Read a bunch of martin's works and this is the ...
595890
Read a bunch of martin's works and this is the most immersive and though provoking of them all outside of the Game of Thrones series.
3334114
Like many readers, I was introduced to George R. R. Martin through his excellent "Song of Ice and Fire" series.  After I finished "A Feast for Crows" I decided to check out Martin's first novel, "Dying of the Light".  The novel's unique setting--a dying planet where the light never shines beyond dusk--had me immediately hooked on the story.  Martin's relatable characters and his incredibly detailed alien cultures kept me reading through the first half of the novel, and the second half detailed a breathtaking cat-and-mouse sequence that rivals anything else I've ever read.  There is a deep theme of sadness, loss, and dying that runs through "Dying of the Light" so it is not a light-hearted adventure tale.  Some readers may be put off by this, but I found it incredibly refreshing and satisfying.  The plot unfolds as a direct consequence of the choices made by the main characters; none of whom are stereotypical heroes or villains.  These consequences add up to produce an ending that is fitting and sad at the same time.  "Dying of the Light" kept me up at night for about a week after I finished it, as I could not stop thinking about the characters, their motives, and their decisions.  For me, this is the mark of a great book, and it is why I prefer sad novels to happy ones--they really make the reader think about the story after they turn the last page.  For those readers familiar with Martin's "Song of Ice and Fire", this novel contains the gritty realism present in that series, but it also contains themes of love and loss present in the T.H. White classic "The Once and Future King".  "Dying of the Light" is one of my very favorite novels, and I recommend it to anyone looking for a quality read, regardless of whether or not you are familiar with Martin and his other work.
2937075
I first read this series many years ago when I first got into digital reading and was the proud possessor of a Palm VIIx with, if I recall correctly a 256mb Compact Flash card in it that I stored apps and books on. Damn those were the days! In any case to show you just how compelling these books were, I read all five of the quite lengthy tomes on the minuscule screen of that Palm Pilot device. They were in the Palm .PDB format and were acquired from the then fledgling, now departed (it has since been bought out by B&N) Fictionwise.com. Enough meandering however and on to the story.

This is the story of Elena and her brother and their incredible journey from mediocrity as s poor farmers children to become the salvation of their country. It is not your garden variety bildugsroman tale however as this one is imbued with magic, trolls, giants, and all manner of evil doers out to stop Elena from discovering just who and what she is. Along the way she will travel the length and breadth of Alasea encountering many interesting people some friends some foes but all with an integral part to play in the final outcome.

This is an epic, sweeping tale that should be told on the big screen in a series of movies because like The Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter it is a story too big to be reduced down to one or even two stories, way too much would have to be left out. You don't have the case of thousands like Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series but there are many many characters to keep track of. And, like Martin's SOIFA each one seems to have an agenda of his or her own.

There is so much great fantasy around today it's hard to decide which to read and which to pass on because there is only so much time one can put aside for reading in any given day, but this is one that should be on your list. Other "must reads" I would suggest are: David Eddings Belgariad and it's sequel Malloreon series; Martin's ongoing SOIFA series: and of course Terry Brooks sprawling Shannara saga, around 28 books so far.. Those should keep you busy through the rest of the year at least.
857019
Found this novel highly reviewed after completing George RR Martin's Ice and Fire series. I am NOT a fan of vampire movies/books, but I am obviously a huge fan of Martin's writing style. Martin does a fantastic job of telling his stories through specific perspectives, and in my opinion, that's what really brings a character to life.
This book is so much more than a vampire/horror tale. It's about two men from different races, who's only commonality is that they both dream big. One who will live forever, and one who's days are numbered. One who is rich and handsome, and one who is repulsive and down-on-his-luck. One who dreams of being revered by his entire race, and one who's only true love is the River and his boats.
This book becomes so inventive and creative that I believe it transcends it's genre. Recommended for anyone looking for a story worth investing themselves in. Shouldn't be a dry eye in the house after the last page turns.
3044020
I,ve read hundreds of books, perhaps thousands, and very few were fantasy in nature due to the derivative nature of the genre. Martin, on the other hand puts it all together in an original way like few others, Tolkein, Donaldson, some of Williams work (mot muc), and Simmons when he ventures there. Surely I,m leaving some out that I have read and should not have forgotten to give credit to, most definitely I've missed some great ones to my loss, but Martin gets my credit where I believe it is due.
927325
A Storm of Swords, being the third book in the series, had given me many expectations. Martin had to continue the many stories from the following books, while giving me a reason to want to read this as a new book, and not just yet another part of a very long tale. Why should I care about these characters and what happens to them? Will the maturity and lack of respect for the readers interests still suck me in like it did in the past (lack of respect being that we all wanted Eddard Stark to live, but for some reason having him taken away from us engaged us even more than if he had been saved)? Will Martin be able to captivate me with a new story while successfully merging past events?

Move over life, because this 900+ page novel (or should I call it a collection of novels bunched into one huge masterpiece)is going to take over.

Martin makes each character unique, recognizable, and with few exceptions, interesting. He kills off characters at appropriate times- meaning that although it is unexpected when he makes this decision, you are not just upset or pleased, but also satisfied with the amount of knowledge you have gained until that point- never does he make the reader feel like he introduced a character just to kill them off. The past events are continued successfully, and, to the readers enjoyment, most of the continued stories have hidden meanings and reasoning behind them that you would have never imagined.

Basically, I don't generally enjoy fantasy books because of their predictability, lack of depth, and lack of great sequels, but Martin has put me in my place, because this series in unpredictable, unimaginably dense, and it is almost as if these books are not actually books- it is as if they already existed and are just glimpses into this amazing, entertaining world.
4917856
You don't have to be a Rothfuss superfan or as another reviewer put it, a special snowflake, to enjoy this work. If you have read his other books its worth trying. I'll take a bit of authenticity any day over a series writer who plugs in new character names and churns out disturbingly similar story after story.
3686157
The War of the Five Kings is drawing to a close, while an even greater war is brewing. "A Feast for Crows" takes place during this slow period between the two major wars. Martin's fourth "Ice and Fire" novel shares more similarities with his first than it does with his second or third. Just as "A Game of Thrones" was mostly about setting things up for the next two novels, so is this one.

Which isn't to say the book is uneventful, but if you're expecting it to be as action-packed as "A Storm of Swords" you'll be disappointed. There's still plenty going on to make the book interesting. Dorne's responding to the murder of Prince Oberyn, Riverrun is under siege from the Freys, Storm's End is under siege from the Tyrells, the Iron Islands are struggling to appoint a new Lord, the Vale is reacting to the murder of its Lady, and the people of Highgarden are struggling to deal with the Queen Regent. Though Tommen sits on the Iron Throne, Cersei Lannister is the one truly ruling the realm.

Martin's writing style - already great in the past books - has gotten even better in this one. His style is often elegant and clever at the same time. Like all the other books, "Feast" features an ensemble cast, but it's notable how the series has gradually moved away from the Starks since beginning. The first book spent about 80% of its time on House Stark and its members. This latest book spends at most 15% of its time on the Starks.

The only major complaint I have is with Brienne. Except for her very last one, Brienne's chapters are a waste of time and paper. Whereas, all the other characters were very gripping and entertaining, Brienne was downright boring. It didn't take long for me to get so bored with her chapters, that I started skipping them. After I finished the book, I went back and read them all, and well, I'm really not sorry for skipping them.

More than a few reviewers have complained about the fact that this volume is missing characters, but those who were following along on Martin's site know there's good reason for that. By the time A Feast for Crows reached 1300 manuscript pages in length, Martin still wasn't finished with the story. The story was far too big to publish in one book, so Martin's only options were: a) to cut A Feast for Crows right at the mid-way point and publish it Volumes 1 & 2, or b) to cut out some of the characters' stories and move them into A Dance with Dragons. Every good story requires a beginning, a middle, a climax, and an ending; had Martin had taken the first approach, the story would have a beginning and a middle, but no climax and no real ending. At least with this approach, the story has *some* closure. So, yes, the story is missing characters - Tyrion, Dany, Jon, Bran, Davos, and Stannis, among others - but they'll be back next year for A Dance with Dragons, the parallel novel to A Feast for Crows.

Overall, this is one of the greatest books I've ever read. Five years was a long time to wait, but it was well worth it. H.L. Mencken once said, "The primary aim of the novel, at all times and everywhere, is the representation of human beings at their follies and villainies, and no other art form clings to that aim so faithfully." His quote perfectly captures the underlying theme of Martin's series. At heart, A Song of Ice and Fire is about war and human brutality; about how so many want power, and the terrible things they'll do to achieve it, sending thousands of men to their deaths and bringing death and destruction upon a whole country just to achieve power.
2921509
You could really divide this book into two parts, the big 3 (Jon, Tyrion, and Dany) and everyone else.

Martin took a lot of flak when he released A Feast for Crows and he left out arguably the 3 most popular characters left in the series. I felt like he tried to make up for that and really wrote way too much for each of them. There is so much fat to be trimmed in each of their stories, Dany's in particular, that he could have saved himself a lot of time and grief just by tightening up those stories.

Where this book shines is in the smaller characters (not named Quentyn Martell) The Bran, Reek, Asha Greyjoy, Victorian Greyjoy, and Ser Barriston Selmy chapters are all fantastic. The Reek chapters are some of the darkest material GRRM has written in the series.

Several cliffhangers from AFfC are all resolved.

One thing I would recommend doing id if you can get your hands on the Dunk and Egg stories, I would read those before this as there are a few things that won't allow you to have the full experience.

Hopefully the pressure to not let the HBO show catch up to him gets Martin to finish the series up quickly.
2810202
I have read my fair share of Mr. Martin, and while I enjoy most his writing, both his fantasy and science fiction, this is by far my favorite of his, if not one of my overall top books ever.  It is distinctly written in Martin's style, however, which could turn some people away.  It is very descriptive and he takes some time to build up characters.  I think this helps bond you to the characters.  Unlike Song of Ice and Fire however, this is a stand alone story, so there is a great balance of character building and story telling.  Side note, I personally think GRR Martin does his best work in short stories and stand alone books.

What you should know about this book is that the river boat is a unique setting that is rarely visited, but it really allows your imagination to take off (think if Mark Twain had written a horror story).  It is unpredictable, engaging, delightfully brutal, and will leave you with a melancholy feeling that is perfect for an autumn afternoon.
3041023
I've read more than two thousand fiction novels and this book deserves to be read. Looking at some of the other reviews, I'm a bit disturbed by how inaccurate they are. I've read pretty much every classic, and I put these characters on par with Gone with the Wind's. For a fantasy, it seems the extremely in-depth character development and interaction went over some of the reader's heads. The Darth Bane trilogy is also good, but its virtue came more from the plot than complex character development. Bane was more like a pure evil super villain, as he was supposed to be.

In The Chaos Born trilogy, what you get is more than four extremely complex characters. The relationships between Keegan, Norr, and Scythe run through the whole series and they are some of the most authentic and complex relationships I've ever read. Vaaler's relationship with his mother and the insecurities that he develops -- it's prodigious work if I've ever read it. There's nothing within the speculative fiction genre for me to compare it to, because characters tend to be cliches in this genre. George RR Martin gets way too much credit for this when every character, excepting Tyrion, is a cliche mappable to a stereotype on the stock character list. Don't get me wrong, I don't have to tell anyone Game of Thrones is worth reading, it's just the characters are not as strong as propaganda would have you believe.

If you're looking for world building, this isn't the book. Look to Tolkien's Hobbit/LotR, Dune, Ring World, Isaac Asimov's Foundation series, etc., for that. To me, this isn't an issue as I'm not requiring to know about fake languages and every blade of grass from coast to coast in a fictional world. Don't get me wrong, I've translated a few fake languages myself, I simply don't require it.

If you're looking for an interesting plot, I'd say read Dune, Game of Thrones/Song of Ice and Fire, Harry Potter, Dragon Lance, or the Death Gate Cycle. Most fantasy novels don't have great plots when compared to the classics and when they do they end up being heptalogies, so you have a lot of reading to do. J.K. Rowling is probably the best plot writer alive; she's also hilarious. The plot of this series is essentially formulaic, following closely the "heroes journey" template, just with more characters. However, the book is extremely well-written and again, the old Arthurian legend of romance and gathering artifacts isn't exactly broke and it still works for me. Note: instead of one hero, you get four.

However, don't say the characters are weak, because it just makes you look fatuous. This is a 5-star series if ever I've seen one. I'll leave it at that, because I don't want to spoil any details for anyone. The exact way the series concludes will be pretty difficult to predict, so there's at least some mystery. And truth-be-told, if this book has any failing, it's the lack of propelling the reader forward with a compelling mystery of what's to come. Karpyshyn is the best character writer alive and it's worth reading his book for that reason alone.
1474494
A good read, but not the very best of Martin's books.  I also recommend The Dead Don't Dance and Maggie...couldn't put them down!  He is a good story teller using great descriptions and his ability to express the emotions of his characters is excellent.  I found myself highlighting many meaningful to life passages throughout all his books.
1304341
Martin has brought together some great literary minds to write in depth, informative essays about the characters, political power struggles, the role that "grey" morality plays, and the events that bring all these these factors together. A must have for any fan
700219
I really fell in love with A Song of Ice and Fire, so much so that I read through all five novels in less than three months!  They're addictive!  This fourth installment, A Feast for Crows, is really part one of the story that continues after the events of A Storm of Swords.  The fifth book, A Dance with Dragons, is the second part of the story told in A Feast for Crows.  I respect that Martin decided to break the story up based on location of characters, as it made it easier to see the story arc for each character rather than trying to cram all of the characters into one book.

This novel was my least favorite in some respects.  I love the POV chapters focusing on Jaime, Cersei and Brianne.  I did not care much for the Sansa Stark story, though, as it seemed too be too little character development and too much waiting around for things to happen.  That being said, Martin infuses the story with rich details, captivating reminiscences, and well-honed dialogue.  After reading all of the novels, I eagerly anticipate the sixth novel, when all the storylines are supposed to come back together!
2839616
I've read all of Martin's books, and generally pretty fast (I have trouble putting them down).  This one seemed more personal for some reason, and then when I read his note at the end, I understood.  Well done Charles Martin, well done.  Hopefully Charlie will keep these last few pages as a tether to the real world and what matters to Him.  God bless you and your writing skills
2795030
Nothing much happens in this book...but I had to give it 4 stars because Martin's writing is so addictive. I think he could make a laundry list into an gripping tale.
2928830
As usual, the characters in Martin's books come alive for the readers and become a part of the reader's life.  He has the most unique ability to bring to the pages real life situations that every segment of society can relate to.  I found myself not wanting the book to end, but I have this problem with all his works.  His real life experiences and temptations come through so well and he proves to his readers that not only is he an exception writer but undoubtedly a great person as well.  I am sure that all his work is a collection that I will find myself revisiting regularly.