A Storm of Swords

George R.R. Martin

A Song of Ice and Fire #3

Summary:

WARNING: POSSIBLE SPOILERS OF PREVIOUS BOOKS AHEAD!

Of the five contenders for power, one is dead, another in disfavor, and still the wars rage as violently as ever, as alliances are made and broken. Joffrey, of House Lannister, sits on the Iron Throne, the uneasy ruler of the land of the Seven Kingdoms. His most bitter rival, Lord Stannis, stands defeated and disgraced, the victim of the jealous sorceress who holds him in her evil thrall. But young Robb, of House Stark, still rules the North from the fortress of Riverrun. Robb plots against his despised Lannister enemies, even as they hold his sister hostage at King's Landing, the seat of the Iron Throne.

Meanwhile, making her way across a blood-drenched continent is the exiled queen, Daenerys, mistress of the only three dragons still left in the world. Filled with the stench of death and decay from the destructive dynastic war, Daenerys is gathering allies and strength for an assault on King's Landing, hoping to win back the crown she believes is rightfully hers.

But as opposing forces maneuver for the final titanic showdown, an army of barbaric wildlings bent on overwhelming the Seven Kingdoms arrives from the outermost line of civilization. In their vanguard is a horde of mythical Others-a supernatural army of the living dead whose animated corpses are unstoppable. And as the future of the land hangs in the balance, no one will rest in the quest for victory until the Seven Kingdoms have exploded in a veritable storm of swords...

Plot:

I feel like this series is very consistent, in that every time I sit down to review one of the books I feel like I’m just repeating myself. However, this one is probably the most exciting and most shocking yet. While with the previous ones I found myself putting the book down for a while, with this one, especially the second part, I just couldn’t do it. I also cannot wait to see what happens next.

Characters:

I really felt like the characters developed in this installment. Tyrion is probably one of my favorite characters, simply because he is such a strange, sometimes likable, other times despicable character, and I really felt like he was brought to life in this installment. All the characters were shown to grow and change, but they always stay true to themselves and you still don't really know who to root for. Oh, and, don't fall in love with any of the characters, chances are...they're going to die...

Who should read this:

16+, and like always, these books are not for the faint-hearted or sensitive. It is very graphic and violent and there is quite a bit of language involved. If you enjoyed the previous installments, then you should read this one! If you didn’t, why would you continue the series? Fans of high-fantasy should definitely check this series out, it's brilliantly written.

My rating:

I didn’t like the things that happened in this book, but I still felt like this was the best one so far, so I have to give it a higher rating...5/5

Quote:

“Old stories are like old friends, she used to say. You have to visit them from time to time.”

I did read this book in two parts, but I've said previously that I despise it when a book that's meant to be one is published as more than one, so that's why I combined them in this review.

Read my reviews for 'A Game of Thrones' and 'A Clash of Kings' here!