Could it be? A Dance with Dragons is completed?

[Sparhawk]

Alright, so to get ready for the 5th book in the series I went ahead and bought  "A Feast For Crows" and I'm about to start reading it, however, I've heard so many different takes on the book that I'm hesitant to even start it and just move on to book 5. Why? Well many people seem to say that book 4 seems more like a dictionary text with nothing but facts and very little story behind them, and that you'd be better off reading a wiki to catch up at this point than slog through book 4. 

So do I read through all of book 4 or should I just wiki the main plot points and get to book 5 asap. Tyrion, Arya, and Jon are my favorite characters and are they covered in book 4 at all?

[Blonco]

Alright, so to get ready for the 5th book in the series I went ahead and bought  "A Feast For Crows" and I'm about to start reading it, however, I've heard so many different takes on the book that I'm hesitant to even start it and just move on to book 5. Why? Well many people seem to say that book 4 seems more like a dictionary text with nothing but facts and very little story behind them, and that you'd be better off reading a wiki to catch up at this point than slog through book 4. 

So do I read through all of book 4 or should I just wiki the main plot points and get to book 5 asap. Tyrion, Arya, and Jon are my favorite characters and are they covered in book 4 at all?

You might as well trudge through it.  I personally hated this book, but I had invested so much time into the other 3 that I figured I might as well deal with one that was less than stellar.

[Sparhawk]

Alright, so to get ready for the 5th book in the series I went ahead and bought  "A Feast For Crows" and I'm about to start reading it, however, I've heard so many different takes on the book that I'm hesitant to even start it and just move on to book 5. Why? Well many people seem to say that book 4 seems more like a dictionary text with nothing but facts and very little story behind them, and that you'd be better off reading a wiki to catch up at this point than slog through book 4. 

So do I read through all of book 4 or should I just wiki the main plot points and get to book 5 asap. Tyrion, Arya, and Jon are my favorite characters and are they covered in book 4 at all?

You might as well trudge through it.  I personally hated this book, but I had invested so much time into the other 3 that I figured I might as well deal with one that was less than stellar.

So WHAT happened with book 4? Did Martin forget his audience? Was it really like an encyclopedia other than a novel?

[Zaxxon]

I liked AFFC. It's not as good as book 3, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. So long you can go into it with an open mind and realize you'll be focusing on a different character set, I would say read it.  No recap will cover everything, anyway.

Sent from my mobile device.

[rittchard]

Slightly OT, but does anyone know how Amazon manages their release dates?  As in what time will the download actually be available if you get the Kindle version?

[Zaxxon]

Slightly OT, but does anyone know how Amazon manages their release dates?  As in what time will the download actually be available if you get the Kindle version?

Midnight Pacific is what I've learned. Sucks!

[Sparhawk]

I don't mind different characters but if it is mostly descriptions and less character chatter than I will fall asleep. I read fantasy novels for character interaction and not for this: "And the forest was a deep black with a chill in it and all men say that within this forest there lives a giant named Furthilic the Fierce. Some say his heart grows larger when given a barrel of fine ale and others say he will eviscerate you with his claws in a single swipe but no matter..." and so on.  If that kind of stuff goes on for 100's of pages then count me out.  I'd rather see the interaction with the giant than deal with 100 pages describing where giant lives and how it lives in the forest. Different strokes and all that I guess.

[Zaxxon]

GRRM's style of writing isn't any different from the first three books.

[Sparhawk]

GRRM's style of writing isn't any different from the first three books.

Oh, well fuck it then I'll read the book from beginning to end. Yes I have my favorite characters but as long as people are talking then I'll enjoy the novel! Can't wait! ***I just finished reading book 2 of the The Kingkiller Chronicle by Patrick Rothfuss and it was SUPERB! WTB the 3rd book NOW PLEASE!***

[rittchard]

***I just finished reading book 2 of the The Kingkiller Chronicle by Patrick Rothfuss and it was SUPERB! WTB the 3rd book NOW PLEASE!***

Seriously?  We should discuss in another thread.  Personally I was extremely disappointed after loving the first one.  It read like a long girly romance novel to me, and I kept getting annoyed with his use of one pretentious writing "trick" after another.

[wonderpug]

Alright, so to get ready for the 5th book in the series I went ahead and bought  "A Feast For Crows" and I'm about to start reading it, however, I've heard so many different takes on the book that I'm hesitant to even start it and just move on to book 5. Why? Well many people seem to say that book 4 seems more like a dictionary text with nothing but facts and very little story behind them, and that you'd be better off reading a wiki to catch up at this point than slog through book 4. 

So do I read through all of book 4 or should I just wiki the main plot points and get to book 5 asap. Tyrion, Arya, and Jon are my favorite characters and are they covered in book 4 at all?

You might as well trudge through it.  I personally hated this book, but I had invested so much time into the other 3 that I figured I might as well deal with one that was less than stellar.

So WHAT happened with book 4? Did Martin forget his audience? Was it really like an encyclopedia other than a novel?

The story got away from him, and he felt the need to narrate events that would originally have happened off-camera.  If you think of it as a companion novel or parallel novel covering the events of the common people while all these big events are happening, I think you'll have a good time.  If you want the narration to bring you amazing revelations in the story like the first three books, you're more likely to be disappointed.

[Turtle]

Got my book, anyone else get theirs? Looks like I'm getting no sleep tonight.

[TiLT]

Got my book, anyone else get theirs? Looks like I'm getting no sleep tonight.

My preorder from Amazon automatically downloaded while I was sleeping. Just finished reading the prologue (which was awesome) and will try to save the rest for when I go on vacation next week. It's going to be a rough week.

Edit: Oh yeah, the progress bar at the bottom of the Kindle still shows 1% after reading the entire prologue. This is a huge book!

[Zaxxon]

6% in and it's awesome so far. Woot!

[Turtle]

I've got the hardback. ~1000 pages. This thing is heavy.

And yeah, I'm staying up to read it.

[Zarkon]

Picking it up tonight.

[tiktokman]

Kindle had it waiting for me when I woke up this morning. It's also loaded up on my iphone and I will add it to my ipad and PC later today. Too bad today is my first day back from vacation and I have to play catch-up at work all day.

[Zinfan]

Showed up on my doorstep today.  I'm slacking on my summer reading but I'm leaning towards re-reading Storm of Swords again before heading into this.

[Gratch]

Have a copy in my hands, so I'll go ahead and believe its real now. 

[kathode]

Edit: Oh yeah, the progress bar at the bottom of the Kindle still shows 1% after reading the entire prologue. This is a huge book!

Haha, I was going to make this same point!  So excited to get into it though.

[TheEgoWhip]

I caved and swung by Boarders on my way home. $25 was well worth it so far.

[EngineNo9]

My copy came today, but after months of ignoring the book I'm about 60% into The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest so I think I have to finish that before starting on this monster.

[disarm]

My copy came today, but after months of ignoring the book I'm about 60% into The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest so I think I have to finish that before starting on this monster.

it probably won't take long for you to finish that one.  i just wrapped it up last week after reading the whole thing over the course of only three days.  the final third moves along at such an incredible pace that i just couldn't put the book down.  enjoy the ride!

[Zarkon]

Stayed up waaaaaay too long reading last night.

[Moliere]

Just finished the 4th book. I went to the library to find something else to read since I knew I was about number 80 on the hold list. I am a member of two different county library systems and somehow they had "A Dance With  Dragons" sitting on the new fiction shelf just released that morning and no one had gotten it yet. Glad I didn't have to wait 6 years like everyone else who knew about these books before the HBO series came out.