The problem with reading a long-running epic series with a zillion plot threads and a zillion zillion characters as it's being released is remembering what was going on in the previous books. And since this book picked up the plot lines of the characters from two books
ago, that was a lot for me to remember. I really could have used a "Previously, in Song of Ice and Fire..." summary at the beginning of the book. (Next time: use the internet! That is what it is there for!)

This book is of course a continuation of the series and in many ways more of the same GRRM we've come to expect. Many points of view and many interleaving and very complex plots. And a lot lot of words in general. It is, in terms of the series, neither better nor worse than any other book in the series. A middle book.

In terms of the series I liked the first three books and found myself disenchanted with the fourth because the plot seemed to have spun out of control; I wasn't convinced that GRRM would be able to rein it back in again. Also I wasn't entirely pleased with the direction the plot had taken for some characters. With this book I can see the plot slightly coming back together again, and that gives me hope, although I still have concerns. I'm willing to give it the benefit of the doubt. I'm not entirely disgusted any more. I hope there will be less of a wait for the next book.