G'day everyone, I finally finished AFFC (end of exams had something to do with that). One word - bloody excellent. 4.5 out of 5. I had some doubts after reading some negative feedback from people both on the GRRM forum as well as a few other sci-fi/fantasy sites but on completing it he hasn't lost his touch. Things don't move in as fast a pace as the earlier books but it's still very immersive and engrossing. I felt that GRRM really managed to capture the feeling of the chaos of southern Westeros and the Iron Islands with this book - there are some new characters presented (spoilers below) and some MAJOR plot twists at the end of this book!!!
One of the criticisms of the book has been that we don't hear from some of the other characters in the earlier novels (as they'll be presented in ADWD next year hopefully!!!). I didn't mind this too much. You only miss them at the start - but as you get into the book you start to get engaged with the characters who ARE presented in AFFC. In fact, the only negative about the fact that Jon, Dany, Bran etc are not there is the fact that since the focus will be on them in ADWD it means that we won't get to find out what happened to the characters in THIS book until the book after ADWD!!
[img]graemlins/awcrap.gif[/img] That's why I only gave it 4.5 out of 5. I reckon it would've been better for GRRM to have split the book in half, rather than make us wait two books to find out what happens to Jaime, Cersei etc.
Anwway...I thought we'd start a thread discussiing the plot, any revelations, or any insights regarding AFFC. These spoilers will commence on the second post below, so if you haven't finished AFFC then DO NOT CONTINUE!!!!!
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But if you HAVE finished AFFC.............
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....then I would LOVE to hear your views and opinions! Read on.