A Storm of Swords by George R. R. Martin

A Storm of Swords

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...

But as opposing forces maneuver for the final titanic showdown, an army of barbaric wildlings 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. 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...
(from the publisher)

I finished the third installment of a Song of Ice and Fire last week. The book confirmed for me again that not only is this series one of the best fantasy series ever written, these books are amazing. Period.

I'll review this in two parts with spoilers under the cut so that those who haven't read it yet, or are simply following along with the TV series won't be spoiled.

The action picks up right where A Clash of Kings leaves off. To recap: North of the wall, Jon Snow has left the night's watch in the north to join Ygritte and a group of wildlings. Sam Tarly and the other black brothers have just heard the horn signalling the others are coming to their place on the Fist of the First Men.  In the Riverlands, Robb Stark has been fighting and winning battles against the forces of the Lannisters, but Catelyn has let Jaime Lannister escape with Brienne to trade him for the lives of her daughters. Sansa Stark has been set free of her engagement to Joffrey Baratheon who is now engaged to Margaery Tyrell following the battle of Blackwater. Arya Stark has escaped Harrenhal and is on the run back to the Riverlands. Bran Stark and Rickon avoided Theon Greyjoy's murderous plans and the burning of Winterfell and are both running away in separate directions.

One thing I love about this series are all the complexities to Martin's plotting. You can feel things coming, and sometimes predict events, but there are so many characters and potential paths for them to take that it often surprises you. Characters meet up with each other in ways you don't expect, and when you're sure a character won't be back again, they pop up somewhere new. Martin's also not afraid to kill off major characters, something that is a bit of a spoiler but should also come as no surprise to those who have read the first two books or watched the first two seasons.  But I think the greatest thing about the series is that the motivations of the characters are so real. I love that characters are not black and white, and you can grow to love a character you previously hated and vice versa.

Some characters are relatively quiet in the third book. We hear almost nothing of Theon Greyjoy and little of Rickon Stark. Fan favourite characters get a lot of action, but I found myself falling in love with new ones. And without giving away too much, lets just say that not much, if anything is resolved at the end. That's to be expected though, as the series is only about half way through at this point (knowing Martin, only a third!).

For those who haven't read it yet, please, please start! The series just keeps getting better and really is better than the TV series which is also so amazing. Keep reading under the cut for spoilers.

Now that the unspoiled have gone away  I want to share some of my absolute favorite parts of the book.

The epilogue at the end is so incredibly surprising and amazing I almost fell off my bed when I read it. Lady Catelyn back from the dead  (because she was dead, wasn't she?) and getting her revenge is one of the best ending to a book ever. I totally did not see that coming. But it's also so perfect for Catelyn's character who "died" thinking all of her children were dead and her whole world was lost.

I now adore Sansa. At the beginning of the series she was so annoying and proper. Arya is still a favorite for many people because she's feistier. I get why people love her and like Sansa less. Maybe it's because I see myself in her, but Sansa grew on me in this book. By the end of the book I was fully pulling for her to escape for Joffrey and Lannisters, and then again from Petyr. I'm excited to see how she evolves because I think she's already changed the most of any character in the series thus far. She is becoming less of a puppet and more of a player of the game all the time.

Sam is another of my favorites this time around. He's found so much courage, and I love how he completely took over the voting for the new Lord Commander of the Night's Watch. (Hello Lord Commander Snow!)

Two kings dying at wedding feasts. One so terrible and one so justified!

I can't wait to read A Feast for Crows after I get through a few of the shorter books on my to read list. Let me know what you thought of A Storm of Swords (but no further spoilers please! I want to read the last two books unspoiled).