So I have finished all the volumes of the series that have come out so far. Vol. 5 is better than vol. 4: it has a faster pace, deals with most of the more interesting characters (Jon Snow, Tyrion, Danaerys, etc.) and takes the story further. Martin is still a fascinating storyteller, nonetheless I have felt a bit impatient with some of the twists of the narrative: at times he seems to have a manic compulsion to overcomplicate the individual plotlines with rather improbable turns. Recently, he has become enamoured with that ancient deus ex machina, the stormy sea and the shipwreck: in the last two volumes, the number of shipwrecks and other sea calamities has been a bit too much to my taste. The other uneasy feeling I have is that this story is never going to come to any kind of conclusion: with every conflict resolution (if there are any such turns at all in the story) comes three more complications [spoiler alert!!]: Danaerys has been now removed even from Myreen, Jon Snow has been apparently killed (?), Stannis is snowed under, Jamie has mysteriously disappeared, Bran is sitting underground somewhere beyond the Wall... How is this going to end in any meaningful way? I can't help feeling that the author wouldn't mind a sudden death so much as it would relieve him of the burden to untangle all these complications he has piled up in five volumes. But I'm unfair, of course, because I can hardly wait for the next volume to come out and to find out about the rest of the story. So he still has me under his thumb. Obviously this series is popular, and I have now read the 5th book, so I like it well enough; however, I am trying to think about how this book will fare as time goes by, and I also have some comments about the audio version. First, although fun to listen to, I do not consider these books to be great. For example, unlike The Lord of the Rings, which I have read or listened to repeatedly, I cannot imagine rereading any of A Song of Ice and Fire (SIF). One reason LOTR is so good is because of the depth of its characters. SIF does not have nearly the same depth. What it has instead is breadth. In fact, I think it has too much breadth. LOTR had 3 main story lines after the company disbands, perhaps 1 or 2 more, depending on how you want to look at it. How many different story lines are there in SIF? I have lost count...and to some extent lost interest. It is too difficult to keep track of the multitude of plots, many of which seem to come to abrupt conclusions, almost as afterthoughts. It is also difficult--actually impossible--to become too involved with any single character in SIF because you do not spend enough time with them, you do not hear about them for hundreds of pages, and/or they are killed off.Second, the audio version of SIF is incredibly bad. In part it is the difficulty of one person trying to do so many different characters. In truth, the first two or three books did not seem bad at all; however, by the fourth and fifth the narrative was laughable. Roy Dotrice was unable to keep his voices consistent. For example, Tyrion has a distinctive voice. Unfortunately, the same voice is sometimes used for Jaime and, amazingly, even for Cersei. Another example of inconsistency is with pronunciation. How many different ways can you say Brienne? "Bry-een", "Brian" and "Bree-en" are all used, sometimes within a few sentences of each other. Inconsistency seems to be a specialty in the last two books. Strong Belwas has a voice that changes from a bass to a falsetto, and then back again within a couple of minutes. Typically, in these last two books, Dotrice has 2 distinct voices. Thus, what you get in most conversations is: Voice 1, voice 2, voice 1, voice 2. Unfortunately, the voices do not necessarily correspond to any particular voice you have associated with a character in the past. These 2 voices are simply a device to allow you to tell that there is more than one person in the conversation, nothing more, and as such the narration does nothing to enhance the story. A good narrator will enrich the book (one of my favorites is William Dufris). Sadly, the narrator in this case detracts from enjoying the books, because the characters' voices become a joke.
What do You think about Danza De Dragones (2012)?
From Westeros to the rest of the world. It was great to read about Dany and Jon and everyone else again, especially getting to see (in a sense) the dragons and wargs. The children of the forest seem so interesting, and I'm really hoping that we get to read more about Penny and Tyrion. It was great that Jaime and Brienne reunited, even though I know that it's not always going to be so happy because of the deal Brienne made. The cliffhangers make me even more eager to get my hands on the next book (it needs to come out already!) but that'll just make getting to read it even better. Then I can see if all my favourite characters are okay.And with that, I've completed the ASOIAF series before Christmas and the end of the year
—hguehask
Lots of set-up in this volume in the series. Slow start (to me), exciting & wonderful end. Now I am at the point of the other Song of Ice & Fire fans who are rooting for George RR Martin to somehow, someway, finish books 6 and 7. And maybe, I hear, 8? In any event, I know whenever they are completed, they will be great fun. Go, George!Negatively, there was a point about 3/4 of the way through when I wondered if the text sounded un-george like. I started reading the phrase "you and yours" and since this is a pet peeve of mine -- I don't even know why, it just bugs me -- I thought hmmm this is new. I wondered if someone was maybe helping? Then I just stopped thinking that way cause I don't like going there.
—ahlgrim11
Solid story continuing to unfold. Keeps you on your toes for the next one.
—nyeeha
It was amazing and i wait for the winds of winter.
—buena
