A Dance with Dragons

Wow, this one took a while to get through. I'm pretty sure I enjoyed it, but I'm a little angry at the same time. But what else did I expect from George R. R. Martin and his latest book, A Dance with Dragons?

How can I even sum this one up? I mean, if you haven't read the previous four books, anything I say will not make any sense. But to sum up: Daenery Targaryen is ruling over the city of Meereen. Jon Snow is Lord of the Night Watch and trying desperately to juggle competing pressures. Tyrion Lannister is traveling across the eastern lands. And I was glad to see all three. They are the most memorable and sympathetic characters left in this saga and they were largely absent from the previous book. It was great to see them wading back into the mess that Martin has made.

I don't want anyone to think that by "mess," I am somehow disparaging the world and story that Martin has created. This is epic stuff and incredibly volatile. There's really no way to predict where Martin is going.

My only real worry was that I wouldn't be able to get back into the story. It's been a while since I read the previous four books. But thankfully, it all came back to me as I read. I think I may have been missing some details but that didn't stop me from enjoying this book.

But I can also understand why some people are upset about the ending. It seems like Martin likes to dangle hope in front of us before shredding it. I honestly have no idea where this series is going. I just hope it doesn't take him another five years to get the next book done.

Basically, this is the best way to sum up reading a George R. R. Martin book:



That says it all.