I think the hardest part for me reading this book was that I've seen the HBO adaptation prior to reading the title. This caused lots of mental gymnastics of 'just like the show' and 'oh here's a difference from the show' back and forth in my head that I couldn't stop.

That being said, just like the show (see what I did there) this was an excellent second chapter in the song of fire and ice. I'm always hesitant when reading books that have a huge cast of characters and it's very difficult to keep track if not thread together well. I'm thinking of a few of the Harry Turtledove great war books when I say this.

I enjoyed the unfolding of events in the four main areas of stories as things progressed. The author does a great way of writing to paint the pictures in your head as you read along and I found this a great book to sit down with and read through.