George RR Martin can do no wrong.

That is all.

Edit: I should probably add a little extra. I didn't hear anything about the story jumping 10 years ahead, but that would be kinda cool.

I knew that this book would be about the lesser known characters, so I wasn't surprised. I really enjoyed it and am thrilled that Martin is going to be turning in the next one, A Dance with Dragons, at the end of the year. That means we should have it next summer-ish.

the book itself was much more tightly focused on a few strong characters without jumping around as much as the first three. i sorta lost the feeling of how the characters' plots and intrigue were intertwined, even when halfway across the kingdom. he's supposedly picking up the tales of the other characters in the next book... in the meantime i'm sitting here twitching, waiting oh so impatiently for it.

also, you may want to pick up *fevre dream* by martin. it's a totally different setting and from an earlier time in his writing style/development but still an excellent, albeit short read.

I'm of that opinion as well.

Like ALG said, this is the 5 year gap between Storm of Swords and the next novel in the series. With that in mind, I can appreciate what he's attempting here, and I'm glad he got the stories of most of the characters that I didn't care about out in this book, so that the next can be all the ones I want to read.

On the upside, Martin does evoke plenty of emotion in his writing. I genuinely hate Cersei; I have come to love Jaime; I'm disgusted by the way Sansa's being pulled in by Littlefinger, etc. Its a fantastic connection that develops between the reader and the characters. But the downside of that is we don't get experience characters that we have already developed relationships with - Bran, Jon Snow, Dany. (Or we get too little - Arry, Sam.)

My biggest concern is that Martin is committing some kind of authorial suicide along the lines of Robert Jordan. But instead of Jordan's godawful repetition and general mindlessness, Martin's making everything just alittle too complex. Its like he's piling on sub-plot after sub-plot, and can't let any of them die and leave well-enough alone.

The prime example is Caitlyn Stark. Why, oh, why couldn't she have remained dead? Surely her resurrection was nothing more than 'shock value'? Correct me if I'm wrong here, but it seems like Martin just continues to open doors, and hasn't chosen to close many of them behind us.
/rant

Just to speculate, what do you think that Brienne shouted just before her supposed execution?

I read somewhere that A Feast for Crows and A Flight of Dragons was originally one book, but it was so big Martin decided to split it into 2 books, and the next book will concentrate on characters not seen in A Feast of Crows.

Which sucks because we will have to wait twice as long to see what happened to Brienne, Arry, Sam, etc.

I'm betting Brienne either yelled "Jaime!" or "Sansa!" at the last moment. Or something. I bet she isn't actually dead, since her story didn't actually resolve at all.

So what the consensus on the status of Sandor Clegane? Dead, alive, what?

Yup. That's the hope. Love the Hound.

Oh, what a fight that will be. I look forward to it.

I think part of the problem is that I had with Sansa for so long was that she had 'lost the wolf'; she had no real idea of who she should be supporting (aka her family). The death of Lady was symbolic of that.
Sansa had 'the wolf' taken from her by the whining of a spoiled brat, and still had the idealism left to forgive him for that. After so much pain, how could her ideals not be crushed? And she's better for it, but I still think she's got the spirit of a Stark in there somewhere. Its just a question of how long it takes for her to remember it.

Another consensus question:

Is Jon Snow Rhaegar Targaryen's son?

I think the general idea was that Jon is the child of Rhaegar and Eddard's dead sister. Am I remembering this wrong?

Man, you guys remember more than I forgot about Jon Snow.....

Well, I am looking forward to visiting Stannis Baratheon, Rickon, Bran, and Stannis' Admiral Lord Davos (?) "The Turnip Knight"....and Tyrion. And Dany.

Somehow I have a feeling that Sansa will be re-united with Tyrion (her husband) and may end up restoring Winterfell by the end.

Despite the devastating indictment of feudal society, I find it heartening that he can find a few folks who can rise above that stultified society and find a better place and be better people.

Speaking of which....I keep getting a sneaky suspicion that "The First Men" and "The Valyrians" are from a colonizing starship...and that this is a fallen civilization. He hints as much in the snippets he's given about Valyria.....

If that's so, then he died in "Feast"...held hostage at one of the Northern port cities, then strung up to prove the hostage-taker's allegiance to Tommen/Cersei.

Boo! I'll have to double-check it tonight.

You shouldn't tell anything a character take another character in this series at face value. I doubt the Onion Knight is really dead.

Also, I suspect that Ser Loras injuries have been rather exaggerated, and will swoop in to save Margaery, while Cersei snuffs it.

I'm thinking he'll go back for her and die in her defense, possibly on purpose - fulfilling the prophecy of a brother causing Cersei's death, at the hands of zombie Gregor in a trial by battle.

I certainly hope he's not heading back.

I've loved watching Jamie transform from the selfish pig that he was to the man that he is now. He's definitely fit to run House Lannister.
I just wish that he would forgive Tyrion for killing Tywin. He and Tyrion together would be almost unstoppable.