A Dance with Dragons (A Song of Ice and Fire, #5)
Four stars for now. (I reserve the right to change my mind once I've read the whole series.)
I loved seeing all my favorite characters again, but like in A Clash of Kings, this one felt more like it was putting pieces into place for the next two. As much as I loved seeing Dany and Jon and Tyrion again, the whole time I was reading, I kept waiting for things to happen, and I feel like they just didn't. It was also jarring to essentially have one book's storylines dragged across two giant books. I feel like Martin could have cut a lot of the fat off this one (although, again, I reserve the right to change my mind about this once I've read the next two; some of the "unnecessary" stuff might actually turn out to have been necessary). Mostly, though, I think I'm just impatient. I waited six years for this book, and now I have to wait who knows how long for the next two. Normally waiting is an excruciating pleasure, but this book just made me want more without actually sating anything. I have no idea what is going to happen next, and that is both exciting and annoying.
So listen up, George Martin: if Jon Snow is actually dead, I'm going to motherfucking kill you, you old hatted fart. You think I'm kidding. I'm not.