5 stars for A Storm of Swords (A Song of Ice and Fire book 3) by George R. R. Martin.
The first thing I look at in this book are the maps and then the appendix (at the back of the book). I am glad to see that the author has finally provided a map of The Free Cities beyond The Narrow Sea. There is also a bonus map of whatever lies beyond the Wall in the North. It is a bonus to me because I am not expecting it. At all. As usual, due to the extremely small print of my leather-cloth-bound edition, I need the aid of a magnifying glass to read the maps properly. But that does not stop me from consulting the maps as and when needed. Instead, I am oft seen carrying the hand lens around when I read.
Two new voices are added in this instalment. The first is someone totally unexpected. And that is Jaime Lannister, the kingslayer. The second is Samwell Tarly of the Night's Watch. I am pleasantly surprised and very happy to be seeing the world through Jaime's eyes. He is, after all, a Lannister and known to be a formidable character - albeit from afar - since book 1. As for Samwell, I didn't have much expectation of this character, but since his voice is added, I am sure the author has great things in store for him.
As with any good book, each time I open the page to where I leave off, I want to do nothing else but curl up on my couch and devote my entire being to the world of the Song of Ice and Fire. Yes, a great story will do that to you. I yearn to continue the search for the three-eyed crow, to learn more about the first men in the Neck also known as the Crannogmen or mudmen or frogeaters, to discover the secrets of the children of the forest, and to find out more about the greenseers and wargs. The wargs especially; it is said that the greatest of them can wear the skins of any beast that flies or swims or crawls and can look through the eyes of the weirwoods and see the truth that lies beneath the world.
There are fights and battles to win before the kingdom is secure. This book is very much a story on the King of the Trident, the northmen and the rivermen as much as it is about the knights and squires and men-at-arms, lords and commoners, all bound together only by their one purpose. There is also the mystical Others which I am still very much curious about their origins. Another is the mysterious make of weapons and the purpose for their presence - Valyrian steel, dragonglass daggers, dragonglass arrowheads and dragonglass spearhead.
As with the earlier books, there are so many exciting opposites here. There is day and there is night. There is dark and there is light. There is black and there is white. There is ice and there is fire. Bitter and sweet. Pain and pleasure. Winter and summer. Evil and good. Death and life.
Reading this book, this series, is like taking an exhilarating walk in the mountains. Only it is even better. Everything is so welcoming and refreshing. I can never know what is going to happen next. There are not just ups and downs but plots and developments that take me aback totally. The characters are seldom who they appear to be. The author does an impressive job giving life to his characters. They leap out of the pages with a mixture of good and bad traits depending on the perspective of the characters.
Thus far, I like almost all the characters, major or minor, in the book, with the exception of two who constantly get on my nerves. I get really annoyed over this one character who keeps repeating the phrase "You know nothing". Every time I see this phrase, I want to roll my eyes even though knowing my doing so will not stop it from appearing again. The other character which I dislike to the core is one who has a black heart through and through. There is not a shred of goodness in that person. None whatsoever. At the end of the day, what I want to say is, the author does a fantastic job crafting all his characters, no matter the numbers. There is quantity for sure, but there is quality as well, which is what makes all the details so amazing.
This book 3 is the thickest among the five in the series. Perhaps because of that, even as I reach the end of the story, I still find it hard to believe that I have stormed through the entire book. As the saying goes "The problem with reading a good book is that you want to finish the book, but you don't want to finish the book." The consolation is, there are two more books to go before the series wrap up for good. I know I can still continue to live in the alternate world of Westeros for some time yet. I am so looking forward to the next book, to experience the cold that is approaching and the night that never ends. Winter is coming...
Publisher: Bantam; 1st Edition
Publication date: 31 Oct 2000
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Of the five contenders for power, one is dead, another in disfavor, and still the wars rage as violently as ever, as alliances are made and broken. Joffrey, of House Lannister, sits on the Iron Throne, the uneasy ruler of the land of the Seven Kingdoms. His most bitter rival, Lord Stannis, stands defeated and disgraced, the victim of the jealous sorceress who holds him in her evil thrall. But young Robb, of House Stark, still rules the North from the fortress of Riverrun. Robb plots against his despised Lannister enemies, even as they hold his sister hostage at King’s Landing, the seat of the Iron Throne. Meanwhile, making her way across a blood-drenched continent is the exiled queen, Daenerys, mistress of the only three dragons still left in the world. . . .
But as opposing forces maneuver for the final titanic showdown, an army of barbaric wildlings arrives from the outermost line of civilization. In their vanguard is a horde of mythical Others--a supernatural army of the living dead whose animated corpses are unstoppable. As the future of the land hangs in the balance, no one will rest until the Seven Kingdoms have exploded in a veritable storm of swords. . . .
*Blurb from Goodreads*
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