And I’m all caught up with the series. I started the first book earlier this year when I was getting ready for the HBO series and finally got A Dance with Dragons last week and set about reading it. As with all the other books in the series, it was exciting, well written and leaves you hungry for more. However there were some chapters written for this book that were pushed into the next one and it does show. The book doesn’t seem like a coherent whole, but more like 1/3 of a book (with the book before and book after needed to finish up the arc). Having said that I still enjoyed the book. Let’s take a look at it (needless to say, spoilers ahoy).

Let’s start with the bad first. No Sansa, Littlefinger, Cat or Rickon. Only minimal views of Jaime and Brienne. Among others I hope their story continues in the next volume. The Stannis chapters were just mediocre since he’s not really worth caring about. But that is minor compared to all the great stuff that did happen.

Dany is now a queen. Not over her beloved Westeros, but over Mereen and she’s not finding it as easy as conquest was. She’s having to make decisions that affect people’s lives and a mysterious group is going out and killing people in the city. She knows that she cannot hold the city if it continues, but is unwilling to blame her enemies without proof. So, she offers herself up to Hizdahr zo Loraq if he can broker a peace and stop the killing. With it done, she marries him (and not her current flame Daari) and starts making more and more compromises. The opening of the fighting pits being the last of them. But, when the fighting in the pits attracts the attention of her roving dragon Dragon, she ends up running away from Mereen unsure what to do next.

Tyrion is across the sea after having killed his father and is looking for Dany since she might see a use for his talents and knowledge and get him back to Westeros safely. He gets teamed up with another little person named Penny. And the two of them end up as slaves staging a mock battle while riding a pig and a dog. After a gutsy escape from slavery, he sets himself up with a mercenary team hoping to defend Dany.

Jon has taken over as the 998th Lord Commander of the Night Watch. He’s finding himself trapped on three sides: King Stannis, the wildlings coming for safety and his Night Watchmen. He tries his best to juggle them and make sure everyone is aware that the petty battles don’t matter once winter comes and the dead rise to try and take over the land. But he is ignored, hated and ultimately stabbed for his work.

Cersei tries confessing to minor crimes to get out from the more serious charges and manages to work out a champion to defend her honor in battle. But to get there, she has to walk completely naked (no clothes, no hair) back to the castle and the humiliation that she thought would be temporary and minor has a bigger effect on her. Ser Kevan (her uncle) has taken over as regent and is working to get her away from King Tommen, but Varys comes out to kill him and declare for Aegon (who was presumed to be dead, but was actually being trained to be king across the sea). Aegon first tried to get to Dany to form an allegiance and go toward Westeros, but after talking to Tyrion, he headed there first.

Theon is stuck with the Bolton’s and the Frey’s and in poor shape physically. He is forced to help marry the fake Arya to the real Ramsey Bolton (who abuses her as well as him). But he slowly gets his confidence back and works with others to get fake Arya away. Meanwhile real Arya is training for the God of Black and White. She has to work as a blind person (really blind, not faked) and is then given the task of killing an enemy. She passes her tasks through determination and talent. Her future seems uncertain and possibly confusing.

We get a couple looks at Bran, who’s finding it easier and easier to jump into the skins of others, and others, but nothing major.

The characters are amazing as always and the deaths continues. The plots advance, but we’re still not sure who’s going to win the Game of Thrones and not completely sure who’s on which side. The death of Kevan ensures that the war in Westeros will continue, while what the meaning of Dany and the Khal is must wait until the next chapter. GRRM has created a brilliant setting and does a great job of keeping the reader off balance and wondering who will die next and who will ultimately win. Highly recommended.

This post is part of the thread: Song of Ice and Fire Books – an ongoing story on this site. View the thread timeline for more context on this post.