So much better on a re-read

[Drekinn]

Anyone else think ADWD gets better on a second read? I loved AFFC at first, and it was amazing on a re-read. But ADWD kinda bored me when I first read it, mostly Dany and Jon's chapters. Now I can't get enough of them.

[A Highborn Maid]

I think Feast and DWD get a bad rap because the plotting isn't as tight, but the writing style and level of detail is actually a step up from previous installments.

[Poorer-Richard]

I'm on my third read, after a year off, and some of the stuff I missed amazes me! I write fiction myself, and cut GRRM some slack, knowing haw incredibly hard it would be to juggle all those story threads and characters... whew!

[chris999]

I agree.

I have came across some theories that make it much better on re-read. One of my favorites is that everyone is wrong about Hizdhar being the Harpy.

I think that Shavepate is the Harpy. He is lying to Dany in order to get her to turn on Hizhar zo Loraq, who is the head of the family that is a bitter rival of his own family.

Barristan Selmy killed the wrong man, and now Shavepate's family will be the strongest in Slaver's Bay. Even Dany's trusted friends like the Green Grace are in on this. She is surrounded by snakes. This is why Quithe warned her about the 'perfumed senechal'.

It is going to be an excellent twist when it is revealed in the next book. I think Dany is going to lose all control of Slaver's Bay and she is going to join Victarion and head for Westeros.

[Quoth the Raven]

I agree. I am just wrapping up my third re-read, and have decided that I like AFfC & ADwD better than the previous books-- which were amazing too. But something just "clicks" for me more with those two. They seem a bit long at times, and sometimes very round-about & drawn out, but the payoffs make it worth it, IMO.