All 5 Game of Thrones books ranked from worst to best

4. A Dance with Dragons

Year Published: 2011 

A Dance with Dragons is the fifth book of A Song of Ice and Fire, and it’s the most recently published book of George R.R. Martin’s series. Yes, it’s been 12 years since A Dance with Dragons was released, and we’re still waiting for The Winds of Winter, but that’s neither here nor there at this point. The wait continues!

A Dance with Dragons is set at the same time as A Feast for Crows and after the War of the Five Kings. It focuses more on Jon Snow, Tyrion Lannister, and Daenerys Targaryen and the events in the North and in Mereen. While still a great book, A Dance with Dragons faces some of the same issues as A Feast of Crows. There are so many moving parts in A Dance with Dragons, and it’s a big shift following the War of the Five Kings. We miss out on the perspectives of many main characters in King’s Landing and in the South. Instead, we explore a lot more of what’s happening with Dany in Mereen and what’s happening in the North with Jon Snow, the Night’s Watch, Stannis Baratheon, and Winterfell. It’s a great part of the story, honestly! It’s setting up so much of what’s to come in future parts of the story, The Winds of Winter, and beyond.

I prefer A Dance with Dragons to A Feast for Crows, but it’s definitely a tier below the first three books of the series. Again, not saying it’s bad, but the first three books are nearly flawless while A Dance with Dragons drags a bit. It’s definitely a challenge with a world this big to bring these characters together, and that’s something that’s apparent in the fourth and fifth books of the series. And, unless Martin has a way to bring all these characters together somehow soon, it’s probably going to continue happening in future books.