A Feast for Crows - Review
A Feast for Crows (Book 4) feels very different from the first 3
books in the A Song of Ice & Fire series. Imagine if any book you
read removed 3 of the most popular and main characters out of the book
(Jon, Tyrion, & Daenerys) and made the most hated character in the
story now the focus of the book (Cersei). If any other author did that
for their book, it would fail and be a disaster. But…..George R.R.
Martin somehow makes it work. This book has much less action and
shocking twists but focuses more on the character development and
world-building. The chapter structure is also different from the other 3
books because instead of having the normal 1 POV character telling a
story in a certain location (e.g. Catelyn in the Riverlands), some of
the locations follow several one-off POV characters (e.g. Arianne, Areo,
& Arys in Dorne). This review will be non-spoilers and will be
covered in 4 sections. Characters, Plot, Setting/World-Building &
Pacing.
This book shines because of its character development but it also has a disadvantage because a lot of the characters I really care about (Tyrion, Jon, Daenerys, Bran, & Davos) are not in this book. The POV characters for this book are all new except for Jaime, Samwell, Arya, & Sansa. The main focus of this book is on Cersei with a close second being Jaime & Brienne. I thought having Cersei as the main focus was a really odd strategy by George R.R. Martin but I actually really enjoyed her chapters and her character development. We finally see why she has such a hatred for her brother Tyrion. She is scarred by a memory of her childhood and a prophecy she received from the Westeros equivalent of a fortune teller and that prophecy has shaped & haunted her life ever since. She's always paranoid of other people scheming against her and chapter by chapter, you see her drinking more, putting on a little weight, and becoming increasingly more evil/crazy. It’s scary being in Cersei’s mind but also strangely interesting.
There seems to be a recurring theme in this book for all the characters about how a certain memory/flashback in their life is still haunting them and controlling their lives today. This is shown perfectly through Brienne’s chapters. She is scarred by the “game” played at Highgarden (which I won’t spoil) and it shows how hard it is for her to trust anyone who she has an interaction with. Her character development throughout her chapters in this book was by far the best because she had to learn to cope with her scarred past and learn to overcome her fears. Obviously with Cersei’s paranoia, she manages to force Jaime away and his arc was also great in this book. He finally realizes that Cersei has been manipulating him and he decides to walk away from her and find his own path, while still dealing with all the consequences of his past actions.
The main storyline takes place in King’s Landing with Cersei but 3 important secondary plots are also going on in Dorne, the Iron Islands, and the Riverlands with Brienne. Cersei’s storyline was fantastic. Her growing paranoia of Margaery Tyrell and Cersei trying to oust her by coming up with all these crazy schemes was fascinating to read. She's so evil and clever but at the same time, you see her paranoia starting to mess with her and she starts making crucial mistakes which could end up being her downfall. That is probably what made me enjoy reading these chapters because as messed up as it was being in her head, I saw the mistakes she was making and I was cheering for her downfall to come.
The Dorne storyline is seen through the POV's of Arianne Martell, Areo Hotah, and Ser Arys Oakheart. It was slow at first and it’s only 4 chapters spread out through the book so it felt insignificant to the book overall, but I really loved it. Learning about the Dornish culture and seeing how awesome the Sand Snakes (Oberyn’s bastard daughters) are was great. The subtle feud going on with Princess Arianne Martell and her ruling father Prince Doran Martell was also great because I thought Doran was just a coward for locking up all the Sand Snakes to prevent them from starting a war with King’s Landing but the twist comes at the last Dorne chapter and it was AMAZING.
The Iron Islands storyline was told through the Greyjoys (Victarion, Asha, & Aeron). It was also great because we learn about the culture of the Ironborn (not so great people) and their ways. Balon’s brothers and his daughter fighting amongst each other to rule the Iron Islands was fun and the way George R.R. Martin has built up the myth of Euron Greyjoy from previous books really paid off in this book. Euron is by far the most fascinating character in the book (and possibly the entire series). Brienne's storyline was probably my least favorite in the book. She's just wandering around the Riverlands for most of her chapters looking for Sansa but these chapters were crucial to her character development. I thought 2-3 of her chapters were fantastic but aside from that, it was a bit of a slog to get through. Her last chapter was phenomenal though.
The other side plots were Arya Stark in Braavos, Sansa Stark in the Vale, & Samwell Tarly traveling to a variety of places. Even though it was short, I still enjoyed Arya’s storyline because we learned more about the Faceless Men who were mentioned back in the 2nd book. Arya’s becoming more and more of an emotionless assassin which sucks but on the other hand, I think she’s going to learn all she can in Braavos and once she’s ready, she’s going to come back to Westeros and get her revenge. Sansa’s storyline was also short but still very interesting because we learn a lot about Littlefinger’s mindset and his clever schemes. Samwell’s storyline was in the middle for me. It wasn't bad but I wouldn't call it good either. His storyline of his journey to get to Oldtown was a little slow but I enjoyed parts of it a lot. Especially the twist with Gilly and the last chapter was really good.
Most of this book takes place in King’s Landing. We do get introduced to some new places such as Oldtown, Braavos, Dorne, and a more in-depth look at the places on the Iron Islands. Braavos essentially resembles Italy and the Titan of Braavos is pretty magnificent. Dorne essentially resembles Spain and the Water Gardens of Dorne seems like a great vacation spot. We didn’t get to spend much time in Oldtown but it’s one of the most important places in Westeros so it was cool to catch a glimpse of what goes on there. One of the things this book compensates for the lack of action is the world-building. We learn more about the history of King’s Landing, some Targaryen lore, and a few famous events that took place before the events of A Game of Thrones. We also learn a whole lot more about the past lives of our current POV Characters such as Brienne’s past events on Tarth, Cersei’s childhood and the past of Victarion and Asha growing up on the Iron Islands. George R.R. Martin spent a lot of time on world-building in this book by giving us a lot of crucial details from the past which informs the present day and makes the world feel that much more real and lived in.
This was the slowest of all the books in this series in terms of pacing. Sometimes really slow. But I was fine with action taking a backseat to character development and world-building because it was still really enjoyable. Even thought the journey was slow, the payoffs in the last chapters of each POV character was worth it. I can see the pacing being a problem for people who read this book when it was originally released because they had to wait years just for this book to come out and once they read it, they found out that there's no Tyrion, Jon, or Dany chapters and eventually had to wait until 2011 when A Dance with Dragons came out. Fortunately, I didn’t have to deal with that problem and I binged the books back to back so I probably liked this 4th book much more than other people would.
Image: Arianne Martell & Ser Arys Oakheart.
[Final Thoughts & Rating]:
A Feast for Crows feels completely different compared to the first 3 books in the series but George R.R. Martin still manages to pull off a good book, even with its drastic change in pace and structure. It's definitely the weakest book in the series so far and a tier below the "Elite" status the other 3 books are in but I still enjoyed it very much.
[Characters]:
This book shines because of its character development but it also has a disadvantage because a lot of the characters I really care about (Tyrion, Jon, Daenerys, Bran, & Davos) are not in this book. The POV characters for this book are all new except for Jaime, Samwell, Arya, & Sansa. The main focus of this book is on Cersei with a close second being Jaime & Brienne. I thought having Cersei as the main focus was a really odd strategy by George R.R. Martin but I actually really enjoyed her chapters and her character development. We finally see why she has such a hatred for her brother Tyrion. She is scarred by a memory of her childhood and a prophecy she received from the Westeros equivalent of a fortune teller and that prophecy has shaped & haunted her life ever since. She's always paranoid of other people scheming against her and chapter by chapter, you see her drinking more, putting on a little weight, and becoming increasingly more evil/crazy. It’s scary being in Cersei’s mind but also strangely interesting.
There seems to be a recurring theme in this book for all the characters about how a certain memory/flashback in their life is still haunting them and controlling their lives today. This is shown perfectly through Brienne’s chapters. She is scarred by the “game” played at Highgarden (which I won’t spoil) and it shows how hard it is for her to trust anyone who she has an interaction with. Her character development throughout her chapters in this book was by far the best because she had to learn to cope with her scarred past and learn to overcome her fears. Obviously with Cersei’s paranoia, she manages to force Jaime away and his arc was also great in this book. He finally realizes that Cersei has been manipulating him and he decides to walk away from her and find his own path, while still dealing with all the consequences of his past actions.
Favorite POV Characters – Brienne, Jaime, & Samwell.
Image: Euron Greyjoy aka “Crow’s Eye”.
[Plot]:
Image: Euron Greyjoy aka “Crow’s Eye”.
[Plot]:
The main storyline takes place in King’s Landing with Cersei but 3 important secondary plots are also going on in Dorne, the Iron Islands, and the Riverlands with Brienne. Cersei’s storyline was fantastic. Her growing paranoia of Margaery Tyrell and Cersei trying to oust her by coming up with all these crazy schemes was fascinating to read. She's so evil and clever but at the same time, you see her paranoia starting to mess with her and she starts making crucial mistakes which could end up being her downfall. That is probably what made me enjoy reading these chapters because as messed up as it was being in her head, I saw the mistakes she was making and I was cheering for her downfall to come.
The Dorne storyline is seen through the POV's of Arianne Martell, Areo Hotah, and Ser Arys Oakheart. It was slow at first and it’s only 4 chapters spread out through the book so it felt insignificant to the book overall, but I really loved it. Learning about the Dornish culture and seeing how awesome the Sand Snakes (Oberyn’s bastard daughters) are was great. The subtle feud going on with Princess Arianne Martell and her ruling father Prince Doran Martell was also great because I thought Doran was just a coward for locking up all the Sand Snakes to prevent them from starting a war with King’s Landing but the twist comes at the last Dorne chapter and it was AMAZING.
The Iron Islands storyline was told through the Greyjoys (Victarion, Asha, & Aeron). It was also great because we learn about the culture of the Ironborn (not so great people) and their ways. Balon’s brothers and his daughter fighting amongst each other to rule the Iron Islands was fun and the way George R.R. Martin has built up the myth of Euron Greyjoy from previous books really paid off in this book. Euron is by far the most fascinating character in the book (and possibly the entire series). Brienne's storyline was probably my least favorite in the book. She's just wandering around the Riverlands for most of her chapters looking for Sansa but these chapters were crucial to her character development. I thought 2-3 of her chapters were fantastic but aside from that, it was a bit of a slog to get through. Her last chapter was phenomenal though.
The other side plots were Arya Stark in Braavos, Sansa Stark in the Vale, & Samwell Tarly traveling to a variety of places. Even though it was short, I still enjoyed Arya’s storyline because we learned more about the Faceless Men who were mentioned back in the 2nd book. Arya’s becoming more and more of an emotionless assassin which sucks but on the other hand, I think she’s going to learn all she can in Braavos and once she’s ready, she’s going to come back to Westeros and get her revenge. Sansa’s storyline was also short but still very interesting because we learn a lot about Littlefinger’s mindset and his clever schemes. Samwell’s storyline was in the middle for me. It wasn't bad but I wouldn't call it good either. His storyline of his journey to get to Oldtown was a little slow but I enjoyed parts of it a lot. Especially the twist with Gilly and the last chapter was really good.
Favorite Storylines – Cersei, Dorne, & Iron Islands.
Image: The Hightower of Oldtown.
[Setting/World-Building]:
Image: The Hightower of Oldtown.
[Setting/World-Building]:
Most of this book takes place in King’s Landing. We do get introduced to some new places such as Oldtown, Braavos, Dorne, and a more in-depth look at the places on the Iron Islands. Braavos essentially resembles Italy and the Titan of Braavos is pretty magnificent. Dorne essentially resembles Spain and the Water Gardens of Dorne seems like a great vacation spot. We didn’t get to spend much time in Oldtown but it’s one of the most important places in Westeros so it was cool to catch a glimpse of what goes on there. One of the things this book compensates for the lack of action is the world-building. We learn more about the history of King’s Landing, some Targaryen lore, and a few famous events that took place before the events of A Game of Thrones. We also learn a whole lot more about the past lives of our current POV Characters such as Brienne’s past events on Tarth, Cersei’s childhood and the past of Victarion and Asha growing up on the Iron Islands. George R.R. Martin spent a lot of time on world-building in this book by giving us a lot of crucial details from the past which informs the present day and makes the world feel that much more real and lived in.
[Pacing]:
This was the slowest of all the books in this series in terms of pacing. Sometimes really slow. But I was fine with action taking a backseat to character development and world-building because it was still really enjoyable. Even thought the journey was slow, the payoffs in the last chapters of each POV character was worth it. I can see the pacing being a problem for people who read this book when it was originally released because they had to wait years just for this book to come out and once they read it, they found out that there's no Tyrion, Jon, or Dany chapters and eventually had to wait until 2011 when A Dance with Dragons came out. Fortunately, I didn’t have to deal with that problem and I binged the books back to back so I probably liked this 4th book much more than other people would.
Image: Arianne Martell & Ser Arys Oakheart.
[Final Thoughts & Rating]:
A Feast for Crows feels completely different compared to the first 3 books in the series but George R.R. Martin still manages to pull off a good book, even with its drastic change in pace and structure. It's definitely the weakest book in the series so far and a tier below the "Elite" status the other 3 books are in but I still enjoyed it very much.
Rating: 8/10
*My Rating System*
5 Stars (9-10): Amazing
4 Stars (7-9): Very Good
3 Stars (5-7): Average to Good
2 Stars (3-5): Bad to Mediocre
1 Star (1-3): Terrible
5 Stars (9-10): Amazing
4 Stars (7-9): Very Good
3 Stars (5-7): Average to Good
2 Stars (3-5): Bad to Mediocre
1 Star (1-3): Terrible
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