Don't you think you have to be obsessed (in a good way) with ASOIAF to fully appreciate FeastDance? At least that's what I concluded. I wasn't a fan of it at first for having so many new characters and so many new plotlines. I'd forget what was happening with Quentyn, for instance. I missed the Starklings and the simpler AGOT. But then, after re-reading the whole thing, reading metas about it, re-searching about the history of Westeros... Then those two became favs too!
Hmmm, fully appreciate? Yes, I do in a sense. Reading up on The World of Ice and Fire certainly enriches the reading experience of Dorne and the Iron Islandsâ arcs with historical heft behind them, how they dealt with their struggles for cultural conception and independence. Cerseiâs relationship with the Faith, and the Faith as an institution, is better understood by reading up on the context of Maegor with them back during his blasphemous dragon days.Â
Reading about the Dance of Dragons and the Blackfyre Rebellions will certainly make Aegon and Danyâs upcoming dance all the more tragic and echoing in a historical context as our two dragons, black or red, will devour one or the other. Itâll make Arianne and Conningtonâs struggles all the more crushing as one tries to assert her rightful place as heir from her brother and the other tries to seat the right dragon on the throne⌠only for tragedy to claim them both.
Plus, Câthulhu. Also, Euron Bloodeye is totally the Bloodstone Emperor-Come-Again. Mock him at your own peril.
There are historical, thematic, magical and genre threads woven through the seams of FeastDance and Martinâs already ignited relatively small, yet intense in an intimate scale, fires out of them. Theyâve always been there and, through dialogue, meta and re-reading, do we see the strings that led to history repeating and casting aflame at this age of Westeros. Though, once Martin starts burning more fires out of these threads in The Winds of Winter, (heâs already doing it in Arianneâs preview chapters) Iâm sure people will appreciate the FeastDance more without being obsessed (in the best way) with ASoIaF.
Though⌠I will relate my personal reading experience in response to not being a fan of having so many new characters and new plotlines on the heels of A Storm of Swords (though Iâm sympathetic to that standpoint to a certain degree.)Â
A Storm of Swords had Martin blowing up his chessboard in spectacular fashion, sweeping the board in the titular storm and toppling his pieces. Through bloodshed, treason, conquest and intrigue, chaos and breakdown of the old systems was seeping deeper into Westeros, doom spreading across all the kingdoms and teams we invested ourselves in, be it in love or hate.Â
The end of that book found us knee-deep in the midst of bloodied regions we had spent three books in, littered with dead kings and important lords and ladies. Whether it was Jeor getting stabbed in the back at Crasterâs Keep, Tywinâs crossbow wound rotting in the privy, Joffrey choking on from his poisoned chalice, Oberynâs head getting smashed against the Red Keepâs outer ward, Balonâs body feeding the crabs in the Ironmanâs Bay, Kraznys turning to charred meat in the hell of Astapor or Robbâs blood soaking into the Twinsâ bricks, everything about A Storm of Swordsâ conclusion suggested no return to status quo.
So, from that standpoint, I was expecting a relative clean slate and piece-setting coming into A Feast for Crows. He left several realms in smoke and ash through a breathless second-half of the prior book, so he would need to set the next book at a breather pace. There was also the aftermaths of those events to address as well. Getting to know new characters would both help us readers catch our breaths from the prior storm and give himself time to set pieces on his board for new storms and explosions and climaxes to pay-off for later.
Plus, A Storm of Swords set us up for most of those new plotlines, so I was prepared for them. At least, it gave Martin an open door if he ever wanted to explore them or go further in-depth with them:
No sooner had he left the kingâs pavilion than the Greatjon began to laugh, but Robb silenced him with a look. âEuron Greyjoy is no manâs notion of a king, if half of what Theon said of him was true. Theon is the rightful heir, unless heâs dead ⌠but Victarion commands the Iron Fleet. I canât believe he would remain at Moat Cailin while Euron Crowâs Eye holds the Seastone Chair. He has to go back.â
âHe may indeed crown Tommen, here in Kingâs Landing. Which is not to say that my brother may not crown Myrcella, down in Sunspear. Will your father make war on your niece on behalf of your nephew? Will your sister?â
âJust listen,â he snapped, angered by her assumption. âI want you to find Sansa first, and get her somewhere safe. How else are the two of us going to make good our stupid vows to your precious dead Lady Catelyn?â
Sandor said, âThe Blackfish is still in Riverrun?â
âNot for long,â said Polliver. âHeâs under siege. Old Freyâs going to hang Edmure Tully unless he yields the castle. The only real fightingâs around Raventree. Blackwoods and Brackens. The Brackens are ours now.â
Now, Iâm sympathetic to the confusion and logistics of new characters and plotlines bursting out the woodshed for some readers, but I love the world and characters of ASoIaF. So when the double-punch of Aeron and Areoâs respective chapters opened my eyes to entirely new regions (or new facets of old regions in Aeronâs case) and characters that we were promised in A Storm of Swords weâd see in the next book, I was pretty appeased! And I was curious where theyâd be going (and I wasnât disappointed on that score.)
Plus, Iâm a reader who generally presumes every subplot/plot in a book is leading somewhere that connects to the greater whole/isnât going to be a waste. So with all the new plots in FeastDance, I was keeping an open mind. Yes, it was expanding, but I figured if anyone could rein in this series so that every part of it matters, it was Martin. So, I consumed every new POV with the notion that it affected or was going to affect the story from a thematic or plot standpoint. Yes, even Quentyn and his trip to hellâŚ
I didnât really miss the Starklings in a sense because, after A Storm of Swords and the heartbreak done to the Starks there, I wanted a break from Stark and Northern affairs (except Sansa, Iâll read Sansa chapters any day.) I wanted new characters and the stories that arose from them because the Starklings were one flavor of story in an increasingly expanding narrative... and you just canât get flavors of stories like Aeronâs or Arianneâs or Brienneâs by staying only with the Starklings.
So, for me, A Feast for Crows was a delicious cake to take in. Yes, the re-reading, meta consuming and searching up history parallels was absolutely the ice cream icing on the cake, but, even on my first read, I was satisfied because it took its time, breathed in the crow-strewn air and opened me to a greater scope that I realized I wasnât inhabiting until that moment. That and the belief that it would all lead to even bigger climaxes than A Storm of Swords.
And it will. The Winds of Winterâs preview chapters already promise big developments for the Iron Islands and Dorne plots. Which wouldnât have landed as hard if Martin didnât take his time to elaborate and set those pieces in the FeastDance.
And lastly... I mean, this is a series where the minimal page count per book is, at least, 800 pages. If Iâm reading books that thick and long, I want to inhabit these books and the charactersâ lives. I read Martin for the same reason I read Robin Hobb: to walk and breathe a realm so human and relatable, yet vividly different in key facets, from mine. This story was made for rereads, analyses, in-depth thinking, brimming with real and complicated themes.Â
So, I imagine, if weâre all willing to read books over 800 pages, we must already be a little obsessed (in a good way.) Maybe. :3