The first three books in the series were just so strong, but this book was a huge letdown for me. The previous books had very strong plots, with tight narrative arcs, but this book just meanders and ends, feeling like a waypoint between the previous books' events and events yet to come. The characters are are mostly unrelentingly unlikeable, and there are so many of them they are becoming hard to keep straight. Similarly the politics are becoming confusing; the complexity was a strength in earlier books but I feel like it is spinning out of control now. I'm honestly not sure how GRRM can tie up this series, especially at the rate at which he's writing the books, and I find I'm losing interest. Yeah, I'll probably read the next book when it comes out, but I hope it redeems the mess in this one.