A Dance with Dragons by George R.R. Martin

A Dance with Dragons

Medium: Print (Novel)

Author: George R.R. Martin

Publisher: Bantam Spectra

Country: United States

Released: July 12, 2011

Consumed: June 27, 2012

Genre: Fantasy

Rating: 9.0/10

I'm done. I can move on with my life for the next five years while I wait for the sixth book to be released. Which would not be moving on. 

It's 1,000 pages, but it wasn't enough. Not enough Bra. Not enough Davos. I need it all. 

This is one hell of a rebound from A Feast for Crows, a book I enjoyed but wasn't at the level of its predecessors.

Game of Thrones, Season 2

"Game of Thrones" Season 2

Medium: TV
Created by: David Benioff, D.B. Weiss
Network: HBO
Dates Aired: April 1-June 3, 2012
Consumption completed: June 5, 2012
Genre: Fantasy, Drama
Rating: 8.5/10

"Game of Thrones" is wonderfully-made television. It's thoughtful, well-acted, beautifully filmed. It must be one of the most competently produced works on the air. And from seasons 1 to 2, it only improved.

Almost every episode found its characters separated by miles and miles, but united in theme. It's effective at creating some quality watching. Only in the back end of the season, as the creators try to squeeze as much of the book (A Clash of Kings) into 10 hours, did it start to feel rushed. There was less time for a natural progression for character to character in the need to get everybody's stories ready for the next season.

Still, season 2 is a step up from the first in almost every way. Peter Dinklage needs another Emmy.

A Feast for Crows by George R.R. Martin

A Feast for Crows


Medium: Novel
Author: George R.R. Martin
Publisher: Bantam Spectra
Country: United States
Released: 2005
Consumed: May 15, 2012
Genre: Fantasy
Rating: 8.0/10




Book 4 in the A Song of Fire and Ice series is the consensus choice as the weakest entry. By far. I suppose i would agree. But considering how much I loved the first three books, that doesn't say much about Feast's quality. It features much less action than any other book, but the attention to minute detail and the level of complex political intrigue is there. I think I like it less because it removes my three favorite characters to wait for book five. Martin focuses this entry on King's Landing and its surrounding regions, and the Iron Islands. No Wall, no Free CIties, no Far East. In the end, having not yet read the next book, I think Martin made the right choice to split the story by location instead of chronology.