Book Review: A Song of Ice and Fire book 5: A Dance with Dragons

"A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies, said Jojen. The man who never reads lives only one".

  Reading a story is fun. When we read, we glimpse into the minds of characters in the story. When we read, we journey along the actions of characters in the story. Reading a story, is an invitation to see the world through those characters' eyes, and a chance to live out the story with them, so we can learn a thing or two about life. This is why, since the dawn of time, people have been telling stories both big and small. Because a story, is the best way to make sense of a complicated world, our world, where things are not not always black and white, but full of shades of grey. Furthermore, readers will resonate with a good story, because a good story tells us something about our human nature. And this is why, the above quote is a truth that should resonate with people of all gender, culture, and age.

Where did this quote come from? It is from George R.R. Martin's book: A Dance with Dragons. This book, is the 5th installment to the fantasy series, A Song of Ice and Fire. A heft tome boasting 1000+ pages. A Dance with Dragons, is also the latest installment to this series. So if you are a fan of A Song of Ice and Fire, I am afraid you will have to wait patiently for the release of book 6 sometime in the (hopefully) foreseeable future. But today, I will like to tell you more about this book, and also share some of my thoughts on it.

Synopsis:

According to the author, the story in A Dance with Dragons took place concurrently with events in the previous installment, A Feast for Crow. While A Feast for Crows mainly focused on the events that took place at King's Landing. A Dance with Dragons, focuses on the events in 3 areas: across the Narrow Sea, the Wall, and the North. Some major POV characters returned; Daenery, Jon Snow, and Tyrion. A few secondary characters also become POV characters in this book, such as Barristan Selmy, Theon Greyjoy, Quentyn Martell, Asha Grejoy, Davos, and Victarion Greyjoy.

Across the Narrow Sea, after acquiring the powerful army of Unsullied, Daenery fought to abolish the slavery trade in the region. After battles, she took the city of Meereen. Following the conquering of the city, Daenery discovered it is harder to rule a city than to conquer a city.

In the meantime, following the victory over the wilding invasion at the wall. Jon Snow became the new commander for the Night Watch. As the commander of the Night Watch, he realized the coming danger of The Others who threaten to invade the realm of man. Jon Snow is determined to unite the Wildings with the Night Watch, hoping the combined strength will be sufficient to counter the attack of The Others. However, the hatred, and the bloody history between these 2 factions caused much tensions in this new alliance. As Jon makes difficult decisions, he realized he has no true friends who will support him.

After killing his father, Tyrion Lannister escaped from King's Landing. He was transported to Pentos, and encountered Magister Illyrio, who expressed his plan for Tyrion to join Daenery in her ambition to reclaim the Iron Throne. Tyrion set out on a journey to find Daenery at Meereen according to the Magister's plan, but fate it seems, has a different plan for the imp..

These events seem to be driving towards an inevitable, mass clash in the near future, where the fate of Westeros will be decided once and for all.


What I think about the book:

I really like A Dance with Dragons. The pace of the story is better than A Feast for Crows. One of the weaknesses of A Feast for Crows is, the different plots in the book weren't really progressing. In A Dance with Dragons, there is a general story development that compels the plots to a certain destination. This means there is a real sense of story development. The pace of the storytelling is faster too, every chapter grabbed my attention, and I was never bored. Overall, in terms of story development and pace, A Dance with Dragons is definitely superior than its predecessor and it was a fun read.

Another strength for this book is, the interwoven plots in the story are supported by a very interesting cast of characters. For example, in A Dance with Dragons, Ser Baristan Selmy has finally become a POV character. Throughout the entire series, Barristan Selmy has been a very important secondary character, but readers were never able to have a closer look at him. However, in this installment, this honorable old knight finally became a POV character, and has several chapters dedicated to him. Readers are now able to meet this character. And may I say, Selmy's chapters are my favorite chapters in this book.

This book also takes readers to explore Theon Grejoy, a morally conflicted man who betrayed the Starks in book 2. Following the event in A Clash of Kings, Theon was captured by Roose Bolton's bastard son, Ramsay Bolton. Theon suffered cruel tortures, and became a very broken man who lived under the fear of Ramsay. Now, Ramsay Bolton, is no doubt one of the most despicable characters in the series. This man is cruel, insane, and chaotically evil. As Theon suffered in his captivity under Ramsay, readers are made to sympathize with Theon, as this man has been reduced to a truly pitiful states.

The only weakness for this book, is Martin's treatment of his new POV character, Quentyn Martell. Quentyn, is a Dornish Prince who travelled to Meeren with his companions  His mission was to propose an alliance between Daenery and Dorne through their marriage. However, by the end of the book, Quentyn met his demise. While Martin has a reputation for killing off characters, but the demise of Quentyn Martell is completely unexpected, nor is it necessary.

The influence of religion was little felt in the first 3 books of this series. However, religion became a prominent aspect in this series. In this installment, religion played an important role in the motivations for different factions. The story is about the new gods versus the old gods, tradition versus revolution. In the story, many characters continuously question the gods of their religion as they suffer, living in a world that doesn't make sense. In this book, Martin did an excellent job in portraying the role of religion in every day lives, from politics, war, to cultural traditions. Where suffering is the source to compel people to seek hope from religion, but at the same time, suffering is also the source of doubt for people to question the existence of the divine. Perhaps the answers are rooted in our nature to seek justice. But this insight begs a question: what is justice and why does it matter if there is no God? Perhaps, if I may suggest, our nature to seek justice is the beginning of our journey to God.

In the meantime, I eagerly anticipate the publication of the next book, Winds of Winter.