** spoiler alert ** 
 It's hard to know what to say about A Feast For Crows. Book #4 in the Songs of Fire & Ice series by George R. R. Martin, Feast is a part of a whole. I can't possibly rave enough about the series in general, but I would have to say that Feast is the least satisfying of the bunch so far. 
 Feast continues where the third book left off, but tells only half the story. As the author has explained, this volume was getting too large, so he removed some pieces and chose to publish half as A Feast for Crows. In Feast, we follow the characters located in the south of Westeros. Many, many (perhaps too many) new characters are introduced. A great deal of space is devoted to the struggle for control among the ironmen, and we are also introduced to the inner workings of the Dornish court. Some favorites are simply nowhere to be seen in Feast -- Jon Snow gets only a passing mention, and Daenerys and Tyrion are completely absent from the action. Surprisingly, the Jaime Lannister POV chapters are among the most moving and compelling, and for the first time, we get a peek inside Cersei's twisted mind. 
 This book is a necessary installment in the saga, but felt very much like a bridge to the main event. Luckily, the fifth book will be out in the next few days, and promises to both fill in the gaps and move the story forward.