[Book] A Dance With Dragons (A Song of Ice & Fire V)

I am doing the audiobook (five 7-hour sessions), so it is going very slowly

Just finished

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The first Quinton Martell chapter. So far it seems like quite a bit of inner-monologue of people contemplating their current position and not a lot of action. By 'action' I don't mean sword fights, I mean events.

 

Man, I am blown away by the sheer beefyness of this book. Were all of his books this packed with info? I think I got used to 'regular' novels of 300 pages each.

 

Ok, you guys need to finish the book so we can discuss...

*rubs hands together*

 

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think Jon stays dead for very long?

 

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You sure you want to read this?

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No way he's dead, so no...

I read the 'b*stard' letter about ten times. What was Jon thinking even trying to go to Winterfel? And it was pretty obvious that the old guard was pissed at all of his actions in the book. Duh, kid.

 

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I think he's dead. But if Thoros of Myr can bring back Beric Dondarrion six times or whatever, I think it's safe to assume that Melisandre can do the same. Either way, I don't think GRRM is gonna kill of Jon. You def need a POV character at the wall.

I guess the real question is, is Stannis really dead? And why was it Ramsay, not Roose sending the letter to the wall?

 

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Good point on the undeads. They're everywhere.

Ramsay pretty much runs roughshod and Bolton doesn't check him. b****es at him, sure, but doesn't do a thing about it.

All of the info in that letter could have been gained from torturing Mace and his spearwives, though. Hard to say.


I'm glad that the Dany chapters are over. She was super lame in this book- certainly the low point of the book.

Who is going to fight Cersei's champion? It would be too perfect if it were The Hound/Gravedigger.

 

this thread is setting a record for

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spoiler tags per post

.

 

Finish the book last week and was literally dumbstrucked after finishing it. I still havent been able to write a review for it for my GoodRead page. While I definitely enjoyed reading it, I also was mildly disappointed. It might just be the expectation, the hype or the long asss wait, but this book left me wanting a lot more. Its definitely no Clash of Kings or Storm of Swords and more similar in pacing and plot to A feast for Crows and Game of Thrones; lots of setup, description, describing and inner monologues. Its behind Book 3, 2 and 1 (all 5 stars!) in my rankings and not sure if I liked it better than Feast yet.

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When i first read the last John chapter, i literally threw my book across the room. Damn George rr Martin, he got me again! Anyways I was really really scared John was dead, but after reading other peoples review on GoodReads and TwoP, I feel somewhat optimistic that he either isnt dead or wont stay dead. I sincerely hopes its the former, i dont want john revived like Beric or Caitlyn.

[/spoiler]

 

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Well, I guess....if he IS dead, and is revived, maybe that's a loophole to get him out of the Night's Watch honorably....

I always wondered what the significance of the 998th Lord Commander meant....I guess there will be one or two more before the frozen **** hits the fan...

 

On a different note, how about the unexpected baddassery of Wyman Manderly? Anyone want to take a guess as to what was in the three wedding pies?

 

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That brings up a good point- did he participate in the 7 days of battle that Ramsay writes about? If so, and Stannis is dead/captured and his forced gone, what's going to happen when Davos turns up with Rickon?

 

Geez. I'm trying. Sadly my reading is going slowly.

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I just finished the third Tyrion chapter

Though I'm going to read some right now. I'll be joining the discussion late, it appears.

 

No worries! It's a MEATY book. Lots to digest. My wife, who usually laps me in reading speed, is only about halfway through. I just decided to be a glutton and gobble it all in a week. nomnomnom

 

Finished the book

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1. Really wanting to read the next one already.... besides the "cliffhangers," I really want to see the Freys and the Boltons getting their due.

2. Agree with prior comment that Wyman Manderly is a great character.

3. Other favorite non-POV characters: Dolorous Edd, Tormund Giantsbane. Glad to see these again.

4. Glad to see Jaime, but not enough of him.

5. Why did Mance Rayder go to Winterfell? I thought Melisandre thought (from the fire) that Arya wasn't at Winterfell and would have told Mance.

6. I don't think Stannis was actually dead: The Karstark girl told Jon about her uncle's plan to betray Stannis. Couldn't Jon have relayed the message to the banker (a raven to Deepwood Motte?) and have it given to Stannis? Also, where the hell would Theon and "Arya" go if they were not with Stannis?

 

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6- good point. And obviously Jon Snow was breaking his vows about not messing with the realm more and more as the book went on. There's something fishy with the whole Ramsay letter...

 

One thing I don't get:

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The fake Davos corpse. They said they had a prisoner who looked kinda like Davos executed and cut his fingers. Davos' fingers have been gone for ages, one would presume that you can tell the dead guy's fingers were freshly cut. How did that ploy ever fool anyone?

Edit: Another comment:

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Sea born wights ("dead things in the water") remind me of ocean zombies in World War Z. Creepy as hell.

 

So, six years until the next one?