Review: A Storm Of Swords by George R.R. Martin

A Storm Of Swords by George R.R. Martin

Series: A Song of Ice and Fire #3

Pages: 1179

Genre: Adult high fantasy

Publication Date: August 2000

Of the five contenders for power, one is dead, another in disfavor, and still the wars rage, alliances are made and broken. Joffrey sits on the Iron Throne, the uneasy ruler of the Seven Kingdoms. His most bitter rival, Lord Stannis, stands defeated and disgraced, victim of the sorceress who holds him in her evil thrall. Young Robb still rules the North from the fortress of Riverrun. Meanwhile, making her way across a blood-drenched continent is the exiled queen, Daenerys, mistress of the only three dragons left in the world. And as opposing forces maneuver for the final showdown, an army of barbaric wildlings arrives from the outermost limits of civilization, accompanied by a horde of mystical Others—a supernatural army of the living dead whose animated corpses are unstoppable. As the future of the land hangs in the balance, no one will rest until the Seven Kingdoms have exploded in a veritable storm of swords.

This review is for book #3 in a series. I tried to keep it as spoiler-free as possible, but you might want to read my reviews for books 1 and 2.

The third book in the series is where the . . . ah . . . poop hits the fan. The first two books are buildup and this one is the explosion. In this installment, wildlings attack the wall, and teenage Jon is left to defend it. The allied families start betraying each other (with deadly consequences). And Joffrey gets exactly what he deserves. It’s all so, so brilliant. The first two books in the series are good, but this one is what I was waiting for. Crazy stuff is definitely happening now. Zombies are on the move, and no one can be trusted.

I can’t imagine what it was like for people who read these novels as they came out. I’ve seen every episode of the TV show multiple times, so I knew what was going to happen in the book. Still, reading it was shocking. I’m sorry to all you readers who unknowingly stumbled into the Red Wedding. I knew it was coming. I spotted all of the foreshadowing. Despite being prepared, I read the Wedding scene at 1 in the morning and had to scream silently so that I didn’t wake the whole house. My poor favorite characters! George R.R. Martin is a monster!

The chaos at Joffrey’s wedding made me feel better, though. I understand that he’s a child, and I shouldn’t wish for bad things to happen to children, but he’s fictional, so it’s okay, right? I imagine that Joffrey’s wedding was another shocker for readers who didn’t know that it was coming.

“I've lost a hand, a father, a son, a sister, and a lover, and soon enough I will lose a brother. And yet they keep telling me House Lannister won this war.” – A Storm of Swords

Like in the first two books, my favorite point-of-view character is Tyrion. He’s smarter than everybody else. The other characters are constantly trying to vilify him, even when he’s done nothing wrong. In this book, he finally becomes the monster that everybody accuses him of being, but he does it for the good of the kingdom. He’s the only one who’s intelligent enough to overthrow the dictators.

My other favorite point-of-view is Arya. She’s easy to love because she’s such a little badass.

My favorite point-of-view that is added in A Storm of Swords is Jaime. He’s terrible to Brienne, and I hate him for it, but he’s hilarious. He always has the perfect comeback. My favorite scene in this whole giant novel is the one with Brienne and Jaime in the pool. I love that they finally have a real conversation instead of just insulting each other. I hope that George R.R. Martin finishes this series because I need to know where their relationship goes! Jaime needs to dump his creepy sister and hang out with nice, normal people like Brienne.

 

“We look up at the same stars and see such different things.” – A Storm of Swords

As much as I like this book, I did get bored occasionally. I feel like there are a lot of scenes where the characters are just talking. There is a lot of description and way too many names. I got impatient to get back to the action. Less yacking, more whacking off heads please.

Also, I’m going to put off reading the next book for a few months. I’m nervous about it because I’ve heard that it focuses on minor characters and leaves out some of my favorites. (No Tyrion and no Jon? What is this madness?) I’ll definitely read the book eventually, but I’m not massively excited about it right now. I need some recovery time before I dive back into Westeros. A Storm of Swords was intense (in the best possible way).

TL;DR: This book is everything I wanted. The best in the series so far.