A Dance With Dragons (NO SPOILERS!)

[Smeghead]

Very very simple poll for those who've read the whole series so far: was the last book good or bad?

I'm just finishing up rereading book 4, and while I obviously want no spoilers at all, I want to know if I should look forward to book 5, or if I should prepare to be disappointed. All you get is two options.

[Lightray]

I don't think either option is particularly appropriate. Which probably answers your question, regardless.

[Swords to Plowshares]

Somewhere in between. I still found it entertaining but frustrating at times. The quality is comparable to book 4, so if you hated it you might not want to bother.

[Snarky_Kong]

The vast majority of the people rank the books as follows:

Storm of Swords
Game of Thrones
Clash of Kings
.
.
.
Dance with Dragons
.
Feast for Crows

Like the other two replies, I don't think either answer fits.

[Simplicio]

I liked the last two books a lot. I think it helps that I've more or less adjusted to the fact that the series doesn't really have a central plot, and if it did Martin probably won't live to finish it anyways. The books work well as a bunch of tangentially related vignettes, and your probably better off reading them as such.

[JSexton]

It was...necessary.

[The_Peyote_Coyote]

A vote for bad, although I would have liked more had it been written by a lesser author.

[DrFidelius]

A vote for bad, although I would have liked more had it been written by a lesser author.

I have to agree with you. I finally found a copy at Goodwill ($3.00 is close to my discretionary spending limit for a week) and although the story seems to be going nowhere, the writing is excellent.
But I'm hardly a hundred pages into it yet. My opinion may change.

[HazelNutCoffee]

The last book was okay, I suppose. It was certainly no Storm of Swords.

[Gozu Tashoya]

The last book was okay, I suppose. It was certainly no Storm of Swords.

This.

I suspect I'll like both ADWD and AFFC better when they release some special-edition megabook that slices those two up and weaves the chapters back together into chronological/originally-intended order. (FWIW, I liked ADWD a lot better than AFFC.)

[Swords to Plowshares]

I think what it came down to for me was that I had the same complaints about Dance as Feast, but at least it had more characters that I cared about.

[lisiate]

Another vote for good from me.

I rank the books in the same order as snarky kong but with less of a gap between A Game of Thrones and A Dance with Dragons. But then again, I actually liked A Feast for Crows. I'm also optimistic enough to believe that Martin can finish his series in a timely manner, despite all evidence to the contrary.

[OpalCat]

I voted "bad" but that doesn't really fit. I have a problem with his decision to split AFFC and ADWD into two side-by-side books. I think it hurt both irreparably. I have some hope that he'll pull it back together with the next book. I'll read all subsequent books regardless, just because I have to know what happens.

[DigitalC]

It's bad compared to the first three books, it's good compared to almost everything else.

[OpalCat]

That's a good way to put it, DigitalC

[Frank]

It was so bad that I shall wait for the library to not have a waiting list when and if the next book ever comes out. I'm not giving Martin any more of my money after that massive disappointment.

[Seamack]

Very much a treading water kind of book. I'm still intrigued enough as to what happens next to be looking forward to 'The Winds of Winter' but found DwD a let down.

[GSV Consolation of Dreams]

I read 'em all on one long book binge after I saw Game of Thrones on TV, so the books aren't really separate in my mind. I will say that by the time I got through the last one, I was muttering under my breath at the beginning of every chapter: "Cool, but where the f*ck is all this going?" and frequently... "Christ, another character arc, enough already!".