Originally GRRM meant to skip both A Feast for Crows and A Dance With Dragons.  He wanted about a few year time jump between A Storm of Swords and what would have been the fourth book, and this fourth book would have flashbacks to the events that took place in between.  At the end of the day, it became a difficult mess, and GRRM decided to scratch this idea and instead write the events that would have needed flashbacks...and a lot of cushion since not enough actually happened to warrant one book let alone two originally.  This book feels drawn out.  I knew this was possibly the case going in since I already knew the above information and previously read a Feast for Crows.  Personally, A Feast For Crows is better.  The problem this book suffers from in addition to the tedium of the previous book, is finally getting some of the main characters on screen and not liking them so much.  Without giving away spoilers: Tyrion appears cruel and sometimes his storyline borders on the side of the ridiculous, though he still has great and memorable lines; while Dany becomes incompentant and shown lacking in Westeros culture and history, and no real desire to remedy this situation.  Arya's storyline was still good, still dark, and interesting.  Jon Snow's storyline while it drags on at the beginning, finally feels like it may end up in an interesting position by the end of the book.  The Reek POV is too disturbing for me to read, but for those that can actually get through it without wanting to scrub your brain, it is probably GRRM best writing in the entire book and a thing of brillance.  Those that have weak stomaches however, would be much better skipping it all together and looking up what happens (honestly not that much that wasn't told by previous POVs or guessed at, it's more about the shaping of the POV).

All in all, if this was the first book I read in ASOIAF, it would be my last.  However, I stuck with it since there are two more books in the series to come out, and they will probably be back in the vein of the previous books, since they aren't really created to fill in gaps of time.  So I do in fact recommend this book, because I am sure the rest of the series will be quite a ride, and only time will tell if your favorites actually make it out of the series alive if battered.
Originally GRRM meant to skip both A Feast for Crows and A Dance With Dragons. He wanted about a few year time jump between A Storm of Swords and what would have been the fourth book, and this fourth book would have flashbacks to the events that took place in between. At the end of the day, it became a difficult mess, and GRRM decided to scratch this idea and instead write the events that would have needed flashbacks... and a lot of cushion since not enough actually happened to warrant one book let alone two originally. This book feels drawn out. I knew this was possibly the case going in since I already knew the above information and previously read a Feast for Crows. Personally, A Feast For Crows is better. The problem this book suffers from in addition to the tedium of the previous book, is finally getting some of the main characters on screen and not liking them so much. Without giving away spoilers: Tyrion appears cruel and sometimes his storyline borders on the side of the ridiculous, though he still has great and memorable lines; while Dany becomes incompentant and shown lacking in Westeros culture and history, and no real desire to remedy this situation. Arya's storyline was still good, still dark, and interesting. Jon Snow's storyline while it drags on at the beginning, finally feels like it may end up in an interesting position by the end of the book. The Reek POV is too disturbing for me to read, but for those that can actually get through it without wanting to scrub your brain, it is probably GRRM best writing in the entire book and a thing of brillance. Those that have weak stomaches however, would be much better skipping it all together and looking up what happens (honestly not that much that wasn't told by previous POVs or guessed at, it's more about the shaping of the POV). All in all, if this was the first book I read in ASOIAF, it would be my last. However, I stuck with it since there are two more books in the series to come out, and they will probably be back in the vein of the previous books, since they aren't really created to fill in gaps of time. So I do in fact recommend this book, because I am sure the rest of the series will be quite a ride, and only time will tell if your favorites actually make it out of the series alive if battered.