Works where you were surprised to learn you were in the minority of viewers

[Eldan]

I really enjoyed A Feast For Crows for what it was- a character study on Cersei Lannister. It helped that I had just started the series and wasn't waiting on it or waiting for Dance afterward for years.

The bigger problem with those two books is that the bloat started to set it, GRRM started to get lost in his own garden, and the overall plot doesn't seem like it's making any progress. Dance was the bigger offender of the two, but it hurts both books that there was a lack of follow-up to all of the various plots and arcs that were being explored. If I had gone into A Feast For Crows after years of anticipation, anxious to see resolutions or at least major developments to the long-running plot, I might have been far more frustrated with it. But after having powered through the first three books in relatively short order, the change of pace was actually kind of welcome.

In retrospect, I definitely think Dance with Dragons is the low point in the series. I really liked Feast of Crows, and moreso on a re-read, but Dragons just has such long stretches where nothing happens. And entire viewpoint character plotlines that just go nowhere and feel pointless. Man did I ever not care for Ser Whatsface in Dorne, or Quentyn Martell.