A Dance With Dragons

A Dance with Dragons
Author	George R. R. Martin
Cover Artist	Larry Rostant
Series	A Song of Ice and Fire
Publisher	Bantam Books (US) & Voyager Books (UK)
Release Date	12 July 2011
Pages	1040 (US hc)
ISBN	0-553-80147-3 (US hc)
Preceded By	A Feast for Crows
Followed By	The Winds of Winter

A Dance with Dragons is the fifth of seven planned novels in the epic fantasy series, A Song of Ice and Fire by American author George R.R. Martin. The book was released July 12, 2011.

The 'Dance of Dragons' is the name given to a civil war in the prior history of Westeros.

A Dance of Dragons was originally the title of the second novel in the sequence, when Martin still envisaged the series as a trilogy. Some early US editions of A Game of Thrones list A Dance of Dragons as the forthcoming second volume in the series. The anthology Legends, which features the novella The Hedge Knight, lists it as the fourth installment of the series.

A statistical analysis of the book can be found here.

Plot summary

Working UK cover, art by Larry Rostant

A Dance with Dragons picks up where A Storm of Swords left off and runs simultaneously with events in A Feast for Crows. The War of the Five Kings seems to be winding down. In the North, King Stannis Baratheon has installed himself at the Wall and vowed to win the support of the northmen to continue his struggle to claim the Iron Throne, although this is complicated by the fact that much of the west coast is under occupation by the ironborn. On the Wall itself Jon Snow has been elected the 998th Lord Commander of the Night's Watch, but has enemies both in the Watch and beyond the Wall to watch for. Tyrion Lannister has been taken by ship across the Narrow Sea to Pentos, but his eventual goals are unknown even to him. In the far east, Daenerys Targaryen has conquered the city of Meereen, but has decided to stay and rule the city, honing her skills of leadership which will be needed when she travels on to Westeros. But Daenerys' presence is now known to many in Westeros, and from the Iron Islands and Dorne, from Oldtown and the Free Cities, emissaries are on their way to find her and use her cause for their own ends.

Sample chapters are available on Amazon.co.uk and George R.R. Martin's website.

Viewpoint characters

The tale is told through the eyes of 16 point-of-view characters and, as with previous volumes, a one-off prologue point-of-view and an epilogue.

• Prologue: Varamyr Sixskins, a skinchanger and one of the surviving wildlings north of the Wall.
  *13 chapters: Jon Snow, the 998th Lord Commander of the Night's Watch.
  *12 chapters : Tyrion Lannister, a kinslayer on the run in the Free Cities.
  *4 chapters: Davos Seaworth, King's Hand to Stannis Baratheon.
  *10 chapters : Daenerys Targaryen, heir to House Targaryen and Queen of Meereen.
  *3 chapters: Bran Stark, The son of Eddard Stark, presumed dead.
  *2 chapters: Arya Stark, a student of the Faceless Men of Braavos.
  *3 chapters: Asha Greyjoy, the niece of King Euron Greyjoy of the Iron Islands.
  *4 chapters: Quentyn Martell, an emissary from his father, Prince Doran Martell of Dorne, on a mission to the east.
  *7 chapters: Theon Greyjoy, heir to the Iron Islands, a captive at the Dreadfort.
  *1 chapter: Melisandre, the red priestess and chief advisor to Stannis Baratheon.
  *2 chapters: Cersei Lannister, Queen Regent, imprisoned by the High Septon for fornication.
  *1 chapter: Jaime Lannister, member of the Kingsguard, traversing the riverlands for the Iron Throne.
  *2 chapters: Jon Connington, former Knight of Griffon's Roost in Westeros.
  *4 chapters: Ser Barristan Selmy, head of Daenerys Targaryen's Queensguard.
  *2 chapters: Victarion Greyjoy, brother of King Euron Greyjoy, heading for Meereen.
  *1 chapter: Areo Hotah, protector to the Prince of Dorne.
  *Epilogue: Kevan Lannister, Regent of the Iron Throne.

Split in publication

Variant US cover, seen in some previews

When the fourth novel in the series, A Feast for Crows, was published it did not contain point-of-view sections from many of the main/key characters of the series. This was because the book had become far too large to publish as one volume. Rather than simply split it in half and publish it as 'Part 1' and 'Part 2', Martin decided to split the book by character and location. Thus, characters in the South of the Seven Kingdoms and in the new locations of the Iron Islands and Dorne appeared in A Feast for Crows. Characters in the North and across the sea were held back for A Dance with Dragons, although Arya Stark and Asha Greyjoy will appear in both volumes.

Approximately one-third of the published A Dance with Dragons will consist of material that had been written for the pre-split A Feast for Crows, although much of this has already been rewritten by Martin. Martin has also promised to try to include some 'catch-up' chapters at the end of the novel to reveal what happened to some of that novel's characters after the cliffhanger endings of A Feast for Crows, such as Brienne of Tarth, Jaime and Cersei Lannister, but only if he has enough room at the end of the book. Martin has confirmed that, contrary to earlier statements, Sansa will not appear in the novel. Sansa chapters initially slated for Dance have instead been pushed back to The Winds of Winter, the planned sixth book in the series .

Delays in publication

Despite original predictions of possible completion in late 2006, the book was not finished by the end of 2008. Martin´s blog has featured updates on his progress, and in January 2008, he posted an update on his website affirming his vigilant commitment to finishing the book. In early 2008, publisher Spectra (a division of Random House) announced that A Dance with Dragons would be released on September 30, 2008, but Martin stated this would only be possible if he finished writing by the end of June, before a trip to Spain and Portugal, and he did not meet this goal.

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." During Martin's visit to Finland and Estonia in July 2009, he confirmed that finishing the book had required an extension of the writing time to September or October, and he hopes that the book could be published as early as February 2010 in the UK.

Editions

Proposed cover art for both the UK and US editions was unveiled in 2008. The UK cover art is by Larry Rostant and consistent with the newer cover styles introduced in 2003. The US cover is consistent with newer cover styles introduced in the USA in 2005. However, a variant US cover (which shows the same dragon image on a black background with a spiral of green colour) has also been seen in some publicity material. It is unclear if this cover is meant to replace the earlier one.

Subterranean Press has confirmed that Marc Fishman has already started work on the illustrated edition of A Dance with Dragons for release after the Bantam and Voyager editions.

References

A Dance with Dragons

Prologue • Tyrion I • Daenerys I • Jon I • Bran I • Tyrion II • The Merchant's Man • Jon II • Tyrion III • Davos I • Jon III • Daenerys II • Reek I • Bran II • Tyrion IV • Davos II • Daenerys III • Jon IV • Tyrion V • Davos III • Reek II • Jon V • Tyrion VI • Daenerys IV • The Lost Lord • The Windblown • The Wayward Bride • Tyrion VII • Jon VI • Davos IV • Daenerys V • Melisandre I • Reek III • Tyrion VIII • Bran III • Jon VII • Daenerys VI • The Prince Of Winterfell • The Watcher • Jon VIII • Tyrion IX • The Turncloak • The King's Prize • Daenerys VII • Jon IX • The Blind Girl • A Ghost In Winterfell • Tyrion X • Jaime I • Jon X • Daenerys VIII • Theon I • Daenerys IX • Jon XI • Cersei I • The Queensguard • The Iron Suitor • Tyrion XI • Jon XII • The Discarded Knight • The Spurned Suitor • The Griffin Reborn • The Sacrifice • Victarion I • The Ugly Little Girl • Cersei II • Tyrion XII • The Kingbreaker • The Dragontamer • Jon XIII • The Queen's Hand • Daenerys X • Epilogue • Appendix