After the massive upheaval in book three, the fifth book in the A Song of Ice and Fire series focuses on the journeys of several fan-favorite characters. With her dragons growing, Daenerys Targaryen struggles to rule in Meereen while Jon Snow also finds difficulty managing politics as Lord Commander on the Wall. With a price on his head, Tyrion Lannister still wants to be player in the game of thrones in exile.

A Feast for Crows and A Dance with Dragons are best read back-to-back since they cover the same timeline but for different characters, with the story converging in the end of book five. Martin uses these two books to rebuild the series, ending A Dance with Dragons on various cliffhangers for most of the characters. Which would make for an epic book six except since Martin never wrote book six and probably never will. And now I've joined the legion of readers who moan anytime Martin announces he's doing another project that is not The Winds of Winter.