A song of Fire and Ice (Book 5) A Dance with Dragons review

The most popular “Epic Fantasy” books series after J.J.R Tolkein’s Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit series; ‘A Song of Fire and Ice’ delivers everything that you can expect from a fantasy series.  George RR Martin has put everything he has got to pen down this brilliant novel. The story is reality grounded unlike other epic fantasy series where magic dominates the story. It’s better and grittier than earlier novels. Splitting the narrative by characters and geography was heavily criticized by critics and fans alike but that blunder made this book an even sweeter novel because it is the novel with the story of our favorite characters Jon, Tyrion, Bran and The Dragon Queen. His plot makes this book a hard-to-put-down book but the story suffers from over description and all the usual problems. Even such a masterful writer makes mistakes and it is so clear sometimes that you want to skip many lines (Even paragraphs) at times.

Not just bright sides adorn this book. Martin’s writing seems to have gone lousy and repetitive. Maybe it is because of his age (He is really really old. I hope he doesn’t die on us before completing the series). The fact that The Starks + Jon Snow never ever ever meet in the god damn books. (It has been 3 books since they were separated for Christ’s sake! I wanna see them reunited or do you plan on killing every stark before they meet?)

The unpredictability of the plot is what pumps the reader’s blood and the unexpected sudden death of central characters (even the heros) in the middle of the books are what make this series the most popular series in the world. The recurring dialogues like –“You know nothing, Jon Snow!”, “My name is Reek. It rhymes with weak.”, “ Winter is coming” and many others make it a fascinating adventure.

Anyway this story of love, lust, adventure, blood, revenge, deceit, dragons and the game of thrones is a must read. Every book lover can get all the taste he/she craves in this series of books and believe me, it’s a spectacle you will surely love.

A Dance with Dragons

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.