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A Review: A Dance with Dragons

by George R. R. Martin
ISBN-13: 978-000746606

I’m glad it’s over. I loved the TV series, but the books are awful. Long winded and the amount of unnecessary detail is boring and obscures the story. If George R.R Martin ever completes the next book, I’ll read it, but only to be able to say I’ve read them all.

The best I can say about A Dance With Dragons is that there is some story in there somewhere. I can see why the TV series changed so much and they changed it for the better. It was good to see some of my favorite characters go on a different journey and not come to a brutal end.

It took me three goes to get through A Dance With Dragons. I read two other books in between the last two quarters of the book. I needed to maintain my interest in reading by finding something enjoyable to read.


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