Hardcover, 1016 pages
English language
Published July 12, 2011 by Harper Voyager.
In the aftermath of a colossal battle, the future of the Seven Kingdoms hangs in the balance—beset by newly emerging threats from every direction. In the east, Daenerys Targaryen, the last scion of House Targaryen, rules with her three dragons as queen of a city built on dust and death. But Daenerys has thousands of enemies, and many have set out to find her. As they gather, one young man embarks upon his own quest for the queen, with an entirely different goal in mind.
Fleeing from Westeros with a price on his head, Tyrion Lannister, too, is making his way to Daenerys. But his newest allies in this quest are not the rag-tag band they seem, and at their heart lies one who could undo Daenerys’s claim to Westeros forever.
Meanwhile, to the north lies the mammoth Wall of ice and stone—a structure only as strong as those guarding …
In the aftermath of a colossal battle, the future of the Seven Kingdoms hangs in the balance—beset by newly emerging threats from every direction. In the east, Daenerys Targaryen, the last scion of House Targaryen, rules with her three dragons as queen of a city built on dust and death. But Daenerys has thousands of enemies, and many have set out to find her. As they gather, one young man embarks upon his own quest for the queen, with an entirely different goal in mind.
Fleeing from Westeros with a price on his head, Tyrion Lannister, too, is making his way to Daenerys. But his newest allies in this quest are not the rag-tag band they seem, and at their heart lies one who could undo Daenerys’s claim to Westeros forever.
Meanwhile, to the north lies the mammoth Wall of ice and stone—a structure only as strong as those guarding it. There, Jon Snow, 998th Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch, will face his greatest challenge. For he has powerful foes not only within the Watch but also beyond, in the land of the creatures of ice.
From all corners, bitter conflicts reignite, intimate betrayals are perpetrated, and a grand cast of outlaws and priests, soldiers and skinchangers, nobles and slaves, will face seemingly insurmountable obstacles. Some will fail, others will grow in the strength of darkness. But in a time of rising restlessness, the tides of destiny and politics will lead inevitably to the greatest dance of all.
Meh. I think I'm finally over this nonsense.
A dense book, and as always, A Song of Ice and Fire is entirely inaccessible from any point but A Game of Thrones.
The plots grow deeper, thicker, and more wide-ranging than ever before, as we flit back and forth between Essos and Westeros. It shows, where some characters appear to be cast aside (Bran, Jaime) as the book progresses, while others are expanded on (sometimes to no apparent value, like Cersei).
Cersei's chapters, I think he just wanted to write about breasts.
Jon Snow is dead. I despair.
Maybe not as good as [b:A Game of Thrones|13496|A Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire, #1)|George R.R. Martin|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1239039164s/13496.jpg|1466917], but definitely deserves to be considered as the best of the Song of Ice and Fire. It has the quick-moving plot of [b:A Game of Thrones|13496|A Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire, #1)|George R.R. Martin|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1239039164s/13496.jpg|1466917], the intricate political intrigue of [b:A Clash of Kings|10572|A Clash of Kings (A Song of Ice and Fire, #2)|George R.R. Martin|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1307734601s/10572.jpg|3272005], and even a little bit of the madness of [b:A Storm of Swords|62291|A Storm of Swords (A Song of Ice and Fire, #3)|George R.R. Martin|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1298429990s/62291.jpg|1164465]. And, best of all, it has none of the flaws of [b:A Feast for Crows|13497|A Feast for Crows (A Song of Ice and Fire, #4)|George R.R. Martin|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1288333578s/13497.jpg|1019062]. Even the ironmen are interesting in this one.
