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A review by lauraeydmann82
A Storm of Swords: Steel and Snow by George R.R. Martin
5.0
Awesome next instalment of this series… if you haven’t read any of the other books in this series, don’t start here! If you have, you’ll be pleased to know that in my opinion, the series goes from strength to strength.
If you’ve not read these books, and you like fantasy, you should. They are up there with the best – I would rank J.R. R. Tolkien, Robin Hobb and George R. R. Martin as my 3 favourite fantasy writers by far. If you’ve seen the TV series you know that the story doesn’t pull any punches, and I would say there is more sex, swearing and violence in the books than the TV series.
The characters are complex and well developed, and over the course of the books there is plenty of time to keep them this way. Main characters die, and when you first pick up the books you will probably be a little overwhelmed by the amount of characters, but just let it all wash over you, you’ll remember the important ones, and Martin is very good at introducing characters and helping you remember/discover who they are. The story lines and plots are intricate and intertwined, and have kept me interested throughout, and the technique of having each chapter told by a certain character is a fantastic way of helping tell a story spread across a whole kingdom, and several years.
We learn more about Jaime in this book, he is less of an arrogant prince and becomes more likeable as we learn more about his choices, and he becomes more humble. His relationship with Brienne is something I particularly enjoyed throughout this book. As always Tyrion seems to be the only character with any sense, compassion and intelligence, but still ends up being ridiculed and hated by his sister and father. Arya is becoming more of a warrior and less of a ‘lady’, which I like, Martin writes some good female characters!
So, if you’re working your way through the series, this doesn’t disappoint, if you’ve not read any of these yet, start at the beginning, and enjoy!
If you’ve not read these books, and you like fantasy, you should. They are up there with the best – I would rank J.R. R. Tolkien, Robin Hobb and George R. R. Martin as my 3 favourite fantasy writers by far. If you’ve seen the TV series you know that the story doesn’t pull any punches, and I would say there is more sex, swearing and violence in the books than the TV series.
The characters are complex and well developed, and over the course of the books there is plenty of time to keep them this way. Main characters die, and when you first pick up the books you will probably be a little overwhelmed by the amount of characters, but just let it all wash over you, you’ll remember the important ones, and Martin is very good at introducing characters and helping you remember/discover who they are. The story lines and plots are intricate and intertwined, and have kept me interested throughout, and the technique of having each chapter told by a certain character is a fantastic way of helping tell a story spread across a whole kingdom, and several years.
Spoiler
So, now for a little bit of spoilers… Jaime and Brienne are released by Catelyn to trade for her daughters, Robb marries a Westerling, destroying his betrothal to the Freys, and Arya meets the ‘Brotherhood without Banners’. King Joffrey decides to break his betrothal to Sansa and marry Lady Margaery Tyrell instead. Sansa instead has to marry Tyrion. Jon Snow goes beyond the Wall with the Night’s Watch and hatches a plan to spy on the Wildlings by pretending to become one of them. Daenerys is working her way through Slaver Bay freeing the slaves and building an army.We learn more about Jaime in this book, he is less of an arrogant prince and becomes more likeable as we learn more about his choices, and he becomes more humble. His relationship with Brienne is something I particularly enjoyed throughout this book. As always Tyrion seems to be the only character with any sense, compassion and intelligence, but still ends up being ridiculed and hated by his sister and father. Arya is becoming more of a warrior and less of a ‘lady’, which I like, Martin writes some good female characters!
So, if you’re working your way through the series, this doesn’t disappoint, if you’ve not read any of these yet, start at the beginning, and enjoy!