[ADWD Spoilers] Pleased w/ the Book

[RobSnow]

I loved the book, and I think people who are complaining of it (including myself) are only reacting such a way because the last 200 pages or so was a disappointment to the previous 750 that preceded it. The end was mostly unsatisfying because of the lack of a climax and lame cliffhangers (we all know Jon ain't dead!), and of course Tyrion and Dany have still yet to meet. But considering I was engrossed through 3/4 of the book and loved every minute of it, I don't think it deserves the heaps of criticism that people are throwing at it now.

With more time and given re-reads, people are likely to find ADWD a solid entry. Can't wait for AWOW.

I'll just add to this sentiment that I agree with by reiterating that from a technical standpoint, he is actually improving as a writer. Impressive at his age and a hallmark of the very upper eschelons of any kind of artist ( and philosopher or teacher as well ). And beyond that I think this is the best entry from a narrative standpoint as well. Barristan the Bold and Wyman Manderly are amazing characters through whom I've learned almost all of what happened 20 years prior and WHY it happened. I am beginning to see and understand why he's simultaneously telling the tale of Dunk and Egg. And finally of course the white raven is the sign that winter is here. The principles are being drawn to each other ( back to each other in some cases ). Tyrion briefly and uncharacteristically feels a sense of hope with Aegon. I think Tyrion is Martin in the story so I think this has relevance. All thats left from the past to tie together to the present, in my opinion, is:

a. exactly how Robert and Rhaegar went down on the Trident,

b. and the same for Stark and Dayne, which can only be done with the introduction of one specific character. So this is a long shot,

c. and finally were Dunk and Egg REALLY trying to hatch dragon eggs? I smell murder and I smell a young Varys rubbing his hands at the anticipation of exploiting Aegons decision to allow his children to marry for love. It is very clear now that he was, up to this point, the true power behind the remaining Targaryens. Drogon, the weather, and a pubescent prince have changed all that. And if it is that they just burnt themselves to death I'm pretty we will get an insight into the last days of Aegon the 5th.

I think Martin is bringing it together splendidly. This is definitely the beginning of the end.

[Ryan E]

I loved the book. Just wish it would have included the ending.

Seriously, the story was great, I thoroughly enjoyed it, but when you remove the climax from a story after all the buildup, its just not as satisfying as it should be.

[PetrusOctavianus]

If we accept the premise of a multi-book series then some books must be used to fill the story out rather than provide resolution.

Was there resolution in Fellowship of the Ring?

Why should there be?

When FotR was published The Two Towers and Return of the King was already written. Lord of the Rings is one book that was published as a trilogy due partly to post-war paper shotage and partly to keep costs down. The Two Towers was published only half a year after FotR.

So it's not really relevant to compare ASOIAF and LotR, since ASOIAF is much more of an ongoing process with "the whole world" as an audience.

[Kalbear]

Was there resolution in Fellowship of the Ring?

Yes, to a large extent. We had the breaking of the fellowship. Can't get much more resolved than that. We had Boromir's sudden yet inevitable betrayal, we had him redeemed, we had Frodo and Sam splitting off from the rest, and while we didn't know what was going to happen it certainly ended on a specific note with a resolution of a lot of the storylines.

[The Human Abstract]

The breaking of the fellowship didn't feel like very strong resolution at the time. It felt like, "weeeell... that was a waste".

[Fearsome Fred]

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.

Triad #1: The War of the Five Kings

Vol 1: A Game of Thrones (1996)

Vol 2: A Clash of Kings (1998)

Vol 3: A Storm of Swords (2000)

Triad #2: The Myreenese Knot

Vol 4: A Feast for Crows (2005)

Vol 5: A Dance with Dragons (2011)

Vol 6: A Hopping with Harpies (2017)

Triad #3: The War of the Dragons

Vol 7: A Burning of Brothels (2023)

Vol 8: A Roasting of Manhoods (2030)

Vol 9: A Barbecuing of Buttocks (2038)

Triad #4: The Fall of the Long Night

Vol 10: The Winds of Winter (2045)

Vol 11: A Munching of Corpses (2052)

Vol 12: A Dream of Spring (2058)

[Bubba]

I'll mimic the others by saying the North chapters were amazing. Theon and Davos both rocked. I don't what it was, but Davos's first chapter really stuck with me, even if it was a filler of sorts. Tyrion was also a favorite of mine, along with Connington and Quentyn.

[Branna]

I loved it. I only had a few complaints: baffling Meerenese names and characters, some plotlines not as resolved as I would have liked, and I didn't like the way some of the characters acted. But I enjoyed the hell out of it! I cannot wait for the next one! (But I will)

I think the reason a lot of us feel disappointed is that we waited ELEVEN years to find out what happens with Jon, Dany, Tyrion, Bran, etc. A lot gets built into your mind over those years, especially if, like me, you are a re-reader. So when the book was in my hands I half expected it to complete the story, despite knowing that there are more books coming.

Another part of the disappointment stems from the knowledge that now there is another long wait in store (not 11 years hopefully), and we'd hoped for more resolution to tide us over. But if it was all resolved there'd be no reason to read the next one, would there?

I'll be re-reading Dance again soon to catch all of the things I missed, and now that my expectations have changed (I know what happens) I think I will enjoy it even more.