A feast for crows

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A Feast for Crows ( dt. A feast for crows ) is the fourth volume in the fantasy saga A Song of Ice and Fire of the American author George RR Martin . The novel was first published in the United Kingdom on October 17, 2005; in the United States it was published on November 8 of the same year. In Germany , the original volume appeared separately in the two volumes, Time of the Crows and The Dark Queen . The novel presents several personal storytellers .

Action overview

The saga is set in a fictional world and takes place on the continents of Westeros (the Seven Kingdoms and the “Wall” in the north) and Essos. In this world the length of summer and winter is unpredictable and variable; a season can last years or decades, whereas spring and autumn are comparatively short. The setting on the continent of Westeros is very similar to medieval Europe . The plot around Arya Stark is set on the continent of Essos, east of Westeros, in the Free City of Braavos.

Seven kingdoms

Old seat

The novice Pat is head over heels in love with a girl named Rosi, for whose virginity Pat has to spend a gold dragon. For this he steals the master key of one of the maesters for the Citadel and gives it to a man he does not know who pays Pat. Immediately after the delivery, Pat collapses and apparently dies, while an unfamiliar voice explains to him that he will never know what happened to him.

After Samwell Tarly's arrival in Altsass, he meets a pat, although it remains unclear whether it is the same pat.

Iron islands

After Balon Graufreud's death , the iron men on their islands are without a king. Aeron Greyjoy , a brother of Balons and at the same time a priest of the drowned God , who is worshiped by the majority of the iron men, calls for a king thing to choose the future ruler. Among those who make claims include Asha Greyjoy , Balon's daughter, and Euron Greyjoy , another brother of Balons. Ultimately, Euron prevailed and was crowned King of the Iron Islands, as he promised those present to conquer all of Westeros with the help of dragons, which he wants to tame with a horn. As a result, Euron has the coastal regions of the vastness plundered. He also sends his brother Victarion to Essos to convince Daenerys Targaryen to marry Euron; however, Victarion would like to achieve this for itself.

Thorns

After Oberyn Martell's death , one of the sand snakes appears before Prince Doran Martell , who is staying in the water gardens, and demands retribution for the alleged murder of her father. Doran then returns to Sonnspeer, but pursues his own plans there: Since he does not want to risk a conflict with King's Landing and sees himself threatened by his brother's children, he has them arrested and locked up by Areo Hotah , captain of the Sonnspeer guard . Doran's eldest daughter and heiress Arianne has long had an affair with the Royal Guard Arys Eichenherz , who is staying in Dorne to protect Princess Myrcella Baratheon . Arianne convinces Arys to crown Myrcella Queen of the Seven Kingdoms, since she has the right to the throne as Robert's eldest living child - but only according to Dornish law. Arys follows the proposal and kidnaps Myrcella in order to bring her out of Dorne with other co-conspirators. In the Dornish desert, however, they are intercepted by Areo, who orders the conspirators to surrender. Arys resists this and is killed in the ensuing fight with Areo. Arianne is brought back to Sonnspeer, locked in a tower for many days and only allowed to see her father late. He reveals to her that since the murder of his sister Elia by the Lannisters he has been working to finally take revenge on her; and for this reason I sent his son Quentyn to marry Daenerys Targaryen.

King's Landing

Queen Cersei Lannister learns of the death of her father Tywin and of her brother Tyrion's escape from his cell and the disappearance of Varys . This blames Cersei for the murder of her father, but cannot find her. So she lets burn down the tower of the hand in which her father died, to feel safe that Tyrion was not hiding in it. In the meantime, King Tommen Baratheon marries his brother's widow, Margaery Tyrell , so that the alliance with the Tyrells can be maintained, but Cersei feels surrounded by enemies and traitors and increasingly reaches for wine. She organizes the Little Council in such a way that the Tyrells and their followers are excluded from it and only the Queen's followers can be accommodated there; however, she annoys her uncle Kevan with her court politics and Cersei's relationship with her brother Jaime deteriorates dramatically: she orders him to end the siege in Schnellwasser by House Tully , although she has always kept Jaime close by. Cersei forges an alliance with the new High Septon ( High Sparrow ) and expands the powers of the faith. At the same time, she arranges that Margaery be charged with adultery by faith and arrested, but Cersei's key witness testifies against her and so she is also thrown in prison. The Minor Council under Pycelle and Harys Swyft subsequently takes over the government of the empire.

Crown and river lands

Brienne von Tarth travels through the Crown Lands north of King's Landing and asks about Sansa Stark , but remains unsuccessful. On her way, Brienne is accompanied for a while by Podrick Payn , who in turn is looking for Tyrion Lannister. Both set out for Jungfernteich in the riverside to follow a trail of Sansa. There Brienne meets Hylo Hatz, who bullied her during their time together under Renly Baratheon . At first she doesn't want to know anything about him, but Hylo is ordered by his superior to go with her. The group follows what appears to be a trail of Sansas back to the eastern crown lands, but is there surprised and attacked by former members of the Brave Comrades ; Brienne can kill them all. When one of the comrades advised that Sansa had been seen with Sandor Clegane , the group around Brienne turned back west. Back in the Riverside, they learn that Sandor was not traveling with Sansa but with her younger sister Arya and that Sandor has since died. The group reaches the inn on the Kreuzweg, which is now run as an orphanage by the Brotherhood without a banner . That same night, other former supporters of the Brave Comrades raided the orphanage; Brienne faces them to fight and is badly wounded in the face. Brienne passed out immediately after the fight. When she comes to, she, Podrick and Hylo are prisoners of the Brotherhood and are taken to an unknown location. When Brienne is brought before Lady Steinherz , the new leader of the Brotherhood, this Brienne assumes treason due to her lion's head sword and the writing of King Tommen and Brienne realizes that it is Catelyn Stark , who must have risen from the dead . Brienne contradicts the betrayal and Lady Steinherz expects as proof of her loyalty that Brienne kills Jaime Lannister - who, as far as she knows, was involved in the Red Wedding - but she refuses. Thereupon Lady Steinherz orders that Brienne and her companions should be hanged. When Brienne is pulled up by a tree outside, she manages to shout a word; which one and her as well as the fate of her companion remain unclear.

After Queen Cersei has told her brother Jaime to end the siege of Schnellwasser, he and a group of soldiers - including Ilyn Payn - set off for the riverside . Since Jaime is no longer a serious fighter after losing his sword hand, he asks Ilyn to exercise with him regularly in secret during the trip. The company makes a detour via Darry, where Jaime meets his cousin Lancel , who is apparently devoted to the faith and refuses to consummate his wife. Lancel also reveals to Jaime that he slept with Cersei, revealing the allegations made by Jaime's brother Tyrion before he fled to be true. Arriving at Schnellwasser, Jaime finds a rigid situation: Brynden Tully has holed up with his loyal followers in Schnellwasser and, according to his own statements, has sufficient supplies for a year-long siege. The besieging Freys are at odds with the situation; So they put Brynden's nephew, Edmure Tully , on a gallows as leverage every day until sunset and threaten to hang him, but Jaime realizes that Brynden will not fall for it. Jaime tries in a dialogue with Brynden to persuade him to give up, but Brynden repeatedly alludes to Jaime's dishonor and signals that he is not ready to leave the castle to the besiegers without a fight. Jaime then releases Edmure so that he can go into the castle and take his uncle to the task. In fact, there is rapid water after Edmure's return, but Brynden has disappeared without a trace. After the siege is over, Jaime arranges for Edmure and other nobles to be brought to Casterlystein. He later receives a letter from his sister Cersei, in which she reports on her predicament and asks Jaime to go to court for her. Jaime has the letter burned unanswered.

Green valley

Nestor Rois comes to Hohenehr to interrogate the singer Marillion about his alleged murder of Lysa Arryn . According to testimony from Lord Protector Petyr Baelish and Sansa Stark - who continues to be introduced by Petyr as his daughter Alayne to protect her identity - Nestor appears convinced of Marillion's guilt; the singer himself also testifies at his expense. Thereupon he is locked again in the heavenly cells, in which he is left to his fate. In the subsequent conversation with Petyr, Nestor reveals that his cousin, Yohn Rois, intends to depose Petyr as Lord Protector with the help of influential Houses of the Green Valley - called Lords of the Declaration . Petyr admits his helplessness to Nestor in the matter and hands him a certificate allegedly drawn up by Lysa, which awards Nestor the moon gates. Nestor is enthusiastic, but the document is signed by Petyr, which stands or falls with Petyr's rule as Lord Protector. When the Lords of the Declaration want to come to Hohenehr to place Robert Arryn under their protection, Nestor holds them back at the moon gates for the time being. Together with Nestor they finally reach Hohenehr and are received first by Sansa and later by Petyr. As a spokesman, Yohn turns to Petyr and recommends that he go back to the river lands to maintain order there, but Petyr refuses because of his concern for young Robert. In the discussion that follows, Nestor is the only one on Petyr's side; until one of the fellow travelers - Lyn Corbray - draws his sword and challenges Petyr to a duel. The Lords are horrified and refuse to solve the problem with the sword, so Lyn voluntarily leaves the group. Petyr, however, is angry and demands of the Lords to give him a year as Lord Protector in order to restore stability to the Green Valley and announces that he will resign if the Lords so wish after this one year. The Lords agree to this rule. Later that night, Petyr Sansa reveals in confidence that he bribed Lyn for his outburst and expects that in a year the balance of power in the Green Valley will have changed in his favor. After a few weeks Sansa has to leave Hohenehr with Robert and most of the castle residents because they cannot stay in the castle that is usually frozen over during the winter. When they have made the way behind them and reach the valley, Petyr, who has already come down from Hohenehr, is waiting for them. Petyr explains to Sansa that he has betrothed her to Harrold Hardyng, who is distantly related to Robert Arryn due to complicated relationships and is considered to be his heir. Since Petyr does not assume that Robert will live long, he promises Sansa that she can recapture Winterfell together with the popular Harrold and an army from the Green Valley.

On the wall, on the sea and in the Citadel

Samwell Tarly searches the library of the Black Fortress at the behest of Lord Commander Jon Schnee for clues on how to deal with the others , but does not find anything. With his results, he returns to Jon, who is struggling with the increasing demands of Stannis Baratheon and the too few Night Watch brothers on the wall. Jon reveals to Samwell that he wants to send him and Goldy , her child and maester Aemon to Altsass in the distance and that Samwell should learn the trade of a maester in the Citadel there to follow Aemon; the old maester is to accompany him, so as not to be sacrificed by Stannis' priestess Melisandre , since in him as Targaryen-born royal blood flows. When leaving for Ostwacht an der See, from where a ship is supposed to bring the group first to Braavos, Goldy is unusually dissolved and weeps. In Ostwacht they are joined by Dareon, who is supposed to recruit recruits for the night watch. At sea Samwell gets seasick quickly and often, Goldy is still withdrawn and sad and Maester Aemon gets lost in the vastness of the sea. After a few days, Samwell learns from Maester Aemon that Goldy had to leave her own baby behind in the Black Fortress in order to bring Manke Rayder's child out of danger instead . When the group arrives in Braavos, they cannot move on directly because Maester Aemon is so bad that he threatens to die if he continues; he also seems more and more mentally confused. Dareon, who is supposed to get provisions for the group, is also a long time coming. Maester Aemon asks Samwell to go to the harbor for him to find out about the Daenerys dragons. On the way, Samwell meets a girl who introduces herself as Katz , but who is actually Arya Stark. She gives him the tip that a brother on the night watch is in a nearby brothel. There Samwell meets Dareon, who has married a prostitute and threatens to finally break with the night watch. Samwell subsequently beats Dareon and is thrown out of the brothel. Outside, he meets the mate of a ship that can bring the group - without Dareon, who remains in Braavos - to Altsass. During the crossing, Maester Aemon dies at the age of about 102. His body is supposed to be cremated on the same day, but the captain of the ship does not tolerate fire on board. Aemon's body is therefore put in a barrel of rum to preserve it. The crew of the ship organized a funeral service for Aemon, that same evening Samwell broke his vow and slept with Goldy, who seduced him beforehand. When the crew finally reached Old Seat, Samwell explains that Goldy should initially stay on the ship until it has been clarified whether he will send her to his family in Hornberg or hide her here in town; alone he makes his way to the Citadel to hand over letters from Jon to the maesters. There he is instructed to wait until he is admitted to the head of the Citadel - the Seneschal . After about half a day in the waiting area, Samwell meets the novice Alleras and they both start talking. Samwell tells Alleras all sorts of things that have happened to him since he was sworn in at the Night's Watch and also about the others and the dragons. Alleras then asks Samwell to come with him to Maester Merwyn, since the Seneschal will probably not believe him. As expected, Merwyn is on fire with Daenerys and her dragons and immediately sets off for Meereen to be by her side; But Samwell shouldn't tell anyone else about these things, since the other maesters couldn't be trusted.

Braavos

Arya Stark arrives on a ship in the Free City of Braavos in the north-west of Essos and is brought by the captain's son on a rowboat to the House of Black and White . There, by hammering at the main gate, half of which is made of black ebony and white weirwood, she demands admission, which is granted to her. Inside, she meets a young girl and a veiled man - whom Arya refers to as a Kind Man - apparently serving in the house. Arya speaks to the man, who asks her if she is afraid of death. When she says no, he puts his hood back, revealing a decayed skull. Arya kisses this at the man's behest - whose head then takes on human form - and is allowed to stay in the house. After a while the good man asks her if Arya has only come to him to learn how to kill, and explains to her that apart from the Many-faced God, no one has to decide between life and death. To his daily questions about who she is, Arya always replies with Nobody , because she should break away from her previous life, but she is not convinced inside. The kind man tells her that she must not lie to him about this matter and that she must adhere to the rules that have been communicated to her, otherwise she will have to leave the house forever. Over time, Arya learns the local language in order to be able to understand the people around her better, since apart from the good man no one speaks the language from Westeros; It also takes on everyday tasks such as cleaning the floors or distributing food. The Benevolent man asks Arya after some time to part with their belongings, because these are things that belonged to Arya Stark from the house and not Nobody . The following night she takes her belongings and throws them into the Braavos Canal; except for her sword, needle , which she hides near the house. The Kind Man then initiates her into the story of Faceless Men and elevates her to the position of novice. After an apprenticeship in the house, he instructs her to go to the quays of Braavos to help sell fish and seafood. Arya takes the name Katz from the canals and creates her own biography. The kind man explains to her that she is no longer nobody , but Katz , and should not forget this. As a cat she lives in the family of a fishmonger. She is supposed to go back to the House of Black and White once a month and report on three things she has learned again; in addition, she should then work in the house for a few days. Although Arya is about to return to the house in the evening, two things are still missing to tell about. She finds out more in the harbor and continues to sell her goods. In the evening she goes to a brothel and meets the night watch brother Dareon, who has swapped his black clothes for colored clothes and brags that he will never return to the night watch, which makes Arya angry. When Arya has earned enough with her goods in the brothel, she leaves it and is accompanied by Dareon, who wants to perform in another pub. In a dark alley along the way, Arya kills Dareon and returns to the House of Black and White . There she meets the Kind Man who asks her what new things Arya has learned; including she tells of the murder of Dareon and that Arya from the Stark house did this, but she was nobody herself . However, the good man does not believe her. He gives her warm milk to drink and sends her to sleep. When Arya wakes up the next morning, she is blind.

characters

Narrative perspectives

The individual chapters are each told from the perspective of a main character. The name of the person is partly also the chapter heading, but chapters are also named after the professions ( The Captain of the Guard ) or other titles ( The Queen Maker ) of some people. In A Feast for Crows are 13 of these main characters - including nine for the first time - presented. Some of the people who tell the story in the previous three volumes do not appear in the book. These are dealt with again in the follow-up volume, A Dance with Dragons .

Nominations for prizes

translation to German

For the German paperback edition, the Blanvalet publishing house divides the original volumes into two books each. The original volume A Feast for Crows was published in Germany as:

As a special edition, Fantasy Productions (FanPro) published a limited edition in one volume ( Krähenfest , 2006, ISBN 3-89064-535-6 ).

expenditure

filming

Parts of the novel are shown - partly modified - in the fourth , fifth and sixth seasons of the US television series Game of Thrones .

Web links

The Song of Ice and Fire


Books

A Game of Thrones  (1996) • A Clash of Kings  (1999) • A Storm of Swords  (2000) • A Feast for Crows  (2005) • A Dance with Dragons  (2011) • The Winds of Winter • A Dream of Spring

series

Game of Thrones ( Episode  List • Season 1  • Season 2  • Season 3  • Season 4  • Season 5  • Season 6  • Season 7  • Season 8 )