A Dance with Dragons: Part 1 Dreams and Dust
A Song of Ice and Fire, Book 5
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4.5 • 266 Ratings
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- £2.99
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- £2.99
Publisher Description
HBO’s hit series A GAME OF THRONES is based on George R R Martin’s internationally bestselling series A SONG OF ICE AND FIRE, the greatest fantasy epic of the modern age.
A DANCE WITH DRAGONS: DREAMS AND DUST is the FIRST part of the fifth volume in the series.
In the aftermath of a colossal battle, new threats are emerging from every direction.
Tyrion Lannister, having killed his father, and wrongfully accused of killing his nephew, King Joffrey, has escaped from King’s Landing with a price on his head.
To the north lies the great Wall of ice and stone – a structure only as strong as those guarding it. Eddard Stark's bastard son Jon Snow has been elected 998th Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch. But Jon has enemies both inside and beyond the Wall.
And in the east Daenerys Targaryen struggles to hold a city built on dreams and dust.
Reviews
‘In the grand epic fantasy tradition, Martin is by far the best'
Time Magazine
‘Richly satisfying and utterly engrossing’
Sunday Times
‘The sheer mind-boggling scope of this epic has sent other fantasy writers away shaking their heads …Its ambition: to construct the Twelve Caesars of fantasy fiction, with characters so venomous they could eat the Borgias’
Guardian
‘Colossal, staggering … Martin captures all the intoxicating complexity of the Wars of the Roses or Imperial Rome'
SFX
About the author
George R.R. Martin is the author of fourteen novels, including five volumes of A SONG OF ICE AND FIRE, several collections of short stories and numerous screen plays for television drama and feature films. He lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
A few images recur in the enormously complex fifth installment of Martin's massively multicharacter epic: the chess-like game cyvasse, small rivers flowing into larger ones, ships and armies battered by terrible storms. These themes suggest that readers should think strategically, be patient as the story grows, and brace for a beating. Martin's fans, however, are hungry for more action and purpose, their appetites whetted by a six-year wait and the recent HBO adaptation of A Game of Thrones. Dance was originally the second half of 2005's A Feast for Crows, sometimes criticized for shifting from battles and intrigue to slow trudges through war-torn, corpse-littered Westeros. The new volume has a similar feel to Feast and takes place over a similar time frame; Martin keeps it fresh by focusing on popular characters Tyrion Lannister, Daenerys Targaryen, and Jon Snow, all notably absent from the previous book. These three are generally thought the most plausible riders of the titular dragons, but plots within plots abound, and two strong new candidates for those scaly saddles emerge as a powerful enemy threatens Daenerys's captured city of Meereen, Tyrion is kidnapped by slavers, and treachery undermines Jon's command of the undead-battling Night's Watch. More characters are revived than killed off and more peace accords signed than wars declared, but the heart-hammering conclusion hints that the next installment will see a return to the fiery battles and icy terror that earned the series its fanatic following. Even ostensibly disillusioned fans will be caught up in the interweaving stories, especially when Martin drops little hints around long-debated questions such as Jon's parentage. Author tour.
Customer Reviews
Back to full strength
The energy of this series was starting to be lost but this is back to almost full power, especially towards the end when the unexpected demise of key characters continues.
Why all the confusion?
I'm amazed by the stupidity in some of the reviews. One guy appears to have read the same book twice, blissfully unaware. Then commented that the two were all but the same...really?
A Dance with Dragons is one book, split into 2 parts. As a general rule of thumb read part one first, you might then find that book two makes a little more sems.
For me a dance with dragons is on par with the 4 books that have come before it, compelling, a page turner and as with the others I had to force myself to put it down each and every time and couldn't wait to pick it up again. Put simply if you've liked the books in this series you have read so far you will like this one!
Warning
Because people seem to have purchased part two without realising that this is two halves of an already published book I don't want you to waste your money repurchasing. This book is excellent however if you have read the hardback to dance with dragons this is not a new book. Just to save your money :)