Reviews with content warning for Adult/minor relationship - A Storm of Swords

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A Storm of Swords by George R.R. Martin

28 reviews

earlc's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

I think I was disposed to not take this book seriously when I started, because it had been five years since I read A Clash of Kings and the television series turned out to be such a catastrophe. I was never a big fan of the show, thinking it fun to see the characters on screen at most and a disappointing adaptation at worst, and even though I knew the books were better I walked into this one with low expectations. To say I was pleasantly surprised would be an understatement. This was a pretty fantastic book, and though it's been a while since I read the previous two I'm inclined to say A Storm of Swords is the best one thus far. It's been a while since I finished it so I won't have a cohesive or comprehensive review, but here are my lingering thoughts.
It's a testament to Martin's characterization that I needed no refresher on who each of the main characters were and what they were up to; many of the minor characters (the Reeds, Gendry and Hotpie, Dolorous Ed, etc.) were also warmly remembered. There are a lot of great characters introduced in this book, like Mance, Missandei, and Oberyn, and we get to know others, like Sam and Jamie, better. No character feels redundant, each character is unique, a tremendous achievement with a cast this size. Every single viewpoint character grew and changed in really interesting ways, and Tyrion, Jaime, and Jon's internal struggles were among the most engaging and complex I've read in a fantasy book. Jon's relationship with Ygritte was especially heartrending, and Jamie's with Brienne surprisingly touching. Reading this book proved that "spoilers" are an exaggerated threat to one's enjoyment of a work. I knew (almost) all of the major twists going into this book, and each still surprised, thrilled, and horrified me.

The revelation that Lysa had killed Jon Arryn (the root of all of the Stark's problems in this series) at Littlefinger's request was a genuine surprise, as well as Littlefinger's murder of Lysa, but it was just as impactful as the Red and Purple Weddings, as well as Oberyn's duel, which I already knew about.

Some minor criticisms: I thought Daenerys' chapters were good on their own (along with the world beyond the wall, Essos is fascinates me), but they broke up the flow of the novel. All of the other characters' chapters, to varying degrees, have some impact on another's; Daenerys is in her own story. I normally enjoy Arya's chapters, but she spent a lot of time wandering around the Riverlands and Reach with the Brotherhood, which wasn't always as engaging (Bran's chapters sometimes threatened to be long travelogues, but Myra's telling of the Crannogman's journey was pretty gripping); conversely, her journeys with the Hound felt cut short. Likewise, I thought Davos (one of my all-time favorite characters) didn't get enough attention, and I was surprised when he didn't get his own chapter at the end.
Nevertheless, this is high fantasy done so right. Definitely looking forward to the next two books, though I think I'll take a little more of a vacation; these books are a project.
Listened to the audiobook narrated by Roy Dotrice.

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river24's review against another edition

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adventurous dark medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

5/5
This is a beast of a book!
It’s won its place as my favourite book in the series so far (this is the third) because it was so incredibly captivating from start to finish.
The writing is always so detailed and beautiful, I’m in awe of it !! I think it’s my absolute favourite writing style. The world is so rich and plentiful and I love discovering more and more of it.
There were so many twists and turns, every time you thought things would settle down again another twist struck you in the back of the head (in the best way possible)!!
I discovered a new all-time favourite fight scene in this book, it was written perfectly and was very emotive and powerful, too.
One of my favourite characters finally got a POV ! The characters are always so complex and fleshed out, with ever-changing morals and motivations. One of my favourite aspects of this book was the unexpected friendships and unlikely alliances of certain characters, seeing those unique dynamics was incredible.
I also loved learning more world and family history (I’m a big nerd for all aspects of world-building)
Every inch of this story was jam-packed with action and intrigue and I adored it!! It was very hefty (weighing in at almost 1200 pages!) but 100% worth it :))
Some of my favourite quotes were; ‘We are puppets dancing on the strings of those who came before us, and one day our own children will take up our strings and dance in our steads.’ ‘We look up at the same stars and see such different things.’
As a disclaimer, I do want to say that there’s obviously a lot you have to overlook in order to enjoy game of thrones and I completely understand that some people just aren’t able to do that. Please check trigger warnings before you read !!

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