A Dream of Spring is such a great finish to the series. Love going back to reread it every now and then. It’s really satisfying how GRRM managed to round up everything in the end.
@@booktubeadvocate I'm injecting Copium into my veins when I say that George will hire a great writer who understands the material for after he's gone.
A Dream of Spring truly has some of the best lines in the series “I don’t want it. She is my queen.” - Jon Snow “The finger in the bum.” - Euron Greyjoy “To be honest, I don’t really care that much about them, innocent or otherwise.” - Jaime Lannister “And who has a better story than Bran the Broken?” - Tyrion Lannister
"I _never_ really cared" The actual quote is just so much better because it subverts your expectations and completely changes Jaime's character in the final hour to get his character to a final point that _also_ subverts expectations because it doesn't make any sense at all.
Lmao the ranking really was book with JonCon POV, then JonCon mentions, then no JonCon. I think ASOS's greatest triumph is the fact that after two weddings, a battle, a trial by combat, the death of Tywin, but the final non-epilogue chapter (the epilogue itself is a great choice) just starting with a girl building a snow castle somehow leading to the reveal of the cause of almost all of the events of the last three books...really a great choice.
I agree - If anything I preferred it in hindsight as I consume a lot of ASOIAF conent and like no BCS even when it was still going so it was really refreshing.
On the surface, A Feast For Crows seems like a book you can skip over and not miss much. A lot of the major players in the story aren't there (including Bran, who is the main viewpoint beyond the wall) Once I actually read it, I was wrong.
It took "The Forsaken" sample to not feeling the strong urge to skip the two Aeron chapters in _Feast_ any more, this guy annoyed me so much. Now I know that's because we share so many personality aspects...
I honestly regard Feast as one of the best. Love all viewpoints and new characters. When i first read it was expecting a not so good read but i actually liked it a lot. The opposite thing happend when i read dance. I was expecting a great book but its soooooo boooooring
I did my first re-read this year and I cant overstate how much I loved ACOK. Understanding every detail of the war going on in the background specially during Catelyn and Arya chapers was such a delight. I was surprised how much of a slog Dance turned out to be (mostly Dany), while some of it (North plots) is top tier. This is a unusual ranking but as for my recent reread it’s definitely 1. Storm 2. Clash 3. Thrones 4. Dance and 5. Feast
I'm on my first read-through now and just started ADWD. Feast was actually the most I've enjoyed the story yet. It's slower but I love the worldbuilding and the small characters we meet along the way. Travelling the Riverlands with Brienne, Hyle, Pod and Septon Meribald was so comfy and I love everyone they meet
I appreciate you properly explaining your issues with ACOK. We are probably all aware how few people consider it a favourite, or just think they have to dislike it out of 'loyalty' to the higher rated books. I found it interesting that the things you perceived as weaknesses , are imo some of the greatest strengths. It accomplishes this all while being significantly less "travelogue" (it's not at all in my view) than AFFC. The expansiveness is exhilarating after the smaller AGOT and the prose, especially in terms of worldbuilding are excellent imo. For example, the way the ranging in the Frostfangs is described is highly evocative and I feel it aids in Jon's coming of age type arc. He is seeing how huge and wild the world can be outside of his familiar homeland. As the mountain descriptions grow in majesty, so too does Jon's perception of his role in life start to become more epic
One of the reasons i loved book 5 so much is because I believe in the theory that the 4 great bastards are "present" again in the story with Jon Snow being Brynden Rivers, Daenerys being Shiera Seastar and Young Griff being Daemon Blackfyre/Aegor Rivers (i also think he descends from them via Calla Blackfyre). It's literally a dance with dragons lol.
@@Ben-vl5ew Daenerys is a character with a great magical arc, who practices blood magic and is always surrounded by occult knowledge and is called the "most beautiful woman" just like Shiera. And if you consider that Quaithe could be Shiera...
@@knightofrigel People who act like Dance's title doesn't fit genuinely make my head hurt, like, even without in depth theories like this, the plot is literally dominated by those with Targaryen descent, "dragons", like do these people think The Dance of the Dragons got it's name from the literal dragons or something lmao?
For me before I watch the video: 1 - Storm: Climax of the first half, really high paced, great character moments, all around peak 2 - Dance: Has a distinct high fantasy feel due to focusing more on Essos and the Wall. Great arc for Jon, Mereneese cast, Wall cast, Tyrions journey cast are all really strong. Plays with tone really well, all arcs have distinct genre elements. Really strong writing 3 - Feast: All around best character work, Jaime, Brienne, Cersei, Theon, Alyanne are all some of Martins best. A much needed slow down after storm. Distinct ominous tone, feels like ying and yang with dance. One focuses of human made horrors one focuses on otherworldly horrors 4 - Clash: Tyrion, Arya, Sansa, Davos are great character work, expanding on the Westerosi politics, beyond the wall, and getting more introduced to Essos are all really good. A bit of a buildup to Storm but still manages to relieve a lot of tension and climax during the Blackwater Battle. 5 - Game of Thrones: Very focused, very tight. Manages to introduce and develop a whole new cast. A great singular read and a great start to a series at the same time. Dany is great, Ned is great, Jon is great, Tyrion is great. Just have to put something last and Martin gets better as he expands and develops the world. Its still really good
On Qarth: The city is clearly so important to the overall story and/or Danys arc. However it's clear that as the story grew George realised that ACOK was too early to reveal its significance. What we end up with is a kind of flat story from Dany that's trying not to give too much away. Its biggest set piece, the twisty and introspective journey through the House of the Undying, just wasn't enough to justify the extended stay in my eyes.
DANCE being at number 1. is so based honestly. It's so flawed but it also has so many chapters and moments that I can't stop thinking about. Jon receiving the pink letter then dying, The terror you feel with Theon trying to escape Winterfell, Quentyn getting toasted in the dragonpit, the revelations about how everything works in Bran III or even just the eerie atmosphere in that chapter, Barristan unknowingly falling into the Shavepate's plans and taking control over Meereen. It genuinely has some of George's best writing
Like Quinn said, it has the best individual chapters but it has pretty bad flow. So I would say Martin's best writing is when he makes a swell paced, flowing plot that moves like a river. Dance moves like a drunk uncle at a wedding. Sure it has it's moments but it is mostly lurching and jilted
Dance isn't my personal number one pick, but I think that Theon's chapters in ADWD have the best narrative in the whole series. The arc he goes ones so moving and, and each Theon chapter in Dance I could read again and again. Theon isn't even my favourite asoiaf character, but each time I read, "I should have been with him. Where was I? I should have died with him." I am reminded of why I love this series so much. And why I'm still waiting for winds.
Having recently reread the series(with the exception of Dance which is still pretty fresh), I’d personally rank them as follows: 5:A Feast for Crows(certainly better on a reread but still the weakest IMO) great stuff in there about legacy and especially great insights into Tywin from his children, and actually probably has some of the best lines in the series. That said the pacing is pretty weak and compared to Storm it just feels like not much happens 4: A Dance with Dragons, definitely glad to have the three major POVs back, which helps it but doesn’t feel like it has a proper climax, despite all the build up. Jon’s best chapters. 3:A Clash of Kings: slow but great expansion on established lore and characters. Blackwater and the War of Five Kings is always iconic 2. A Game of Thrones: just comfy to revisit and a great self contained narrative. Probably the best paced of the series, with the most rounded POV roster. 1. A Storm of Swords: the sheer amount of stuff that happens in this book and the amount of foreshadowing has me convinced this is still the best ASOIAF novel period. Such a fantastic read. Re reading it is especially rewarding because it feels like the pages are counting down to a truly inescapable horror from which there is no escape and it still hits as hard as it did on the first read.
Interesting how you state that Arya's "stumbling around the Riverlands" felt boring for you while it almost gave me "Fellowship of the Ring" vibes, which is as cool as something can get. And I still miss Yoren 😢
If I had to rank the books it probably be 5- CoK, 4-DwD, 3-GoT, 2-FfC, and 1-SoS. I feel odd putting clash at the bottom, as it has a lot of high points within it, but I can’t ignore the book is mostly setup for Storm’s big moments and the bits that aren’t that are plots that end up going nowhere (Tyrion’s KL schemes, Catelyn’s negotiations with the Baratheons, etc.). Dance is higher cause I like the later books ambience more than the earlier ones, but I can’t ignore that its again a lot of setup and a lot of wheel spinning besides. GoT I could easily see being someone’s least favorite, given its relatively straightforward and some of the kinks haven’t yet been ironed out, but I can’t ignore that its the best standalone read of the bunch. Feast I feel like I have pretty high, but I just think its neat; its the first book where the environment of Westeros really felt alive, and it does a good job introducing new angles to the story that make it feel fresh. And Storm, well its Storm, do I need to explain that?
I do find it funny, after watching the video, that we basically have the same list just with Dance moved from 1st to 4th for me. I do find it funny though that the reasons for putting Clash in last are basically opposite, though. Part of it is I like the idea of Tyrion’s time in King’s Landing more than what it actually amounts to; its not the masterful planning Tyrion probably thinks it is, but its also not the wonderful dumpster fire we get later with Cersei; he just does an adequate job while greatly hindered by about 50% of his mental power being committed to how to hide someone at a brothel. I also really like Catelyn as a POV, but she just doesn’t get to do much besides be a witness to a murder. Catelyn X is still my favorite chapter in that book, bar none. Lastly Theon is just kinda frustrating to have as a POV; the Reek payoff makes it very worthwhile to spend time in his head here, I just find his particular brand of casual misogyny hard to read. Jon’s chapters in Clash feel the most classic fantasy of anything in all the books, which could be a point for or against it, depending on your view. And I actually don’t think Dany’s plot is bad at all, the main point against it is how short it is! The Red Wastes were harrowing, and bring up so many of their own mysteries, and Qarth as a city is downright fascinating. The main issue with it is we have all of three chapters in the city, and one of those is a crazy hallucination vision trip in a freaky house, so we get to see almost nothing of the city’s actual culture. I don’t have the word count on hand, but we probably spend more time in Volantis than Qarth, and most people don’t even remember that there are chapters in Volantis. Lastly I’m fond of Arya’s chapters, because they do a good job of highlighting how mundane the senseless violence of war ends up being. I remember Amory Lorch killing all the Night’s Watch recruits with an almost rote sense of obligation, and you hear from Yoren that he’s been on this path for thirty years, well before Robert’s Rebellion which highlights how much more cruel this war is than anything that’s come before. And when she’s a hostage of the Mountain? That time probably defines Arya’s character more than any other.
I've recently come to conclusion that Dance is my favorite after realizing that I can always be in the mood to listen to a random chapter on audiobook.
1. Winds of Winter 2. Dream of Spring 3. Dance With Dragons 4. Storm of Swords 5. Feast for Crows 6. Clash of Kings 7. Game of Thrones Having read books after watching the show, I knew what's gonna happen for first book. But as you go ahead things become different and different which is why I like later books more.
I respect your opinion on Jon's story in A Clash of Kings and would fight to do the death your right to have that opinion, but I really enjoyed that. I truly felt scared for Jon, and it was really the first time I ever truly felt immersed in this world Martin created.
I’d put all of a knight of the seven kingdoms on par or even above the main series. It’s just such a beautiful and charming story that strikes the perfect balance between being its own story and building on the main series.
2:45 😮 Clash of Kings Arya is my favorite Arya phase. Her, Catelyn, and Jon were doing most of the world building work during Clash, or at least the world building that I most enjoyed.
My ranking goes like so: 5) A Game of Thrones: No shade against it, just like you I love all these books but I'm always much more into a story once it gets going, this book required scene setting for the world, the suff that made me really love the series doesn't really start until later into it. 4) A Feast for Crows: It's held back for similar reasons as A Game of Thrones in that it's establishing alot but I like it a fair amount more because it's also continuing off of alot of the previous storylines, Jaime, Cersei, The Iron Islands and Dorne are all great and frankly even the weaker parts of the book have lots of stuff I love, gotta agree with your points on how thematically focused this book is, if I were to rank on vibes, it would be number 1 easily. 3) A Clash of Kings: Where the story really "gets good" for me, I adore TWo5K and The Battle of the Blackwater is my favourite battle in the series. This goes above the previous 2 because there's more going on, the plot is moving faster, however the later books have a more interesting story, world and characters to me so it is limited in the ranking by that along with some of the more uninvolved plotlines being less interesting (Jon and Dany). It only goes above AFfC because of it's payoffs. 2) A Dance with Dragons: I love it for all the reasons I love AFfC and ADwD, it's like the best parts of both put together (although, of course it is less focused but I value the other aspects more personally) the tangiable feeling of awe I felt at every new twist and turn was crazy, all culminating in those immaculate last chapters (my jaw hit the floor at that Epilogue) 1) A Storm of Swords, it beats A Dance with Dragons because it not only has all of what it has with every plotline being immensely interesting (save maybe for Brans but it picks up in the end) but also has more characters' stories going on, while also having the most payoffs of the entire series, it's basically my favourite because everything I love most about this series is concentrated into this book. TLDR: 1)ASoS 2)ADwD 3)ACoK 4)AFfC 5)AGoT
I'm surprised A Clash of Kings is the weakest (in your opinion). That book is what really got me hooked on the series (not A Game of Thrones, as after finishing AGoT, I knew the book was good, but I didn't love the IP, yet). Other than AGoT and ACoK needing to be switched, I concur with your order (for my personal ranking).
I'm 2/3 through ADWD and I've read the others only once. Mostly it's been interesting to me to compare them to the show and think about the differences, and to dive into all the YT content I've seen about the books, but in their full context. Overall, the books are blurring together, so I haven't put much thought into what makes each book different. But at this stage, I'm really missing ACOK and ASOS because that's where there's more familiar content and characters. I found AFFC weird because I didn't realize it was split into ADWD, and at some point it dawned on me I was seeing lots of certain characters but none of others. And in ADWD, it's nice to see some things get cleared up and see the most of what was drastically altered or skipped in the show, and how different the trajectory is.
Thank you for this, I needed it after watching some similar videos where the comments were all talking about how terrible feast and dance are as massive downgrades compared to Storm and I needed to make sure I wasn't just crazy.
5. A Clash of Kings, mostly for the reasons you mentioned. I sometimes like to do my re-reads starting with a different book (and looping around back to Game after Dance), and my most recent I started with Storm. I'm on Clash now, and it mostly feels like filler between Game and Storm on a reread. I burned through the others in a couple weeks but just can't find the energy to devote as much time each day for Clash. 4. A Dance with Dragons. If Winds ever comes out, I have a feeling a lot of people who share my feelings about Clash will start to feel similar about Dance. I was tempted to move Dance to last given the fact that it doesn't even have an ending, but I think I still enjoy reading it more. 3. A Feast for Crows. Two things bring Crows ahead of Dance for me. First, the ending feels like it was pulled off much better. Second, I'm a bit of a sucker for medieval fantasy and all of its tropes, which is part of why I like Feast (and D&E) so much. 2. A Game of Thrones. Not much to say, just that it still feels like a great intro every time I go back. I'm not too put off by apparent lore incongruities (especially Tyrion, I think Martin did a good job adding context in Dance, plus, being allergic to lore incongruities would be fatal to a Trekkie like myself). While the other books do a lot to further flesh out the world, it's easy to understate how immersive the series is from book 1. 1. A Storm of Swords. Not much to say that hadn't already been said. It's the longest book in the series, but it's always the one I reread the quickest.
Yeah, I agree to an extent. It ratchets up the tension to an amazing degree. It was a bit of blue balls at the end with all the cliffhangers, but I was beyond hyped when the book ended. If I could read Winds right after finishing Dance, the cliffhangers would be much more tolerable.
what makes certain books great is where characters are in similar locations and actually cross but we see multiple pov's. Like you mentioned with Cersei, Jaime and Brienne. With Jaime being a kind of middle man and seeing how differently Cersei and Brienne view everything around them. The pov changes and how different the narrative is with each lense is what makes the series so good in my opinion
In addition to favorite books, I’d like to know you favorite storylines within each book. Which characters, when their name appears at the start of a chapter, make you perk up the most? Here’s mine. Game: Eddard Clash: Tyrion Storm: Jon Feast: Jaime Dance: Theon
@@willi-ham2011 I can totally see the appeal, outside Bran maybe lol. I don't connect with Bran's later story as much. I think it might be because ASOIAF is at its best when its about human drama and Bran's whole story is him losing humanity. I feel about Bran the same way I feel about the Dune book. Its far more interesting to discuss than to actually experience.
@@jj947No i definitely get that, i am just honestly obsessed with George's use of magic and find it so interesting and entrancing, and bran's chapters often have the best prose in the books with description of nature - besides in ACoK, the green dreams jojen have are so cool to me, I just adore his side of the story, even in ASoS honestly - the chapter where he nearly meets Jon in the lake tower is one of my favourites from that book honestly
A Clash of Kings is my favorite of the five. The Tyrion chapters are my favorite in the entire series, and I really love the balance the book strikes between all of the different plot lines, all of which are great. Second would be A Storm of Swords, which is basically tied with Clash. Very little separates them other than my love for the Tyrion stuff in Clash. Third is A Dance with Dragons. The pacing/structuring takes a bit to get used to in the first half (much more so than Feast), but the second half is genuinely the most interesting the series has been so far. Fourth and fifth are basically tied; I might give the edge to A Feast for Crows because of how much I love the Cersei chapters (which are just the Tyrion chapters from Clash if Tyrion was completely incompetent), but A Game of Thrones is a more complete overall story, and I love how it plays with expectations as it goes on, transforming from a fairly standard (if unusually grounded) fantasy story into something very unique. Don’t really know how I’d rank these, but I think I’d give the edge to Thrones.
After two reads, here’s my list: 1. Storm of Swords 2. Game of Thrones 3. Dance of Dragons 4. Clash of Kings 5. Feast for Crows Taking that in reverse order, FfC certainly has some stand out moments with Jamie and Brienne, and to a lesser extent Arya and Cersei, but I couldn’t really engage with the Greyjoy rivalries or Martell dramas. This is the only one that was a bit of a struggle, even on second read through. CoK is actually really solid, with terrific perspectives from Tyrion, Jon (I enjoyed all of his adventures beyond the wall), Catelyn, and even Davos. Low points were Sansa, Bran, and Daenerys. DoD is a big awesome book, but drags a bit at the beginning. Tyrion and Jon are the main, and their chapters are great, but Theon is good, too. Daenerys had a slow start, but is worth it by the end. GoT is just a really, really solid book. I think it’s some of his tightest writing, probably because of how relatively short it is. It’s almost perfect. SPOILERS SoS is the best for me because of all those scenes you mentioned, it’s just so packed with huge moments. The Red and Purple Weddings, the attack on the Wall, ALL the Tyrion content: his trial, Martell vs Mountain, killing his father, that heartbreaking goodbye with Jamie, holy shit. Just a super fun read, could never put it down.
Having done a reread of the series this summer, my ranking is: 1. A Storm of Swords 2. A Feast for Crows 3. A Game of Thrones 4. A Clash of Kings 5. A Dance with Dragons All great books and difficult to rank but this recent reread really made me love AFFC.
For me I always treat Feast and Dance as one book mentally. Tbh maybe it’s because I read them all at once but they kinda naturally flow into each other into one big story. Storm is probably the best though. But parts of Feast and Dance are so strong I feel like a version of it could have been my favorite. Brienne and Quentyn are my favorite POVs in the entire series.
1) ASOS 2) ACOK 3) AGOT 4) ADWD 5) AFFC The ranking has gotten considerably tighter after recent re-reads. Originally ASOS was far and away #1, but recently I noticed that it too has its own pacing issues despite the amount of great content, while I improved my opinion considerably on both Dance and Feast, and sometimes the two books switch places, as do Clash and Game. But my main problem with the last two novels isn't the pacing or the POV characters, it's the massive cliffhanger endings. The first three novels don't have such massive cliffhangers, while these, especially Dance, do. Even if George had managed to keep to a tight schedule and release Winds already, it still feels ridiculous that he ended these books the way he did. But Quinn is right the Dance does give us a lot of good stuff as well, which is why it's currently slightly above Feast on my list... until my next re-read.
As somebody who is currently reading a Clash of Kings and has watched no further than season 2 of GoT, the change to a more ‘sprawling’ format has really hit me. I really enjoyed the first book and season for their concise and clever narrative and so far I am disappointed that CoK has not had a major focus on what seems like its main narrative being Stannis Vs. Renly. Do people who have read the rest of the series agree that they would be better if George had focused on the Stannis and Renly plot for book 2?
My ranking would probably be: 1. Storm of Swords 2. Feast For Crows 3. Game of Thrones 4. Dance of Dragons 5. Clash of Kings I feel like I switch back and forth on the placements of Feast and Storm on every reread, but I’d say Storm is the more consistent of the two. It’s really the book that fully made me fall in love with the series and Martin’s writing. Dance is probably the hardest for me to place because it has in my opinion some of the best chapters in the entire series, but also some of the weakest. I feel if we ever get Winds it will move up since the book is essentially setup with an amazing cliffhanger that we’ve been sitting on for 13 years now lol.
On first read i would have said: Storm, Dance, Thrones, Clash, Feast Now i think i would be: Storm, Feast/Dance, Thrones, Clash Characters arcs & thematics are so great in 4&5 but Storm just slaps so much it's gotta be #1
My rankings: 1. A Storm of Swords 2. A Dance With Dragons 3. A Game of Thrones 4. A Clash of Kings 5. A Feast for Crows ASOS is easily the best book I’ve ever read. I never thought it was possible to write a 1000 page book and have myself on the edge of my seat every single page. George was at his peak and it’ll be nearly impossible for him to ever top it. AFFC was so boring I barely got through it. Hard to follow at times as well. I wish George could’ve combined this and ADWD somehow like he originally intended. Still a great book but easily my least favorite. Maybe I need a reread. Thank you George, still my favorite series I’ve read. Please find a way to finish it😪
My ranking: 1. A Feast for Crows 2. A Storm of Swords 3. A Game of Thrones 4. A Clash of Kings 5. A Dance with Dragons I love all of these, but from worst to best, that's gotta be it. Dance, sadly, is in last place for me. You mentioned Dunk and Egg being arguably just as good as ASOIAF proper, and while I don't agree, Dance is the one book where I'd hear that argument out. The word for word part really comes in there, as Dance spends a lot of words on a whole lot of nothing happening, even in POVs I really enjoy like Jon and Theon. Plus, there are high peaks for sure but there are also some notable lows, particularly Tyrion for me, and like I said with how long the book is, I don't think there's a single chapter who doesn't have at least one chapter I don't care for. For Clash, I really want to rate it higher because this is peak, but I gotta call it like I see it and like Dance, the chapters here are not as consistent as I'd like. That said, the book benefits a lot from being very focused as this was really the first step into letting the world sprawl out, so while you have Jon and Dany off on their own quests, the rest is fairly streamlined across 3 main fronts, those being the Lannister vs Stark, the Baratheon infighting plot, and the Ironborn taking on the north. Catelyn kind of jumps around as she tends to do, and King's Landing kind of starts in the first front and ends up being more concerned with the second by the end, but overall even though the POVs are spread out here, they still tend to intertwine with each other more closely than the books that follow, which I really enjoy. As for our two Targaryens off on their own stories, they're definitely the weakest plotlines, but they also have some great individual moments, like for Jon his time with Qhorin when he connects with Ghost and Bran, and for Dany there's obviously the Undying visions, but I also love her first chapter in Vaes Tolorro hanging out in the pool with her lion skin. I find a lot of the moments of solitude in this series really beautiful, and while those moments would become more prominent as POVs spread out, I love the early moments too. AGOT is just classic. I want to recommend this whole series to everyone I know because I love it so much, but even beyond that the first book is so easy to recommend because it's so smart and well paced and tightly written and full of little nuggets of worldbuilding that you see take form later in the series. I agree, Sansa could have basically been skipped from this book, and while Dany's plotline has a really strong conclusion, I'm not huge on basically the first half of the book for her. When I first read this book I think Bran might have been my favorite POV, but over time it's gotten to the point where you could say basically any character besides Sansa and Dany was the best and I'd be inclined to agree, because what this book is, above all else, is consistent. Storm is probably the greatest achievement of ASOIAF. On a first read I was kind of unimpressed by it because I felt the first half meandered a bit, so the series of huge moments in the second half felt too lopsided, but that's definitely not how I feel now. Sansa and Jaime are my two favorite POV characters and they're at the top of their game here, carrying the first half along with Arya and Jon, and then you get to Jon and Bran's near miss at the Gift and it's just nonstop bangers to the end of the book. Davos is great, though I think a tad overrated. I love him as a character, but I've come to realize I was moreso enamored with Stannis than the Onion Knight himself, so I'm less inclined to call him a great POV character, and more lean towards his final chapter being individually great. And then there's Feast. I'm not gonna pretend to be fair with this one. This book means so much to me and I read it at a very important time in my life. The travel-log style chapters of Brienne, Jaime, Sam, and Arya are just so powerful in my opinion, and they make me feel so emotional for these characters and all that they have lost, but at the same time so hopeful that just as they are, I too am on my own journey, and I can grow and change and become better just as they do. At the heart of the book, of course, is Cersei, and the way GRRM makes her even more detestable by emphasizing her incompetence, disdain for others, and internalized misogyny, while at the same time sympathizing her through the unfairness of her situation and the tragedy and trauma of her life and the prophecy she lives, is just genius. Sansa feels kind of tacked on here, unfortunately, she really could've used that 5 year gap, and on the topic of tacked on plotlines we have to talk about Dorne and the Iron Islands. These are very hit or miss depending who you ask in both Feast and Dance, and while I'd come to really enjoy Victarion in Dance, I can't say I'm a fan of anything Ironborn in Feast. Dorne is great though, with the first Hotah chapter being one of my favorites in the series, as well as the setting just being really interesting, plus I just really like Arianne and Doran, both individually and in their relationship with each other. There's also definitely a bit of resentment for the show that adds to this one for me, as it just feels like such a natural follow up to Storm that I automatically love it for being that when the show completely floundered in its attempt to forge a different path.
I've always had a soft spot for Clash. I couldn't say which of the books is my fave, it varies a lot, but I tend to reread the last 4 more often than the 1st one. I reread aGOT a few months ago and I enjoyed it massively though.
I just finished reading dance about 2 weeks ago. For me, with all fresh i would say 1. Storm 2. Dance 3. Game 4. Feast 5. Clash. All incredible but i think dance can slow down with Dany's chapters, and Ned's chapters push game above feast
Your video has just started and I already agree with your opinions on Jon Tyrion and Dany arcs of AcoK I think another issue is we basically only learn about Robb’s war success through others Maybe they could have had a chapter or two set in westerlands
1. Feast. I was just blown away by this book. It’s just an amazing work of art. Cersei’s POV’s alone make this book the best. 2. Storm. We all know it’s great. 3. Game. This book is pretty much perfect and super tight plot-wise but the series just gets better from here. 4. Clash. Good but not as strong as the others. More of a set-up book but it does have an amazing climax. 5. Dance. It’s well-written but kind of bloated and could be cut down. Also it does not have a satisfying end since the book just stops when everything goes to shit.
I’ve went through the whole series twice, and I’m on go #3 with Game right now. I’ve got to say, AGOT is still my favorite. Far more than any other book, it has the Stark family dynamic at center stage. I also like the tightness of the narrative, where the world is still deep and complex but George hadn’t let the garden get too overgrown yet
Currently on my first re-read of the series, and I think Clash is so underrated! It was probably my least favorite on my first read, but I think the jump in quality of George's character writing from the first to second book is ASTOUNDING. Truly the first proper ASOIAF book, despite some meandering plot-wise. It definitely ranks top 3 for me now.
For me (after only reading them once a while ago) it's Storm/Feast then Dance then Game then Clash. Clash is at the bottom because it shares with Game the keen memory of the prose being too dry while also being longer than Game. Dance is below the other two for the typical reasons. Picking between Feast and Storm is tricky because my memory isn't particularly fresh and they're very different books.
For me it’s got to be (from best to bottom, can’t call any of these books the worst!): Clash of Kings Storm of Swords Game of Thrones Dance of Dragons Feast for Crows ACOK having Blackwater, house of the undying, Tyrions ruling of Kings Landing, Catelyn in both camps, Renlys peach and of course the introduction of the one true king Stannis’ camp! A masterclass in writing!
My order is a bit weird, but its the release order inverted. I am currently like 10% through Storm for my rereads, but for me personally I loved each book more than the one before it. Now when I first read the series, my list was the same except clash and thrones switched. But once I finished Dance, Feast rose to my second favorite with hindsight. I cannot wait to get through storm and to both feast and dance to test my own opinions lol
For me, Storm, Game, Feast, Clash, and then Dance. I'd say that's the rough structure but if I really start overanalyzing things they tend to swap around, they are all really so close the differences are pretty minute, with the exception of dance. Dance is pretty definitely my least favorite. However, my favorite "POV" is Dunk. Maybe I'm vanilla but I don't care, he's the most beautifully written single character in ASOIAF.
For me it’s a toss up between ASOS and ADWD for top pick. But I think a SOS beats it out a little mainly because we don’t get a single one of the big battles set up at the end which is disappointing. I know for page count it couldn’t be combined with AFFC, but if it did I think it could just eak it out as first. As for my ranking it’s this. 5. ACOK 4. AFFC 3. AGOT 2. ADWD 1. ASOS
Imo before watching: COK < GOT < ADWD < AFFC < ASOS COK's plot is good but the prose is the worst. The last 3 books are a major step up in prose, especially AFFC. AFFC is thematic, and gets way better on multiple rereads, which I value very highly. Jon, Dany, and Theon's plots in ADWD are fantastic, but there's some fluff around them. ASOS is just the best overall. Like every storyline in this book is great and holds up on many rereads. Also I think from the sample chapters and the level of pacing he must accomplish in the book, TWOW will be the best if it's ever released. The sample chapters are some of his best.
I’m sad the better call Saul video didn’t do better. It was honestly great, I’d never heard much about that particular episode and I wish you could expand more to other shows
I completely agree with you saying Arya story is depressing in clash but i dont think thats negative at all i love characters that go through dark and depressing it builds the character
I appreciate your reasoning, but I'd swap the places of Storm and Dance. I'd also take issue with your suggestion that Sansa doesn't contribute much to Game; she's a crucial scene-setter whose investigation of what's rotten in the state of Westeros begins before her father's. I also happen to think Arya's story in Clash is brilliant.
Game, Clash and Storm are equally excellent. Feast and Dance were my worst reading experiences ever because I made myself finish them. I kept going because I loved the first three books so much. I wanted them to turn a corner that they never did.
Feast at #3 is surprising, but at least it’s not Quinn’s #1 anymore. Storm at #2 makes no sense to me, Dance is arguably my least favorite. It feels like nothing happens
Ranking the main 4 books: 1- A Storm of Swords 2- A Dance with Dragons 3- A Game of Thrones 4- A Clash of Kings 5- A Feast of Crows (the only book I didn't enjoy)
4:46 curious as to why you think Tyrion’s acrobatics are a continuity error - he does similar things on the Seleasori Qhoran in Dance and explains that he used to do somersaults as a kid at Casterly Rock, which only Gerion would appreciate.
I'm not sure where I would put Clash relative to Feast and Dance (Storm is too good to put at any place but 1), but I would certainly put Game in the last place. Obviously, I loved Game, or else I wouldn't have loved the series from the start and continued, but there are quite a few "Early Instalment Weirdness" elements to it, and some of the aspects of Dany's story are... questionable and have always bothered me. On the other hand, Ned's chapters are great, and so are the last 3 of Dany's. But I feel like Clash really expanded the story and deepened most of the characters (Sansa, Arya, Tyrion, Jon, even Jaime in that one scene with Catelyn). I think at this point I might rank them something like this: A Storm of Swords A Clash of Kings A Dance with Dragons/ A Feast for Crows (I still haven't been able to like the Ironborn other than Asha that much) A Game of Thrones Feast/Dance have a lot of high highs but also weak points, but together I would probably put them above Clash. Nothing can still beat Storm though. So the other way to rank them would be: A Storm of Swords FeastDance A Clash of Kings A Game of Thrones But they are certainly all great books, and I gave them all 5 stars on Goodreads. Same for Dunk and Egg. The fake history stuff is much weaker.
Maybe George should’ve released another feast for crow type book between dance and winds or maybe even 2 of those. We wouldn’t be so starved for content
I’d rank them 1. Storm 2. Feast 3. Game 4. Clash 5. Dance None of these books are bad but the gap between clash and dance is quite large for me and a lot of people sleep on clash despite the story structure being a lot better than dance in my opinion
1- Storm of Swords (that book has everything) 2- Feast of Crows (really like the small scale of the story) 3- Dance with Dragons (and incredible journey) 4- Game of Thrones (I love you Ned) 5- Clash of Kings (I really like it! But Bran is so boring here man)
5. A Feast For Crows- Cersei and Jaime carry this book, too much of it is really slow 4. A Clash Of Kings- Good way to expand the series, several storyline I don't really care for 3. A Dance With Dragons- Has some of my favorite chapters (Barristan, Victarion, and JonCon) and has some of my least favorite chapters (Quentyn and most of Tyrion) 2. A Game Of Thrones- A great introduction to the series with really good storylines all around 1. A Storm Of Swords- Nearly every part of this book is perfect, so many outstanding chapters, especially in the second half
Ranking these books is so difficult because when you are sure you have found the black sheep in this series, you reread said book and realise its freaking fantastic and that you are an idiot for ever doubting its magnificence. That's what happens to me with Dance and Clash. For a long time, Clash has been my least favourite because it has like really strange issues regarding plot armour on certain characters, but i'm currently rereading it and holy Christ it is incredible. It's Dance the worst, then? Idk, i have to reread too to reassess it, but just thinking about Theon's journey in that book makes me teary-eyed. However, my favourite always was Storm and i don't think that's gonna change anytime soon. That book is just gas after gas after gas after gas, it just doesn't stop peaking. One thing i like more about the first 3 books over the last two is how well the chapters flow with each other. Often the chapters sort of rhyme with the next one, if a character is mentioned in another's pov, most likely is the pov of the next chapter and so on. You can't do that kinda thing when you have to split one book into two and divide the characters (Feast and Dance).
I can't properly judge 'Dance' until 'Winds' resolves the cliffhangers, to know if it was okay to end on so many. (Does revealing that Quentyn is alive work better to end a book, or to start a book?) Although it isn't okay to keep us waiting on those cliffhangers forever - George, please, finish the book.
A Dream of Spring is such a great finish to the series. Love going back to reread it every now and then. It’s really satisfying how GRRM managed to round up everything in the end.
bro is commenting from 2037💀🙌
Nah unc don’t do us like that
2037? Try never
Fr, when tyrion said "and who has a better story than Bran the broken? He really is the A Dream of Spring™." I almost shit my pants. Bravo george
@@booktubeadvocate I'm injecting Copium into my veins when I say that George will hire a great writer who understands the material for after he's gone.
A Dream of Spring truly has some of the best lines in the series
“I don’t want it. She is my queen.” - Jon Snow
“The finger in the bum.” - Euron Greyjoy
“To be honest, I don’t really care that much about them, innocent or otherwise.” - Jaime Lannister
“And who has a better story than Bran the Broken?” - Tyrion Lannister
Fitting that tyrion has both the best and worst lines in the show
this shit is hilarious
You can’t just ignore Martin’s phonetically transcribed accents (they’re so important to the prose) The actual quote is “She’s ma queen”
@@bensomethingetc *muh
"I _never_ really cared"
The actual quote is just so much better because it subverts your expectations and completely changes Jaime's character in the final hour to get his character to a final point that _also_ subverts expectations because it doesn't make any sense at all.
The new box set is so gorgeous im so excited to finally have them without "now an original HBO series!" in bold across the top
I absolutely hate when they do that to books that get adapted into a show or movie.
I’m so jealous!!!!!
Are these books not available yet?
@@ШахрайМихаил-ф9э the set with the covers that he shows in the video come out in October. At least that’s what it says on GRRMs blog
I am sad I got the originals just before they came out they look so cool
Lmao the ranking really was book with JonCon POV, then JonCon mentions, then no JonCon.
I think ASOS's greatest triumph is the fact that after two weddings, a battle, a trial by combat, the death of Tywin, but the final non-epilogue chapter (the epilogue itself is a great choice) just starting with a girl building a snow castle somehow leading to the reveal of the cause of almost all of the events of the last three books...really a great choice.
The epilogue chapter is simply
Merrett Frey: “You are dead.”
Catelyn: “My death was greatly exaggerated.”
its honestly a shame that the Better Call Saul video didn't do as well as you asoiaf videos, i really enjoyed it and would love to see more.
Same I felt bad it didn’t do well, I would’ve absolutely watched it if I’d gotten around to watching BCS
I agree - If anything I preferred it in hindsight as I consume a lot of ASOIAF conent and like no BCS even when it was still going so it was really refreshing.
Give it some time. Might even expand the audience at some point
It's not surprising to me, and I enjoyed the video. BCS isn't new and most people are subbed for ASOIAF; two factors for it not doing well.
I loved it!
On the surface, A Feast For Crows seems like a book you can skip over and not miss much. A lot of the major players in the story aren't there (including Bran, who is the main viewpoint beyond the wall)
Once I actually read it, I was wrong.
Feast is like a book that transitioned the genre from Machiavellian politics into a full blown eldritch horror.
@@nont18411 not really..
Indeed, this book has the most Bonifer Hasty I would not want to skip that.
It took "The Forsaken" sample to not feeling the strong urge to skip the two Aeron chapters in _Feast_ any more, this guy annoyed me so much. Now I know that's because we share so many personality aspects...
I honestly regard Feast as one of the best. Love all viewpoints and new characters. When i first read it was expecting a not so good read but i actually liked it a lot. The opposite thing happend when i read dance. I was expecting a great book but its soooooo boooooring
Personally I’m a fan of Fellowship, I like the part where Eragon kills Prince Caspian.
😂😂
May the Force be with you
The power of many
Epic. The death of the Half Blood Prince.
Personally, I'm team Edward
Rank Dunk and Egg coward. As someone who is consuming this series as audiobooks, Harry Lloyd’s performance makes it clearly the best
I really need to listen to those, i've only read the physical versions
I did my first re-read this year and I cant overstate how much I loved ACOK. Understanding every detail of the war going on in the background specially during Catelyn and Arya chapers was such a delight. I was surprised how much of a slog Dance turned out to be (mostly Dany), while some of it (North plots) is top tier. This is a unusual ranking but as for my recent reread it’s definitely 1. Storm 2. Clash 3. Thrones 4. Dance and 5. Feast
All his books are really incredible but I would switch Thrones and Kings in my ranking. Other than that I agree with your ranking
I'm on my first read-through now and just started ADWD. Feast was actually the most I've enjoyed the story yet. It's slower but I love the worldbuilding and the small characters we meet along the way. Travelling the Riverlands with Brienne, Hyle, Pod and Septon Meribald was so comfy and I love everyone they meet
I appreciate you properly explaining your issues with ACOK. We are probably all aware how few people consider it a favourite, or just think they have to dislike it out of 'loyalty' to the higher rated books.
I found it interesting that the things you perceived as weaknesses , are imo some of the greatest strengths. It accomplishes this all while being significantly less "travelogue" (it's not at all in my view) than AFFC.
The expansiveness is exhilarating after the smaller AGOT and the prose, especially in terms of worldbuilding are excellent imo.
For example, the way the ranging in the Frostfangs is described is highly evocative and I feel it aids in Jon's coming of age type arc. He is seeing how huge and wild the world can be outside of his familiar homeland. As the mountain descriptions grow in majesty, so too does Jon's perception of his role in life start to become more epic
One of the reasons i loved book 5 so much is because I believe in the theory that the 4 great bastards are "present" again in the story with Jon Snow being Brynden Rivers, Daenerys being Shiera Seastar and Young Griff being Daemon Blackfyre/Aegor Rivers (i also think he descends from them via Calla Blackfyre). It's literally a dance with dragons lol.
Why is Daenerys Shiera though?
@@Ben-vl5ew Daenerys is a character with a great magical arc, who practices blood magic and is always surrounded by occult knowledge and is called the "most beautiful woman" just like Shiera. And if you consider that Quaithe could be Shiera...
@@knightofrigel People who act like Dance's title doesn't fit genuinely make my head hurt, like, even without in depth theories like this, the plot is literally dominated by those with Targaryen descent, "dragons", like do these people think The Dance of the Dragons got it's name from the literal dragons or something lmao?
For me before I watch the video:
1 - Storm: Climax of the first half, really high paced, great character moments, all around peak
2 - Dance: Has a distinct high fantasy feel due to focusing more on Essos and the Wall. Great arc for Jon, Mereneese cast, Wall cast, Tyrions journey cast are all really strong. Plays with tone really well, all arcs have distinct genre elements. Really strong writing
3 - Feast: All around best character work, Jaime, Brienne, Cersei, Theon, Alyanne are all some of Martins best. A much needed slow down after storm. Distinct ominous tone, feels like ying and yang with dance. One focuses of human made horrors one focuses on otherworldly horrors
4 - Clash: Tyrion, Arya, Sansa, Davos are great character work, expanding on the Westerosi politics, beyond the wall, and getting more introduced to Essos are all really good. A bit of a buildup to Storm but still manages to relieve a lot of tension and climax during the Blackwater Battle.
5 - Game of Thrones: Very focused, very tight. Manages to introduce and develop a whole new cast. A great singular read and a great start to a series at the same time. Dany is great, Ned is great, Jon is great, Tyrion is great. Just have to put something last and Martin gets better as he expands and develops the world. Its still really good
On Qarth:
The city is clearly so important to the overall story and/or Danys arc. However it's clear that as the story grew George realised that ACOK was too early to reveal its significance.
What we end up with is a kind of flat story from Dany that's trying not to give too much away. Its biggest set piece, the twisty and introspective journey through the House of the Undying, just wasn't enough to justify the extended stay in my eyes.
Can you explain your theory on the significance of Qarth?
Definitely respect this list. I will watch any video quinnthegm makes tho 😭
DANCE being at number 1. is so based honestly. It's so flawed but it also has so many chapters and moments that I can't stop thinking about. Jon receiving the pink letter then dying, The terror you feel with Theon trying to escape Winterfell, Quentyn getting toasted in the dragonpit, the revelations about how everything works in Bran III or even just the eerie atmosphere in that chapter, Barristan unknowingly falling into the Shavepate's plans and taking control over Meereen. It genuinely has some of George's best writing
Once you accept that the Meereen plot is good, ADWD becomes a much better book
Like Quinn said, it has the best individual chapters but it has pretty bad flow. So I would say Martin's best writing is when he makes a swell paced, flowing plot that moves like a river. Dance moves like a drunk uncle at a wedding. Sure it has it's moments but it is mostly lurching and jilted
Personally I could never rank Dance highly because it’s just straight up unfinished
Dance isn't my personal number one pick, but I think that Theon's chapters in ADWD have the best narrative in the whole series. The arc he goes ones so moving and, and each Theon chapter in Dance I could read again and again. Theon isn't even my favourite asoiaf character, but each time I read, "I should have been with him. Where was I? I should have died with him." I am reminded of why I love this series so much.
And why I'm still waiting for winds.
Having recently reread the series(with the exception of Dance which is still pretty fresh), I’d personally rank them as follows:
5:A Feast for Crows(certainly better on a reread but still the weakest IMO) great stuff in there about legacy and especially great insights into Tywin from his children, and actually probably has some of the best lines in the series. That said the pacing is pretty weak and compared to Storm it just feels like not much happens
4: A Dance with Dragons, definitely glad to have the three major POVs back, which helps it but doesn’t feel like it has a proper climax, despite all the build up. Jon’s best chapters.
3:A Clash of Kings: slow but great expansion on established lore and characters. Blackwater and the War of Five Kings is always iconic
2. A Game of Thrones: just comfy to revisit and a great self contained narrative. Probably the best paced of the series, with the most rounded POV roster.
1. A Storm of Swords: the sheer amount of stuff that happens in this book and the amount of foreshadowing has me convinced this is still the best ASOIAF novel period. Such a fantastic read. Re reading it is especially rewarding because it feels like the pages are counting down to a truly inescapable horror from which there is no escape and it still hits as hard as it did on the first read.
Interesting how you state that Arya's "stumbling around the Riverlands" felt boring for you while it almost gave me "Fellowship of the Ring" vibes, which is as cool as something can get. And I still miss Yoren 😢
If I had to rank the books it probably be 5- CoK, 4-DwD, 3-GoT, 2-FfC, and 1-SoS. I feel odd putting clash at the bottom, as it has a lot of high points within it, but I can’t ignore the book is mostly setup for Storm’s big moments and the bits that aren’t that are plots that end up going nowhere (Tyrion’s KL schemes, Catelyn’s negotiations with the Baratheons, etc.). Dance is higher cause I like the later books ambience more than the earlier ones, but I can’t ignore that its again a lot of setup and a lot of wheel spinning besides. GoT I could easily see being someone’s least favorite, given its relatively straightforward and some of the kinks haven’t yet been ironed out, but I can’t ignore that its the best standalone read of the bunch. Feast I feel like I have pretty high, but I just think its neat; its the first book where the environment of Westeros really felt alive, and it does a good job introducing new angles to the story that make it feel fresh. And Storm, well its Storm, do I need to explain that?
I do find it funny, after watching the video, that we basically have the same list just with Dance moved from 1st to 4th for me. I do find it funny though that the reasons for putting Clash in last are basically opposite, though. Part of it is I like the idea of Tyrion’s time in King’s Landing more than what it actually amounts to; its not the masterful planning Tyrion probably thinks it is, but its also not the wonderful dumpster fire we get later with Cersei; he just does an adequate job while greatly hindered by about 50% of his mental power being committed to how to hide someone at a brothel. I also really like Catelyn as a POV, but she just doesn’t get to do much besides be a witness to a murder. Catelyn X is still my favorite chapter in that book, bar none. Lastly Theon is just kinda frustrating to have as a POV; the Reek payoff makes it very worthwhile to spend time in his head here, I just find his particular brand of casual misogyny hard to read.
Jon’s chapters in Clash feel the most classic fantasy of anything in all the books, which could be a point for or against it, depending on your view. And I actually don’t think Dany’s plot is bad at all, the main point against it is how short it is! The Red Wastes were harrowing, and bring up so many of their own mysteries, and Qarth as a city is downright fascinating. The main issue with it is we have all of three chapters in the city, and one of those is a crazy hallucination vision trip in a freaky house, so we get to see almost nothing of the city’s actual culture. I don’t have the word count on hand, but we probably spend more time in Volantis than Qarth, and most people don’t even remember that there are chapters in Volantis.
Lastly I’m fond of Arya’s chapters, because they do a good job of highlighting how mundane the senseless violence of war ends up being. I remember Amory Lorch killing all the Night’s Watch recruits with an almost rote sense of obligation, and you hear from Yoren that he’s been on this path for thirty years, well before Robert’s Rebellion which highlights how much more cruel this war is than anything that’s come before. And when she’s a hostage of the Mountain? That time probably defines Arya’s character more than any other.
I've recently come to conclusion that Dance is my favorite after realizing that I can always be in the mood to listen to a random chapter on audiobook.
…Clash 5. I ask you Quinn…where is Courtnay Penrose in YOUR favorite books? I’ll forgive you for calling Bran’s chapters pretty good.
The Penrose death was an inside job.
The Penrose murder was an inside job.
As someone who also read winds how nuts was the young griff twist!? Every theory debunked in just one sentence.
Feast for Crows is my favourite because of the slower pace, I love Brienne and Jaime's chapters as they just wander around
1. Winds of Winter
2. Dream of Spring
3. Dance With Dragons
4. Storm of Swords
5. Feast for Crows
6. Clash of Kings
7. Game of Thrones
Having read books after watching the show, I knew what's gonna happen for first book. But as you go ahead things become different and different which is why I like later books more.
???? 😭😭😭
For me it's:
5. Feast
4. Dance
3. Clash
2. Storm
1. Game
I respect your opinion on Jon's story in A Clash of Kings and would fight to do the death your right to have that opinion, but I really enjoyed that. I truly felt scared for Jon, and it was really the first time I ever truly felt immersed in this world Martin created.
I’d put all of a knight of the seven kingdoms on par or even above the main series. It’s just such a beautiful and charming story that strikes the perfect balance between being its own story and building on the main series.
2:45 😮 Clash of Kings Arya is my favorite Arya phase. Her, Catelyn, and Jon were doing most of the world building work during Clash, or at least the world building that I most enjoyed.
My ranking is Storm #1, Feast #2, Game #3, Dance #4, and Clash #5. All are 5 Star books though.
Man those Stannis chapters in Dance are so awesome (plus the preview one from Theon's POV from Winds which should've been in the previous book).
A Feast For Crows is the best book in existence because of Darkstar
Congrats on 50K!!!!! 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉
The hurt I felt when you betrayed a feast for crows felt like a red wedding all over again
Feast on top
My ranking goes like so:
5) A Game of Thrones:
No shade against it, just like you I love all these books but I'm always much more into a story once it gets going, this book required scene setting for the world, the suff that made me really love the series doesn't really start until later into it.
4) A Feast for Crows:
It's held back for similar reasons as A Game of Thrones in that it's establishing alot but I like it a fair amount more because it's also continuing off of alot of the previous storylines, Jaime, Cersei, The Iron Islands and Dorne are all great and frankly even the weaker parts of the book have lots of stuff I love, gotta agree with your points on how thematically focused this book is, if I were to rank on vibes, it would be number 1 easily.
3) A Clash of Kings:
Where the story really "gets good" for me, I adore TWo5K and The Battle of the Blackwater is my favourite battle in the series. This goes above the previous 2 because there's more going on, the plot is moving faster, however the later books have a more interesting story, world and characters to me so it is limited in the ranking by that along with some of the more uninvolved plotlines being less interesting (Jon and Dany). It only goes above AFfC because of it's payoffs.
2) A Dance with Dragons:
I love it for all the reasons I love AFfC and ADwD, it's like the best parts of both put together (although, of course it is less focused but I value the other aspects more personally) the tangiable feeling of awe I felt at every new twist and turn was crazy, all culminating in those immaculate last chapters (my jaw hit the floor at that Epilogue)
1) A Storm of Swords, it beats A Dance with Dragons because it not only has all of what it has with every plotline being immensely interesting (save maybe for Brans but it picks up in the end) but also has more characters' stories going on, while also having the most payoffs of the entire series, it's basically my favourite because everything I love most about this series is concentrated into this book.
TLDR:
1)ASoS
2)ADwD
3)ACoK
4)AFfC
5)AGoT
I'm surprised A Clash of Kings is the weakest (in your opinion). That book is what really got me hooked on the series (not A Game of Thrones, as after finishing AGoT, I knew the book was good, but I didn't love the IP, yet). Other than AGoT and ACoK needing to be switched, I concur with your order (for my personal ranking).
I'm 2/3 through ADWD and I've read the others only once. Mostly it's been interesting to me to compare them to the show and think about the differences, and to dive into all the YT content I've seen about the books, but in their full context. Overall, the books are blurring together, so I haven't put much thought into what makes each book different. But at this stage, I'm really missing ACOK and ASOS because that's where there's more familiar content and characters. I found AFFC weird because I didn't realize it was split into ADWD, and at some point it dawned on me I was seeing lots of certain characters but none of others. And in ADWD, it's nice to see some things get cleared up and see the most of what was drastically altered or skipped in the show, and how different the trajectory is.
Thank you for this, I needed it after watching some similar videos where the comments were all talking about how terrible feast and dance are as massive downgrades compared to Storm and I needed to make sure I wasn't just crazy.
5. Dance with Dragons
4. Clash of Kings
3. Feast For Crows
2. Game of Thrones
1. Storm of Swords
5. A Clash of Kings, mostly for the reasons you mentioned. I sometimes like to do my re-reads starting with a different book (and looping around back to Game after Dance), and my most recent I started with Storm. I'm on Clash now, and it mostly feels like filler between Game and Storm on a reread. I burned through the others in a couple weeks but just can't find the energy to devote as much time each day for Clash.
4. A Dance with Dragons. If Winds ever comes out, I have a feeling a lot of people who share my feelings about Clash will start to feel similar about Dance. I was tempted to move Dance to last given the fact that it doesn't even have an ending, but I think I still enjoy reading it more.
3. A Feast for Crows. Two things bring Crows ahead of Dance for me. First, the ending feels like it was pulled off much better. Second, I'm a bit of a sucker for medieval fantasy and all of its tropes, which is part of why I like Feast (and D&E) so much.
2. A Game of Thrones. Not much to say, just that it still feels like a great intro every time I go back. I'm not too put off by apparent lore incongruities (especially Tyrion, I think Martin did a good job adding context in Dance, plus, being allergic to lore incongruities would be fatal to a Trekkie like myself). While the other books do a lot to further flesh out the world, it's easy to understate how immersive the series is from book 1.
1. A Storm of Swords. Not much to say that hadn't already been said. It's the longest book in the series, but it's always the one I reread the quickest.
I personlly LOVE the frantic feeling of Storm of Swords. It pays off the build up starting all the way in A Game of Thrones.
Having Feast and Dance above Game is certainly a choice.
I think NOT having any of the 4 battles in Dance actually plays into its strengths. And I agree that it is the best book of the series... so far.
I would massively disagree with that. Dance feels the most obviously incomplete.
Yeah, I agree to an extent. It ratchets up the tension to an amazing degree. It was a bit of blue balls at the end with all the cliffhangers, but I was beyond hyped when the book ended. If I could read Winds right after finishing Dance, the cliffhangers would be much more tolerable.
what makes certain books great is where characters are in similar locations and actually cross but we see multiple pov's. Like you mentioned with Cersei, Jaime and Brienne. With Jaime being a kind of middle man and seeing how differently Cersei and Brienne view everything around them. The pov changes and how different the narrative is with each lense is what makes the series so good in my opinion
In addition to favorite books, I’d like to know you favorite storylines within each book. Which characters, when their name appears at the start of a chapter, make you perk up the most? Here’s mine.
Game: Eddard
Clash: Tyrion
Storm: Jon
Feast: Jaime
Dance: Theon
AGOT: Ned and Jon
ACOK: Theon and Tyrion
ASOS: Jaime and Davos
AFFC: Cersei and Jaime
ADWD: Theon and Jon
Game: Ned
Clash: Tyrion
Storm: Hard to pick, but maybe Jaime or Jon
Feast: The Ironborn ones
Dance: Theon
Prepare for unpopular opinions
Game: Jon
Clash: Bran
Storm: Jaime
Feast: Brienne
Dance: Jon or Bran
@@willi-ham2011 I can totally see the appeal, outside Bran maybe lol. I don't connect with Bran's later story as much. I think it might be because ASOIAF is at its best when its about human drama and Bran's whole story is him losing humanity.
I feel about Bran the same way I feel about the Dune book. Its far more interesting to discuss than to actually experience.
@@jj947No i definitely get that, i am just honestly obsessed with George's use of magic and find it so interesting and entrancing, and bran's chapters often have the best prose in the books with description of nature - besides in ACoK, the green dreams jojen have are so cool to me, I just adore his side of the story, even in ASoS honestly - the chapter where he nearly meets Jon in the lake tower is one of my favourites from that book honestly
love your videos! congrats on 100k subs, I've been watching for a long time!
A Clash of Kings is my favorite of the five. The Tyrion chapters are my favorite in the entire series, and I really love the balance the book strikes between all of the different plot lines, all of which are great.
Second would be A Storm of Swords, which is basically tied with Clash. Very little separates them other than my love for the Tyrion stuff in Clash.
Third is A Dance with Dragons. The pacing/structuring takes a bit to get used to in the first half (much more so than Feast), but the second half is genuinely the most interesting the series has been so far.
Fourth and fifth are basically tied; I might give the edge to A Feast for Crows because of how much I love the Cersei chapters (which are just the Tyrion chapters from Clash if Tyrion was completely incompetent), but A Game of Thrones is a more complete overall story, and I love how it plays with expectations as it goes on, transforming from a fairly standard (if unusually grounded) fantasy story into something very unique. Don’t really know how I’d rank these, but I think I’d give the edge to Thrones.
4 views in 1 min? Bro is rising up 🗣🗣💥
After two reads, here’s my list:
1. Storm of Swords
2. Game of Thrones
3. Dance of Dragons
4. Clash of Kings
5. Feast for Crows
Taking that in reverse order, FfC certainly has some stand out moments with Jamie and Brienne, and to a lesser extent Arya and Cersei, but I couldn’t really engage with the Greyjoy rivalries or Martell dramas. This is the only one that was a bit of a struggle, even on second read through.
CoK is actually really solid, with terrific perspectives from Tyrion, Jon (I enjoyed all of his adventures beyond the wall), Catelyn, and even Davos. Low points were Sansa, Bran, and Daenerys.
DoD is a big awesome book, but drags a bit at the beginning. Tyrion and Jon are the main, and their chapters are great, but Theon is good, too. Daenerys had a slow start, but is worth it by the end.
GoT is just a really, really solid book. I think it’s some of his tightest writing, probably because of how relatively short it is. It’s almost perfect.
SPOILERS
SoS is the best for me because of all those scenes you mentioned, it’s just so packed with huge moments. The Red and Purple Weddings, the attack on the Wall, ALL the Tyrion content: his trial, Martell vs Mountain, killing his father, that heartbreaking goodbye with Jamie, holy shit. Just a super fun read, could never put it down.
Having done a reread of the series this summer, my ranking is:
1. A Storm of Swords
2. A Feast for Crows
3. A Game of Thrones
4. A Clash of Kings
5. A Dance with Dragons
All great books and difficult to rank but this recent reread really made me love AFFC.
For me I always treat Feast and Dance as one book mentally. Tbh maybe it’s because I read them all at once but they kinda naturally flow into each other into one big story.
Storm is probably the best though. But parts of Feast and Dance are so strong I feel like a version of it could have been my favorite. Brienne and Quentyn are my favorite POVs in the entire series.
The buildup to Blackwater alone raises Clash for me. But I can't argue with the last part, "the Titan's Brother" is a banger.
My ranking:
1. ACOK
2. ASOS
3. ADWD
4. AFFC
5. AGOT
Shows you how good this series is when every fan seems to have a different ranking!
1) ASOS 2) ACOK 3) AGOT 4) ADWD 5) AFFC
The ranking has gotten considerably tighter after recent re-reads. Originally ASOS was far and away #1, but recently I noticed that it too has its own pacing issues despite the amount of great content, while I improved my opinion considerably on both Dance and Feast, and sometimes the two books switch places, as do Clash and Game. But my main problem with the last two novels isn't the pacing or the POV characters, it's the massive cliffhanger endings. The first three novels don't have such massive cliffhangers, while these, especially Dance, do. Even if George had managed to keep to a tight schedule and release Winds already, it still feels ridiculous that he ended these books the way he did. But Quinn is right the Dance does give us a lot of good stuff as well, which is why it's currently slightly above Feast on my list... until my next re-read.
As somebody who is currently reading a Clash of Kings and has watched no further than season 2 of GoT, the change to a more ‘sprawling’ format has really hit me. I really enjoyed the first book and season for their concise and clever narrative and so far I am disappointed that CoK has not had a major focus on what seems like its main narrative being Stannis Vs. Renly. Do people who have read the rest of the series agree that they would be better if George had focused on the Stannis and Renly plot for book 2?
My ranking would probably be:
1. Storm of Swords
2. Feast For Crows
3. Game of Thrones
4. Dance of Dragons
5. Clash of Kings
I feel like I switch back and forth on the placements of Feast and Storm on every reread, but I’d say Storm is the more consistent of the two. It’s really the book that fully made me fall in love with the series and Martin’s writing.
Dance is probably the hardest for me to place because it has in my opinion some of the best chapters in the entire series, but also some of the weakest. I feel if we ever get Winds it will move up since the book is essentially setup with an amazing cliffhanger that we’ve been sitting on for 13 years now lol.
On first read i would have said:
Storm, Dance, Thrones, Clash, Feast
Now i think i would be:
Storm, Feast/Dance, Thrones, Clash
Characters arcs & thematics are so great in 4&5 but Storm just slaps so much it's gotta be #1
My rankings:
1. A Storm of Swords
2. A Dance With Dragons
3. A Game of Thrones
4. A Clash of Kings
5. A Feast for Crows
ASOS is easily the best book I’ve ever read. I never thought it was possible to write a 1000 page book and have myself on the edge of my seat every single page. George was at his peak and it’ll be nearly impossible for him to ever top it. AFFC was so boring I barely got through it. Hard to follow at times as well. I wish George could’ve combined this and ADWD somehow like he originally intended. Still a great book but easily my least favorite. Maybe I need a reread. Thank you George, still my favorite series I’ve read. Please find a way to finish it😪
YEEES! I love adwd so much. I have difficulty ranking the books, but dance always sticks out in my head.
My ranking:
1. A Feast for Crows
2. A Storm of Swords
3. A Game of Thrones
4. A Clash of Kings
5. A Dance with Dragons
I love all of these, but from worst to best, that's gotta be it.
Dance, sadly, is in last place for me. You mentioned Dunk and Egg being arguably just as good as ASOIAF proper, and while I don't agree, Dance is the one book where I'd hear that argument out. The word for word part really comes in there, as Dance spends a lot of words on a whole lot of nothing happening, even in POVs I really enjoy like Jon and Theon. Plus, there are high peaks for sure but there are also some notable lows, particularly Tyrion for me, and like I said with how long the book is, I don't think there's a single chapter who doesn't have at least one chapter I don't care for.
For Clash, I really want to rate it higher because this is peak, but I gotta call it like I see it and like Dance, the chapters here are not as consistent as I'd like. That said, the book benefits a lot from being very focused as this was really the first step into letting the world sprawl out, so while you have Jon and Dany off on their own quests, the rest is fairly streamlined across 3 main fronts, those being the Lannister vs Stark, the Baratheon infighting plot, and the Ironborn taking on the north. Catelyn kind of jumps around as she tends to do, and King's Landing kind of starts in the first front and ends up being more concerned with the second by the end, but overall even though the POVs are spread out here, they still tend to intertwine with each other more closely than the books that follow, which I really enjoy. As for our two Targaryens off on their own stories, they're definitely the weakest plotlines, but they also have some great individual moments, like for Jon his time with Qhorin when he connects with Ghost and Bran, and for Dany there's obviously the Undying visions, but I also love her first chapter in Vaes Tolorro hanging out in the pool with her lion skin. I find a lot of the moments of solitude in this series really beautiful, and while those moments would become more prominent as POVs spread out, I love the early moments too.
AGOT is just classic. I want to recommend this whole series to everyone I know because I love it so much, but even beyond that the first book is so easy to recommend because it's so smart and well paced and tightly written and full of little nuggets of worldbuilding that you see take form later in the series. I agree, Sansa could have basically been skipped from this book, and while Dany's plotline has a really strong conclusion, I'm not huge on basically the first half of the book for her. When I first read this book I think Bran might have been my favorite POV, but over time it's gotten to the point where you could say basically any character besides Sansa and Dany was the best and I'd be inclined to agree, because what this book is, above all else, is consistent.
Storm is probably the greatest achievement of ASOIAF. On a first read I was kind of unimpressed by it because I felt the first half meandered a bit, so the series of huge moments in the second half felt too lopsided, but that's definitely not how I feel now. Sansa and Jaime are my two favorite POV characters and they're at the top of their game here, carrying the first half along with Arya and Jon, and then you get to Jon and Bran's near miss at the Gift and it's just nonstop bangers to the end of the book. Davos is great, though I think a tad overrated. I love him as a character, but I've come to realize I was moreso enamored with Stannis than the Onion Knight himself, so I'm less inclined to call him a great POV character, and more lean towards his final chapter being individually great.
And then there's Feast. I'm not gonna pretend to be fair with this one. This book means so much to me and I read it at a very important time in my life. The travel-log style chapters of Brienne, Jaime, Sam, and Arya are just so powerful in my opinion, and they make me feel so emotional for these characters and all that they have lost, but at the same time so hopeful that just as they are, I too am on my own journey, and I can grow and change and become better just as they do. At the heart of the book, of course, is Cersei, and the way GRRM makes her even more detestable by emphasizing her incompetence, disdain for others, and internalized misogyny, while at the same time sympathizing her through the unfairness of her situation and the tragedy and trauma of her life and the prophecy she lives, is just genius. Sansa feels kind of tacked on here, unfortunately, she really could've used that 5 year gap, and on the topic of tacked on plotlines we have to talk about Dorne and the Iron Islands. These are very hit or miss depending who you ask in both Feast and Dance, and while I'd come to really enjoy Victarion in Dance, I can't say I'm a fan of anything Ironborn in Feast. Dorne is great though, with the first Hotah chapter being one of my favorites in the series, as well as the setting just being really interesting, plus I just really like Arianne and Doran, both individually and in their relationship with each other. There's also definitely a bit of resentment for the show that adds to this one for me, as it just feels like such a natural follow up to Storm that I automatically love it for being that when the show completely floundered in its attempt to forge a different path.
I've always had a soft spot for Clash. I couldn't say which of the books is my fave, it varies a lot, but I tend to reread the last 4 more often than the 1st one. I reread aGOT a few months ago and I enjoyed it massively though.
I just finished reading dance about 2 weeks ago. For me, with all fresh i would say 1. Storm 2. Dance 3. Game 4. Feast 5. Clash. All incredible but i think dance can slow down with Dany's chapters, and Ned's chapters push game above feast
Your video has just started and I already agree with your opinions on Jon Tyrion and Dany arcs of AcoK
I think another issue is we basically only learn about Robb’s war success through others
Maybe they could have had a chapter or two set in westerlands
1. Feast. I was just blown away by this book. It’s just an amazing work of art. Cersei’s POV’s alone make this book the best.
2. Storm. We all know it’s great.
3. Game. This book is pretty much perfect and super tight plot-wise but the series just gets better from here.
4. Clash. Good but not as strong as the others. More of a set-up book but it does have an amazing climax.
5. Dance. It’s well-written but kind of bloated and could be cut down. Also it does not have a satisfying end since the book just stops when everything goes to shit.
5 / Feast For Crows
4 / Clash Of Kings
3 / Game Of Thrones
2 / Dance With Dragons
1 / Storm Of Swords
I’ve went through the whole series twice, and I’m on go #3 with Game right now.
I’ve got to say, AGOT is still my favorite. Far more than any other book, it has the Stark family dynamic at center stage. I also like the tightness of the narrative, where the world is still deep and complex but George hadn’t let the garden get too overgrown yet
so hyped for the new boxset
1. A Storm of Swords
2. A Feast for Crows
3. A Clash of Kings
4. A Dance with Dragons
5. A Game of Thrones
I'm re-reading them currently, so I may change my mind once I'm done, but as of today I'd say:
5. Clash
4. Dance
3. Game
2. Feast
1. Storm
Currently on my first re-read of the series, and I think Clash is so underrated! It was probably my least favorite on my first read, but I think the jump in quality of George's character writing from the first to second book is ASTOUNDING. Truly the first proper ASOIAF book, despite some meandering plot-wise. It definitely ranks top 3 for me now.
For me (after only reading them once a while ago) it's Storm/Feast then Dance then Game then Clash. Clash is at the bottom because it shares with Game the keen memory of the prose being too dry while also being longer than Game. Dance is below the other two for the typical reasons. Picking between Feast and Storm is tricky because my memory isn't particularly fresh and they're very different books.
Only on the last third of Feast now, so this is my tier list:
1)Feast for crows
2)Storm of swords
3)A clash of kings
4)A game of thrones
For me it’s got to be (from best to bottom, can’t call any of these books the worst!):
Clash of Kings
Storm of Swords
Game of Thrones
Dance of Dragons
Feast for Crows
ACOK having Blackwater, house of the undying, Tyrions ruling of Kings Landing, Catelyn in both camps, Renlys peach and of course the introduction of the one true king Stannis’ camp! A masterclass in writing!
Clash of kings was dope. And a Game of Thrones was beautifully constructed. Ned’s character is masterfully written
My order is a bit weird, but its the release order inverted. I am currently like 10% through Storm for my rereads, but for me personally I loved each book more than the one before it. Now when I first read the series, my list was the same except clash and thrones switched. But once I finished Dance, Feast rose to my second favorite with hindsight. I cannot wait to get through storm and to both feast and dance to test my own opinions lol
For me, Storm, Game, Feast, Clash, and then Dance. I'd say that's the rough structure but if I really start overanalyzing things they tend to swap around, they are all really so close the differences are pretty minute, with the exception of dance. Dance is pretty definitely my least favorite. However, my favorite "POV" is Dunk. Maybe I'm vanilla but I don't care, he's the most beautifully written single character in ASOIAF.
I've come to like the Dunk and Egg stories better than the other works. I think because they are fundamentally hopeful and not so grim
For me it’s a toss up between ASOS and ADWD for top pick. But I think a SOS beats it out a little mainly because we don’t get a single one of the big battles set up at the end which is disappointing. I know for page count it couldn’t be combined with AFFC, but if it did I think it could just eak it out as first.
As for my ranking it’s this.
5. ACOK
4. AFFC
3. AGOT
2. ADWD
1. ASOS
5: Dance of Dragons
4: Feast for Crows
3: Clash of Kings
2: A Game of Thrones
1: Storm of Swords
My ranking
5. A Clash of Kings
4. A Dance with Dragons
3. A Storm of Swords
2. A Feast for Crows
1. A Game of Thrones
Imo before watching:
COK < GOT < ADWD < AFFC < ASOS
COK's plot is good but the prose is the worst. The last 3 books are a major step up in prose, especially AFFC. AFFC is thematic, and gets way better on multiple rereads, which I value very highly. Jon, Dany, and Theon's plots in ADWD are fantastic, but there's some fluff around them. ASOS is just the best overall. Like every storyline in this book is great and holds up on many rereads.
Also I think from the sample chapters and the level of pacing he must accomplish in the book, TWOW will be the best if it's ever released. The sample chapters are some of his best.
I’m sad the better call Saul video didn’t do better. It was honestly great, I’d never heard much about that particular episode and I wish you could expand more to other shows
5. A Clash of Kings
4. A Feast for Crows
3. A Dance with Dragons
2. A Game of Thrones
1. A Storm of Swords
I completely agree with you saying Arya story is depressing in clash but i dont think thats negative at all i love characters that go through dark and depressing it builds the character
I appreciate your reasoning, but I'd swap the places of Storm and Dance. I'd also take issue with your suggestion that Sansa doesn't contribute much to Game; she's a crucial scene-setter whose investigation of what's rotten in the state of Westeros begins before her father's. I also happen to think Arya's story in Clash is brilliant.
TEAM FEAST WE HERE!!
Game, Clash and Storm are equally excellent. Feast and Dance were my worst reading experiences ever because I made myself finish them. I kept going because I loved the first three books so much. I wanted them to turn a corner that they never did.
AFFC is my favourite then Dance. Love those two books so much.
Feast at #3 is surprising, but at least it’s not Quinn’s #1 anymore. Storm at #2 makes no sense to me, Dance is arguably my least favorite. It feels like nothing happens
Ranking the main 4 books:
1- A Storm of Swords
2- A Dance with Dragons
3- A Game of Thrones
4- A Clash of Kings
5- A Feast of Crows (the only book I didn't enjoy)
4:46 curious as to why you think Tyrion’s acrobatics are a continuity error - he does similar things on the Seleasori Qhoran in Dance and explains that he used to do somersaults as a kid at Casterly Rock, which only Gerion would appreciate.
I'm not sure where I would put Clash relative to Feast and Dance (Storm is too good to put at any place but 1), but I would certainly put Game in the last place. Obviously, I loved Game, or else I wouldn't have loved the series from the start and continued, but there are quite a few "Early Instalment Weirdness" elements to it, and some of the aspects of Dany's story are... questionable and have always bothered me. On the other hand, Ned's chapters are great, and so are the last 3 of Dany's. But I feel like Clash really expanded the story and deepened most of the characters (Sansa, Arya, Tyrion, Jon, even Jaime in that one scene with Catelyn).
I think at this point I might rank them something like this:
A Storm of Swords
A Clash of Kings
A Dance with Dragons/
A Feast for Crows (I still haven't been able to like the Ironborn other than Asha that much)
A Game of Thrones
Feast/Dance have a lot of high highs but also weak points, but together I would probably put them above Clash. Nothing can still beat Storm though. So the other way to rank them would be:
A Storm of Swords
FeastDance
A Clash of Kings
A Game of Thrones
But they are certainly all great books, and I gave them all 5 stars on Goodreads. Same for Dunk and Egg. The fake history stuff is much weaker.
Maybe George should’ve released another feast for crow type book between dance and winds or maybe even 2 of those. We wouldn’t be so starved for content
I’d rank them
1. Storm
2. Feast
3. Game
4. Clash
5. Dance
None of these books are bad but the gap between clash and dance is quite large for me and a lot of people sleep on clash despite the story structure being a lot better than dance in my opinion
1- Storm of Swords (that book has everything)
2- Feast of Crows (really like the small scale of the story)
3- Dance with Dragons (and incredible journey)
4- Game of Thrones (I love you Ned)
5- Clash of Kings (I really like it! But Bran is so boring here man)
Bran is one of the best things about Clash, IMO.
5. A Feast For Crows- Cersei and Jaime carry this book, too much of it is really slow
4. A Clash Of Kings- Good way to expand the series, several storyline I don't really care for
3. A Dance With Dragons- Has some of my favorite chapters (Barristan, Victarion, and JonCon) and has some of my least favorite chapters (Quentyn and most of Tyrion)
2. A Game Of Thrones- A great introduction to the series with really good storylines all around
1. A Storm Of Swords- Nearly every part of this book is perfect, so many outstanding chapters, especially in the second half
Another quinn banger
Mine would be:
1. A Feast for Crows
2. A Storm of Swords
3. A Game of Thrones
4. A Clash of Kings
5. A Dance with Dragons
Ranking these books is so difficult because when you are sure you have found the black sheep in this series, you reread said book and realise its freaking fantastic and that you are an idiot for ever doubting its magnificence. That's what happens to me with Dance and Clash. For a long time, Clash has been my least favourite because it has like really strange issues regarding plot armour on certain characters, but i'm currently rereading it and holy Christ it is incredible. It's Dance the worst, then? Idk, i have to reread too to reassess it, but just thinking about Theon's journey in that book makes me teary-eyed.
However, my favourite always was Storm and i don't think that's gonna change anytime soon. That book is just gas after gas after gas after gas, it just doesn't stop peaking. One thing i like more about the first 3 books over the last two is how well the chapters flow with each other. Often the chapters sort of rhyme with the next one, if a character is mentioned in another's pov, most likely is the pov of the next chapter and so on. You can't do that kinda thing when you have to split one book into two and divide the characters (Feast and Dance).
I can't properly judge 'Dance' until 'Winds' resolves the cliffhangers, to know if it was okay to end on so many. (Does revealing that Quentyn is alive work better to end a book, or to start a book?)
Although it isn't okay to keep us waiting on those cliffhangers forever - George, please, finish the book.