If you weren't already aware, Book 4 in the Song of Ice and Fire series was originally long enough to be two books. Deciding to split the book in two (resulting in this and Book 5), Martin opted to tell the 'full' story of half the characters rather than half the story of all the characters. And not that you can or should skip this entry, but just keep that in mind if you aren't particularly into the Kings Landing, Dorne, Iron Islands, Vale, Bravoos, or Old Town story lines.

For me, this is where the books and the tv show really started to differentiate and I really enjoyed reading about a load of characters that never made it to HBO (although I will admit all the different Greyjoys confused me a bit). Above all, Jamie is so much better in this book than he has been/was in the corresponding tv season(s), and since he is one of my favorites, that was just fine with me.