Rating: 
Summary: 924 pages ... and too short
Review: Is it actually better than "A Game of Thrones" and "A Clash of Kings"? Yes, it is. "A Storm of Swords" is a big, sweeping, impressive novel. George R. R. Martin displays an excellent sense of showmanship in this volume, making almost every scene more enjoyable. The pace is up, the action is fierce, and the surprises just keep on happening.In contrast to "A Clash of Kings", where the story crept by pretty slowly for the first eight-hundred pages and then went into high gear at the end, "A Storm of Swords" starts off with a bang, or perhaps I should say several bangs, and never slows down. In King's Landing, Sansa Stark meets with the Tyrell family and is soon engaged to be married to the Lord of Highgarden. North of the Wall, the Rangers battle an army of Wights at the Fist of the Firstmen, an encounter from which few survive. Lady Catelyn releases Jaime Lannister from Riverrun after making him swear an oath to return her daughters alive. Jorah Mormont convinces Daenerys Targaren to take an unexpected detour rather than sailing to meet Magister Illyrio at Braavos. And all of this is just in the first hundred pages. Now you may think that I've given away some key plot points here, but I promise that I haven't. You'll understand why when you read the book. All of our favorite characters return for more adventures, although remarkably few of them remain alive by the end of the book. But best of all, Martin takes some of the people that we thought we knew and sends them in surprising new directions. For instance, Jon Snow remains loyal to the Seven Kingdoms and most of the oaths that he swore; that's not too surprising. But the sequence of events that he takes part in is extraordinary. You'll never be able to guess what happens to him by the time that the novel ends. It also notable that we get some chapters from the perspective of Jaime Lannister, and he turns out to have a much different personality than what you might expect. We see Catelyn growing increasingly depressed and desperate as she waits for news of Sansa and Arya, though that's certainly not all that happens to her. Tyrion's chapters, which again show him navigating the court intrigues in King's Landing, are, for some reason, for fun than they were in "A Clash of Kings". Another very good thing about this book, though, is that by the end of it Martin seems to be promising that he'll send some of the characters off to new adventures in places that we haven't seen before. Martin keeps the quality of the storytelling high throughout. Unlike some fantasy authors, he clearly puts a considerable amount of thought into every conversation. We barely see any amount of space wasted on unnecessary material, and the characters to generally act in believable ways. For instance, children in "A Storm of Swords" behave like children, rather than like small adults. They often act without much logic or foresight, and have a childish set of priorities. Another aspect of the story where Matin does well is in analyzing the psychology of the characters involved. He understands that fighting in a war for years on end wears people down, that losing family members is not an easy experience to overcome, and so forth. Also, he shows the fact that kings and other leaders have to take such factors into account in order to prevent revolts by their own underlings. Overall, the writing in this book is high-quality, and I'm eagerly anticipating "A Feast for Crows".
Rating:
Summary: Excellent writing, darkening mood, more round characters.
Review: George R.R. Martin continues his realistic fantasy epic with the major factions still skirmishing for the crown, despite the huge battle at the end of "A Clash of Kings." Several of the meandering plot lines continue to wander ceaselessly, while others get turned completely upside down. Tyrion's reduced political clout precludes the devious machinations that so well fit his character in "Clash." Caetlyn broods more solemnly than in "Clash," and her character becomes even less active. Arya's endless trek takes new turns yet still continues, but Sansa develops and matures as a character. As with the first two novels, the plot line of Daenerys across the sea, though vividly detailed, still feels unconnected as she gathers power for her inevitable assault on Westeros. Bran seems almost an afterthought, with only four chapters from his perspective and very little advancement of that plot line. Jon follows events north of the Wall, the only new major setting that Martin develops, and Jon's plot line slowly develops but unexpectedly connects with another. The group of point-of-view characters is augmented by two people previously viewed from other perspectives, including Jaime Lannister. His character, the most interesting in the novel, develops from the callous, celebrated knight into yet another of Martin's intricate round characters with complex and even sympathetic motivations for their actions. The flow from chapter to chapter when covering several major events is roughly paced, as Martin quickly alternates between only two point-of-view characters in describing both the Red Wedding and the final events at Castle Black. This shuttling effectively describes multiple sides of these events, but it pulls the focus away from other ongoing plot lines. In contrast, the more subtle narrative coverage in the first two books related details or conclusions of important events through other characters' later discussions, rather than in quickly alternating points-of-view. As with the previous two books, Martin's thorough characterization of 'real' characters and his skill with the multiple point-of-view narrative produce a brilliant installment in this extremely vast fantasy epic.
Rating:
Summary: Mind blowing stuff.
Review: The Song of Fire and Ice saga just keeps getting better and better. This third installment is darker than the previous two, but keeps up the blistering pace set by the first two books. Each of the storylines is significantly developed, and we begin to get even more layers of history and meaning in the characters. Evil characters from the first two books, like Sandor Clegane and Jamie and Tywin Lannister, are developed so that we gain sympathy for them, understanding their motivations better. Whiter than white heros such as Ned Stark lose some of their gloss as a clearer picture of their past emerges. Now that I have finished part three, I can begin to talk to my family again..........until I get my hands on the next installment in the saga.
Rating: 
Summary: High fantasy's answer to "All My Children"
Review: As many past and future readers will no doubt discover in the third installment of the Song of Ice and Fire series, George R.R. Martin doesn't feel the need to spare the reader from the more gruesome details of his imagination. By now one would feel accustomed to his violent and immoral world, perhaps even slightly at home. But here, in "A Storm of Swords", Martin reveals that the grittiest facets of his story have yet to be seen.
Sadly, this is both a blessing, and an immobilizing curse. For so many readers Martin's first work in this series, "A Game of Thrones" was a breath of fresh air. They key to this respectful status was in two things: 1, Martin didn't dabble in Dungeons and Dragons, he dabbled in political betrayal, and 2, no character, no matter how beloved, was able to cheat death.
Major characters and well-loved faces didn't hold immortality; kings could die just as easily (if not more so) then soldiers on the battlefield. In short, get too attached to a particular character and you just might find their quick and grim departure to be nothing less then traumatic.
Quirky and brilliant as it was, it was also held within a deep tapestry of political innuendo. Certain groups, factions and Great Houses held stakes towards claiming a right to the throne of a kingdom. To ensure that their interests always remained on top, any means were taken. Yes, even murder, was exacted. This created many beloved characters in Martin's staple, characters who shared their beds with assassination and maneuvering. However, it also spawned characters that intertwined themselves with honor and duty.
And, as I mentioned, you were never sure as to who would experience the downfall of their choices. But in "A Storm of Swords", Martin seems to have taken his exploration of unforeseen occurrence to the limits of its power. It's as if the reader has finally woken up from the trance of bliss to discover that it isn't Shakespeare he's reading, but rather literary-trash. Enjoyable trash at first, but trash, none the less.
Plotlines and character developments are created and destroyed so fast that you barely feel he's telling the reader a grander story. What was once a well-crafted and witty tale of politicians and magicians has degraded into Fantasy-Soap Opera. In this sense, the book's title, "A Storm of Swords" is fitting. Few survive the bloody torrent this book presents, and when the aftermath hits, the reader is left wondering, "How can he expand this into 3 more books?" Yet, it would be ignorant to believe that a skilled writer such as Martin would deprave himself of an opening by which he could continue his story. The question isn't how he will continue it, but rather if readers will stand by to watch him march onward (or rather, downward). But even amongst the over-hyped chaos of his series, Martin still retains much of his crafty word play and flair for the dramatics. (Can anyone truly sandblast him for managing to escape the all-engulfing shadow projected by Tolkien and The Lord of the Rings?)
He even takes the time to introduce us to fantastic new characters and Houses. (Keep an eye out for the charismatic Dornish and their crazed princes). For that matter, he even reintroduces characters that played a small roll in the first book, to play a larger role in this one. More then one fan will cheer at the return of Lord Tywin Lannister, I'm sure. But a fair warning to the reader at hand: The new characters, as delightful as they may seem, come and go...some of them more violently then others.
Also welcome is Martin's slow, but meaningful introduction of mystical powers. Through all of the political maneuvering and grabs for power, you always feel the dark undertone that some grander force lies in waiting. Perhaps that's where Martin means to take the series, perhaps not. It's difficult to say when Martin embellishes the liberty to continue his onslaught of sex, violence and all things disturbing. Great aspects aside "A Storm of Swords" is simply Fantasy-sensationalism, not timely literature. Martin's dramatics and depraved characters may very well be lost if he's forsaken a story-arc in the name of shock-value. It's as if he's promised to take his readers to Mars, but instead simply painted the moon red and called it Mars.
Ultimately, in this analogy we see the largest and most unspoken difference between him and Tolkien: Martin promises to take his readers to Mars, Tolkien truly did.
Rating:
Summary: Too dark
Review: In the first two books it was refreshing, but it steadily got worse. Now we've reached my tolerance level. In this book I have to say there is something to disgust all of mankind in some way: Depravity, death on a large scale, death on a small scale described intensely, Necromancy, horrible treachery, likeable characters destroyed as a matter of course, CHILDREN becoming killers...I've had enough. I'll just say one more thing, once I agreed with people who said Robert Jordan was a chicken using "immortal" main characters etc. No longer. I completely and totally support that style of writing after reading this book. I'm going to get volume 10 of the Wheel of Time and LOVE EVERY PAGE OF IT!
Rating:
Summary: Some of the best fiction ever written
Review: Martin has a wholly different writing style than any fantasy writer i have ever read. This book is incredible - the best so far of the series. Each book gets better and better with more intrigue, twists, and surprises. It is safe to say this series is not for everyone - if dark fiction, violence, language, or sexuality bothers you, you might want to pass. That being said, there are times i have almost dropped this book on the floor in shock. Martin takes the story in so many unexpected directions that nothing is predictable. The Red Wedding is probably the biggest surprise in this book, and i still get chills just thinking about it. As i read this book, i reread several of the chapters over again after finishing them just so i could take it all in again. i can't say enough about Martin - but i would hate to live in his universe :) If you can stomach it, get this book/series. Drop what you are reading, and pick up Game of Thrones. You won't be sorry.
Rating:
Summary: Three for three
Review: I don't know, if I were George Martin and by some metaphysical quirk all of his characters somehow came to life, I'd be very very worried. The afterlife of this world he's created here is certainly getting crowded. Someone, somewhere must be starting some kind of pool to try and guess which characters will make it to the end of the series. At this point I couldn't even guess. This is one of the few books I've ever read that has absolutely no sense of "false jeopardy" at all, you know when a character is in danger but you know he's not truly in any danger because the author would never kill him? That's all out the window here. There are hundreds of characters in the book and there are still some minor characters from the first book that have survived while so called "main" characters have fallen by the wayside. Anyway, if you're reading this it's either to a) see if you agree with my opinion of the book or b) you're curious to see if this series is any good. Too many series start off good and then go swiftly downhill, rest assured, amazingly enough the quality has been maintained since the start. Each book heralds big changes (some permanent, some less so) for all the characters and there's not a sense that Martin is just killing time while he pumps out books. After three books the series is just as gripping as it has ever been and if he coasted on momentum alone for the last few books (I hear there's a total of six) it would still be pretty decent. This remains one of the most realized fantasy worlds I've ever read, sure there's magic but it's kept pretty much in the background, no pompous battles of flashy wizards here, the focus here is all on plot and charactization. Another thing I have to credit Martin for and it's done so skillfully that you might not notice it, how wonderfully detailed the backstory and history of this land is. It spans several thousand years but there's no big "history appendix" at the end of the book, it's all done through dialogue and he really gives it a mythical sense, even the stuff that only happened twenty years before the series starts. The history itself almost becomes a character. There'll probably be calls for Martin to write a sort of "prequel" to this series, since he makes it seems so exciting, but hopefully he'll resist since all that would do is fill in the blanks really. Best to leave 'em wanting more. Anyway, everything that made the first two books great is here in spades, and I for one am eagerly anticipating the next book. And I'm not normally a big fantasy fan. Go figure.
Rating:
Summary: WARNING: This book is like a drug
Review: This book was something I could not put down. I don't think my eyes have ever hurt more, as I found myself reading this book non-stop, missing out on a lot of sleep! The entire series of A Song of Ice and Fire are all the same. Martin is a true artist, he paints a picture of such detail showing us deep character development, as well as a detailed world surrounding that. A Feast for Crows can't come soon enough. To tell you how well I liked this book, I UPS'd it 2-4 day, and I will do the same for book 4 due out soon.
Rating:
Summary: Greatest Fantasy Series Yet!!!
Review: George R. R. Martin is a genius. The books are more gripping, suspenseful, and shocking than any others I have ever read. The atmosphere that Martin creates is so gritty and realistic, that you can't help but be sucked in, always guessing at what will come next. And the best part is, you're usually wrong. Martin is as bold as they come, never shying away from doing the unthinkable, and never adding any fluff. His style is superb, his imagination is daunting, and his stories are more engrossing than almost any other author. A Song of Ice and Fire and its composer are simply brilliant.
Rating:
Summary: Truly the best.
Review: Book just don't come better than this. A Storm of Swords is the best book in an absolutely amazing series of fantasy novels. If you are the type that like those novels where the good guys always win and no one (except the bad guys, of course) dies, then it isn't for you. This is written for people who like to read books that reflect how people really and truly would act. It's refreshing to see that there is one author whp isn't blinded by perfect endings. This book is great because it features superb writing and an increible story than moves at a good pace. The characters are the best part. No character is one demensional. The good guys aren't perfect and even the bad guys have their noble acts. Pick up this series. You definitely won't be disappointed. Don't think this is just a fascination with the deaths of characters. It fits the stories rather well and doesn't do anything to detract from it.
|
