Simon Mee > Recent Status Updates

This one was a bitch writes Martin in his acknowledgements for the fourth book. It goes along way to explaining the present delays.

Anyway, this is actually my favourite, notwithstanding any audience (or even Martin's) comments. Some new threats get spun up via the Sparrows, Dorne and the Ironborn, but AFFC leans on the war theme and characters. Is Cersei realistic? Maybe not, but she is compelling.

Third down. Multiple climatic moments, which means more consequences, which means more threads to untangle - Martin didn't help himself by adding another one in the epilogue! Jaime stands out as a new POV.

While mostly low fantasy, the world feels different. Dreams mean more, children age faster (perhaps a writing issue), the logistics of so many horses seems less unsolvable (maybe also a writing issue). Love it.

Going a bit slower than planned but A Clash of Kings now done. Dany is in a bit of a holding pattern in order to get her dragons going.

What I like is the switch from the climax of the first book (Who will be King?) to a new narrative line (Who will be King?). It's more of a jump than it seems as Martin rustles up four claimants, each with their own faults. Robb's winning himself to death is a cool theme.

One down. I feel I underrated it first time round, hard not to love the lore and the characterisation, with a plot that moves (helped a little by crows that deliver information Kingdom wide so quickly!).

Movies seem cool, so hopefully this is a faithful novelization of them.

Worth a crack.

If you're a fan of Cicero then bad news: McCullough did him dirty in this book

The best

At first, the protagonist seemed unmoored from reality, now already the whole story feels weird