A Dance With Dragons
2008
- nyt:hardcover_fiction=2011-07-30
- seven kingdoms (imaginary place)
- fiction
- epic
- fantasy
- general
- imaginary wars and battles
- adventure
- reading level-grade 7
- reading level-grade 9
The story
In the aftermath of a colossal battle, the future of the Seven Kingdoms hangs in the balance once again–beset by newly emerging threats from every direction. In the east, Daenerys Targaryen, the last scion of House Targaryen, rules with her three dragons as queen of a city built on dust and death. But Daenerys has three times three thousand enemies, and many have set out to find her. Yet, as they gather, one young man embarks upon his own quest for the queen, with an entirely different goal in mind. Fleeing from Westeros with a price on his head, Tyrion Lannister, too, is making his way to Daenerys. But his newest allies in this quest are not the rag-tag band they seem, and at their heart lies one who could undo Daenerys’s claim to Westeros forever. To the north lies the mammoth Wall of ice and stone–a structure only as strong as those guarding it. There, Jon Snow, 998th Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch, will face his greatest challenge yet. For he has powerful foes not only within the Watch but also beyond, in the land of the creatures of ice. And from all corners, bitter conflicts soon reignite, intimate betrayals are perpetrated, and a grand cast of outlaws and priests, soldiers and skinchangers, nobles and slaves, will face seemingly insurmountable obstacles. Some will fail, others will grow in the strength of darkness. But in a time of rising restlessness, the tides of destiny and politics will lead inevitably to the greatest dance of all. . . . Preceded by: [***A Feast for Crows***][1] Followed by: ***The Winds of Winter*** (planned) ([Source][3]) [1]: https://openlibrary.org/works/OL257948W [3]: https://georgerrmartin.com/grrm_book/a-dance-with-dragons/
What it’s like
Cold, bleak and brooding in its textures: long stretches of grey northern sky, stone walls sweating with damp, the glitter of ice, and the smoke-and-blood heat of desert camps and besieged cities. The prose is dense and unhurried, moving between a rotating set of close third-person viewpoints, each chapter sitting inside one character's head, with the sensory world rendered through practical detail: the weight of armour, the taste of bad wine, the reek of a latrine, the crackle of a fire in a cold hall. Its vibe is brooding political unease, with a slow dread creeping under every court intrigue. It suits a long winter evening with a fire going, or a stretch of reading when you have time to settle in and track a sprawling cast. Pacing is deliberate and layered, with frequent cliffhangers and sudden reversals, though much of the middle is talk, travel and scheming rather than action. Emotionally it is cynical and heavy, following characters who are scarred, compromised or fighting to survive, and their arcs turn on betrayal, loyalty and hard-won resolve. Violence is frequent and often graphic, with battlefield killings, executions and some sexual violence and cruelty described on the page, so it does not fit anyone seeking something gentle. For readers who want immersive, morally grey epic fantasy with a large, intricate world and no easy comfort.
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