TITLE: A Storm of Swords Pt. 1
AUTHOR: George R.R. Martin
SERIES: ASoIaF #3
PUBLISHER: Voyager
PAGES: 623 (Paperback)
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Guys, seeing as it is pratcially impossible to write reviews on these books due to the amount of spoilers/characters/plot lines/chapters, i am going to recycle my review for A Clash of Kings, with a few small changes.
Okay, first things first: this book is so hard to write a review about, so don’t blame me if it sucks. On so many levels I absolutely loved it, and I can tell why it is held in such high regard by readers everywhere. But, on the other hand, some parts I really really didn’t like, at times I was even slightly disgusted (e.g. Tyrion and Sansa…EW). However, how can I not give this book less than five stars when it is perhaps one of the most brilliant pieces of fantasy I’ve ever read?
Expanding on the already massive cast of A Game of Thrones, Martin introduces us to some previously mentioned characters, and some totally new ones. Adding their claims to the Iron Throne, Stannis Baretheon, his brother Renly, and the newly crowned ‘King of the North’ Robb Stark begin to make moves on the Lannisters at King’s Landing. We also hear from the exploits of Daenerys, Catelyn Stark, Theon Greyjoy, Arya Stark and Jon Snow, as they struggle through their own troubles in the far corners of Westeros and across the Narrow Sea.
Having such a huge ensemble of characters in each chapter, let alone each book, is perhaps one of the biggest things that can make or break this series. However, Martin masterfully juggles them all at the same time, spinning their own personal plights whilst somehow working it into the bigger picture. One of the greatest things about this book is that whilst each character helps build the story, reading their every single POV is not absolutely necessary. For instance, if you find, I don’t know…Davos, incredibly boring, you can skip his chapters and still continue on just fine. I will admit, I might have done that a few times myself.
What turns most people of these books, I think, is the author’s fearlessness of portraying it…if not realistically, then accurately. He doesn’t protect our precious little virtues, he gives us the niceties, and the pretty things, but he also doesn’t hesitate to dish up some perverse and slightly taboo stuff that our prude minds may find highly inappropriate.
Take, for example, the incident I mentioned earlier, Tyrion being forced to marry Sansa Stark, a thirteen year old girl who is practically being held prisoner by his family. It’s things like that that seriously make reading the book awkward, and that’s only one chapter. A Storm of Swords contains incest, rape, graphic displays of a lack of morals, distasteful relations with underage girls, and other things I shudder to think of, if you violently disagree with reading any of that stuff; I would suggest you don’t go near this book.
Though there is tonnes more to say, I think I’m going to cut this review off here. Trust me, if I said everything I wanted to you’d be reading for hours. It may have its flaws, it’s discrepancies that some won’t like, but A Storm of Swords is an absolute marvel to consume and the whole series is an absolute masterpiece. If you want a true fantasy with wars and conspiracies, scandals and treacherous politics, false kings and the throne they would die for; then this is the book for you.
I need to start reading this series... what is stopping me is the fact that the end of this story probably wouldn't get published yet in several years' time and I am not good at waiting...
ReplyDeleteTotally true, i am trying to limit my intake so as to lessen the waiting time... it'll still be several years though!
DeleteA Storm of Swords is the third, and the best (so far), of the Epic Fantasy series A Song of Ice anf Fire. In a time when half the world is writing Epic Fantasy, George R. R. Martin is the only one who is doing it as it should be done.
ReplyDeleteA Storm of Swords' pace is like that of a snowball, it start small and slow, and accelerates. The book's beginning is a masterful art of wieving threads together, and about a third way into is you start to shadder because you're in the most incredible rollar costar imaginable, and it won't let you off until the very ending, and you'll be left suffering until a Dance with Dragons will be out in 2002 - but that's true for all of us Martin fans.
A Storm of Swords shows Martin's loathing of happy endings and black/white characters - Martin's world is so realistic it hurts. The morality gets much more complicated, as we get indights into a character we thought was a villain, and see his actions completely differently.