[ADWD Spoilers] Pleased w/ the Book

[Mr Crannogman]

Ok, so I just finished the book and I thought it was amazing! Then I look on here and i see nothing but complaints. I don't get it, I thought the story finally reached a point where there is a actually an end in sight. The political drama was spot on, and the complexity of the mereenese character convergence was engrossing. And the scene with Dany and Drogon in the pit might have been might favorite so far in any book. and chalk up another one for George, i did not see Jon's murder coming. Even if he isn't dead for good, that was a powerful moment. I couldn't put the book down, and I can't stop thinking about it now, so I guess I am having trouble finding all the negative reviews on this site a typical fan reaction.

are there any other fans out there who loved the book?

[Ran]

There are many and more. ;) The forum is a rather peculiar self-selected group and not necessarily representative of the broader readership, I expect.

The median rating at GoodReads is 5, I notice, so you're not alone by any means! And the critics have loved it pretty unanimously (Jeff VanderMeer's review for the L.A. Times was particularly good when paired with his addendum ruminating on FEAST, and Andrew Leonard's review for Salon was quite excellent.)

[Volderon]

I liked it because I heard reviews saying that there was a "Heart-hammering climax" at the end of the book and so I was thinking, "Yeah everything is going to be so cool at the end, characters converging, battles." But no. I didn't get that and when I saw the appendices after the last Dany chapter I was like, "Uh, what?"

It was better than Feast but I suspect it's just because of the characters so it made you want to read more than a "boring" character.

[Laeif]

Hell yeah I liked it.

[Dragonfish]

I agree - I *LOVED* the book, am in the middle of my second re-read. I don't see any reason for any hate whatsoever...I expect that some people just want to hate.

They'd probably hate on Shakespeare, for pete's sake.

There have been some hyperbolically negative reactions to this book, but that doesn't change the fact that it does have some major problems, the biggest one being that it doesn't have a climax. It's generally not a good idea to spend hundreds of pages building up to something, only to defer that something until the beginning of the next book. That's poor writing, IMO, and I think Martin is justly criticized for it.

[Songstress]

Thoroughly enjoyed it. Can't wait for the next one. Period. :read:

[dayna]

I feel lucky that I enjoyed the book so thoroughly. It was well worth the wait.

[Jon AS]

Positivity? I'm down with that.:)

I thoroughly enjoyed the book, and will probably reread it immediately after I get it back (in retrospect I should have told the friend I gave it to that after all these years he could buy his own damn copy...).

[kingkiller]

I LOVED it, and only have a few things I didn't like. Most notably Penny and the NW being a bunch of pansies.

[Selmy]

I think a lot of people liked it and as time goes by and people have the chance to reread the book and notice things they may have missed on their first read, they'll like it even more.

I think the problem is that the book just too so long to come out. I understand GRRM has his process and whatnot, but I think the extended hiatus just allowed for too much speculation and built up expectations.

I think Jon and Tyrion could have made it to Meereen and flown back to Westeros with Dany all on dragons to collectively burn Cersei alive and people still would have been disappointed.

[Bronn Stone]

I think that we'll end up conceptualizing the eight book series as a pair of fairly tightly-written trilogies connected by a pair of intertwined books with less plot and more flavor and world-building and stage-setting. But in the end, I think we'll be glad we have those two books enriching the series. These are the books that broke the plan (5-year gap) and the next will get us closer to the original plan.

[Steve Moss]

I liked the book. A lot.

I think some just want instant gratification and are angry with what they consider a slow build up.

[Ser Hippie]

I liked it overall - I really enjoyed the North/Westerosi chapters, the Essos parts not so much. But I've never been that interested in Dany so that's nothing new. I think things are set up really well for the coming books, though I am uncertain if 2 books will be enough.

It was my least favorite ASOIAF book but when they're all good...

[FireInTheDeep]

Long time lurker here. I devoured the book in two days and loved it. I couldn't put the book down. I came to this site expecting praise, excitement, and reasoned discussion and speculation. But instead I get a cesspool of hate (Dany must die, GRRM is a misogynist, GRRM equals Jordan, etc.) I started questioning my own taste, but I reread the book and I love it even more.

I think alot of people wanted things to go one way, but when it doesn't they start hating regardless of the quality of the book.

[Dinsdale!]

I really liked the book. About 300 pages in, I became dismayed because there's only be twice what I'd already read of this delicious awesomeness before I finished the book.

People like to take a 900 page text, find one thing that annoys them, and denigrate the whole book based on it. Ignore them. Haters gonna hate.

[Sun]

I really really wish I could join everyone here in saying I loved it, but I can't. :frown5:

[Talleyrand]

Loved it personally, definitely worth the wait. Though i've only been waiting since 2008 rather 2000/05

[mak]

You're certainly not the only one.

I did like the book, although, I thought the Daenerys and Tyrion chapters dragged a bit.

Not my favorite of the series, but definitely kept my interest through out. I'll need to read it again to completely digest it. :)

[Raylan Stark]

I really enjoyed it. I really did. I thought it was gorgeously written and I was enthralled from cover to cover.

But I was also disappointed and felt it lacking. There was a lot of tension built up, but no real climax or resolution. Pardon the expression, but it felt like 1000+ pages of cock tease.

I understand he had to excise a few chapters due to length, and likely at least some of what we feel it lacked were in those chapters. But it doesn't stop the overall feeling of... "Wait. That's it?"

I said in another thread (half-jokingly) that he took the phrase "Always leave them wanting more" a little bit too far to the extreme. That about sums up my feelings on it. And fair, or not, I'm sure many people are also judging it this way expecting another 5-6 year wait for resolution.

[Blue Winter Rose]

I did, I've always been a big fan of the North, my favorite region in the series, so the book did not disappoint. If I was disappointed by anything it was some of the Tyrion chapters. I'm surprised by all the people who disliked the Dany chapters. Her last chapter was one of my absolute favorite Dany chapters in the entire series.