A Dance with Dragons: A Song of Ice and Fire: Book Five

George R. R. Martin

Jul 2011 · Bantam

About this ebook

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • THE BOOK BEHIND THE FIFTH SEASON OF THE ACCLAIMED HBO SERIES GAME OF THRONES

NAMED ONE OF PASTE’S BEST FANTASY BOOKS OF THE DECADE
 
Here is the fifth book in the landmark series that has redefined imaginative fiction and become a modern masterpiece in the making.

A DANCE WITH DRAGONS
 
In the aftermath of a colossal battle, Daenerys Targaryen rules with her three dragons as queen of a city built on dust and death. But Daenerys has thousands of enemies, and many have set out to find her. Fleeing from Westeros with a price on his head, Tyrion Lannister, too, is making his way east—with new allies who may not be the ragtag band they seem. And in the frozen north, Jon Snow confronts creatures from beyond the Wall of ice and stone, and powerful foes from within the Night’s Watch. In a time of rising restlessness, the tides of destiny and politics lead a grand cast of outlaws and priests, soldiers and skin-changers, nobles and slaves, to the greatest dance of all.
 
A GAME OF THRONES • A CLASH OF KINGS • A STORM OF SWORDS • A FEAST FOR CROWS • A DANCE WITH DRAGONS

Ratings and reviews

I have waited for many years for this book to come out. I refused to read A Feast for Crows because it was focused on the King's Landing part of the story, and I wanted more of Danerys and Jon Snow. (I have since learned that Arya's story is continued in Feast, I would have read it for that alone.) For those not familiar with this series, get a different book. The story is like nails on a chalkboard and a train wreck combined, you will never be able to look away. The motto that "No one is safe" continues in Dance as you are pulled from the frozen North to Slaver's Bay and back again. Martin continues to show his methodical style of character development, but towards the end he seems to have changed styles a bit. He comes off as almost rushed, like he just wants to get his chores done. That is the books weakest point, it gets too rushed. He also got lost in Danerys' ennui but pulled out of that magnificently. Overall, this is a worthy sequel to the rest and has me hooked til the next.

I'm done with this series. There are few characters left that I don't find actively annoying. I've waited years for the book and it barely advances the plot at all. Martin needed to stop adding complexity and start moving toward a close; he failed. This book arrived too late and holds too little that I care about. By the last page, all possible pathos was spent and I was left with ashes in my mouth. I will not purchase or read the sixth tome in the unlikely event it is ever finished, and am regretful of ever reading the first four books. Thanks to A Dance with Dragons, I also have zero interest in the further seasons of the TV series. I suppose reading this book has saved me money in that respect.

Very much enjoyed this book. Authors use of repeated phrases with specific characters was a fond reminder of them but the use of "much and more" or "little and less" was a bit excessive. Use of suspense holding the reader 571 pages before we learn the fate of Arya was expertly done and vexing just the same. This also marks the end of the parallel diverted story the author mentioned in interview. The author regularly puts characters in fatal situations and leaves their story only to return later to learn weather character survived or not. This could be taken as cheap suspense or a reminder that life is cheap and perilous in the song. Not a technique I care for but probably a valid plot device. Some moderate level characters do in fact die though it will be curious to see if Snow actually dies. Overall, quite worthy of the series.

About the author

George R. R. Martin is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of many novels, including the acclaimed series A Song of Ice and Fire—A Game of Thrones, A Clash of Kings, A Storm of Swords, A Feast for Crows, and A Dance with Dragons—as well as Tuf Voyaging, Fevre Dream, The Armageddon Rag, Dying of the Light, Windhaven (with Lisa Tuttle), and Dreamsongs Volumes I and II. He is also the creator of The Lands of Ice and Fire, a collection of maps from A Song of Ice and Fire featuring original artwork from illustrator and cartographer Jonathan Roberts, and The World of Ice & Fire (with Elio M. García, Jr., and Linda Antonsson). As a writer-producer, Martin has worked on The Twilight Zone, Beauty and the Beast, and various feature films and pilots that were never made. He lives with the lovely Parris in Santa Fe, New Mexico.