I think this is generally agreed upon to be the weakest book in the series and I could see why. Martin quite literally looses the plot here, expanding far too much without the trimming of an editor.

I think breaking from the structure of the first three books is ultimately this books downfall. In addition to following a set cast of POV characters throughout the book, Martin also has chapters from characters who only act as the POV for 1 or 2 chapters. The chapters are “disguised” by using a moniker for each character, clearly Martin trying to make this diversion from previous books look purposeful, but it doesn’t fool me. This was done in the prologues of previous books and works fine for a prologue but not the entire book. I mean a POV from every Greyjoy was total overkill.

In the previous installations Martin was able to give solid and detailed characterizations without having to write from their perspective, to me it indicated a lack of confidence in his ability. Overall this choice totally messes up the pacing, and makes the plot much more fractured. I couldn’t push myself through this book, especially if the series is never going to be finished.