A Feast for Crows

Article written by Joshua Ehiosun

C2 certified writer.

‘A Feast for Crows’ explores the complex nature of many characters not explored in the previous books. It dives deep into the mindset of characters like Cersei and Brienne and explores new characters from the Iron Islands. The story shuns some of the characters from the previous books and focuses on many secondary characters as it brings them to the forefront of events in Westeros and Essos. The focus on secondary characters introduces a new perspective to the political nature of the war-torn Westeros.

Key Facts about A Feast for Crows

• Author: George R. R. Martin.
• Book Inspiration: Many things inspired George R. R. Martin to create ‘A Feast of Crows.’ One of Martin’s biggest inspirations was J. R. R. Tolkien’s ‘Lord of the Rings.’ George stated that without Tolkien, he would have never designed some aspects of his world well. He decided to burrow some elements from Tolkien’s work and use them to define his world.
• Publication Date: October 17, 2005.
• Literary Period: Contemporary.
• Point of View: Limited third-person.
• Setting: Westeros, Essos.
• Climax: The story climaxes when Lady Stoneheart orders Brienne to kill Jaime, but Brienne refuses. Lady Stoneheart then orders Brienne, Hyle, and Podrick to get hanged, and the ropes get tied over their neck, and they get flung to die. With the excruciating pain that courses through Brienne’s body, she screams a word.
• Protagonists: Brienne, Arya, Samwell, Sansa.
• Antagonist: Cersei.
• Sequel: ‘A Dance with Dragons.’
• Preceded by:‘A Storm of Swords’.

George R. R. Martin and A Feast of Crows

‘A Feast for Crows’ is George R. R. Martin’s fourth novel in A Song of Ice and Fire. However, the story excludes many primary characters from its story, and George had an explanation for why it was so.

According to the author, the original manuscript for ‘A Feast for Crows’ was lengthy; this made George split the manuscript into two based on location. ‘A Feast for Crows’ was to be released, and then the second half, which takes place simultaneously, was to be released later. However, George would go on to take six years before he published the second half.

Books Related to A Feast for Crows

‘A Feast for Crows’ focuses on the political tension in King’s Landing after Tywin Lannister’s death, Arya’s admittance into the House of Black and White, Brienne’s journey to find the Stark girls, and Jaime’s struggle to bring peace to a tension-filled land. Many novels have synonymity to the elements in the story of ‘A Feast for Crows,’ and here is a list of some:

• ‘The Silmarillion’ by J. R. R. Tolkien is a novel that contains a collection of mythopoeic stories that explain the events that happen in the First Age of Middle Earth. The story brings to life the world of Ea, where the Blessed Realm of Valinor, Beleriand, Numenor, and Middle-Earth existed. It gets divided into five parts, each containing a story of the realms that exist in Ea. The first part tells the story of the creation of Ea. The second part dives into the supernatural powers of Ea. The third part of the story documents the events before the First Age. With the most prominent being the war of the three jewels. The fourth part tells the story of the fall of Numenor. The last part of the story tells the tales of events that lead up to ‘Lord of the Rings.’
• ‘Eragon’ by Christopher Paolini is a dystopian fantasy novel that tells the story of a farm boy, Eragon, who finds a stone that gets revealed to be a dragon egg. With this realization, the egg hatches into a dragon whom Eragon names Saphira. The word of a dragon egg hatching reaches the evil King Galbatorix, who sends his monstrous servants to retrieve it at all cost; this makes Eragon flee from his hometown with a storyteller, Brom, who was part of an ancient order called the Dragon Riders. Brom begins to teach Eragon the ways of the rider.
• ‘Before they are Hanged’ by Joe Abercrombie is the second novel in The First Law Trilogy. It continues the six-point-of-view story of the primary characters from the first book, ‘The Blade Itself.’ Chaos ensues throughout the land as war and destruction become predominant. The Northmen, under the leadership of Bethod, have crossed the border of Angland and begun killing and destroying everything in their wake. In the south, superior Glokta prepares the city of Dagoska for a siege. However, he realizes that there is a traitor within the city’s ruling council. He sets on a mission to find the traitor and discovers the traitors are Carlot dan Eider and the Governor’s son. Though he discovers the traitors, the Gurkish forces begin to breach the city, and Glokta almost gets killed but escapes. In the west, Bayaz journeys across the land in search of an ancient magical relic called The Seed. However, the journey ends with Bayaz getting tricked.
• ‘The Return of the King’ by J. R. R. Tolkien is the third novel in The Lord of the Rings Trilogy. It tells the story of Sam and Frodo as they journey deeper into the realm of Mordor to destroy the ring. With the Dark Lord risen, he amasses an army of Orcs to conquer all of Middle-earth. With his massive army, the only way to defeat the dark lord is by destroying the ring, and because it corrupts whoever bears it, Frodo gets weakened, and time begins ticking against the realm.

The Lasting Impact of A Feast for Crows