lightreads

This is the fourth in a projected series of seven books which put the “epic” back in “epic fantasy,” and the “holy Mary mother of God” back in “epic.” I’ve been holding off on this for over a year in order to treat myself during the wait for the fifth, and the book was indeed worth the wait, though it is not quite up to the scale and brilliance of A Storm of Swords. Martin and his publisher made the decision to split his original massive manuscript in half, and he wisely opted to tell the full story for half the characters, rather than half the story for the usual full rotating ten or twelve point-of-view characters (protagonists is not quite appropriate in some cases). I really can’t say much about the plot of this book without spoiling anything, which would be a howling shame. I will say that it focuses on King’s Landing and environs – Jaime plays a large role, and Cersei gains a POV. There’s a lot more scheming and politics and a lot less bloodshed – the body count is actually quite low, for a Martin book – and there’s no tableau on the stunning scale of the battle of King’s Landing, or the siege on The Wall (usually when I call something in fiction “cinematic” it’s by way of a backhanded compliment, but in Martin’s case I mean it sincerely and wholeheartedly. Because wow). I can see how some readers would find this book mildly unsatisfying in comparison to all that has come before, as I have heard rumbled, but it’s still enjoyable and disturbing as all hell.

I do have to wonder though, as we’re over halfway through the series, when he’s going to stop adding thread after thread after thread, and start tying them off. He’s still adding POV characters as fast as he kills them off, which is really saying something. And he’s sustained the scale and the pace incredibly well, but it’s got to stop somewhere, right? I mean, there is an end . . . yes?

There’s a strand here about the iron islanders which is actually the weakest part of the book because Martin undercuts his own strength and rotates through three different new POVs to tell the story. Usually, one of the best things about this series is the way it sculpts the larger scale of the epic around very individual and starkly realized personalities – multitudinous perhaps, but still vivid. In the case of the Greyjoy strand, though, we don’t know the characters nearly so well, and so the girders of the epic show through a lot more, giving the whole thing a much more constructed feel. It’s a similar effect to a moment late in the book when ( cut so as not to spoil the mere survival of characters ) actually meet, but don’t know who the other is and so pass right on by. It leaves the reader shrieking and gnashing a bit, wondering what possible future calamity could have been avoided had they connected. Similarly, Brienne has her own chapters in this book as she searches for Sansa Stark, and the reader, who knows where Sansa is, is left in a peculiarly frustrating position as she watches Brienne contemplate the right answer multiple times, and get interminably ( a spoiler in the form of a bad joke, because I can’t help it ) distracted. These things make me feel like Martin is more conscious of his audience, and of building this story rather than having the characters tell it. It’s not entirely a bad thing, but not entirely good, either.

I’m talking a lot about effect, so I should also say that I think the cause is entirely different. What’s actually happening here is that Martin is doing what Martin does best: taking a standard fantasy story, deliberately snapping each well-used join that holds the structure up, flipping the pieces around backward, and seeing what happens. In another fantasy book, the chance meeting would have miraculously resulted in recognition and a combining of forces and salvation. In another book, Daenie (who does not appear in this book) would have ( ”spoiler” ). I applaud the sentiment, but not to the point of deliberately flaunting unfulfilled tropes in the reader’s face, as in the case of the chance meeting. And perhaps it’s just that I’m getting sufficiently used to Martin’s style to anticipate where he deliberately chooses to depart and how, but I also think the edges are a little rougher in this installment.

Anyway. It’s a good book in a great series, and I am happy to evangelize it to anyone who is still teetering.