Dancing with Dragons
Like A Feast for Crows, I found A Dance with Dragons enjoyable but frustrating. Like Feast, even with forewarning as I read I was going: "Chapter points of view of random characters I don't care about, why so many?" Yes, yes, it wasn't as if they outnumbered the established characters, and the do expand the story, but I want to find out about Bran and Arya, and Tyrion being drunk and emo and Dany fucking things up. And Theon getting sympathetic, God damn you GRRM! I liked hating the little snot!
Oh Jon. Despite how similar to all the other death fake outs GRRM loves so much, there is always the worry that this time it'll stick to prove how grimdark he is. It's doubly frustrating with all the dicking around with extra Targs back from the dead and Dany being a fuck up (yes, I still love her, but that could have been tighter) so there isn't any space to resolve the knives now currently in Jon Snow's back.
Though the Brianne/Jamie one was hilarious. "Here, she lives, cliffhanger resolved, then suddenly: New cliffhanger'd! See you in six years, suckers!
Let's talk about Dany and her fucking up. I liked that. She gets the Mary Sue tag thrown at her, so it's good to see her bad decisions kicking her in the arse. Yes, she was frustrating and obtuse, but if she can become self aware enough see where she went wrong she might be able to rule one day. Which will hopefully be in the next book, unless she dies of the flux she seems to have caught. And she's now back where she started at the mercy of a Warlord and his horde. And has only one dragon, the one who's been eating children, while the others are flying amok burning things in the city she was supposed to be ruling. Which was under attack within and without. And then there was all the sickness. Oops.
At least winter has finally come.