A Storm of Sword's is George R.R. Martin 3rd instalment in his critically acclaimed saga 'A Song of Ice and Fire'. I am anxiously waiting for the next volume to get published (the author's official site says it's November 2005) so I wanted to get more people interested in Martin's work. I ... Read review
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Swordscontinues Martin's vigorous account of the civil wars which follow the death of King Robert, the usurper who deposed a dynasty gone mad and dangerous, and the judicial murder by his widow and heir of Ned Stark, the man who made him king. The surviving Stark children are scattered--Robb leading revolt in the North, Arya learning hard lessons as she treks through the war zone, Sansa an observer of court intrigue, crippled Bran heading towards a sorcerous destiny, Jon engaged in desperate defence of the icewall against barbarians and worse things. Daenerys, pretender and ruler of dragons, is building an empire elsewhere. And characters we have thought of as villains, notably Jaime Kingslayer, are developing belated consciences ... Martin keeps on upping the ante of violence and betrayal in this compelling saga of a fantasy middle ages soiled with blood and mud; his economic use of magic and his fascination with complex characters make this the sword-and-sorcery series for people with adult taste. As the seriesproceeds, his writing gets ever leaner and sharper, the evocation of the magical ever more sinister.--Roz Kaveney
Swordscontinues Martin's vigorous account of the civil wars which follow the death of King Robert, the usurper who deposed a dynasty gone mad and dangerous, and the judicial murder by his widow and heir of Ned Stark, the man who made him king. The surviving Stark children are scattered--Robb leading revolt in the North, Arya learning hard lessons as she treks through the war zone, Sansa an observer of court intrigue, crippled Bran heading towards a sorcerous destiny, Jon engaged in desperate defence of the icewall against barbarians and worse things. Daenerys, pretender and ruler of dragons, is building an empire elsewhere. And characters we have thought of as villains, notably Jaime Kingslayer, are developing belated consciences ... Martin keeps on upping the ante of violence and betrayal in this compelling saga of a fantasy middle ages soiled with blood and mud; his economic use of magic and his fascination with complex characters make this the sword-and-sorcery series for people with adult taste. As the series proceeds, his writing gets ever leaner and sharper, the evocation of the magical ever more sinister.--Roz Kaveney
Swordscontinues Martin's vigorous account of the civil wars which follow the death of King Robert, the usurper who deposed a dynasty gone mad and dangerous, and the judicial murder by his widow and heir of Ned Stark, the man who made him king. The surviving Stark children are scattered--Robb leading revolt in the North, Arya learning hard lessons as she treks through the war zone, Sansa an observer of court intrigue, crippled Bran heading towards a sorcerous destiny, Jon engaged in desperate defence of the icewall against barbarians and worse things. Daenerys, pretender and ruler of dragons, is building an empire elsewhere. And characters we have thought of as villains, notably Jaime Kingslayer, are developing belated consciences ... Martin keeps on upping the ante of violence and betrayal in this compelling saga of a fantasy middle ages soiled with blood and mud; his economic use of magic and his fascination with complex characters make this the sword-and-sorcery series for people with adult taste. As the seriesproceeds, his writing gets ever leaner and sharper, the evocation of the magical ever more sinister.--Roz Kaveney
Swordscontinues Martin's vigorous account of the civil wars which follow the death of King Robert, the usurper who deposed a dynasty gone mad and dangerous, and the judicial murder by his widow and heir of Ned Stark, the man who made him king. The surviving Stark children are scattered--Robb leading revolt in the North, Arya learning hard lessons as she treks through the war zone, Sansa an observer of court intrigue, crippled Bran heading towards a sorcerous destiny, Jon engaged in desperate defence of the icewall against barbarians and worse things. Daenerys, pretender and ruler of dragons, is building an empire elsewhere. And characters we have thought of as villains, notably Jaime Kingslayer, are developing belated consciences ... Martin keeps on upping the ante of violence and betrayal in this compelling saga of a fantasy middle ages soiled with blood and mud; his economic use of magic and his fascination with complex characters make this the sword-and-sorcery series for people with adult taste. As the seriesproceeds, his writing gets ever leaner and sharper, the evocation of the magical ever more sinister.--Roz Kaveney
A review by Mazanostra on A Song of Ice and Fire Book 3: a Storm of Swords - George R.R. Martin July 30th, 2005
Author's product rating:
Would you read it again?
Absolutely
Story
Outstanding
Characters
Outstanding
Readability
Excellent
How does it compare to similar books?
Excellent
How does it compare to other works by the same author?
Excellent
Advantages:
Great fantasy for adults, lively characters .
Disadvantages:
The wait till the authors finishes writing the next one .
Recommend to potential buyers:
yes
Full review
A Storm of Sword's is George R.R. Martin 3rd instalment in his critically acclaimed saga 'A Song of Ice and Fire'. I am anxiously waiting for the next volume to get published (the author's official site says it's November 2005) so I wanted to get more people interested in Martin's work. I chose to review the 3rd volume because it's the one I read most recently.
In short, the book is just great. Really great. But it's definitely not short. In fact it's huge. However at no point in the book did I feel that it was excessively dragged out. I read it in a single breath (one of those month-long breaths, you know) and enjoyed it all the way.
In Storm of Swords, nations continue to war each other and a number of kings, queens and other protagonists are killed and as a result the contenders for the Iron Throne get reduced in an alarmingly fast rate. There are very few chapters, if any at all, that you just want to read through to get to the next one. There are plenty of sudden turns in both physical and metaphorical sense that will keep you glued to even the seemingly minor plotlines. However, if you hoped that this book would bring some resolution as was promised, you hoped wrong. This series can go on easily for any number of instalments. While some mysteries have been revealed and some plotlines solved by the end of Storm of Swords, the story is largely ongoing.
Martin gives us some more background on the history of Westeros and other places out of the mouths of several characters, yet it does not seem like a narrative in quotation marks they it does in Terry Brooks' books. Don't expect Jordan- style detail, though. Martin's characters are fascinating and have a lot more than one layer to them. If you thought you knew exactly who they are, you are like to be wrong.
Some of the complaints about this series included too much brutality and language as well as too many children involved as major characters. The language is still there, there's plenty of brutality, and there's any number of scenes that I wouldn't recommend to read while eating. Something like "yellow stinking pus and blood oozing from the wound" is quite commonplace in Martin's world. Not as much violence and rape toward women as compared to the previous instalment, but some, nonetheless. Although there's a few instances where such circumstances allow some of the male characters to display their chivalry and (attempt to) save the woman. Sometimes coming from a person you would least expect to do something of a sort. Children will play a significant part, still. And they will act quite adultishly, to the extent that it will seem out of place when they display their child side. And children will witness things they shouldn't and do such things themselves, too. Generally, as the series progresses, the price of human life keeps plummeting.
Most of our old friends and foes are active in this book and there are a few new ones. More of the southern Westeros Lords will be introduced and some are generally likable. The overall mood of the book is quite grim and pretty much all the characters get in deep trouble, sometimes without a light at the end of the tunnel. As much so that at 2/3 of the book I began to fear that the ending won't be happy. It isn't, but it's not as bad as I feared. People will get captured, tortured, killed, be accused of crimes they didn't commit, people will be betrayed, people will do stupid things, people will ruin plans and screw up. And if you think that the good guys will make through all of that victoriously... think again. But, perhaps, the main attraction of this book and this series as a whole is that it's sometimes hard to distinguish who's good and who is bad. In truth, nobody is either. And some villains you have come to hate over the course of the previous two books will suddenly show a better side to them. You will be surprised. And some of the supposedly good guys will do deeds that will hardly be something to be proud of. And that will tear at their hearts.
One might think that all this brutality and treachery would repulse the reader, but I, for one, found it quite realistic. There's so much drama and suffering that it makes you really feel for the characters and with them. You will be stricken when the unfortunate happens and you will laugh when Tyrion rebukes another dwarf joke. He is good with that. In fact, Tyrion is so strong and cunning inside that it's hard to not to forget that he's a crippled dwarf.
Geographically, the places of action will be the same, more or less. We'll be visiting the East with Daenerys chapters and we even get a map of that part of the world. We'll learn more about the Beyond the Wall world, again, supplied with a more detailed map.
The dire wolves will be involved and we'll come to know a bit more about how special they are to the Stark kids. Sam Tarly will get an unlikely nickname for a craven and Jon will have several opportunities to turn his life completely around. We'll learn what valar morghulis means but now we have to puzzle out another similar expression.
If you want to know more, read the book. You won't regret it and I would say that this is as good as any of the previous two books. Storm of Swords has everything you came to expect from George R.R. Martin. Complex and intricate plot, a plethora of colorful and likeable characters and villains, realistic battles where even the main characters may (and do) die. This brings up the 'death ratio' of the series, which is extremely high. As in the previous books and unlike other fantasy books, the characters are not 'immortals' and death lurks around the corner. The series is scheduled to be seven books long. Three of them have been published so far. 'A Game of Thrones', 'A Class of Kings', 'A Storm of Swords'. Martin has almost finished the next book of the series named 'A Feast of Crows' and the next books will probably be named 'Dance of the Dragons' and 'Wolves of Winterfell'. A excellent short stories based on the same universe but about 100 years earlier has published and can be found in the 'Legends' anthology series, that includes short stories from writers such as George R.R. Martin, Robert Jordan, Terry Goodking and others. This particular story called 'Hedge Knight' and a comic version exists, drawn by legendary artist Mark Millar (OK he is not 'Jack Kirby' legendary yet).
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DO NOT READ OR RATE -THANKS Review ofA Song of Ice and Fire Book 3: a Storm of Swords - George R.R. Martinby
Emma1973
Advantages: Inovative style, fantastic storyline Disadvantages: Have to buy more books to find out the ending
...was changed the category for A Song of Ice and Fire Book 1 disappeared and it ended up in the category for Book 3,
I'd be grateful therefore if you could take absolutely no notice of this review, and rate accordingly, i.e DONT!!
Cheers
Emma
I discovered George R.R.Martin when browsing through my local W.H. Smiths and it was on offer, as a huge fan of Eddings, Feist, Gemmell, etc. I decided to give it a go. I am now hooked on the whole series!
... ...others, it takes one character a chapter and go's through their adventures.
There is Lord Eddard Stark, the warden of the North, his wife Catelyn and their children, Rickon,Robb, Bran, Arya and Sansa who is to marry the incest-gotten, half-mad Prince Joffrey. Arya, Eddard and Sansa travel to Casterly Rock for Sansas wedding where Eddard is betrayed. To tell you more would spoil the story!!
Other characters include Tyrion Lannister, the hunchback ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
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very helpful
22.09.2001
Blood and Gold Review ofA Song of Ice and Fire Book 3: a Storm of Swords - George R.R. Martinby
Gildor_Inglorion
Advantages: An Exellent read, that leaves you craving more, MORE !! Disadvantages: long time for next book to be released, but its well worth it!!
(Edited to be a bit less s***e, as the book deserves much better than my paltry attempt, plus I can spell a bit better now!)
Now it's not often that a book can make you keep your faith in an author for such a long time. About 4 years, this is the time that separates a Storm of Swords and G.R.R.Martins next book a feast for Crows. Now i'm not usually a very patient person, but I would wait another 4 years if he could produce anything close to the ... ...Not only has he encapsulated a whole world so lavishly detailed into one set of books, he pulls it off with style, sheer ravishing style.
The series so far is;
A Game of Thrones
A Clash of Kings
A Storm of Swords (One book in the US, split into two in the UK)
- Part 1 / Steel and Snow
- Part 2 - Blood and Gold
A Feast for Crows
A Dance of Dragons
The Words of winter
A Time for Wolves (Though this title is purely speculation, Martin initially ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Advantages: Engrossing, amazing, ingenious. Disadvantages: Leaves you craving for more. A big series.
...book so great to warrant a whole household to fight over the only copies in the house (well in my house anyway!). It is written in the most compelling detail, with characters you would love as your own friends and family and characters that are hateful, deceitful and absolutely vile that they either deserve your admiration for having that kind of ambition or your unimaginable loathing. With fantastical backdrop of Westeros, we are given the many ... ...it. With feuding “Kings and a Queen” it is a series with no clear cut winner. The story begins in the north of Westeros with the House Stark and its Warden Lord Eddard Stark, ten odd years after the revolt of the kingdom against King Aerys II. A mad king from the House of Targaryens, (in which the resulting war obliterated the House and only two survives who fled to the Summer Isle) was succeeded by Robert House of Baratheon. The House Stark is thrown ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Advantages: Blood, intrigue and sex Disadvantages: Whos that? Related to who? Why did he just kill him/her/them?
A workmate of mine lent me the first of these books while I was working in a call centre. I read it at my desk, thinking it would be the usual 'good triumphs over evil' fantasy story, boy was I ever wrong! The story is complex and convoluted, with no two characters having the same motivations or methods. Some want revenge, some power, wealth or just to survive.
Plenty of plot takes place behind closed doors - from the readers point of view - making ... ...to chapter, generally staying with a 'main cast' of around fifteen to twenty characters, but the writing is devious, bringing in new characters for a chapter or two and then never hearing from them again. You may find your favourite characters absent for a long time before their suprise re-introduction, or a new character appears, only to be brutally murdered after their brief appearence.
Unlike many books, in this one anyone can die, wether a surf ...
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16.07.2006
(17.07.2006)
Years of enjoyment Review ofA Song of Ice and Fire Book 3: a Storm of Swords - George R.R. Martinby
topreviewer1
Advantages: You won't want to stop reading and you will want to read it again. Disadvantages: You shouldn't read it without reading books 1 and 2 first.
...for money.
Book 3: A Storm of Swords, is another exciting installment of the series and contains a complex and interesting plot. You will continue to read about several different characters following several different paths and wondering when and how these paths will cross. Martin writes in clear structured chapters, with each chapter relating to a different set of characters. If you have ever read the "Lord of the Rings" books and enjoyed them, ... ...the fact that there was a much more active plot, while the descriptive element was just as satisfying. The book finishes with a good climax but, as with the previous books leaves just enough unexplained to make you long for the next book. While this book is a continuation of the story of the Seven Kingdoms, it dwells specifically on Daenerys Targaryen, in more detail than the previous books. Martin also spends some time on what is happening with ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful
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