I have conquered ASOIAF again & this time I did a combined reading order for this & Feast… and that was simply so long that I got burnt out several times. Agree still that the second half of the book is better. Gained a new appreciation for Jon’s plotline which tbh was never my favorite. I think the reason ADWD feels weaker to me to begin with is because I love a Kings Landing plot! And obviously There Are None in this, or at least not until the end. George please

Old review: Takes waaay too long to actually get good. The snail-like pacing + the split in geography which makes us go through the same timeline twice really kills the momentum imo, HOWEVER the endings to all the plot threads are so open-ended that I can't help but be hype af for Winds. I feel like if someone got George a good editor, this + Feast could be one book (granted, one chonker of a book, but one book nonetheless)