Thoughts on A Dance With Dragons

[akashiver]

... the book also known as "George R.R. Martin, hurry the hell up."

It's a propulsive read, a real page-turner, and I read it with a sense of exhilaration. It's nice to see some of these characters back in action again, and - yes - it's much better than the last book.

But its plot lacks an arc. At the end of the novel, the surviving characters are in different locations, basically dealing with the same issues they were at the beginning of the book. One of them *may* have decided to handle her problems a bit differently in the future... but the emphasis is on the "may." Her section closes without revealing what her future course of action will be.

If there was another book waiting, of course, I wouldn't mind that much. But facing another indefinite wait makes me cranky.

It's not that stuff didn't happen. Plenty of stuff happened. But plot didn't really happen, or if it did, it was confined to a few scenes in which a) characters met new Significant Characters, b) characters "leveled up" and c) a character apparently dies.

Speaking of which, if you want your deaths to have power, those corpses need to stay down. Likewise if you want to have a cast of thousands, and keep introducing new characters. Keep those corpses dead. I'll give you the odd shambling corpse, particularly North of the Wall, but this book's subtitle is not "Everybody Loves Zombies!" because we don't.

Now I sounds as though I didn't like the book, and I did. I ate the whole thing. I just felt it lacked arc-ishness.

Comments

[stillsostrange.livejournal.com]

I have a hundred plus pages to go and don't want spoilers, but I was just thinking that Martin hasn't actually perma-killed very many POV characters. He's definitely brutal, and I don't think that anyone is safe, but it's starting to feel like he's been riding on Ned's death for four books now.

[swan-tower.livejournal.com]

I am reinforced in my decision to hold off on reading it until the series is done.

[mindstalk.livejournal.com]

I'm feeling inclined to hold off on reading the series at all. I have MITSFS's Game of Thrones around here but haven't started.

[swan-tower.livejournal.com]

I'd wait until it's done, yeah. You're guaranteed to read faster than he writes, and the middle does not appear to be a satisfying place to pause.

[mindstalk.livejournal.com]

Feels like a time to appreciate McKinley or Clarke, who can write standalone books.
Or even Hobb, who writes giantass trilogies but they are just trilogies.

And anima_mech tells me of 8 books instead of 7 and health problems and notes to be destroyed on death...

I can only hope Hodgell finishes before she dies, but at least she's speeding up the writing, if not the grant plot.

[swan-tower.livejournal.com]

The 8 part is true (or at least possibly true; Martin has said it may run that long;" the "notes to be destroyed on death" was also said about Jordan, and proved false. I certainly hope Martin would not be such an asshole as to deny his readers the rest of the story in that fashion.

[mindstalk.livejournal.com]

I just had a vision.

"The exciting conclusion of the series, brought to you by Keven J. Anderson, Brian Herbert, and Gentry Lee!"

[swan-tower.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I've seen the Anderson/Herbert joke elsewhere (though they left out Gentry Lee). Me, I figure they'll call in Sanderson. :-)

[lillornyn.livejournal.com]

I didn't actually read this entry, but that's a lot of words for an entry with no spoilers. So, dude. Spoilers.

[douglascohen.livejournal.com]

Ha, I just finished my massive post (with spoilers about ADWD). I loved it, and I was pretty much fine with the arc of the plots. Sure, a few things could have used a bit more closure, but I do think people's situations have changed. SPOILERS COMING TO THOSE READING: Tyrion has awoken from the black depression that gripped him for much of the novel, I'm pretty sure Dany's womb has quickened and she can once again conceive, and whatever happens with Jon going forward his situation is not what it was. I think Cersei's situation has changed as well, as the haughtiest person in a cast of thousands has been brought low. I think she's a broken person, at least temporarily. And Theon's transformation was amazing. Victarion has experienced a physical transformation, and Bran is changing into the next Three Eyed Crow (I think). Arya has passed into the next level of her training. Dorne unleashed the Sand Snakes. Jaime wrapped up conquering the River Lands, so his situation changed if not the character. Quentyn's change was death, true, but that was a death with serious repercussions to the present and future plot. Connington returned home. That's a big deal for him. He's also dying slowly. Barristan Selmy may be the same man to us, but to himself he feels like a very different by ruling as the Queen's Hand. I guess Melisandre's didn't really change that much, but her one chapter was great. Asha would be another one where she didn't change as a person, but her situation has changed, and she's in position to change in a big way now that she's reunited with Theon. I consider that a big turning point for her.

I think changes are coming, but it's such a sprawling story that everything is happening at a deliberate pace. Sometimes that pace is hectic and sometimes it's slower, but as long the story continues to progress in the right direction I'm happy. It's really just one big book broken into five pieces at this point. The first three had more natural stopping points, but everything is interconnected.