So I did mean to write an actualy review of this book but kept putting it back becasue I had so many meandering thoughts that I couldn't quite put down...but a meandering review would be quite suitable for this meandering book.
Basically, it's a disappointing book. I'm sure part of that is because was waited so long for it (and I only started reading the books in about 2006/7 so other people waited even longer) but it's also because it just isn't as good as books one to three. It's a bit better than book four, but I'm sure in time I'll be thinking of books four and five as being one big book since they cover the same time period. And despite the massive page count from that one massive book, it still doesn't cover as many events as any of the previous three.
SOME PEOPLE have said that there's too much description and of stuff and too much space is wasted and I agree that's partly true, though I do LIKE the description too. It makes the world feel real. I think it's only annoying because the book spends so much time on setting the scene then cuts out before any of the big events actually happen! The battle at Meereen, the battle for Winterfell...we don't get to either of them. It would be like if A Clash Of Kings finished before the Battle of Blackwater.
And that's MY issue with the book, it doens't feel complete. Despite being so long, it doens't feel like a lot happens in it. The three stories with the most pages (Jon, Dany, Tyrion) all meander at points and seem full of repetition. How many times does Jon have the same conversation with Bowen Marsh about wildinglings? How many times do we get the vows of the Night's watch repeated? How many fucking times do we need the raven saying "corn"? All of this would be fine if we got some resolution to the storyline, but we get a cheap cliffhanger instead. The first three books weren't so full of cliffhangers, they had some degree of resolution and then new plot threads set up for the next book to keep you readnig. This book just cuts out before any of the stories are resolved.
NOT SAYING I didn't enjoy it. The Theon story is the most satifying as it has a beginning and an end (he goes from thinking of himself as Reek to thinking of himself as Theon.) The Bran chapters are really good...but there's only three of them and they cut out halfway through the book. The Davos chapters are just getting good...then they cut out half way through. OOPS, I'm complaining agani. Wyam Manderly kicks ass. That's good. But those Dany chapters...those Tyrion chapters...the Jaime chapter is good but then ends with yet another cheat cliffhanger...it's just all unsatisfying. It should have been longer or the same length but with some stuff cut out (I'm looking at you, Quentyn) and more resolution. But instead we're going to wait another five years to get parts of the story that should have been told in this book...
