#feastdance

[wing3dweav3r]

[Reading Guide] The Weaver's Web of Crows and Dragons: The Thematically Resonant Director's Cut of AFFC / ADWD

This guide is designed for narrative momentum, emotional resonance, and thematic cohesion. Unlike chronological guides that focus on the 'when' and tend to "slump" narratively while reading along, this order focuses on the 'why'—grouping character arcs & magical parallels to maximize their impact. If Boiled Leather is a map for historians and Ball of Beasts is a blueprint for the architect, Weaver’s Web is a script for the soul. This order ensures that when a character experiences a breakthrough, the resonance is felt across the entire web of the story. You won't just read about the fall of the North or the siege of Meereen—you will inhabit the psychological pressure-cooker that makes those events inevitable and profoundly impactful. The Weaver’s Web transforms the story from a historical timeline into a psychological current; it moves not by calendar days, but by escalating tension.

This is 'the One Book' experience George R.R. Martin’s work deserves, and 'the Season 5 That Never Was.'

*Reading Key* • AFFC: A Feast for Crows • ADWD: A Dance with Dragons • [ + ] : Simultaneous Chapters. These should be read back-to-back (or side-by-side) as they'll cover the same events from different perspectives, or function as a unified sequence. (This guide assumes veteran-level knowledge and is excellent for re-reads, focusing on Martin's themes rather than the exact sequence of events.) I. THE OPENING GAMBITS - Innocence Lost 1. Prologue (Pate) — AFFC 1 2. The Captain of Guards (Areo I) — AFFC 3 3. Cersei I — AFFC 4 4. Tyrion I — ADWD 2 5. Daenerys I — ADWD 3 6. Prologue (Varamyr) — ADWD 1 7. Jon I [ + ] Samwell I — ADWD 4 / AFFC 6 8. Bran I — ADWD 5 9. Jon II — ADWD 8 10. Brienne I — AFFC 5

II. THE SHADOW OF THE FATHER - The Weight of Legacy 11. Cersei II — AFFC 8 12. Jaime I — AFFC 9 13. Tyrion II — ADWD 6 14. The Merchant's Man (Quentyn I) — ADWD 7 15. Arya I — AFFC 7 16. Brienne II — AFFC 10 17. Sansa I — AFFC 11 18. Tyrion III — ADWD 9 19. Davos I — ADWD 10 20. Jon III — ADWD 11 21. Daenerys II — ADWD 12 III. THE IRON & THE GILDED - Hammering the Landscape Anew 22. The Prophet (Aeron I) — AFFC 2 23. The Kraken's Daughter (Asha I) — AFFC 12 24. Reek I (Theon) — ADWD 13 25. Bran II — ADWD 14 26. Tyrion IV — ADWD 15 27. Cersei III — AFFC 13 28. The Soiled Knight (Arys) — AFFC 14 29. Brienne III — AFFC 15 30. Samwell II — AFFC 16 31. Davos II — ADWD 16 32. Daenerys III — ADWD 17 33. Jon IV — ADWD 18 34. Davos III — ADWD 20 35. Tyrion V — ADWD 19 36. Jaime II — AFFC 17 37. Cersei IV — AFFC 18 38. The Iron Captain (Victarion I) — AFFC 19 39. The Drowned Man (Aeron II) — AFFC 20 IV. THE TIDES OF CHANGE - Birthing Pains 40. Reek II (Theon) — ADWD 21 41. The Wayward Bride (Asha II) — ADWD 27 42. Jon V — ADWD 22 43. Brienne IV — AFFC 21 44. Arya II — AFFC 23 45. Alayne II (Sansa) — AFFC 24 46. Tyrion VI — ADWD 23 47. Daenerys IV — ADWD 24 48. The Lost Lord (Jon Connington I) — ADWD 25 49. The Windblown (Quentyn II) — ADWD 26 50. The Queenmaker (Arianne I) — AFFC 22 51. Cersei V — AFFC 25 52. Brienne V — AFFC 26 53. Samwell III — AFFC 27 54. Jaime III — AFFC 28 55. Cersei VI — AFFC 29 56. Tyrion VII — ADWD 28 57. Jon VI — ADWD 29 58. Davos IV — ADWD 30 59. The Reaver (Victarion II) — AFFC 30 60. Daenerys V — ADWD 31 61. Melisandre — ADWD 32 V. THE WINTERFELL CONVERGENCE - Wisdom in the Dark 62. Jaime IV — AFFC 31 63. Brienne VI — AFFC 32 64. Reek III (Theon) — ADWD 33 65. Tyrion VIII — ADWD 34 66. Cersei VII — AFFC 33 67. Jaime V — AFFC 34 68. Cat of the Canals (Arya III) — AFFC 35 69. Samwell IV — AFFC 36 70. Cersei VIII — AFFC 37 71. Brienne VII — AFFC 38 72. Jaime VI — AFFC 39 73. Cersei IX — AFFC 40 74. The Princess in the Tower (Arianne II) — AFFC 41 75. The Watcher (Areo II) — ADWD 39 76. Daenerys VI — ADWD 37 77. Bran III — ADWD 35 78. The Prince of Winterfell (Theon IV) — ADWD 38 79. Jon VIII — ADWD 40 80. The Turncloak (Theon V) — ADWD 42 81. The King's Prize (Asha III) — ADWD 43 82. Jon VII — ADWD 36 83. Tyrion IX — ADWD 41 84. Daenerys VII — ADWD 44 85. Jon IX — ADWD 45 86. Alayne III (Sansa) — AFFC 42 87. Brienne VIII — AFFC 43 88. Cersei X — AFFC 44 89. Jaime VII — AFFC 45 90. Samwell V (Epilogue) — AFFC 46 VI. THE DANCE OF FIRE AND BLOOD - Tension Blown Apart 91. The Blind Girl (Arya IV) — ADWD 46 92. A Ghost in Winterfell (Theon VI) — ADWD 47 93. Tyrion X — ADWD 48 94. Jaime VIII — ADWD 49 95. Cersei XI — ADWD 55 96. Theon VII — ADWD 52 97. Jon X — ADWD 50 98. Daenerys VIII — ADWD 51 99. Jon XI — ADWD 54 100. Daenerys IX — ADWD 53 101. The Queensguard (Barristan I) — ADWD 56 102. The Iron Suitor (Victarion III) — ADWD 57 103. Tyrion XI — ADWD 58 104. The Discarded Knight (Barristan II) — ADWD 60 105. The Spurned Suitor (Quentyn III) — ADWD 61 106. The Griffin Reborn (Jon Connington II) — ADWD 62 107. Jon XII — ADWD 59 108. The Sacrifice (Asha IV) — ADWD 63 109. Victarion IV — ADWD 64 110. The Ugly Little Girl (Arya V) — ADWD 65 111. Cersei XII — ADWD 66 112. Tyrion XII — ADWD 67 VII. THE PENULTIMATE BREATH - The Plunge into the Unknown 113. The Kingbreaker (Barristan III) [ + ] The Dragontamer (Quentyn IV) — ADWD 68 / 69 114. The Queen’s Hand (Barristan IV) — ADWD 71 115. Daenerys X — ADWD 72 116. Jon XIII — ADWD 70 117. Epilogue (Kevan) — ADWD 73

[tacitwhisky]

Who was your favorite POV in ADWD? Mine was Jon Connington, I really feel for him trying to redeem the honor he lost from losing Rhaegar by supporting "Rhaegar's son".

Jon, probably? His interactions with Stannis are great, Val and Tormund are fun characters for the chapters they show up in, and seeing Jon’s realpolitik is really interesting to me.

Dany and Tyrion’s povs are both well written and important, but by design aren’t that fun to read: Dany’s is about frustration and compromise, and Tyrion’s wallowing in depression (for the first half, anyway).

Quentyn is also one of my favorite characters. I really identify with his sense of inadequacy and insecurity. @poorquentyn has a really fantastic reread of Quentyn’s chapter (here) that explore how outside of Sansa’s chapters they’re the rawest deconstruction of the classic fantasy story in asiaof. To quote:

“For even before we enter Quentyn’s story, his best friend (Cletus Yronwood) and two of his other companions (Willam Wells and Maester Kedry) are dead, killed in a corsair attack. So the quest is broken before it starts. It’s already all gone wrong, and we have no experience of Quent’s story before that happens. Quentyn’s fantasy tale has torn off its mask and revealed itself as a horror story, and the trapdoors just keep opening up beneath him, falling closer to the fire with each drop. This is a Hero’s Journey in which the Refusal of the Call was absolutely correct, which in and of itself constitutes a radical reshaping of how this sort of story is supposed to go.”

Though despite agreeing with the thematic richness of Quentyn’s pov, I honestly feel like all his chapters should’ve been cut for pacing. There’s nothing about being in his pov that’s absolutely vital to moving the plot forward and he’s four or five chapters that could’ve slimmed the book. He’s part of the ballooning of povs in Feastdance that are all individually fascinating and interesting, but as a whole bloat the series and mean we spend less time with the main characters.

He’s a symptom of Martin’s gardening approach to writing and how it can come back to bite him. I’ve for a long time though that Martin is a bit like Hannibal (historical figure, not serial killer): good at winning battles, bad at winning wars. There’s a difference between strategy (we should take that hill) and tactics (here’s how we’re taking that hill). And while Martin is very good at the first, he’s not as great with the second.

But yeah. Jon is probably my favorite pov.

[nobodysuspectsthebutterfly]

What is your preferred way of reading AFFC/ADWD? Together or separately?

I’ve only read them separately, so far. The combined reading didn’t exist when I read ADWD, which was immediately after publication. However, when I do my next full reread of the books (which will be once TWOW’s publication date is announced), I plan on using Boiled Leather’s Feastdance (newbie version, which IMO flows better than the veteran’s version). I have in fact bought two cheap used paperbacks of AFFC and ADWD to cut apart and tape back together, since I don’t want to mess with bookmarks or ebooks and such. :)

But personally, I think new readers should read AFFC and ADWD separately, to get the best feeling of the characters and themes of each book (they are very different mood-wise and thematically), to get more of the characters’ own sense of the missing characters, the difficulty of getting info about events on the other side of Westeros/the world. And then a repeat read can do the combined version, to see the parallels that are harder to grasp separately (Cersei/Jon/Dany, the troubles of rule, for example), the tighter reveals of plot points, continuous themes, timing, etc. However, if you are the kind of person who would whine and complain and not enjoy AFFC because Tyrion’s not in it (don’t lie, I follow the book tags and read Amazon reviews), well, go ahead with the combined read for your first time, I’m not gonna stop you.

[beegotten]

Don't you think you have to be obsessed (in a good way) with ASOIAF to fully appreciate FeastDance? At least that's what I concluded. I wasn't a fan of it at first for having so many new characters and so many new plotlines. I'd forget what was happening with Quentyn, for instance. I missed the Starklings and the simpler AGOT. But then, after re-reading the whole thing, reading metas about it, re-searching about the history of Westeros... Then those two became favs too!

Thanks for the question!

Hmmm, fully appreciate? Yes, I do in a sense. Reading up on The World of Ice and Fire certainly enriches the reading experience of Dorne and the Iron Islands’ arcs with historical heft behind them, how they dealt with their struggles for cultural conception and independence. Cersei’s relationship with the Faith, and the Faith as an institution, is better understood by reading up on the context of Maegor with them back during his blasphemous dragon days. 

Reading about the Dance of Dragons and the Blackfyre Rebellions will certainly make Aegon and Dany’s upcoming dance all the more tragic and echoing in a historical context as our two dragons, black or red, will devour one or the other. It’ll make Arianne and Connington’s struggles all the more crushing as one tries to assert her rightful place as heir from her brother and the other tries to seat the right dragon on the throne… only for tragedy to claim them both.

Plus, C’thulhu. Also, Euron Bloodeye is totally the Bloodstone Emperor-Come-Again. Mock him at your own peril.

There are historical, thematic, magical and genre threads woven through the seams of FeastDance and Martin’s already ignited relatively small, yet intense in an intimate scale, fires out of them. They’ve always been there and, through dialogue, meta and re-reading, do we see the strings that led to history repeating and casting aflame at this age of Westeros. Though, once Martin starts burning more fires out of these threads in The Winds of Winter, (he’s already doing it in Arianne’s preview chapters) I’m sure people will appreciate the FeastDance more without being obsessed (in the best way) with ASoIaF.

Though… I will relate my personal reading experience in response to not being a fan of having so many new characters and new plotlines on the heels of A Storm of Swords (though I’m sympathetic to that standpoint to a certain degree.) 

A Storm of Swords had Martin blowing up his chessboard in spectacular fashion, sweeping the board in the titular storm and toppling his pieces. Through bloodshed, treason, conquest and intrigue, chaos and breakdown of the old systems was seeping deeper into Westeros, doom spreading across all the kingdoms and teams we invested ourselves in, be it in love or hate. 

The end of that book found us knee-deep in the midst of bloodied regions we had spent three books in, littered with dead kings and important lords and ladies. Whether it was Jeor getting stabbed in the back at Craster’s Keep, Tywin’s crossbow wound rotting in the privy, Joffrey choking on from his poisoned chalice, Oberyn’s head getting smashed against the Red Keep’s outer ward, Balon’s body feeding the crabs in the Ironman’s Bay, Kraznys turning to charred meat in the hell of Astapor or Robb’s blood soaking into the Twins’ bricks, everything about A Storm of Swords’ conclusion suggested no return to status quo.

So, from that standpoint, I was expecting a relative clean slate and piece-setting coming into A Feast for Crows. He left several realms in smoke and ash through a breathless second-half of the prior book, so he would need to set the next book at a breather pace. There was also the aftermaths of those events to address as well. Getting to know new characters would both help us readers catch our breaths from the prior storm and give himself time to set pieces on his board for new storms and explosions and climaxes to pay-off for later.

Plus, A Storm of Swords set us up for most of those new plotlines, so I was prepared for them. At least, it gave Martin an open door if he ever wanted to explore them or go further in-depth with them:

No sooner had he left the king’s pavilion than the Greatjon began to laugh, but Robb silenced him with a look. “Euron Greyjoy is no man’s notion of a king, if half of what Theon said of him was true. Theon is the rightful heir, unless he’s dead … but Victarion commands the Iron Fleet. I can’t believe he would remain at Moat Cailin while Euron Crow’s Eye holds the Seastone Chair. He has to go back.”

“He may indeed crown Tommen, here in King’s Landing. Which is not to say that my brother may not crown Myrcella, down in Sunspear. Will your father make war on your niece on behalf of your nephew? Will your sister?”

“Just listen,” he snapped, angered by her assumption. “I want you to find Sansa first, and get her somewhere safe. How else are the two of us going to make good our stupid vows to your precious dead Lady Catelyn?”

Sandor said, “The Blackfish is still in Riverrun?”

“Not for long,” said Polliver. “He’s under siege. Old Frey’s going to hang Edmure Tully unless he yields the castle. The only real fighting’s around Raventree. Blackwoods and Brackens. The Brackens are ours now.”

Now, I’m sympathetic to the confusion and logistics of new characters and plotlines bursting out the woodshed for some readers, but I love the world and characters of ASoIaF. So when the double-punch of Aeron and Areo’s respective chapters opened my eyes to entirely new regions (or new facets of old regions in Aeron’s case) and characters that we were promised in A Storm of Swords we’d see in the next book, I was pretty appeased! And I was curious where they’d be going (and I wasn’t disappointed on that score.)

Plus, I’m a reader who generally presumes every subplot/plot in a book is leading somewhere that connects to the greater whole/isn’t going to be a waste. So with all the new plots in FeastDance, I was keeping an open mind. Yes, it was expanding, but I figured if anyone could rein in this series so that every part of it matters, it was Martin. So, I consumed every new POV with the notion that it affected or was going to affect the story from a thematic or plot standpoint. Yes, even Quentyn and his trip to hell…

I didn’t really miss the Starklings in a sense because, after A Storm of Swords and the heartbreak done to the Starks there, I wanted a break from Stark and Northern affairs (except Sansa, I’ll read Sansa chapters any day.) I wanted new characters and the stories that arose from them because the Starklings were one flavor of story in an increasingly expanding narrative... and you just can’t get flavors of stories like Aeron’s or Arianne’s or Brienne’s by staying only with the Starklings.

So, for me, A Feast for Crows was a delicious cake to take in. Yes, the re-reading, meta consuming and searching up history parallels was absolutely the ice cream icing on the cake, but, even on my first read, I was satisfied because it took its time, breathed in the crow-strewn air and opened me to a greater scope that I realized I wasn’t inhabiting until that moment. That and the belief that it would all lead to even bigger climaxes than A Storm of Swords.

And it will. The Winds of Winter’s preview chapters already promise big developments for the Iron Islands and Dorne plots. Which wouldn’t have landed as hard if Martin didn’t take his time to elaborate and set those pieces in the FeastDance.

And lastly... I mean, this is a series where the minimal page count per book is, at least, 800 pages. If I’m reading books that thick and long, I want to inhabit these books and the characters’ lives. I read Martin for the same reason I read Robin Hobb: to walk and breathe a realm so human and relatable, yet vividly different in key facets, from mine. This story was made for rereads, analyses, in-depth thinking, brimming with real and complicated themes. 

So, I imagine, if we’re all willing to read books over 800 pages, we must already be a little obsessed (in a good way.) Maybe. :3

Hope this satisfies!

[shaggydogmatters]

Feast Dance

Regardless of what you might think of some of the people who post the combined reading orders for A Feast of Crows and A Dance with Dragons they really are amazing together. It is really astonishing how perfectly chapters and characters slot together perfectly. I understand and think that GRRM made the right choice splitting them up but there is so much interwoven character. It's even more amazing than if everything were together chronologically. The books get a lot of flack for being boring but not if you read them for the eighth reasons. Don't read them for action or end when they are in the middle of franchise. Don't read them for spectacle. Remember that payoff needs buildup and while A Storm of Swords was satisfying there is more to it. Feast Dance has the aftermath and the melancholy, the minutiae and the reality that comes from surviving a story. The weight of it as the characters have to go back again into their adventures with a while heaping helping of metatextual angst. I need to find the right receipts but there have been amazing write ups done about Quentyn and Tyrion and the commentary on adventure they provide. If you care about character and setting reread Feast and Dance. Do it slowly and preferably across both books. Really enjoy it. I compared it to tantric sex and freebasing and cooking a perfect meal earlier today. I think that stands; a truly amazing experience is possible with the right time taken on your part. I wish I could reread them for the first time again.

[jonroxton]

round two and i am soooo fucking happy with this so far

[davosfingers]

Episode 074: The Blood Before the Pain

The Davos’ Fingers podcast has come to the conclusion of our Feast/Dance re-read in Episode 074: The Blood Before the Pain. Tears of joy and tears of sorrow. But we soldier on! In this episode Sam and Gilly reach Oldtown amidst Ironborn reaving. Kevan...

The Davos’ Fingers podcast has come to the conclusion of our Feast/Dance re-read in Episode 074:  The Blood Before the Pain.  Tears of joy and tears of sorrow.  But we soldier on!  In this episode Sam and Gilly reach Oldtown amidst Ironborn reaving.  Kevan deals with a docile Cersei, quarrels on the small council, and a quarrel in his chest.  There is unrest in Mereen as Barristan tries to calm the murder in the streets and maintain the peace outside the gates.  Lastly, Daenerys stumbles away from her Dragon and vaguely in the direction of Mereen, but finds an old enemy instead.

We’d like to thank Game of Owns for their reading order, which we enjoyed thoroughly.  Though we have finished it, you can always find it on afeastwithdragons.com. Chapters Covered: Samwell 5 (AFFC), Epilogue (ADWD), The Queen’s Hand (ADWD), Daenerys 10 (ADWD)

[davosfingers]

Episode 073: Desperate Times...

The Davos’ Fingers Podcast would like to welcome you to the penultimate episode of Feast/Dance!! Inside, Cersei shamefully walks, Q stubbornly stumbles towards his fate, Tyrion jumps into life as a

NOW AVAILABLE!

Episode 73: DESPERATE TIMES

In this, the penultimate episode of Feast/Dance, Cersei shamefully walks, Q stubbornly stumbles towards his fate, Tyrion jumps into life as a "sells word", Barristan dances the dance he knows so well, and Jon faces daggers, then staggers.

Also, our favorite high school comedies (AS IF we don’t love them!), a heavy chat about our deepest regrets, more Star Wars chatter, and OUR POST-FEAST DANCE PLANS.

Chapters covered: Cersei 2, Tyrion 12, The Kingbreaker, The Dragontamer, and Jon 13

Find it wherever you consume your podcasts, or at http://scaddy.podbean.com/