A Feast For Crows by George R. R. Martin

Fiction: Fantasy. Hardback from Bantam Books. Published in 2005. On loan from Cascade Branch of the Kent District Library. 745 pages, including 56 appendix pages.


This is Book Four of A Song of Ice and Fire. I listened to the audio versions of the first three of these, and was looking forward to listening to this fourth installment. When I went to buy it I noticed that they had used a different narrator than the previous three. In the comments section people were complaining that the new narrator didn't pronounce the names in the same way as the original reader and generally did not come up to the same standard. I decided instead to try reading this one instead of listening. So, I'm not sure if my dissatisfaction with this volume comes from not having the superb narration of Roy Dotrice and having to rely on my own reading skills, or if the story wasn't as good. I didn't really feel like that much happened. I was vastly disappointed that Martin chose to take about half of the characters out and put their stories into the next book. (Each chapter of this series is from the point of view of a different one the major characters.) This means that it will take twice as long to get to the conclusion of the series, because the next book is not likely to go any further along in the story than the one I just finished. But, Martin had his reasons. He estimates the series will now take seven books to finish.

Publisher's summary:
It seems too good to be true. After centuries of bitter strife and fatal treachery, the seven powers dividing the land have decimated one another into an uneasy truce. Or so it appears....With the death of the monstrous King Joffrey, Cersei is ruling as regent in King’s Landing. Robb Stark’s demise has broken the back of the Northern rebels, and his siblings are scattered throughout the kingdom like seeds on barren soil. Few legitimate claims to the once desperately sought Iron Throne still exist--or they are held in hands too weak or too distant to wield them effectively. The war, which raged out of control for so long, has burned itself out.

But as in the aftermath of any climactic struggle, it is not long before the survivors, outlaws, renegades, and carrion eaters start to gather, picking over the bones of the dead and fighting for the spoils of the soon-to-be dead. Now in the Seven Kingdoms, as the human crows assemble over a banquet of ashes, daring new plots and dangerous new alliances are formed, while surprising faces--some familiar, others only just appearing--are seen emerging from an ominous twilight of past struggles and chaos to take up the challenges ahead.

It is a time when the wise and the ambitious, the deceitful and the strong will acquire the skills, the power, and the magic to survive the stark and terrible times that lie before them. It is a time for nobles and commoners, soldiers and sorcerers, assassins and sages to come together and stake their fortunes...and their lives. For at a feast for crows, many are the guests--but only a few are the survivors.

To view on amazon.co.uk, click here: A Feast for Crows
on amazon.com, click here: A Feast for Crows
on Audible.com, here: A Feast for Crows