A Dance with Dragons
LC Class PS3563.A7239 D36 2011 | | |
Preceded by | A Feast for Crows | |
---|---|---|
Followed by | The Winds of Winter (forthcoming) |
A Dance with Dragons is the fifth novel of seven planned in the
The US hardcover was officially published on July 12, 2011, and a few weeks later went to No. 1 on both
Plot summary
The Wall and beyond
Stannis's advisor, the sorceress
Jon receives a taunting letter from Ramsay Bolton, who claims to have crushed Stannis's army at Winterfell. Threatening attack, Ramsay demands that Jon send him Stannis's wife, daughter, and other hostages, in addition to Arya and Jon's foster-brother Theon Greyjoy, the latter two whom Jon hasn't seen in years. Jon decides to march on Ramsay himself and asks for volunteers to accompany him. His officers view Jon's intent to march on Ramsay as a betrayal of the Watch's neutrality and he is stabbed in a mutiny.
Meanwhile, Jon's paraplegic half-brother
Across the Narrow Sea
In the Free Cities
Having killed his father
In the Free City of Braavos, Arya is an acolyte of the guild of assassins known as the Faceless Men. When they temporarily afflict her with blindness, Arya develops her sense of hearing, and realizes that she can "see" through cats the same way she could with her pet direwolf, Nymeria. After her sight is restored, Arya is tasked with assassinating a corrupt merchant while magically disguised with another girl's face. After doing so, Arya is declared an apprentice of the Faceless Men, to be sent to another assassin to continue her training.
Slaver's Bay
Daenerys has conquered the city of
Daenerys' dragons have become increasingly dangerous, and she reluctantly confines them in a dungeon for the safety of her people. Drogon, the largest, evades capture and flies off. Despite her sexual relationship with the mercenary
At Hizdahr's insistence, Daenerys reopens the city's "fighting pits" for
Drogon flies Daenerys to the
In the Seven Kingdoms
The North
In
Stannis's advisor
Theon Greyjoy is a prisoner of the Boltons, and is mutilated and tortured by Roose's sadistic son Ramsay, who renames Theon "Reek". To cement his rule over the North, Roose has Ramsay supposedly married to Arya Stark, but the girl is actually
The South
After Tyrion convinces Aegon to attack Westeros, Aegon and his forces capture several castles in the Stormlands with little resistance. Meanwhile, Aegon's foster father
Having taken control of the government, Cersei's uncle
Extras
In addition to the maps published in previous books, the book includes a new map of the previously-unmapped area of the Free Cities on the eastern continent. Like the previous four volumes in the Ice and Fire series, the book includes an appendix with a complete list of characters.
Characters
The story is
In the North:
- Prologue: Varamyr Sixskins, a skinchanger and one of the surviving wildlings north of the Wall.[6]
- Eddard Stark.
- Bran Stark, rightful heir to his brother, the late Robb Stark. Seeking an old power beyond the Wall, believed dead by his own family.
- Davos Seaworth, former smuggler and Hand of the King to Stannis Baratheon. Has recently learned to read, sent to negotiate with northern houses.
- Reek, the Prince of Winterfell, the Turncloak, a Ghost in Winterfell: Balon Greyjoy of the Iron Islands, a captive of Ramsay Boltonand now tortured, starved and barely sane.
- The Wayward Bride, the King's Prize, the Sacrifice: Iron Islands, fled the Iron Islands after her uncle's coronation.
- R'hllor, advisor to Stannis.
In the eastern continent of Essos:
- Meereen.
- Westeros, a fugitive wanted for kinslaying and regicide. Recently fled the Seven Kingdoms.
- The Merchant's Man, the Windblown, the Spurned Suitor, the Dragontamer: Dorne, traveling into the East on a mission for his father.
- The Lost Lord, the Griffin Reborn: Jon Connington, one of the former Hands of the King to Aerys Targaryen and one of Prince Rhaegar's closest friends. Exiled, and falsely believed dead. His identity as a narrator was kept secret throughout the book's pre-release process.
- The Queensguard, the Discarded Knight, the Kingbreaker, the Queen's Hand: Ser Barristan Selmy, the former Lord Commander of Robert Baratheon's Kingsguard, and the first of Daenerys's Queensguard.
- The Iron Suitor: Victarion Greyjoy, Captain of the Iron fleet, recently gone on a quest to find Daenerys and use her for the Ironborn's own ends.
- The Blind Girl, the Ugly Little Girl: Braavos, where she has taken on the identity of the "Cat of the Canals" and continues her training as an assassin by the House of Black and White (The Faceless Men).
In the South:
- The Watcher: Doran Martell's guard.
- Ser Riverrun.
- Cersei Lannister, the Queen Regent, currently imprisoned in a tower cell, awaiting trial.
- Epilogue: Ser Kevan Lannister, head of House Lannister in light of his brother's death, and current regentto King Tommen. His identity as a narrator was kept secret throughout the book's pre-release process.
Chapters for several POVs, which may include
Writing
Early development
A Dance with Dragons was originally intended to be the title of the second novel in the sequence, when Martin still envisioned the series as a
Due to the size of the still-unfinished manuscript for A Feast for Crows, Martin and his publishers split the narrative into two books.
Approximately one-third of the published A Dance with Dragons consists of material that had been written for the pre-split A Feast for Crows, although much of this has been rewritten by Martin.[8]
In 2009, Martin confirmed that, contrary to earlier statements, Sansa Stark would not appear in A Dance with Dragons; Sansa chapters initially slated for the novel have instead been pushed back to The Winds of Winter, which is planned to be the sixth book in the series.[9] In early 2010, Martin noted that his intent for A Dance with Dragons was for the first 800 manuscript pages to cover the alternate characters in the same time span as A Feast for Crows, and that "Everything that follows is post-Feast, so that's where some of the cast from the last book start popping up again."[10] Stating that "I wanted to resolve at least a few of the cliffhangers from Feast," Martin also mentioned the possibility that some of his finished chapters might get pushed to the next novel, The Winds of Winter, depending on the length of the finished manuscript for A Dance with Dragons.[10]
Road to publication
Martin supplied a note at the end of A Feast for Crows explaining the reason for the split and promising that A Dance with Dragons would follow with the missing POV characters 'next year'. Despite these original, optimistic predictions of possible completion in late 2006, Martin completed the novel in April 2011, nearly five years later. During this period, Martin's blog featured sporadic updates on his progress, and in January 2008 he posted an update affirming his vigilant commitment to finishing the novel.
On February 19, 2009, Martin posted on his website: "I am trying to finish the book by June. I think I can do that. If I do, A Dance with Dragons will likely be published in September or October."[9] On June 22, 2009, the author expressed "guarded optimism" with respect to his progress on the novel, while still not confirming a publication date.[15] When asked in a July 2009 interview with FREE! Magazine how the book was going, Martin stated, "It is going pretty well, actually. I am hoping to finish it by September or October; that is my goal."[16] On October 6, 2009, Martin said that his working manuscript for A Dance With Dragons had just exceeded 1,100 pages of completed chapters, plus "considerably more in partials, fragments, and roughs."[17] He noted that this made the upcoming novel longer than his earlier books A Game of Thrones and A Feast for Crows, and nearly as long as A Clash of Kings.[17]
On March 2, 2010, Martin remarked that he had reached 1,311 manuscript pages, making A Dance with Dragons the second-longest novel in the series at that point, behind only the 1,521-page manuscript of A Storm of Swords.[18] On July 8, 2010, Martin spoke at a conference and confirmed the current length of the book to be 1,400 manuscript pages. He expressed his disappointment that he was unable to completely finish the novel by the conference, although he would not speculate how soon the book would be completed after his return home on July 11.[5] At the same conference, Martin also confirmed that he has written one Sansa, one Arya, and two Arianne chapters for the planned sixth novel, Winds of Winter, and had transferred two Cersei chapters from that book into A Dance with Dragons.[5] On August 7, 2010, Martin confirmed that he had completed eight POVs, excluding the prologue and epilogue.[19]
At the New York Comic Con on October 10, 2010, Spectra senior editor Anne Groell revealed that Martin had only five chapters remaining to finish, with sections of the chapters already completed. She stated her desire to have the manuscript completed by December.[20] In a December 2010 interview with Bear Swarm, Martin stated that he almost had A Dance With Dragons completed.[21]
On March 3, 2011, the release of the novel, though at that point still not completed, was set for July 12.[1][2] Martin claimed this July 2011 publication date was different from the previous publication dates mentioned, in that this was "real", as opposed to earlier "wishful thinking, boundless optimism, cockeyed dreams, [and] honest mistakes".[22] By April 27, 2011, A Dance with Dragons was completed[23][24] save for incorporating requested changes made by his book editor and her staff copy-editors, suggested final draft notes from trusted friends and a line-by-line reread done to tighten and eliminate any unnecessary "fat" remaining in the manuscript. While the unfinished manuscript exceeded 1,600 pages,[25] making it the longest volume in the series,[26] the final draft was reduced to 1,510 pages, making A Dance of Dragons, by narrow margin, shorter than A Storm of Swords and thus the series' second-longest novel.[citation needed]
As scheduled, the novel was released on July 12, 2011, though on June 29, 2011,
Editions
Foreign-language editions
- Bulgarian: Бард: "Танц с Дракони" ("Dance with Dragons")
- Catalan: Alfaguara: "Dansa amb dracs" ("Dance with Dragons")
- Chinese (traditional): 與龍共舞 (Yǔ lóng gòng wǔ, "dance with dragons"); three volumes named 上 (shàng, "first"), 中 (zhōng, "middle") and 下 (xià, "last")
- Croatian: Two volumes, Algoritam: "Ples zmajeva" ("A Dance of Dragons")
- Czech: Talpress: "Tanec s draky" ("A Dance with Dragons")
- Danish: "En dans med drager" ("A Dance with Dragons")
- Dutch: Two volumes, Luitingh-Sijthoff: "Oude vetes, Nieuwe strijd", "Zwaarden tegen draken" ("Old Feuds, New Battle", "Swords Against Dragons")
- Estonian: Two volumes, hardcover : Varrak "Tants Lohedega" ("A Dance with Dragons") book 1 (09/23/2016) & book 2 (05/18/2017)
- Finnish: Two volumes: "Lohikäärmetanssi" ("Dragon Dance") 1 and 2
- French: Three volumes, Pygmalion: "Le Bûcher d'un roi", "Les dragons de Meereen", "Une danse avec les dragons" ("The Stake/Pyre of a King", "The Dragons of Meereen", "A Dance with Dragons")
- German: FanPro (2012): "Drachenreigen" ("Dragons' Round"). Two volumes, Blanvalet (2012): "Der Sohn des Greifen", "Ein Tanz mit Drachen" ("The Son of the Griffin", "A Dance with Dragons")
- Greek: Two volumes, Anubis: "Το Κάλεσμα της Φλόγας" (To Kalesma tis Flogas), "Το Σπαθί στο Σκοτάδι" (To Spathi sto Skotadi) — "Call of the Flame", "The Sword in the Darkness"
- Hebrew: "ריקוד עם דרקונים חלק א – חלומות ואבק, ריקוד עם דרקונים חלק ב – לאחר המשתה" ("Dance with Dragons Part I – Dreams and Dust, Dancing with Dragons Part II – After the Feast")
- Hungarian: Alexandra Könyvkiadó: "Sárkányok tánca" ("Dance of Dragons")
- Italian: Three volumes, Arnoldo Mondadori Editore (2011, 2012): "I guerrieri del ghiaccio", "I fuochi di Valyria", "La danza dei draghi" ("The Warriors of Ice", "The Fires of Valyria", "The Dance of Dragons")
- Japanese: Hardcover : Three volumes, Hayakawa (2013): "竜との舞踏" ("Dance with Dragons") I, II and III, paperback : Hayakawa (2016), I, II and III
- Latvian: "Deja ar Pūķiem" ("A Dance with Dragons") [28]
- Lithuanian: Two volumes: "Šokis su Drakonais: Sapnai ir Dulkės", "Šokis su Drakonais: Po Puotos" ("Dance with Dragons: Dreams and the Dust", "Dance with Dragons: After the Feast")
- Norwegian: Two volumes, Vendetta: "Drømmer og støv", "Dragenes dans" ("Dreams and Dust", "Dance of the Dragons")
- Polish: "Taniec ze smokami" ("A Dance with Dragons")
- Brazilian Portuguese: Leya: "A Dança dos Dragões" ("The Dance of Dragons")
- European Portuguese: Two volumes, Saída de Emergência: "A Dança dos Dragões", "Os Reinos do Caos" ("A Dance of Dragons", "The Kingdom of Chaos")
- Romanian: Nemira: "Dansul dragonilor" ("The Dance of the Dragons")
- Russian: AST: "Танец с драконами" (Tanets s drakonami, "Dance with Dragons")
- Serbian: Two volumes, Лагуна: "Плес са змајевима Део први: Снови и прах", "Плес са змајевима Део други: После гозбе" ("A Dance with Dragons Part I: Dreams and Dust", "A Dance with Dragons Part II: After the Feast")
- Slovakia: Two volumes, Tatran: "Tanec s Drakmi 1: Sny a prach",[29] "Tanec s Drakmi 2: Po hostine"[30] ("A Dance with Dragons Part I: Dreams and Dust", "A Dance with Dragons Part II: After the Feast")
- Slovenian: "Ples z zmaji" ("A Dance with Dragons")
- Spanish: Ediciones Gigamesh: "Danza de dragones" ("Dance of Dragons")
- Swedish: "Drakarnas dans" ("Dance of the Dragons")
- Turkish: "Ejderhaların Dansı" ("Dance of Dragons")
- Ukrainian: One volume, KM Publishing (2018): "Танок драконів" ("A Dance of Dragons")
- Vietnamese: Three volumes: "Trò Chơi Vương Quyền 5A: Đánh thức Rồng Thiêng", "Trò Chơi Vương Quyền 5B: Trấn thủ thành Mereen", "Trò Chơi Vương Quyền 5C: Vũ điệu Rồng Thiêng". ("Game of Thrones 5A: Awake Dragon", "Game of Thrones 5B: Defense on Mereen", "Game of Thrones 5C: Dance of Dragons")
Reception
Critical response
The Atlantic's Rachael Brown found A Dance with Dragons "infinitely more satisfying than its predecessor, 2005's bleak and plodding A Feast for Crows. The aspects of Martin's work that have endeared him to fans are abundant here – rich world building, narrative twists and turns, and gritty depictions of the human struggle for power. Characters who were sorely missed in Feast – Daenerys Targaryen, Tyrion Lannister, and Jon Snow – make up more than a third of the novel, and Martin is wise enough to give us at least a chapter from (almost) everyone else. Weaknesses that have plagued Martin's previous books are also present: too much repetition, unexceptional prose, and characters who use the same idioms (and have sex in exactly the same manner) no matter their ethnicity, social class, or continent. But while A Dance with Dragons cries out for better editing, it remains entirely engrossing. Martin has hidden so many clues and red herrings throughout his previous volumes that it is a thrill to see certain pieces fall into place."[31]
Remy Verhoeve of
David Orr of The New York Times said, "A Dance With Dragons comes in at roughly 9,574,622,012 pages, and smart money says the final two books in the series will make this one look like 'The Old Man and the Sea'. Such length isn't necessary, and it hurts Martin's prose and his plot mechanics. Tyrion 'waddles' at least 12 times here, and even if we suppose the unflattering word reflects Tyrion's contempt for his own awkward gait, it seems unlikely he would indulge this contempt when he's, say, fighting for his life. Similarly, when your novel's terrain stretches across hundreds of miles and your world lacks jet propulsion, as an author you face some basic problems of transportation that can result in conveyance via Rube Goldberg," but also wrote that "Still, 'A Dance With Dragons' is relentlessly entertaining."[33]
Time's James Poniewozik found a possible "weakness to the early Meereen sections [by] marking time (and making Dany uncharacteristically indecisive) to allow time for all the pieces to fall into place" and said, "All this makes for a thousand-page book that feels half as long, that moves dextrously, answers key questions and gobsmacks you with convincing feints and change-ups. As in AFFC, there are sections that feel like they could have used an editor. In some chapters you suddenly find yourself in a strange land with a character you have little attachment to, wondering where this thread is going, as if you had stayed too long at a party after the friends you came with have left.[34]
The Washington Post's Bill Sheehan said, "Filled with vividly rendered set pieces, unexpected turnings, assorted cliffhangers and moments of appalling cruelty, A Dance With Dragons is epic fantasy as it should be written: passionate, compelling, convincingly detailed and thoroughly imagined. Despite a number of overtly fantastic elements (dragons, seers, shape shifters and sorcerers), the book—and the series as a whole—feels grounded in the brutal reality of medieval times and has more in common with the Wars of the Roses than it does with The Lord of the Rings. The result is a complex summer blockbuster with brains and heart, a book with rare—and potentially enormous—appeal.[35]
Megan Wasson of The Christian Science Monitor said, "A Dance with Dragons may well be one of the best books in the five-book series so far. Martin's prose is concise but pithy, begging to be devoured over and over again. All the fans' favorite characters make an appearance, unlike in the last book. But what truly sets this book above some of the others in the series is Martin's ability to keep his readers on their toes and the edges of their seats. No character, no matter how likeable and seemingly important, is ever safe from Martin's pen (remember Ned Stark?), and on the other hand, no one can ever be truly pronounced dead. What you thought was going to happen after reading Books No. 1, 2, and even 3 and 4, now clearly will not happen, and that's where Martin's strength lies."[36]
Awards
In April 2012, A Dance with Dragons was nominated for the 2012 Hugo Award for Best Novel.[37] In May 2012, it was nominated for the 2012 Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel and won it in June 2012.[38][39] In August 2012, the novel was nominated for a World Fantasy Award for Best Novel.[40]
References
- ^ a b Hibberd, James (March 3, 2011). "Huge Game of Thrones news: Dance With Dragons publication date revealed! – EXCLUSIVE". Archived from the original on January 15, 2015. Retrieved March 3, 2011.
- ^ a b Martin, George RR. "Good news for old blighty". Not A Blog. Archived from the original on December 9, 2012. Retrieved March 4, 2011.
- ^ "Fiction review: A Dance with Dragons: A Song of Ice and Fire, Book 5". Publishers Weekly. May 30, 2011. Archived from the original on January 14, 2012. Retrieved February 13, 2012.
- ^ Martin, George R. R. (June 27, 2010). "Talking About the Dance". Not a Blog. Archived from the original on December 8, 2011. Retrieved May 19, 2011.
- ^ a b c "A Dance With Dragons: The Latest Info (inc. pub date!) – A Song of Ice and Fire". Asoiaf.westeros.org. Retrieved June 30, 2011.
- ^ "A Dance With Dragons: The Latest Info". Westeros.org. February 16, 2010. Retrieved March 2, 2010.
[Martin] finally confirmed at FargoCon 2009 that Melisandre would be a POV, but there was also another POV as yet unrevealed.
- ^ a b Martin, George R. R. (May 29, 2005). "Done". GeorgeRRMartin.com (Author's official website). Archived from the original on December 31, 2005. Retrieved March 6, 2010.
- ^ Patrick (July 28, 2007). "Pat's Fantasy Hotlist: NYC recap (and that little GRRM tidbit!)". Fantasyhotlist.blogspot.com. Archived from the original on July 8, 2011. Retrieved June 30, 2011.
- ^ a b Martin, George R. R. (February 9, 2009). "A Dance With Dragons". Not A Blog. Archived from the original on December 28, 2009. Retrieved March 2, 2010.
- ^ a b Martin, George R. R. (February 15, 2010). "Not Done Yet". Not A Blog. Archived from the original on December 4, 2011. Retrieved March 12, 2010.
- ^ Martin, George R. R. (January 1, 2008). "A Song of Ice and Fire Update: The Dances Goes On ... and On ... and On". Not A Blog. Archived from the original on January 6, 2008. Retrieved January 6, 2008.
- ^ "Spectra announcement". Retrieved March 15, 2008.
- ^ "And Speaking of Subterranean". Not A Blog. March 5, 2008.
- ^ "Made It to Europe". Not A Blog. June 25, 2008. Archived from the original on July 13, 2011. Retrieved June 30, 2011.
- ^ "Guarded Optimism". Not A Blog. June 22, 2009. Archived from the original on July 13, 2011. Retrieved June 30, 2011.
- ^ "FREE! Magazine » Interview with fiction writer George R. R. Martin". Freemagazine.fi. July 27, 2009. Archived from the original on July 20, 2011. Retrieved June 30, 2011.
- ^ a b Martin, George R. R. (October 6, 2009). "Dance, Dance, Dance". Not A Blog. Archived from the original on December 28, 2009. Retrieved March 4, 2010.
- ^ Martin, George R. R. (March 2, 2010). "The Green Light". Not A Blog. Archived from the original on July 21, 2011. Retrieved March 4, 2010.
- ^ "Dancing". Not A Blog. August 7, 2010. Archived from the original on July 13, 2011. Retrieved June 30, 2011.
- ^ Kelly Faircloth (October 10, 2010). "George R. R. Martin's A Dance with Dragons is really almost done!". Io9.com. Archived from the original on July 13, 2011. Retrieved June 30, 2011.
- ^ "Episode 136 – George R. R. Martin and A Song of Ice and Fire » The Bear Swarm! Podcast". Bearswarm.com. Archived from the original on July 7, 2011. Retrieved June 30, 2011.
- ^ "George R. R. Martin's Blog – Dragon Time – March 3, 2011". Goodreads.com. March 3, 2011. Retrieved June 30, 2011.
- ^ "A Dance with Dragons is done". Tower of the Hand. Retrieved June 30, 2011.
- ^ "Yes, it IS done. Really. « Suvudu – Science Fiction and Fantasy Books, Movies, Comics, and Games". Suvudu.com. April 27, 2011. Retrieved June 30, 2011.
- ^ "KONG". Not A Blog. March 27, 2011. Archived from the original on November 28, 2012. Retrieved June 30, 2011.
- ^ "He's STILL a king in his world". Not A Blog. March 12, 2011. Archived from the original on July 21, 2011. Retrieved June 30, 2011.
- ^ "Amazon Screws the Pooch". Not A Blog. June 29, 2011. Archived from the original on July 9, 2011. Retrieved July 11, 2011.
- ^ "Troņu spēle :: The White Book". Archived from the original on July 6, 2017. Retrieved June 15, 2015.
- ^ "Tanec s drakmi 1: Sny a prach".
- ^ "Tanec s drakmi 2: Po Hostine".
- ^ Brown, Rachael (July 11, 2011). "George R.R. Martin on Sex, Fantasy, and A Dance With Dragons". theatlantic.com. Retrieved February 2, 2012.
- ^ Verhoeve, Remy (July 7, 2011). "My Love/Hate Relationship with A Dance with Dragons". huffingtonpost.com. Retrieved February 16, 2012.
- ^ Orr, David (August 12, 2011). "Dragons Ascendant: George R. R. Martin and the Rise of Fantasy". The New York Times. Retrieved July 12, 2014.
- ^ Poniewozik, James (July 12, 2011). "The Problems of Power: George R.R. Martin's A Dance With Dragons". time.com. Retrieved January 21, 2012.
- ^ Sheehan, Bill (July 12, 2011). "A Dance with Dragons worth the long long wait". washingtonpost.com. Retrieved February 2, 2012.
- csmonitor.com. Retrieved February 2, 2012.
- ^ "2012 Hugo Awards". Hugo Awards. Archived from the original on September 3, 2012. Retrieved April 8, 2012.
- ^ Locus Publications (May 2012). "Locus Online News » 2012 Locus Award Finalists".
- ^ Locus Publications. "Locus Online News » 2012 Locus Awards Winners". Archived from the original on October 21, 2012.
- ^ "World Fantasy Award Ballot". World Fantasy Convention. Retrieved August 8, 2012.
External links
- Official website of author George R. R. Martin
- A Dance with Dragons title listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
- A Dance with Dragons at the Internet Book List
- Shippey, Tom (July 11, 2011). "A Land of Wargs And Yunkishmen". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved July 23, 2014.
- Franich, Darren (July 12, 2011). "George R. R. Martin's A Dance With Dragons: The EW review". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved July 23, 2014.