A Feast for Crows by George RR Martin (A Song of Ice and Fire: Book 4)

7/10

There is passion here, and misery and charm, grandeur and squalor, tragedy, nobility and courage. Bloodthirsty, treacherous and cunning, the Lannisters are in power on the Iron Throne in the name of the boy-king Tommen. But fear and deceit are in the air: their enemies are poised to strike. The Martells of Dorne seek vengeance for their dead, and the heir of King Balon of the Iron Isles, Euron Crow's Eye, is as black a pirate as ever raised a sail.

Across the war-torn landscape of the Seven Kingdoms, Brienne the Beauty (thus named in mockery of her great size and strength) seeks for Sansa Stark, having vowed to protect Sansa from the wrath of Queen Cersei, Tommen's power-hungry mother.

Meanwhile apprentice Maester Samwell Tarly brings a mysterious babe in arms south to the Citadel from the cruel frozen north where the sinister Others threaten the Wall!

A Feast for Crows brings to life dark magic, complex political intrigue and horrific bloodshed. Against a backdrop of incest and fratricide, alchemy and murder, victory may go to the men and women possessed of the coldest steel!and the coldest hearts.

Review by

6 positive reader review(s) for A Feast for Crows

237 positive reader review(s) in total for the A Song of Ice and Fire series

George RR Martin biography

A Song of Ice and Fire

A Feast for Crows reader reviews

from India

The story is deep and the after effects of the war of five kingdoms is stunningly portrayed. Amazed to see how realistic a fantasy can get.
9/10 ()

from USA

Insane that people find this so boring.... This book is part of a series, not a standalone novel. The pace changes and new characters are introduced but it is so obvious to me that it is to pick the momentum back up after if dropped off of ASOS... GRRM is showing us the after effects of the War of Five Kings (something few authors have ever done), the plotting behind the next great moments in Westeros and above all, the difficulty of ruling while simultaneously developing some of the "less liked" characters. If anyone gave it a bad review, it's because they are sheep regurgitating nonsense or because they didn't get to play with themselves to Dany or Jon or Tyrion scenes. This book is every bit as good as the others and in the exact same styling and editing of the first three.
9/10 ()

from Ireland

I liked the book because it focused around Cersei. She's a very interseting character. I found this book an easier read than the rest, also.
10/10 ()

from New York

I guess I've become a fanatic. I love this book, I love reading all about the other side. Sure it's not the best or the most interesting, but it's great fill in material for a huge world the huge fantasy world GRRM created. If you are going to read the whole series then this book is much needed to give depth to old grudges and give threat and a fear factor to the other factions. In a story this deep, I guess I appreciated the other side and now I miss more than ever the characters left out.
10/10 ()

from Alaska

Many have said this is the weakest book in the series. Indeed, this book is not as engrossing. But I feel those who dislike this book misunderstand its purpose. The book summary explains that (paraphrasing): The war of the 5 kings is over, and the survivors have beaten each other into an uneasy truce. This is not a book of war or grand conspiracies. This is book covers a time in which the characters must regroup and rebuild. It's a very different atmosphere (Spoilers) This book only covers about half the characters, and suffers for it. As Martin explains, A Dance with Dragons will cover those characters who were ignored in this book. Unfortunately, those characters include Tyrion, Jon and Daeneries, whose chapters tend to be better. So this book suffers from following characters who, while important to the story, lack the charisma for the reader. This book is less fun the read. This book also introduces some characters with only titles. There are some characters who have multiple chapters, but their chapters are "Queenmaker" or "Captain of the Guards." This highlights that they are not terribly important, and so it is hard for the reader to connect. Brienne's search is slow and trying, Cersei's decline into madess is gratifying yet drawn out. Sansa's newest adventure is slow and also feels minor to the world. King's Landing, bereft of Tyrion/Varys/Littlefinger, is less exciting. Cersei's paranoia makes her believe Tyrion lives in King's Landing, waiting to strike. I wish he was. Samwell's chapters are great, as are Jaime's. Arya's are so strange the only word I can use to describe them is "detached." The chapters around the Greyjoys are good, but bounce around between the family members, which is very confusing. Also, the prologue of the book is bizarre, and the end of the book does nothing to explain it. This is a different kind of book than the others. I trust Martin will make it worth our while. I also trust that this book is poorer for a reason. Rather than change the whole story arc to make another block-buster book, he ploughs through the book, making it as interesting as possible, but unwilling to compromise his whole series. I'm especially certain that Samwell's story will be crucial in later books.
8/10 ()

from Canada

Overall a disappointing work for George RR Martin. A Sword of Storms is one of the greatest fantasy books ever written and they go to this. It feels slow, you care for only half the characters and it's incredibly slow.
7/10 ()

8.6/10 from 7 reviews

All George RR Martin Reviews