A Dance With Dragons - July 12th

[superdeluxe]

Apparently Amazon.de had some of the books early, and spoilers are starting to come out.

Has anyone been spoiled yet? I guess a bunch of users in neogaf got spoiled by someone posting spoilers with out spoiler tags.

[Noonan]

I'd be pissed if I stumbled across a spoiler after waiting this long for the book to come out.

I'm all caught up after re-reading the first 4 and my copy has been pre-ordered on Amazon since the announcement. The 12th can't get here soon enough!

[mgbfan]

I'm probably about ready to tune out all the book discussion. There just comes a point where it's not worth the risk.

[Noonan]

I agree. It'd be nice to have a thread like this running so people can remind themselves of where characters stand leading up to the book but I'd be too concerned to see some spoiler posted.

[superdeluxe]

Yeah I'm guessing I won't come back to this thread until I am done with it. a couple more weeks

[KirstenS]

Westeros.org has closed their DwD forum completely because of the leak, and they're heavily moderating all their other forums. I'll keep visiting there, but I'll stay away from comments in any GoT tv show articles and the like. I already managed to spoil myself months/years ago a bit by reading the Jon, Tyrion, Dany, and Reek chapters that GRRM posted on his website and the different Amazon sites. I just couldn't wait! If I'm spoiled on anything other than that though, I'll be pissed.

[superdeluxe]

Freaking Knew IT!. ARGHdasdhjafkhdgkhdgkhasfkdhgsdkgh

Got spoiled by facebook

[Groucho]

Book 4 has been a slow read for me. Too many chapters from the POV of new random characters I don't care about. I hope I can finish it in time.

[Noonan]

Originally Posted by Groucho

Book 4 has been a slow read for me. Too many chapters from the POV of new random characters I don't care about. I hope I can finish it in time.

Ain't that the truth. It was a total grind the first time I read through it. If it helps, it definitely picks up towards the end but not to the level of any of the first 3.

[KirstenS]

Originally Posted by Groucho

Book 4 has been a slow read for me. Too many chapters from the POV of new random characters I don't care about. I hope I can finish it in time.

I had the same problem the first time I read it until about halfway through. Now, on rereads, it's become one of my favorites. I could do without the Greyjoys, but I love all the other POVs, especially the Dorne chapters.

[DaveNinja]

i'm re-reading the 3rd book now, i doubt i'll make it to the forth book before DwD is released. i just read the series for the first time last year so i should be okay.

[Cusm]

Originally Posted by KirstenS

I had the same problem the first time I read it until about halfway through. Now, on rereads, it's become one of my favorites. I could do without the Greyjoys, but I love all the other POVs, especially the Dorne chapters.

The Greyjoys annoyed the hell out of me, especially the priest borther, the others were not as bad.

[bdshort]

Rereading here as well, but I'm still on Game of Thrones! Haven't read Crows yet either, though I've owned the hardback since it came out. Re-purchased Thrones, and will buy Kings, for the Kindle, but since I have #3 and #4 in hardback I'll read the real books of those. Not sure yet if I'll buy the hardcover or the Kindle edition of Dragons.

[MoviePage]

The spoiler issue made the front page of CNN! There are no spoilers in the article itself.

Note: just in case this is your first time on the internet, I'd advise against scrolling down to the Comments section.

[MrX]

FYI the review embargo ended today.

I've been read a few on mainstream sites, I figure you're safest from spoilers there, and they have all been positive.

[KirstenS]

The review embargo has been lifted, and the reviews are looking fantastic so far. Westeros has a running list here:

http://www.westeros.org/ASoWS/News/E...oodgates_Open/

[Alvis]

Review from NPR:

http://www.npr.org/2011/07/07/137652...ge?sc=fb&cc=fp

Probably also at the sight linked in the previous post.

[superdeluxe]

Time's glowing review:

http://www.time.com/time/arts/articl...081774,00.html

"Masterpiece worthy of Tolkien"

Reading a novel is a little like commanding a battle: you're always reconnoitering, trying to guess where the author will go next, what's a feint and where the action is really heading. I don't know when I have ever been as comprehensively and pleasurably out-generalled as when I read Martin. He raises and raises the stakes, long past when any other writer would have walked away from the table, and just when you think he's done, he goes all in. There is, apparently, no piece he will not sacrifice, no character that you (and one suspects, he) love so much that he will not orchestrate that character's doom.

[superdeluxe]

Daily Beast Raves:

http://www.thedailybeast.com/article...re-series.html

A Dance With Dragons, the longest of the installments of A Song of Ice and Fire to date, might also be Martin’s finest work yet, a taut and relentless masterpiece that reaffirms the reader’s obsession with the panoply of unforgettable characters that Martin has created, and the brutal, glittering, terrible world in which these novels are set. There are moments of profound loss and of heart-palpitating joy, as dragons dance and the game of thrones plays on, its players and pawns once more beset by woes from home and abroad. Just when it all seems to fall into place, there’s yet another glinting knife, another unexpected disloyalty. Machiavelli, you have met your match in Martin.

[GreenMonkey]

Originally Posted by KirstenS

I had the same problem the first time I read it until about halfway through. Now, on rereads, it's become one of my favorites. I could do without the Greyjoys, but I love all the other POVs, especially the Dorne chapters.

I re-read a whole series when the next book comes out. This time...man, even for a fast reader, it's been a LOT of pages. It doesn't help that I have an exam in my history class on Monday that requires I read another 300 pages or so...and studying...ugh.

I've managed to work my way through to about 200 pages into Feast right now. Honestly I think Storm of Swords might be worse than Feast. It's saved only by the events towards the end of the book. Storm spends too much time with people's flashbacks and stories and such - it meanders off-topic a lot. It's saved by the end, though!

I don't mind the other POVs. Cersei annoys me to some extent (paranoid, moody, and doesn't trust anyone...)

I actually kind of like Asha but the other Greyjoys and the whole iron islands culture is just annoying, with their salt wives and their kill and plunder attitudes and such.

[bdshort]

It might be August before I get to read this. Just started re-reading ACoK!!

[bdshort]

Who is planning on buying the e-book over the hardcover? I'm leaning a bit towards the hardback since it's only a few $ more than the Kindle edition.

[GreenMonkey]

I love my Nook and my Nook Color with CM7, but I hate DRM. I rarely buy a DRM'd ebook.

I'll always take a good hardcover of a favorite book - I know it will still be readable in 10 or 20 years. Digital stuff...who knows. Try opening an old DOS or win95 era digital file...even word processors...

[burnside986]

calibre. makes DRM a thing of the past.

[bdshort]

As someone who has A Feast For Crows but hasn't read more than a third of it, I'm wondering if it wouldn't be a bad idea to try reading it simultaneously with Dance, or if it'll be better to read Crows then Dance. Maybe Martin should release a recommended reading order for those that want to try to read both at the same time.