A Feast for Crows + A Dance With Dragons

A Feast for Crows by George RR Martin    1061 pages
A Dance with Dragons by George RR Martin    1016 pages

So, when I wasn't spending time working from home, I was devouring books # 4 and 5 in the Song of Ice and Fire series. Full well knowing I was going to be irritated when I got to the end ... because it's been years since Martin announced the title of Book #6 (The Winds of Winter). And Book #5 was published in 2005.

I continued to be surprised by how much I enjoyed these stories, but I was eagerly turning the pages. I especially liked that some of of my favorite characters got a bit more attention. And, I liked that I was able to enjoy the HBO series and still be able to enjoy these books and the fact that the storylines differed didn't mean enjoying either of them less. Is Martin's writing stellar all the time? No, but I still feel he tells a good story --- and I appreciated throughout the entire series that Martin kept things realistic in terms of how there was death, sickness, etc.  You may meet a character and two chapters later, they are dead. But that's reality. I can believe in the dragons, I can believe in Wights. What I can't believe is characters who fight battles and bounce back the next day, and never seem to get sick, or even any kind of malady.  There's no shortage of sickness and death in The Song of Ice and Fire stories.

I usually include some kind of summary, but with these books, it's impossible. Here's the Wikipedia article.

A Song of Ice and Fire series

A Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin  969 pages
A Storm of Swords by George R.R. Martin  1177 pages

It's impossible to summarize these books. So here's the Wikipedia entry.

I have been finding these books to be compulsive reads -- meaning, I cannot stop turning the pages. While these are long books and there are a lot of details to keep track of, I find I love the political intrigue, the back-and-forth in viewpoints, and the storylines that intersect (or threaten to intersect at some point).  I did watch the HBO series before reading these books, so I have an advantage in that I know some of the storyline and relative storylines, and can keep some of that in my head. The books do diverge from the series (which makes sense -- the HBO series had to condense a lot of the books to fit everything!!). So, I can't always predict what is going to happen, which makes the story a lot of fun.

Fool’s Fate

Fool’s Fate by Robin Hobb, 631 pages

“The acclaimed Tawny Man trilogy from the heralded writer of epic fantasy comes to its thrilling conclusion as the fate of FitzChivalry Farseer is finally revealed.”  I think that these books just got better and better, actually.  I highly recommend this series, and all of her books, really, to anyone who likes fantasy.