A Feast for Crows (A Song of Ice and Fire, Book 4) |
|
|
List Price: $16.00
Our Price: $10.88
Your Save: $ 5.12 ( 32% )
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Spectra
Average Customer Rating:   
|
| |
PRODUCT DESCRIPTION
Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN: 9780553582031
ISBN: 0553582038
Label: Spectra
Manufacturer: Spectra
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 784
Publication Date: 2007-10-30
Publisher: Spectra
Release Date: 2007-10-30
Studio: Spectra
|
|
|
|
|
|
Editorial Reviews:
|
Few books have captivated the imagination and won the devotion and praise of readers and critics everywhere as has George R. R. Martin’s monumental epic cycle of high fantasy. Now, in A Feast for Crows, Martin delivers the long-awaited fourth book of his landmark series, as a kingdom torn asunder finds itself at last on the brink of peace...only to be launched on an even more terrifying course of destruction.
A Feast for Crows
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.
From the Hardcover edition.
|
|
|
Spotlight customer reviews:
|
Customer Rating:
Summary: I hope we're going somewhere . . .
Comment: I am no where the writer George R.R. Martin has shown himself to be. But I am a reader who knows how to compare his works. The first two books were four to five stars, and number three was slightly less. A Feast for Crows continued the downward trend. GRRM got himself in a bind with the story and we ended up temporarily losing half of the characters and meeting a set of people the reader couldn't care about. Hopefully, this trend reverses itself quickly and substantially in the next book. A Dance with Dragons was supposedly close to completion when AFfC was published in 2005. Three years have passed and GRRM has not delivered nor has he indicated where he is in the story. His website indicates that he is busy in other areas and the series appears to no longer be a priority.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Excellent series!
Comment: This series was recommended to me by a friend and I fell in love with them. They're not always the happiest of books, but that keeps me guessing as Martin seems willing to part with some general fantasy norms. Definitely a good read.
Customer Rating:
Summary: I Hate Waiting...
Comment: If you're reading this, you're probably already a huge George R. R. Martin fan (if not, start with "A Game of Thrones", which is absolutely excellent) and you've heard some of the controversy surrounding this book's release, you're wondering whether to keep going with the series or hold off, etc.
First, I give credit where credit is due. Martin is still a Class-A writer; that hasn't changed. This is a riveting, emotionally taut book that, although quite a bit different in style from the previous books, still holds the reader's attention. (Like how I presume to talk for all readers everywhere?) Further, I think Martin's plan to cut what would have been an uber-huge Book 4 into Book 4 and Book 5 was a gutsy move--guts being something contemporary writers rarely display, especially when dollars and publishing houses get involved.
Still, I have to admit that I wasn't completely blown away by this most recent edition to "A Song of Ice and Fire". That's by no means an overall negative review, though. As I said, the writing here is still very good; I think the story lines and plot actually progress quite well, despite what some critics have said. I was particularly impressed with how Jaime and Brienne's respective characters developed. And I suspect that once Book 5 comes out, Martin's logic behind dividing the story will be more clear.
In the end, I really only have a couple complaints to this book, one of them being the very un-Martin-like ending. Don't worry; I won't spoil it if you haven't read the book yet. I'll just say that it's a towering cliffhanger that might have been forgivable if Martin weren't so patently slow in releasing these books. To make his EXTREMELY loyal, generally very intelligent and very grateful fans wait years in the real world just to find out what happens a couple seconds later in Westeros strikes me as a dirty trick. I was also alarmed to hear that Martin was working on other projects, rather than concentrating on getting Book 5 out there.
Granted, these are REAL books, not "Forgotten Realms" slush. As a writer myself (not that I'm comparing myself to Martin, of course), I understand that writing a good book takes time. Fans of the fantasy genre in general, though, are probably the most long-suffering readers out there. We have to contend with hackneyed writers by the dozen, so when a true writer like Martin comes along and hooks us with a series like "A Song of Ice and Fire" which requires a true investment on the part of its readers (read my review of "A Game of Thrones", if you like), we're naturally pretty impatient. I'm not sure Martin quite appreciates that.
All that rambling aside, "A Feast for Crows" IS a good book, perhaps not as emotionally taut as "A Storm of Swords", but still well worth buying.
Customer Rating:
Summary: ASOIAF's weakest, still genre's top
Comment: I am not going to argue - Feast is the weakest of the four books. I think almost every negative review makes fair points about it - the wordiness, the lack of action, the lack of characters we care about (yes, we know, they are returning in part V). I also think, comparing to good 90% of fantasy coming out these days, this book still feels strong, even if not like GoT/SoS/CoK.
There is plenty to enjoy within. The Kingsmoot makes all of Iron Isle chapters worthwhile. Jaime chapters, while not as good as part III's are necessary - Jaime needed that quiet time. Cercei is fun - we've never got into her head before and she is the sort of character holds within much more than she shows. Brienne cliffhanger is, well, lame, but witnessing the wartorn land through her eyes, leading to Stoneheart's outlaws is a trip worth your time.
Call me Martin fanboy. I don't care. Good Martin, bad Martin, the bar he's set won't be beaten in awhile.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Leaving
Comment: After devouring the first three books, I really had to push through this one. The story didn't flow as well as the first 3 books in the series. I don't know if it was the lack of so many characters I wanted to read about, or the fact that Martin is becoming a little long winded with his tale. But I just didn't enjoy this one as much as the others. I think I won't be picking up any more of the series until it is completely done. Mr. Martin is no spring chicken and not always in the best of health, I would hate to invest so much time into a series that may never get finished by him(can you say Wheel of Time). A Dance of Dragons is nowhere in sight and this series was supposed to be 7 books, which I guess is now 8 since this part was split in half. If each volume takes as long to get released, I will be an old man before the end comes. I think instead of releasing children's books, going back to his "Aces" series and other side projects, I wish he would devout the time to the one series that most of his fans want to see finished.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
