Hardcover, 1016 pages
English language
Published July 12, 2011 by Harper Voyager.
In the aftermath of a colossal battle, the future of the Seven Kingdoms hangs in the balance—beset by newly emerging threats from every direction. In the east, Daenerys Targaryen, the last scion of House Targaryen, rules with her three dragons as queen of a city built on dust and death. But Daenerys has thousands of enemies, and many have set out to find her. As they gather, one young man embarks upon his own quest for the queen, with an entirely different goal in mind.
Fleeing from Westeros with a price on his head, Tyrion Lannister, too, is making his way to Daenerys. But his newest allies in this quest are not the rag-tag band they seem, and at their heart lies one who could undo Daenerys’s claim to Westeros forever.
Meanwhile, to the north lies the mammoth Wall of ice and stone—a structure only as strong as those guarding …
In the aftermath of a colossal battle, the future of the Seven Kingdoms hangs in the balance—beset by newly emerging threats from every direction. In the east, Daenerys Targaryen, the last scion of House Targaryen, rules with her three dragons as queen of a city built on dust and death. But Daenerys has thousands of enemies, and many have set out to find her. As they gather, one young man embarks upon his own quest for the queen, with an entirely different goal in mind.
Fleeing from Westeros with a price on his head, Tyrion Lannister, too, is making his way to Daenerys. But his newest allies in this quest are not the rag-tag band they seem, and at their heart lies one who could undo Daenerys’s claim to Westeros forever.
Meanwhile, to the north lies the mammoth Wall of ice and stone—a structure only as strong as those guarding it. There, Jon Snow, 998th Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch, will face his greatest challenge. For he has powerful foes not only within the Watch but also beyond, in the land of the creatures of ice.
From all corners, bitter conflicts reignite, intimate betrayals are perpetrated, and a grand cast of outlaws and priests, soldiers and skinchangers, nobles and slaves, will face seemingly insurmountable obstacles. Some will fail, others will grow in the strength of darkness. But in a time of rising restlessness, the tides of destiny and politics will lead inevitably to the greatest dance of all.
четвертий та п'ятий томи трохи дивні: хронологію поламано заради... казна чого.
I liked this one much better than book 4. Now to wait for the next one!
Does anyone else feel like GRRM is losing his mind? The quality and drama in the last two books have fallen steeply off a cliff.
I can't believe it's over for who knows how many years. I know a lot of others readers have been waiting since 1994 and I feel sorry for them but I know that my time has come too. I'll have to wait. Just like everybody else. It's so sad but the good was truly good, as any of this saga.
I am still upset with Bran's chapters because they dissapeared once you read the first half of the book and he only has like three chapters in the whole book! His story is so compelling that I felt betrayed when he stopped appearing.
I fear for Arya like I never thought I would. I want her back to Westeros not there in Braavos with all her hatred. She makes me so sad.
And Jon Snow! God, that ending! I can't wait to know what happened. But Jon is without a …
I can't believe it's over for who knows how many years. I know a lot of others readers have been waiting since 1994 and I feel sorry for them but I know that my time has come too. I'll have to wait. Just like everybody else. It's so sad but the good was truly good, as any of this saga.
I am still upset with Bran's chapters because they dissapeared once you read the first half of the book and he only has like three chapters in the whole book! His story is so compelling that I felt betrayed when he stopped appearing.
I fear for Arya like I never thought I would. I want her back to Westeros not there in Braavos with all her hatred. She makes me so sad.
And Jon Snow! God, that ending! I can't wait to know what happened. But Jon is without a doubt the most honest and dutiful and kind character of the whole serie. His honor is never gone. His mistake is not seeing carefully, just as Robb and Ned.
The Greyjoys' chapters are truly interesting, especially Asha's. I really like her character and her fierceness. Theon story was driving me mad. There is no other character that I hate more than Ramsay Bolton. I can't wait to see him dead. SPOILER: --- I was so glad for Theon, though. Finally his pain ended! (who knows for how long, though)-----. (END OF SPOILER).
The ending was one of the best. Really, I think no one could had seen it coming. But I guess we will have to wait what will happen with the Greyjoys, Martells, Lannisters, Baratheons and all those characters I will never, ever forget.
Not another Stark!?!
This series is losing steam, I think partly because of how badly the previous book ended.
There are too many story lines in these books. ,its hard to keep track of, and ponderously slow to move the plot forward.
That said they're entertaining. Just frustrating that the last two books were one book of plot line.
A bit wandering compared to the prior books, but can I say DRAGONS!!!
I know ADWD had problems. Like most of its predecessors, instead of focusing on moving the story forward (or even focusing at all) it branched out, and out, and out even further. New characters, new points of view, and many "Family Guy" style flash backs: "The sun was shining brightly, just like that day thirty years ago when Ser Flashback learned his first lesson in humility..." You get the idea.
But here's the thing. I still really enjoyed the book. Unlike AFFC (its immediate predecessor), the flashbacks didn't bother me. Martin's actual, paragraph-by-paragraph writing skills here are top-notch. I care about the characters. I care about the story. I can taste the salty sea air, and hear the crackling wood of the night fire, and the bone-aching cold of the Wall in autumn. Martin's world is heavy, and wet, and breathing. It's real.
I was looking forward to finishing ADWD …
I know ADWD had problems. Like most of its predecessors, instead of focusing on moving the story forward (or even focusing at all) it branched out, and out, and out even further. New characters, new points of view, and many "Family Guy" style flash backs: "The sun was shining brightly, just like that day thirty years ago when Ser Flashback learned his first lesson in humility..." You get the idea.
But here's the thing. I still really enjoyed the book. Unlike AFFC (its immediate predecessor), the flashbacks didn't bother me. Martin's actual, paragraph-by-paragraph writing skills here are top-notch. I care about the characters. I care about the story. I can taste the salty sea air, and hear the crackling wood of the night fire, and the bone-aching cold of the Wall in autumn. Martin's world is heavy, and wet, and breathing. It's real.
I was looking forward to finishing ADWD and being ALL CAUGHT UP. There exist no ASOIAF spoilers for me as I write this. I can read message boards and blog posts full of speculation and reminiscing and not have anything spoiled. But now I have to deal with the fact that there aren't any more for me to read right now. Sure, I'm eyeball deep in a new book by a different author now, but I miss Westeros.
If I have to wait another six years to get the follow-up book, someone's gonna be takin' the Black!
This book leaves me very torn. It's part of ASoIaF so I am bound to love it, and it brings us all the fan favorites that were sorely missed in AFfC. The writing is good and engaging, as gritty and gripping as ever. Some expressions were unfortunately way too repetitive, useless like the oft-mentioned nipples on a breastplate. I couldn't stop reading, but it's not a 5 star book.
My major gripe with this book is that the pacing felt totally off. In the middle you slog and slog through chapter after chapter. I have to say, I was almost rejoicing everytime a 'minor' PoV chapter was happening, as opposed to the glacial Dany or Jon chapters. Almost all Mereenese chapters did absolutely nothing for the story. Sure, they were colorful, they illustrated how much Danaerys was struggling and trying so hard to keep the peace but I could have …
This book leaves me very torn. It's part of ASoIaF so I am bound to love it, and it brings us all the fan favorites that were sorely missed in AFfC. The writing is good and engaging, as gritty and gripping as ever. Some expressions were unfortunately way too repetitive, useless like the oft-mentioned nipples on a breastplate. I couldn't stop reading, but it's not a 5 star book.
My major gripe with this book is that the pacing felt totally off. In the middle you slog and slog through chapter after chapter. I have to say, I was almost rejoicing everytime a 'minor' PoV chapter was happening, as opposed to the glacial Dany or Jon chapters. Almost all Mereenese chapters did absolutely nothing for the story. Sure, they were colorful, they illustrated how much Danaerys was struggling and trying so hard to keep the peace but I could have done without that particular bit of color. There was a lot of traveling in chapters, of all the various characters heading towards Slaver's Bay, and yet, not all were really necessary. Quentyn's travels didn't really do anything for me. So it took a long time, they had to masquerade as mercenaries, and off-camera some of their companions had died. Same with Victarion's travels, though they seemed less pointless than the Dornish group. Only Tyrion's chapters made any sense, because he's a fantastic character, and had the most interesting voyage.
The pacing was a similar issue at the Wall. So many chapters, so little action. I was however surprised how much I enjoyed the Reek PoV. I don't know if enjoyed is the right term to use. The transformation of Theon to Reek and back was startling and disturbing. I hated Theon from the first book onwards, and now I can feel nothing but pity for him. I am probably most aggravated that we do not get any resolution for the Winterfell going-ons.
Fortunately, the pace picks up in the last part of the book, stuff begins to happen, and it feels like it ends too soon, because you want more of the crack. Only now we'll have to wait years again to get all those cliffhangers resolved, if at all. So many unresolved plots.
Surprisingly, my favorite PoV in the end was probably Ser Barristan. What a loyal Queensguard. Or should I say leal?
