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Published in USA
Jul 2011
1040 pages
Genre: Speculative (Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Alt. History)
Publication Information
Dubbed “the American Tolkien” by Time magazine, George R. R. Martin has earned international acclaim for his monumental cycle of epic fantasy. Now the #1 New York Times bestselling author delivers the fifth book in his spellbinding landmark series--as both familiar faces and surprising new forces vie for a foothold in a fragmented empire.
In the aftermath of a colossal battle, the future of the Seven Kingdoms hangs in the balance once again--beset by newly emerging threats from every direction. In the east, Daenerys Targaryen, the last scion of House Targaryen, rules with her three dragons as queen of a city built on dust and death. But Daenerys has three times three thousand enemies, and many have set out to find her. Yet, as they gather, one young man embarks upon his own quest for the queen, with an entirely different goal in mind.
To the north lies the mammoth Wall of ice and stone--a structure only as strong as those guarding it. There, Jon Snow, 998th Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch, will face his greatest challenge yet. For he has powerful foes not only within the Watch but also beyond, in the land of the creatures of ice.
And from all corners, bitter conflicts soon reignite, intimate betrayals are perpetrated, and a grand cast of outlaws and priests, soldiers and skinchangers, nobles and slaves, will face seemingly insurmountable obstacles. Some will fail, others will grow in the strength of darkness. But in a time of rising restlessness, the tides of destiny and politics will lead inevitably to the greatest dance of all....
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"Was A Dance With Dragons worth the six-year wait? Absolutely. Indeed, Martin's decision to release a sizable chunk of his story-in-progress as the fourth installment — the underrated A Feast for Crows (2005) — now seems wise and actually generous to readers." - The Los Angeles Times
"Martin's love for sophisticated, deeply strange fantasy permeates Dance like a phantasmagorical fever dream." - Los Angeles Times, Jeff VanderMeer
"Martin has produced — is producing, since the series isn't over — the great fantasy epic of our era. It's an epic for a more profane, more jaded, more ambivalent age than the one Tolkien lived in." - Lev Grossman
"Even for those who have read the entire cycle and watched the HBO series, too much has gone before, over too many years, to keep it all straight...For all that, A Dance With Dragons meets the high standards set by its four siblings. And like all proper serials it gives the reader no emotional respite, ending with several razor-sharp question marks as the heavy wheels of fate groan into motion, and the murders and assassinations mount." - New York Times, Dana Jennings
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Photo: Parris
George R. R. Martin is the award-winning novelist, whose works include including Fevre Dream, The Armageddon Rag., and books from the A Song of Ice and Fire series.
Born in 1948, he spent much of his early career writing short stories, and he received multiple awards, building a loyal following with science-fiction and fantasy fans. In the 1980s he turned to television and editing, and was a screenwriter for feature films and television and was the producer of the TV series Beauty and the Beast as well as a story editor for The Twilight Zone.
After a ten-year hiatus he returned to writing novels
full-time, notably on his lengthy cycle A Song of Ice and Fire, which includes the books A Game of Thrones, A Clash of Kings, A Storm of Swords, A Feast for Crows, and A Dance with Dragons....
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