Should you buy this book? No, it’s too long and heavy. Unless you’re getting the digital version.
Should you borrow this book? Yes but extend your loan period, you won’t be able to finish it before your borrowing period expires two or three times.
“A Feast for Crows” by George R R Martin is the fourth book in “A Song of Ice and Fire” series (which has five books to its name now, and possibly three more to go). It covers the aftermath of the War of Five Kings, and centres around the main continent of Westeros. It’s counterpart, “A Dance with Dragons,” takes place off Westeros but during the same time period as “A Dance with Dragons.”
Remember how I said the previous book, “A Storm of Swords,” took forever to finish? This one took an eternity. It’s huge, and the worst part is that it’s not even a complete story by itself. If you read this as part of a series (and come on, why on earth would your read this book in isolation and not the preceding books) then you’re going to be disappointed, so most of your favourite characters aren’t in this book.
In terms of focus, it’s even looser than the previous two books. There’s no central conflict, no pivotal event that the book looms towards. If you’re talking about the big picture, it’s even worse. You have no idea where it’s going, and in a tome of this size, that’s a terrible feeling to have when reading – that the novel is directionless. While it does pull the spotlight back to character motivations and backgrounds, and you do get a sense of the flaws, strengths, hopes and disappointments of each character, you don’t know what you’re heading towards. What do you root for? What do you expect?
Highlights
Exploration of Cersei & Jaime’s characters
If there’s anything I enjoyed about this book, it’s the heavy emphasis on Cersei. I’ve liked Cersei ever since she appeared, since she’s not only physically the most appealing of the female characters, but also the most ambitious and ruthless of them all. If she could fight, it would be a fantastic bonus, but that would be expecting too much from a fictional character. Cersei’s deeper motivations and latent insecurities are explored in depth in this book (which means she won’t be in the next book, sigh), and Jaime’s as well. Jaime comes across as more of a himbo in this book, especially given his previous neutering, but his search for a place to fit in and his lost ways make him a sympathetic character to read.
Brienne’s vulnerability
Even the indomitable Brienne gets taken down in this book, something completely unexpected given her incredible prowess with a blade. She might be stubborn and naive, but this also means she’s sincere and determined, two traits that make her one of the most endearing characters to root for in this book. Her fate seems bleak towards the end, especially since anyone with more than a flesh wound tends to die, but here’s to hoping we see something of her and Jaime by the end of the series.
Sansa & Arya’s mirrored plots
It’s interesting to see how both princesses, despite having such wildly different personalities, find themselves in the same plight of having to assume a secondary identity. Although it gets confusing thanks to the awkward naming conventions in this book (more on this later), you realise that they both cope in pretty much the same way, and this means they’re more alike as sisters than anything else. Will the Stark family ever be reunited, and honestly, how are they going to deal with a seemingly undead matron?
Letdowns
Too many dream sequences
The fantasy sequences go into overdrive in this novel. Dream sequences in novels are already difficult to handle, given that you have a distinct lack of visuals to mark the difference between reality and the imagination, and to have so many is just overkill. It’s one thing to have symbolism in thoughts, but another to have so many metaphorical mentions in a dream sequence. Not to mention that this being a fantasy world, the wondrous elements of a dream aren’t as distinct as it would be in the real world.
No overall plot structure
There is no climax. Things just happen, rather than a proper exposition, rising action, climax and denouement happening. It feels like someone narrating the events of a country to you at times, rather than it all heading towards some grand battle to close the book. This is the greatest failing of the novel – that plot structure is completely tossed out of the window in favour of heavy character emphasis. It’s not plot or character that make a good story, but both, and this book seems to have forgotten that.
Too many side/new characters
Honestly, the new characters don’t add much to the story. Removing these unnecessary diversions from the main tale, and replacing them with the characters that had to be exiled to the next book would have resulted in a much more tightly focused story that would have evoked stronger emotions and greater reactions. And that, ultimately, is what would have made a more satisfying book.
Strange chapter naming conventions
Halfway, the book randomly stops naming chapters after the names of the characters, but using descriptions of the characters. This is mainly done for the new characters introduced, which creates an utter headache. You’re already unfamiliar with these newer, worthless distractions, and to make it worse their names are shrouded in mystery for whatever unfathomable reason. There’s a reason why these characters are perceived as useless pages in the book, and their insignificance and obscurity merge to make you want to toss those pages into dustbin.
“A Feast for Crows” lacks the punch and focus that the previous books had, and shambles around in confusion as it stumbles towards the end of the book – note, the end of book and not the conclusion of the book. While it might be a great character study in these flawed but very human people, which is one of the strengths of the series, the terrible story structure (or lack of it thereof) makes it a less than satisfying read. Here’s to hoping the next book does it better (and without those abominably named chapters for new characters).
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