I just finished all five books, and have recently allowed myself to watch the tv show and read the graphic novel (didnt want other peoples interpretations of characters and scenery clouding my own, at least not at first). And now that I have nothing to do except obsess over it until TWoW comes out, I wanted to get other readers' takes on a few things and help me puzzle some things out: FIRST- jon's parentage. I like and subscribe to the theory of him being Lyanna's son by rheagar. But where does the stuff about ned and ashara dayne fit in. Did they have a fling, and was it Ned's daughter that Barristan talks of being stillborn, hence why she threw herself into the sea with grief? Where does Wylla fit in? If jon was milk brothers with edric "ned" dayne who was breast fed by wylla (remember, beric dondarrions young squire, whom we learn about in an Arya chapter in ASoS?), then is it possible they are cousins? Jon has dark hair and dark eyes like ned (and lyanna) stark, but ned dayne of starfell is blonde with violet-blue eyes. I cant help but feel like there is something significant there that i am missing. When catelynn asks ned in the first book, he flips and demands to know where she learned that name. He says “Jon is my blood, that is all you need to know.˝So it could be that jon is his nephew still. Why does he hide that though? Is it because he fears Roberts wrath that lyanna birthed a targayen boy with his mortal enemy? Is that the promise ned made to lyanna on her death bed? Part of me wonders if he pulled some kind of switcheroo with the babes to protect lyanna and her son jon. (Much like jon did with gilly's and dalla's sons- which is kind of ironic). And thats why ashara killed herself, out of grief. I dont know, Im spouting all this out without having a clear grip on it in my head. It always made sense to me that jon was named after jon arryn, but i suppose if he is rheagars son, it could just have well been jon coddington. Anyway, i like the idea of jon being the third head of the dragon after aegon and daenerys. I thunk melisandre will kiss him back to life, but now his watch is over. Then again if it is, who is going to manage this mess on the wall? Which leads me to another question. My husband, who confessed he would not read the books so i may as well tell him everything, asked of the wall: if the wall, besides being enormous is protected by all these ancient curses to where wights can not pass, now that jons "saved" as many wildlings as he could bringing them to the south side of the wall, wth is the point? How can there be a war with an enemy who canno cross your battle line? There must be some way for the wights to get to the south, otherwise martin is doing an awful lot of preparing for a war that cant happen. What am i missing? Sorry for the lengthy post. I have so many questions! Thanks for reading

Hey, did anyone notice that Cersei's naked walk-of-shame was sort of like Jesus' walk to Calvary?She had people spit on her, call her names,make japes about her as she walked by, she fell a couple of times and, when it was over, she was completely changed.As if she were reborn.

First off... These two book followed logically from the first three... We expected a war, we got a war, and then their was a big mess to clean. I.E.  a feast for crows and Dance with Dragons... I agree with hascow that this is all a huge set up for the next installment... How can we say there was no progression when Prince Aegon enters into the story here. This review is retarded, and jon snow is not dead, and robert strong is not the mountain... he is some freak creation of qyburn's more like a frankenstein then anything else.

hey so the majei predicted that1. the sun would rise in the west and set in the east- Quentyn martell whose sigil is the sun rose in dorne and died in merreeen2. mountains would blow in the wind- the mountain died to the viper3. the sea would dry up- in aDwD it states that the dothraki sea is diminishingat the end of the book Dany starts to bleed again meaning she can finnaly have another son, and khal Drogo would come back to life which could mean that hes resurected as khal pono or something else entirely but regardless I'd just like to say FU to GRRM because i am now going to obsess over the story for the next god knows how long until TWoW finnly comes out

Some ideas:1) Could it have not been Mance posing as Ramsay who sent the letter saying that Stannis was dead? He would have known all the information contained in the letter while Ramsey would need to have discovered that Abel was Mance for the letter to make sense. Also, the letter mentions the wilding babe. What would Ramsay want with the Mance Rayder’s son? Mance Rayder however, would certainly want Mance Rayder’s son. 2) I think Septa Lemore is Ashara Dayne. If Ashara is not dead the Septa would be around the right age and we know that both women have had a child (Tyrion mentions that the Septa has stretch marks). If this is correct than Aegon is likely Ashara’s son and her suicide was faked. Who fathered this Aegon is another story. If it was Ned, then would he have known that she was still alive? 3) We are led to believe that the Iron Bank of Braavos has sent an envoy to provide Stannis with much needed financial capital to continue his rebellion against the Lannisters who, thanks to Cersei, have postponed payment of their debt. Why is this envoy in such a rush to find Stannis? He first seeks the King at the Wall then goes all the way to Deepwood only to then race though a snowstorm to find Stannis’ army camped three days from Winterfell. It seems imprudent to be in such a hurry to give a loan to a man about to fight a battle he could easily lose. Instead of just money could the bank be offering Stannis something else? Perhaps some useful information? And now I am really speculating but perhaps the bank knows the whereabouts of the real Arya Stark. She is in Braavos after all and this information would help Stannis quickly win the Northman to his cause. 4) Finally, I was confused about the Second Son known as Kem. Tyrion meets him after signing on to the company and immediately pegs him for a Kingslander, which the boy confirms. Yet, Kem fought for Stannis on the Battle of the Blackwater. If the boy was living in Kingslanding he should have been fighting for the Lannisters not for Stannis.

Stannis is not dead. I found an excerpt from the next book, "Winds of Winter" about the letter Ramsay Bolton sent to Jon Snow.

------------------------------------------------------http://awoiaf.westeros.org/ind... In a sample chapter released in the Winds of Winter, it was however revealed that Stannis is still alive and supports the theory that the letter written by Ramsay about the battle with Stannis was just a lie Ramsay wrote in his wrath though it takes place before the last Jon Snow chapter of A Dance with Dragons.Stannis recieved the banker Tycho Nestoris and the two signed a contract, Stannis plans on sending the Banker back tot he Wall so he does not get caught up in the fighting.Stannis is now aware of the planned treachery of Arnolf Karstark due to the message Jon Snow gave the banker. Stannis has Arnolf, his son Arthor and three grandsons arrested and plans to execute them, whether the death will be quick or by fire depended on there willingless to confess. Stannis is at the moment is preparing his position to battle the coming vanguard of Roose Bolton army led by Hosteen Frey. Stannis is sending Justin Massey to escort Arya Stark (actually unknown to Stannis, Jeyne Poole) back to the Wall to reunite the girl with her brother Jon Snow in gratitude for Snow warning him of Karstarks planned treachery.Stannis also orders Massey to go with Tycho Nestoris to Braavos where Massey will use the money given to him by the Iron Bank of Braavos to hire sellsword companies till he has a force of no less then twenty thousand strong and sail back to Westeros.Stannis plans to have Theon Greyjoy executed.[28]

a song of fire (dany) and ice (jon)...he's not dead he's transforming...

 This book could have been a lot more satisfying. The fact that Martin is resorting to CLEAR cliff hangers, especially with Tyrion, Jon and, to a lesser extent, Stannis, is worrying to me. I dont think Tyrion finished a single chapter without being in some kind of mortal peril. Stannis' death was trolling, plain and simple as was Jon's, especially since we didnt get a POV character plotting it or have any sympathy for the people who had a problem with him. Hell, we barely had any idea that any real non-evil characters wanted to shank him in the first place. Oh and the murder of Kevan and Pycelle is pretty perfunctory too. In fact, just about everyone who dies in this is either killed almost out of the blue at the end, or doesnt matter at all to anything (Hello prince of Dorne!)

I actually worried about Cersei in this one, despite the fact that, well, fuck Cersei, but all the same, he wrote her pretty well, so props for that. Then again, its not hard to feel for someone in that much of a shitty situation.

Oh, and just what the shit is Ser Jorah DOING????

My "Predictions" (SPOILERS INVOLVED)

Jon:  Dead or not, I think he returns.  In fact, I think JON is "Azor Ahai" (Or whatever R'holor's "Champion" is called.  Messandri can "bring him back," I am pretty certain, although, that may be HER end.  (I always THOUGHT she was "Evil," BUT.....I wonder if she is not just incredibly cunning, and presents herself as the murderous scion we think...)

Stannis and the NOTE FROM RAMSAY:  The note only has SOME truth to it.  Unless, Stannis "freed" Theon, Asha and Jeyne, or, unless they somehow excaped during battle, they would have been captured WITH Stannis.  The reference to his Sword, however, does suggest that Stannis may be "gone."  (My bet...JON ends up with that sword......have no idea what happens to "LongClaw...")  Still, that letter was largely meant to provoke Snow, as it did.  Does ANYONE "Trust" Ramsay Bolton to tell the whole truth?  Or ANY Truth?

Brienne and Jaime:  We STILL do not know what Brienne's "Word" was, as she was about to be hanged by MadCat.  I THOUGHT it might have been "Dragon(s)" and that is still a possibility, but, it seems the Dragons are currently feasting on Slave Owners (Hey, sorry, but I consider that "GOOD Dragon Acts!!!"  In fact, they may have much of Dany's 'personality' bound up in them...)That said, Brienne may have also said "Sansa" or "Hound...."  Whatver the case, I am not certain what her and Jaime are up to.  It just seems too easy that he is being led to his "doom....."  I also question why the HOUND came up at all...UNLESS, somehow, he has rushed in to "take Sansa"  (Hey, I am one of those honestly hoping for a "Beauty and the Beast" story between those two...Sansa may not get her beautiful "Boy King," but, instead, a redeemed Champion, who is finally true to his heart...)Still, this whole part is a HUGE question for me...

Speaking of the Hound:  He (Likely as a "champion" of the Church), will eventually face the construct that we think is his Brother, Sir Robert.....I have always thought that the HOUND will be the one to finally defeat the Mountain....

Cersei:  We know what she will try, and her tactics.  But, I think, we may be inclined in the next two novels to actually "feel" for her, as, according to prophecy, she will see ALL of her children buried.  (Expect to cry for sweet Tommen and his sister....I expect them to have sad ends.....as their mother is left to see her family line perish....)  Also, according to her "prophecy," she will die at the hands of her brother, whom she assumes to be Tyrion.  I predict that it will be Jaime who finally kills her,,,,

Tyrion and all of his new 'Friends:"  Tyrion will emerge a HERO, and help guide, lead his new allies, perhaps becomming the "Queen's Hand," outright.  Not only does he have great CUNNING, he has true HONOR.  The Fighter types respect that, regardless of whether THEY have any or not.  I also expect that he, and Borwn Ben will get one of the two Dragons under their control....

Arya:  She has some more "assasin Force training," then, she will be sent to Westeros to KILL someone important (NOTE, however, that there is a common thread of "ANTI-Slavers" out there, who, wile divided, are growing in power:  The Red God's faith, the Faceless God's Force assasing, etc.)

Bran:  Anybody remember that the first book BEGAN with Bran?  Bran is about to lose his "childhood," to become the "thing on the throne."  In fact, I wonder if, already, some of the things ocurring are not already HIM.  (This will be a 'sad' tale, but, bittersweet...Bran will lose hiw humanity, but, become something much, much more...)

The Dorne Storyline will begin to become the new "Game of Thrones," as Aegon and Connington will eventually have Lords come to their side.

Varys "work" is all but done, it seems.  THAT part of the book, I LOVED.  I still expect him to do what he does, but....I still wonder what OTHER "powers" he has associations with....the FACELESS God?  Sorcerors? 

Sam, and the Maesters:  They are off and about on SOMETHING.  I think that SOMETHING is likely the LARGER WAR, in which we have Dragons/Fire God Vs.  White Walkers/whatever else is finally behind them...(???)  We still know very little about the White Walkers.....

Theon:  Theon will be the one to kill Ramsay, perhaps by "flaying."

Gah! ... just finished ADwD... cannot BELIEVE I had to wait six years for that overblown, out-of-control disaster. Seriously, it's a way bigger tragedy than Book 4... Martin's first three books were consistent, they were tight, they moved things along, the characters developed well, the POV's were balanced... then it's like he wrote himself into a giant mess. All the random POV's in this one are irritating, and the fact that there's heaps of boring Dany chapters, then one for Jaime etc. Where's the balance? Look, all due respect to Martin, he started one of the best fantasy series of all time... the whole construct is his, so it's his perogative to phuck it up. Shame he did though. No point bagging him about it though. He's probably his own harshest critic, I'm sure he knows he's lost it.

You know fiction is just a suspension of reality. So why doesn't everybody just suspend reality and pretend 6 years haven't passed and that none of this HBO Wild Card ComiCon yadda yadda yadda hasn't happened and just look at this in an individual light. an objective light. Stop dwelling on the 'Jordan' or whatever else it is you talentless critics dwell upon.If George wants to write a book then we are lucky to see it. You shouldn't have bought it if you didnt want to read it that bad. Wait til a friend finished if you wanted to check it out. Is everyone really a critic nowadays? Oh, wait, I think I answered my own question.I liked it.I can't think of an author in recent years with a better grip of primal human inter relationships than Martin. Complain about too many characters but what kind of visionary can hold so many POV's together without totally confusing everybody? I don't know whatever it's just that seeing so much negativity not even based upon the actual work was a pretty disheartening view of book readers. Back to the Dannielle Steele!  

Greystole, that was just a random character saying that.  Lyanna is the obvious choice of his mother thats why he looks like Ned, and Rhaegar being his father.  He is in most cases Azor Azai reborn... That is, when he is reborn, that's my take on that he will be revived and maybe we'll get a few chapters titled Ghost in the next book as him as the wolf.  Even Maester Aemon said it to Jon and Sam, that Stannis cannot be Azor because his sword only gave off light, not heat. either way should be interesting.

Am I the only one who read the paragraph where we're told that Jon's mother was the daughter of the fisherman who rescued Eddard Stark?

That revelation, buried towards the end of a chapter, seemed rather anticlimactic.

Looks like there are still replies trickling in here. I finished the book a day or 2 ago, and have to agree with most of what's been said about the book. I think Martin can still wrap it up in 2 more books. I don't think Jon is dead, even zombie dead. I think he can survive his wounds. And I, too, think he may be a Rhaegar-Lyanna love child. MY take on it is Lyanna actually may have loved Rhaegar and not Robert. Ned needed the whole bastard tale to keep Jon alive. And perhaps dragon blood diluted with Stark blood is why he can be burned. I see some sort of Stark-Targaryen team up to fight the others in the end. I think we're going to need some dragon fire to melt some ice.

Sometimes I think it would be really cool if Jaime killed Cersei. Not that I'm saying it seems incredibly likely, what with Jaime seeming to be knocking on death's door and being a softie at this point, but the hag said Cersei's little brother would kill her. And Jaime is younger, by a bit!

...It'd be cool, that's all.

That said, I totally felt bad for Cersei in this. I'm a softie. I'll feel bad for anyone, no matter how terrible they might have been in an earlier chapter. Well. Okay. I find it hard to ever feel bad for, say, Ramsay. But you get what I mean?

Also, fbgabgt Jon Snow. Damn it. >c Also, I'd like more news on Rickon, plz.

Arya's training is really cool. I just don't like that she's apparently starting to hate Arya.

Also, I'm starting to kinda-sorta like Melisandre. A bit. Because even though she's still a religious fanatic that goes around burning weirwoods (which makes me sad!), she really does seem to just kinda wanna save the world.

I had a little prob w/ cersies story arc. I know her reign was a mess, and arming the "faith" one of the biggest blunders, but could her actions soooo radically and fundamently changed the political dynamics of Kings Landing in this short of time, that now the "Faith" has so much clout that they can hold captive the queen regent AND the queen-to-be?? Subject her to that walk of shame as a condition of release...AND even once back in the custody of her familly, STILL compel them to stand trial with NO means for the king and his counsel to prevent the Faith from doing whatever they will? It just seems to radical a change in climate in too short of time to be believable. Even though one can argue it was in the counsels interest to get Cersie out of the  way, but kevan too? would tywin ever have allowed the Lannister name sullied publicly by the church? could a kingdom ever afford to have a competing entity within the realm undermine their authority so thoroughly? I understand their hold on power is becoming more tenuous by the day, and the "numbers" problem, i.e. sparrows vs kings guards, but just seems incongruous to the politcal dynamics established in the earlier books.

ok i guess i had more than just a "little" problem with it.

So, I did like this book more than AFfC, mainly because it had more interesting characters (although no dark humor as sublime as Cersei's repeat paranoid idiocy, seriously reading those chapter imagining she was akin to Otto in A Fish Called Wanda was one of the great unintentional joys of the series) and as I've said before and will likely say again, good, interesting characters can make even the dullest story shine. Of course, I didn't find the story dull at all, as I kept in mind Martin's original statement that he original started writing the single volume ADwD as a few years in the future and that it required such a stupid number of flashbacks, it wasn't even worth it, so he scratched it and just decided to write all that setup out. So, AFfC and ADwD are really supposed to be setup. Two books is fine to finish the series, because that's where all the awesome stuff is finally going to happen. Still, it doesn't make some of the book less frustrating, and I know I will not be able to wait for The Winds of Winter.Anywho, the only part that vexed me was "the children" with Varys at the end. White face with dark eyes? *shivers*

I don't think it'll be more than two more books.

A lot happened in this one, like you said, it was just spread out between some pointless stuff regarding Quentyn and Tyrion. With Stannis down and Jon dead/depowered, that makes the threats to Tommen down to pretty much three sides: Euron and the ironmen, Daenerys and the Unsullied, and Aegon and the Golden Company. 

The odd piece out here is the ironmen, so I assume the next book will have a lot to do with the Greyjoys. Theon and Asha are almost certainly alive, somewhere in the north. Victarion is still heading for Meereen, and Euron is doing god-knows-what to the coastline.

The Stark children are scattered, but there's four of them. What significance Bran, Arya, and Rickon will have is unknown, but Sansa is about to become a major issue for the Boltons, this book's de facto villains. This draws the Vale into the conflict.

Aegon allies with the Vale, a natural enemy of the Lannisters and Tyrells. The Martells will almost certainly swing for Aegon. That's two of the seven families (assuming the Bolton's have replaced the Starks,) and House Lannister is down every single member. Jaime is missing, Cersei is dishonored, Tyrion is gone for good, and Kevan and Tywin are dead. House Lannister is done, meaning that it's now House Tyrell calling the shots.

In the end, most every Westerosi faction but the Ironmen, the Boltons, and the Tyrells is going to want  membership in the Targaryen resurrection. I'm guessing the conflict will be which Targaryen will rule, Dany or Aegon. A fragile alliance type of thing.

I got pretty off topic here, but yeah, almost definitely settleable in two more books.

One more theory, this time about Martin:

A Feast For Crows and A Dance With Dragons could have and should have been a single book.  All the Brienne POV chapters were filler, and so were the non-Arianne POV Dorne chapters (including Q. Martell's hijinx) and other POV chapters could have been shortened considerably (the Kingsmoot chapters, Jon brooding on the Wall) or eliminated altogether (we get to read about Cersei walking to Kings Landing?  Really?).  If all of this surplusage had been weeded out, you'd be left with a pretty tight, Storm of Swords-like ride.  So what happened?

I think Martin unfortunately decided to milk the series.  Several years ago (before A Feast for Crows) Hollywood and HBO came a calling.  All of a sudden Martin is looking at an opportunity to make more money than he has ever had before.  He knows that every book that comes out after the HBO series will be selling exponentially more copies.  But he can't drag his fans along for that many years.  So he splits A Dance with Dragons into two books, with the second to be released right after the HBO series, so that he can milk one more book out of the television audience.  In real dollars, if A Dance With Dragons sells a million copies, that's at least a cool mil in his pocket on royalties alone.

So now that Martin's made his money, I have every hope that the next two books will return to the tightly-plotted masterpieces of books 1-3.

I was fortunate enough to not read the series until after the show so my wait for ADWD wasn't FOREVER. But that said, I agree with most here, not much happened and I raced to read something to alter the entire plotline but nothing came.

There were only two parts that my heart actually jumped to and that was when Davos was tasked to find Rickon (I thought, 'finally, someone is helping a STARK after their entire family is basically shatted on by GRRM'. But of course he disappeared after that as well, only leaving us a hint of a location that was so dreadful bc of something to do with cannibals.) And then when they bloody murdered Jon, right after I thought some action would finally happen cause he's finally leaving the wall to address Winterfell, oh the irony. It was heartbreaking to read of how everything he gave Stannis was worth it if they'd just give his little sister back. *weep*.  A definite breath-taking blow to the gut. Most don't seem to think Jon's dead but I would rather that he is than returning as a cold thing, regardless if it's Wight Coldhandlike or  ZombieCat. Some think he's gonna take over someone else's body relieving him of the Wall but who and it won't go over smoothly, like when Bran takes Hodor, Hodor is still inside struggling, horrible existence. Plus, the Wall needs him more than ever.

I'm tired of Dany and her nonsense. I'm tired of Slaver's Bay and all this hostility. There's nothing but strange customs and sickness and death. She might've hatched dragons but they are by no mean her 'children' bc she did not train them like she should've instead of ruling a city that is never going to be hers. Now they're loose and the only reason they're not killing her is because she is impervious to flames.  Hopefully in the next book (whenever that will be) we will see Kal Jhago submitting to her with Drogon at her side and then they ride with his Khalasar (sp?) to demolish the Yunka'i armies outside of Merreen.

I want to know Jon's real heritage, how Brienne (and the hopefully the little squire, I like him) survived the hanging, how Sam and Gilly is faring, who Coldhand is (Benjen makes sense but that's too easy), and etc etc.. a HOST of things.

And hopefully Rickon have grown up and is not a gigantic brat with a killing beast at his side. But hope are easily forsaken in these damn stories.

My theory about Jon Snow:

Jon Snow is Rhaegar and Lyanna's love-child, named after Jon Carrington (Rhaegar's best friend, as another poster pointed out), whom Lyanna asked Ned to raise as his own bastard in order to protect him from Robert, who would have killed him otherwise.  Ned told Robert that it was his bastard by Wylla (think that was her name), who was Jon's milk-mother, and (further speculation) that their affair happened on the raid on the Tower in Dorne to recapture Lyanna (who Ned found out was actually in love in Rhaegar, and had been sent there for her safety during childbirth).  Ashara Dayne killed herself because of Ned's duty to his sister (the Jon as his bastard lie), to his family (marrying Catelyn) or to his friend Robert (killing Ashara's brother, Arthur Dayne, one of the Kingsguard who I'm guessing was guarding Lyanna when she gave birth to Jon), or some combination of the three. 

If this theory is true, then Jon can't be dead.  He, along with Daenrys and the newly-discovered Aegon, are the three heads of the dragon.

First comes the "Ides of Winter" to set up the "Cry havoc and let loose the dogs of war" stuff.  Thanks to Julius Ceasar we have the plot line.  Still I don't think Jon buys it.  Wun Wun is right there, and I expect to see a bunch of pulped crows in Jon's next chapter. 

Warning SPOILERS...This is one of my favorite book series of all time, so I hate to rip on it, but this book wasn't what I was expecting. Too slow throughout, no real battles, no resolutions. GRRM tried to fit too much into it I think. I love Tyrion's chapters, he is so clever and witty its great but I was really hoping he would have met up with Daenerys... Dany's chapters had one really great one but I hated how she locked up her dragons in that pit, she needs to embrace them, not hide them away. Bran disappeared about halfway through and I was really liking his POV. Arya only had two chapters but they were both good. Cersei's two chapters were boring, and Jaime's was boring as well but it did have a nice little twist at the end (but you never heard anything else about!) Jon Snow's POV seemed to be the same thing the whole time and I totally saw that coming at the end. I liked the epilogue but didn't quite get the point of the prologue. And what was up with there all the sudden being another Targyrean? That was kind of weird. I love Vicatarion's chapters too but once again, he didnt make it to his destination which drove me crazy! Ahhhhh

I finished it a few days back, and I'm still not sure how I feel about it. I love the series, but gotta admit I feel more than a little let down. Its gotta be the only book in recent memory that has so much shit going but very little actually changes. Aside from a wildlings on the wall, Aegon and the Golden company invading and johns betrayal nothing has really changed. Its just so damn frustrating after all that build up and anticipation. Before going in I read an online review that said we would learn the answer to certain mysteries (who is coldhands and Jon's parentage) but no such luck. The prospect of having to wait another 5 years to maybe get some of the answers I thought we were getting last week really bums me out.

And as to weather or not Jon Snow will be coming back, of course he will. But it will be in the Epilogue of Winds of Winter. Think about it, the book will open with a new POV character (my money is on Dolorous Edd or Satin) talking about how he saw Jon Snow stabbed and his body dumped in a snow drift. Melisandre will escape the ensuring violence, only to reappear at the end giving Jon the Kiss of Life.        

I might be the only person who gave a damn about Kevan. His death seemed really really harsh. Unlike Jon's which really made sense to me (at least his guys stabbing him).

Also regarding Stannis, I really doubt he's dead. Like was mentioned Roose and Ramsay Bolton are colossal dicks so they're just messing with Jon. I'm willing to bet the Bolton's and Mance are in cahoots.

I feel as if all of the Quentyn story was a waste of time. And not just the time I spent reading it, but the time that I spent waiting for it too.I think GRRM could pull off an ending in 2 books, just not at this pace. He shows a knack for being able to speed things up when necessary and a lot of pieces seem to be in place to do something big.Plus, how many books do we need about people traveling from one place to another and being miserable the whole time?

Just finished Dragons. Is any POV character from the first book going to be alive by the end of the series? Seriously. Good book though.

I think Jon's parents are as clear as day now. He is named after Jon Connington who was Rhaegar's best friend. And all the pieces are set with the Golden Company in the south, the Iron Fleet falling down on Mereen, the Unsullied preparing to march, Dany getting control of her dragons. Plus, we have some new arcs with Theon and Asha, the Bravosi banker, and maybe Jon Snow released from the wall now that he died.

So... No news in Siryo's Return yet?

I just recently started reading the series around the same time the tv show started on the suggestion of a friend, I absolutely loved the books and tore through the first four books within about 10 days. I watched the tv show all the way through and what luck the fifth book was due out soon, I was so absolutely eager waiting for book five, I even drove six hours to Burlington to go get my copy of the book signed by George R.R. Martin on the day of release. I just finished it last night, if I had waited six years for this book I would have been pissed. It's a great book, don't get me wrong but not much happens in it compared to the others and somehow I just didn't feel fulfilled after reading it. This could of course be because I am jaded with the distinct lack of Jaime in this book (one chapter is not enough), I've come to terms with the fact that Martin will more than likely kill him before the series is done I'm just hoping for a good death and not at the hands of zombie-cat. 

I think I enjoyed Theon's chapters the most even though I despise the character, the tone in them was absolutely fantastic paranoia (though well justified). Tyrion's chapters were awesome too. I wish there we heard a bit more from Kevan before he died, if for no other reason than to learn a bit about Tywin from his perspective. 

At this pace, I think there will be three more books if the author lives long enough to complete them. 

No way is Martin going to finish this series in seven books. He'll be making the eight, at least.

I learned one important fact from ADwD: words are wind. I might have missed this if it hadn't been repeated about 200 times throughout the book. But happily, now I know.

Jon Snow is dead and won't come back. Hear me now and believe me in five years. While I thought ADwD was a VAST improvement on the previous book, it is still bloated and meandering. I strongly hope the next book picks up the pace of the action and drives the narrative back together and towards the finale of the series.

Excuse me, but you're wrong about one thing. We DO hear more about Jon Snow's true parents-- his father was Ned, his mother was a fisherwoman. May I direct you to page... here it is, 132?