Change in tone

[Daenerysthegreat]

Does anyone feel that the last two books have a different tone compared to the first three?

Affc and adwd seem more .. fresh, like it’s a new world and they have a open tone to them, while the first three books, except like the first 1/3 of agot and last 1/3 of asos, seem too packed/claustrophobic

[TeethGrinder]

There's a clear change of pace with Feast - It's more exploratory and brings the world to life in a way the first few books didn't. Thematically it really hits home how destructive the wars have been and it was clearly intended to do that.

However that change is probably large part of why things have been so delayed and why it seems impossible to finish the series in two books. He hasn't been able to get back to the writing style of the first three books and now things are being drawn out. We know he planned for Dance to include so much more than it did but his new way of writing is getting him bogged down in the details imo. 

[Craving Peaches]

I like the first book the most but looking back it's a bit odd compared to the others. As other people have mentioned the world isn't as fleshed out and there's also some plotpoints that are made out to be important but are never really brought up again and no one seems to care. Case in point being the whole Warden of the East/West issue and where Robert Arryn was supposed to be fostered.

[Nevets]

While AGOT may be a bit too trim and lean, the last two have the opposite problem.  They've got too much fat and they feel like a lumbering whale with their slow pace, AFFC in particular.   AFFC at times felt like he was adding stuff to make it long enough.  And it's still the shortest book in the series; slightly shorter than AGOT, which had 50% more chapters.

They also felt repetitive, with the same things happening over and over.  If I see Tyrion ask "Where do whores go?" one more time, I swear I'm going to punch him through the book.  And when Arianne was imprisoned, I felt as trapped as she by its repetitiveness.  That's just what I can think of off the top of my head.  That sort of thing was rampant in the last two books.  ASOS is probably the best in this respect.  Reasonably fast pace, with room to breathe.

[Craving Peaches]

11 minutes ago, Nevets said:

They also felt repetitive, with the same things happening over and over.  If I see Tyrion ask "Where do whores go?" one more time, I swear I'm going to punch him through the book.  And when Arianne was imprisoned, I felt as trapped as she by its repetitiveness.  That's just what I can think of off the top of my head.  That sort of thing was rampant in the last two books.  ASOS is probably the best in this respect.  Reasonably fast pace, with room to breathe.

This might just be me but I felt all the stuff in the east was a bit dreamlike. When Tyrion is traveling down the Rhoyne and goes Selhorys. Actually the whole east part of the map save the free cities seems weird when I think about it too much.

[Loose Bolt]

It seems to me that story in first books was like a train going from A to B. But during and after AFFC story becomes a helicopter trying to fly everywhere. Or author seemed to lost his ability to control story and keep it simple. 

[BalerionTheCat]

The first 3 books were the petty war for the Iron Throne. Between Baratheon and Lanniser. With Starks for casualty. This war is done. The Lannister won, but collapsed afterward. This war was to setup the stage for the next part: The Long Night and the fate of humankind in balance.

The next two books have barely started this part. GRRM was still at world building. A much larger and complex world. Whence the time and difficulty to write TWoW. To have this part finally engaged for good.