How can you people seriously hate this book?

[GameofThronesFTW]

When I began reading it, I was thinking to myself...it can't be that bad, now can it? So I read it, beginning is great and feels like George is describing our Westeros is burning and everyone is in a horrible time. Then around page 300-500, things get a tad boring, but tha'ts okay, because once you hit around page 600 and the Ironborn are attacking the cities in Westeros and Euron Greyjoy and Victarion are wonderful characters so far, the book starts getting quite interesting.

I just don't get why this book deserves a 3/5 from the amazon reviews, but that's okay, everyone has their own opinions...can't wait to finish this tomorrow, just 200-300 more pages to go and then on to the fifth book which I think will be great also!

[ebevan91]

The last 400 pages or so are the best IMO. It was OK early on, then kinda got boring like you said.

I really liked the Dornish stuff but the Ironborn stuff bored me to tears.

[~Shiera Seastar~]

Love the Cersei/Jaime chapters, not so much with Brienne/Ironborn/Dorne (probably because they're new, but I might like them on my re-read).

[GameofThronesFTW]

Oh I really enjoyed the stuff happening with the Ironborn. I thought Euron and Victarion had an interesting story.

[Woftis]

It does drag on a bit but I think really I was just expecting sooo much more after the amount of stuff crammed into ASoS.

Maybe GRRM should have left some of that stuff for AFfC?

[JJB]

AFFC is a fantastic book as well as the others. I didnt find it boring at all.

[Weirwolf]

Part of the reason might be that is follows on the coattails of fan favorite ASoS which contain some of the most OMG! moments of the series.

On my first read of "Crows" the Brienne and Ironborn chapters dragged a bit. However, I came to find these chapters (as well as the others) more interesting and engaging on the reread. I think, for me, this was the case because I had finished ADwD and reread the first three. Thus, I was able to concentrate on the subtle details that were missed on the first read, which made the experience more satisfying.

[insertname]

I believe a large part of that is also the waiting period. Feast for Crows is the disliked book of the series, but it didn't bother me at all (When I started reading, I had the first four novels waiting for me). If you have the immensive build up from A storm of swords, which features several key moments, then you have to wait years until this is finally released, only to find out that half of the characters are missing and nothing absolutely major happens, it can be a letdown.

For me, Adwd was the disappointment...but then this was the novel that I had to wait for, and then in many parts it feels like again nothing happens (I'm looking at you Dany!)

I still think Affc and adwd are inferior to the earlier books and that George could have used an editor not afraid to cut stuff out, but I agree that the hate is not deserved, and they're still good books on their own. It's just in comparison, coupled with having to wait years that really fan the flames of hate ;)

[Lady Jenny of Austraatt]

Totally agree with you there! Still reading, but it feels great to be introduced to the new characters and new parts of Westeros. Although I miss Jon, Daenerys and Tyrion I find it pretty interesting to see it wasn't only Stark vs Lannister in the game or the good guys vs the bad guys...

[The Killer Snark]

I didn't. I thought it was excellent. But it is the weakest so far in the series on account of most of the strongest characters being missing and some moments of blatant padding. The Cersei and Jaime story arcs are left to overwhelm most of what happens elsewhere. I'd give it 4 out of 5, give the first three books 5 out of 5, and probably give the fifth 4 and a half.

[Hellauthere]

At the beginning I thought this book would be the most boring of them all, but I think so far ( even with ADWD), Feast is the best written. Loved the Jaime/Cersei and all the Ironborn and Dorne stuff. Brienne was boring, felt like it was just there to fill up the book.

If there was a book I would re-read (after GoT) AFFC would be the one!

[fuseprime]

I thoroughly enjoyed all of the ASoIaF books. AFfC wasn't "bad", but when compared to the events that just transpired in ASoS, well I can see how a lot of people can think that. Yes...it is kind of slow, but it sets up ADwD beautifully.

I also enjoyed the Dornish coming into the story more after their absence from the War of Five Kings.

[Ramsay B.]

People had to wait 5 years for the book and it didn't have Jon, Dany and Tyrion in it...and it came right after ASOS which is hard to top. I liked it but didn't love it. A lot of insight but also a lot of slow chapters.

Also, don't trust amazon reviewers. I've read a bunch of the silly reviews and it's all just hate against GRRM for making them wait.

[BlueEyedCrow]

I liked it the least the first read through,. but on my re-read, I like it much more.

[Sworn Shield]

I enjoyed it on my first read, but no where near as the three previous. However I loved it on my reread of the series. Once you get over the fact Dany, Jon and Tyrion aren't in it, you find its a fantastic book.

[The Killer Snark]

The Cersei and Jaime chapters are magnificent, stronger in fact than Tyrion's in the following book, and Dany's. I've said it before, I might as well say it once more.

[Theon's Missing Finger]

I'm with the original post on this.. I can't see how anyone can dislike the book. It's beautifully written from start to finish.

Others have said the Jaime / Cersei chapters are the best, but I'm gouing to say it too. The Jaime / Cersei chapters are the best, maybe the best they're ever going to get !?

I'm assuming that Brienne will have some importance in the end given the amount of time she's given just (basically) wandering about. She's pretty dull all in all though.

Loved the book !

[Sir Noone Sword Of The Day]

I hate Victarion but i love his chapters, i just hate him though...

AFFC is a great book though, my fourth favorite in the series but still brilliant

people might have under-appreciated the book because it came after ASOS which is most peoples favoriet, me included

[YouSnowNothing]

AFFC is a strong book with some wonderful character beats, but it does have some structural problems. Namely:

- Oversaturation of needless POVs. A lot of people complain about Dorne and the Iron Islands taking up too much time, but I don't think the locations are the issue here. Together, both plotlines take up only 9 chapters, and some great stuff happens in both (election of a new King, introduction of the magic dragon horn, an attempted royal coup, revelation of a Great House's loyalty to the Targaryens). The problem is that these 9 chapters are split between 6 different - and all new - POVs. Just as you're getting into the plot, BAM the POV changes and you're busy trying to figure out a brand new character, then BAM it changes again. It gave both plots a very fractured, confused and inconsistent feeling. This is easily solved by consolidating the POVs into one character. Arianne should have been the sole POV in Dorne. There is literally nothing we gain from the other POVs (Areo just introduces us to Doran, Arys' entire chapter is spent in one chapter with Arianne), instead we could've gotten to know her better, ready for when she becomes a bigger player in TWOW. The Iron Islands could easily be covered by Asha and/or Victarion - I'm tempted to say just Asha, as she's a much more interesting and sympathetic character, but maybe Victarion is more important going forward. Aeron is not needed - we don't need 10 pages of mad religious rambling before he decides to call a Kingsmoot. Just say that there's a Kingsmoot, and concentrate on developing the more important characters.

That's the biggest one for me, but also:

- Brienne's story was overdone. I love her as a character, and I loved seeing inside her head, but her story could've been done comfortably in 4/5 chapters, not 8.

- This is just a personal bug, but I feel like Cersei should've been written more sympathetically. She was a character I was actually really interested in prior to AFFC, and felt contained many shades of grey. Put while usually being inside a person's head and seeing things from their POV lends sympathy and understanding to that person (even if you still disagree with their actions), Cersei's POV revealed that she was far more horrible and evil that I could've possibly imagined. I think I would've been more invested in her arc if it had been more of a tragic downfall, rather than "ha, that bitca got what was coming to her". ASOIAF has always dealt in shades of grey, but Cersei was straight-up black in AFFC, and it felt odd for the character with the most chapters, the sole POV in the most important arena of the series (KL), to be such an unsymapthetic figure.

Overall, though I was a little disappointed in the book at first, in retrospect it is very strong, and is one the verge of being a brilliant book, if it was just a little more tightly plotted, had 100 less pages and 3/4 fewer POVs.

It is still a good book though, and much better than the woefully confused ADWD.

[The Killer Snark]

The only real qualm I have with it is Arianne's The Princess in the Tower chapter. It's badly written; I mean it's just awful. It reads like a ghostwritten parody: and the ending of it, with the revelation of Doran's real intentions, is too rushed to be really credible, so it almost undermines the Martell chapters at the start of the next book.