Turn The Page

This one takes a step back from the previous three in this saga. Martin claims in the back of this novel that he had written so much material for this book that he had to divide it into two novels, the other being my future read, A Dance With Dragons. However, Martin took half the characters and wrote about them in this book, the other half being covered in the upcoming ADWD.

That made this read tougher. While reading about the characters in this novel, I was continually wondering what was going on with the other half. My concern is this saga is now bloating to the point where it is approaching Wheel Of Time glut. In Wheel Of Time novels, you may read about a character in book 3, then pick up his/her story in book 9. Maddening....

That being said, I am looking forward to the next book. Hopefully, at that point I will be ready to tackle the sixth book, if he ever releases it.

There were parts of this book that were enjoyable to read, just not on the scale of the previous books. This one seemed more concerned with establishing political alliances among the seven kingdoms and familial lineage where inheritances were concerned. Important, yes, but page after page of dozens and dozens of potential characters in line for a throne or a lordship produced heavy eyes at times. Here's to hoping that things pick back up soon...