Just finished GRRM's Dance. For those of you worried about spoilers, the only spoilers I'll post will concern some of the POVs in the book. GRRM has already said who was (and was not) in the book, but if you'd rather not know don't read any further. To those that don't want to know anything, but are on the fence about picking it up I would say it's definitely worth your time. GRRM at his best.
So, years of waiting for this one, was it worth it? Yes...and no. I'll explain further on. A lot of our friends are back but the book mainly focuses on Tyrion, Jon, one of the Greyjoys, and Daenerys. For those of you who are Arya fans, she makes a brief appearance (one of my favorite plot lines of the series). The prologue seemed unneccessary to me. I can sort of see why he included it, but it didn't do the job of a prologue IMO which is to either pull the reader into the maelstrom or else dangle something interesting before their eyes. Honestly, the first three or four chapters were average and I was worried that GRRM might be losing it. I shouldn't have worried. After that I was sucked in and the prose was back to his usual excellence. There is one plot development that happened in the first quarter of the book that felt like it came out of left field. I was bothered by it, but decided to hold my ire until I'd finished the book. By the end the wrinkle was given enough time and information to make it less jarring. Aside from that, the only thing I'll say is that GRRM had me forgetting what he's famous for: killing or maiming characters we love. By the end I was cursing myself for ever forgetting. Enough said.
So, if it was an excellent book why is it worth picking up, but not? Well, much like Feast felt like half a book, this too feels like half a book. I'm sure that if he had tried to hold the release of Feast and Dance until both were completed and released them six months apart the fans would have torn him apart. But the books would be a much better read IMO if all the plot lines were woven together over the course of two books rather than half a story in one and half in the other. The Meerneese knot? I don't know. I could sort of see a few parts where the going must have been difficult. I can't comment as I wasn't over GRRM's shoulder for the past five years. Was it writer's block? An impossible situation? Laziness/loss of enthusiasm? We'll never know, but ultimately, the man delivered. You can't ask for more than that.
The last thing I'll mention is that the number of viewpoints has increased. With two books left, I'm not sure how he's going to bring this to a satisfying conclusion and still fulfill all the promises he's made to the reader. Then again, a lot can happen over the course of 2000 pages. I'm rooting for him. I really enjoyed this book. It made me remember why GRRM is considered one of the best modern fantasy writers. I am keeping my fingers crossed that the next book is only a couple years away.
So if you're on the fence, I reccomend picking it up. If you haven't read Feast in a long time I'd suggest reading that and moving right into Dance. I think you'll find it enjoyable and it should satisfy your appetite...for a little while at least. At the end of the day it IS a great story beautifully written and deserves to be read.