And another one. And another one. And another one.. ^^
After all the praise I've given the previous novels, I do have to say that I liked this one the least. Not that it isn't superb, but it was a little less addictive than the ones before.
For instance, less characters to follow. Martin explains this at the end of the novel why we don't read anything about the Wall and Jon in particular (one of my favourite characters), Stannis, Tyrion and many others. He says that he had begun writing the novel as he's written the other three, but it began to transform into a mega giant manuscript, so he decided to cut it in half and publish them with a little time in between.
Instead of dropping the axe in the middle and saying to be continued.. he decided to first tell the happenings around King's Landing and leave the Wall and Daenerys for the next novel.
So in short, we can read all we want about Cersei, Jaime, Brienne, Arya (another of my favourite characters) and a few others while we see how the Lannisters lose their manes.
Still without those others to occupy our senses, it becomes at certain points a little tedious. I love the microscopic detail with which Martin tells a story but when you have only two chapters between a thread it feels a little too outspun. I felt myself longing for a little less detail and a little more interaction.
There isn't a lot more that I can tell. I love his style, I love the story and I'm already engulfed in the next (A Dance with Dragons) and a little sad that after that one I'll have to wait for the next one.
To tell you more, is to tell too much about the plot and for those maybe just begun in this saga, that's not an okay thing to do.
So, trust me on this one, this is a novel to read and to be completely sucked in by, instead of one to argue about.
