gate...I thought for sure a Faceless Man attack was about to happen. Still, the chapter means we get more Cersei action. Yesssssss
-Speaking of Cersei, what was that septon trying to whisper about Loras...
Things I didn't like:
-Towards the end of the book it started to feel like Martin was dragging things along. Based on his editor's comments it seems pretty obvious the Stannis/Bolton conflict was removed from the book. I honestly felt cheated. Nor do I like the idea of Stannis' entire host near starving in a blizzard and somehow barely losing any men. Seemed unrealistic to me. I can't really see how he'll break Winterfell with a starving, frozen host. More than likely Tormund will lead the Wildlings off to save the day in the next book.
-I hated Dany's last chapter. I had been under the assumption that the book was "really" 1013 pages or so, so when I got to the end of her chapter and saw the Epilog was next I was pissed off. It just struck me as a boring, bland end to an arc that had been getting exciting. It just left a bad taste in my mouth, nor did I care for the ending with her finding the Khalasar. I'm guessing she'll either kill them all or lead them all to the walls of the city and free her people.
-Finally, I was majorly disappointed not to get any information on the issue of Robb's heir and the location of the Blackfish. Rickon being alive makes the heir issue null, but I still couldn't help but be upset there was no new information on this. And the Blackfish...bah. Maybe I should have expected it, considering he's probably going to the Eyrie.
A great book, but towards the end Martin essentially hamstrings the viewer with a series of POV ends - some are the standard shock cliff hangers he does so well, others basically halt all momentum and left me feeling shitty knowing I'll have to wait about 3 (or more...) years to get resolution to things that should have happened in this book. His editor already confirmed three major acts were moved to the next book. There was room for at least one of them, perhaps two if the book was paced differently.
