Anyone else find ADWD slow and detached?

[dwarfslayer]

At the end of AFfC seemed like some of the characters were getting their just dues. Then ADWD makes no mention of Cersei or the stark girls more than halfway in. Seems like it almost goes back in time somewhat. Pretty disappointed so far.

[The Dornishman's Wife]

Then ADWD makes no mention of Cersei or the stark girls more than halfway in. Seems like it almost goes back in time somewhat.

Yep, that was the idea: The two of them were supposed to be one book, it got too big and was split in two. The split was done by PoV rather than chronologically. So some storylines were put into Feast and some in Dance, that's why the beginning of Dance doesn't seem later than the beginning of Feast. Dance extends further in time than Feast though to account for the stuff left dangling in Feast (e.g. what happens to Cersei after her arrest, to Arya after becoming blind).

If the result of this split was little to your liking, rejoice: At least as far as we know nothing like that is planned for the future books.

[NitzanLeo]

I don't see it slow and detached at all. After A Storm of Swords (prominently Blood & Gold), I think ADWD is the best book that came out in the series, or perhaps tied with ACOK. If any book felt slightly slow, it's AFFC, but even that was incredible on my overall rankings of books I read.

[Peter Woolshirt]

In my first reading of ADWD, I found the Meereen segments too far apart, so I lost track of what was happening with Daenerys and they all sort of ran together in my mind. After rereading just Daenerys' chapters, I discovered they were coherent and told a fascinating story about her reign falling apart. So I think the book could have been improved by splitting it in half. One half would focus on the East: Daenerys, Tyrion, Quentyn, Victarion, Barristan, and the first Jon Connington chapter. The other half would focus on the North. An extra bonus is that Martin could have given each book its own climax, with the battles of ice and fire that he left out of ADWD because of space.

[ab aeterno]

In my first reading of ADWD, I found the Meereen segments too far apart, so I lost track of what was happening with Daenerys and they all sort of ran together in my mind. After rereading just Daenerys' chapters, I discovered they were coherent and told a fascinating story about her reign falling apart. So I think the book could have been improved by splitting it in half. One half would focus on the East: Daenerys, Tyrion, Quentyn, Victarion, Barristan, and the first Jon Connington chapter. The other half would focus on the North. An extra bonus is that Martin could have given each book its own climax, with the battles of ice and fire that he left out of ADWD because of space.

But if he had done that we'd probably still be waiting for it to be published. At least we're waiting on TWoW now.

[andrew_]

Its definetly second best in the series for me behind aSoS, It really sets the story up for the next one imo, much like a clash of kings sets up aSoS

[Burning One Arise]

Its definetly second best in the series for me behind aSoS, It really sets the story up for the next one imo, much like a clash of kings sets up aSoS

I definitely agree with this. It took a little getting used to that the first part was simultaneous with the previous book, but after that, I thought it flowed very well!

[blackwing]

I really disliked the way the chronological order was disruped in the fourth and fifth book. Also, there were too many new POV's and a lot of extensive detours from the main plot. Imo ADwD is better than AFfC, but can't reach the level of ACoK and ASoS.

[ab aeterno]

I really disliked the way the chronological order was disruped in the fourth and fifth book. Also, there were too many new POV's and a lot of extensive detours from the main plot. Imo ADwD is better than AFfC, but can't reach the level of ACoK and ASoS.

I think that is a pretty common opinion. Most people seem to consider AFfC their least favorite. For me, that was because most of my favorite characters weren't in it.

[Daenerys is my queen]

I think it's a kind of popular opinion to think ADWD was slow or boring or something but I really liked ADWD. It had a few slow bits-what book doesn't?- but things always got interesting even in the POVs of characters I don't even like.

[The Drunkard]

I'm torn on ADWD. I think the Northern arc, Reek and Jon and Stannis and Davos and everyone, was a really good read. I'm also very interested in what's going on with Aegon and JonCon.

But Victarian, Tyrion, Barristan and Dany all bored/annoyed me to a degree. They were good chapters, just not as good as I thought the rest of the book was, but that's largely just due to what stories I'm most interested in.

[Trinket2]

I do think that some POVs, for example Dany's, are a bit slow. Frankly, I think the editor wasn't harsh enough, there's a lot in the book that could have been removed, for example some repetitive use of language, and many of the POVs that could have been compressed to fewer.

Some POV chapters are still very strong, though. I loved Reek's POV.

[Ser Endrew Tarth]

I really enjoy Davos' POV, I thought it was nice for Tyrion to get a change of scenery. I appreciate Dany's Ch's as she learns some hard lessons about ruling. I'm on my third re-read and I love this book even down to the quirky Penny/Tyrion relationship. IDK it's a lot to take in and gets better with every read. I also like to sometimes just go from one Tyrion chapter to the next, or Jon chapter and just immerse myself in one POV, it helps to catch some things you might've missed.

Bottom line the pacing may be different than the other books but the writing and compelling information drive it forward. It obviously would've been nice to get the battles originally planned for this book included, but look at it this way...

TWoW will start off with one hell-of-a bang! :cool4: