THE BOOK BEHIND THE FOURTH SEASON OF THE ACCLAIMED HBO SERIES "GAME OF THRONES" A SONG OF ICE AND FIRE: BOOK FOUR After centuries of bitter strife, the seven powers dividing the land have beaten one another into an uneasy truce. Few legitimate claims to the Iron Throne still exist, and the war that has turned the world into little more than a wasteland has finally burned itself out. Or so it appears. For it s not long before the survivors, outlaws, renegades, and carrion eaters of the Seven Kingdoms gather. Now, as the human crows assemble over a banquet of ashes, daring new plots and dangerous new alliances are formed, while surprising faces some familiar, others only just appearing emerge from an ominous twilight of past struggles and chaos to take up the challenges of the terrible times ahead. Nobles and commoners, soldiers and sorcerers, assassins and sages, are coming together to stake their fortunes . . . and their lives. For at a feast for crows, many are the guests but only a few are the survivors. Praise for George R. R. Martin and "A Feast for Crows" "" The American Tolkien . . . Of those who work in the grand epic-fantasy tradition, George R. R. Martin] is by far the best. "Time" "" Long live George Martin . . . a literary dervish, enthralled by complicated characters and vivid language, and bursting with the wild vision of the very best tale tellers. "The New York Times" "" A fantasy series for hip, smart people, even those who don t read fantasy. " Chicago Tribun