Re-reading (because it caught my eye on the shelf when I didn't have anything else on hand to start.)
My very first impression is (having just completed vol. 5 of the series,
A Dance With Dragons), "damn, this is SO much better a book than ADWD." *sigh*
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ACoK picks up with Arya on her way north with Yoren, disguised as one of the boys conscripted for the Night's Watch; Tyrion returned to King's Landing (much to his sister's dismay) to take up his new role as Hand of the King; Jon and Sam preparing to depart Castle Black as part of Lord Commander Mormont's mission in search of both missing rangers and vanished villages of wildlings; Dany and her decimated khalassar heading toward the sea and Westeros.