A Storm of Swords

Scottchan

"Of the five contenders for power, one is dead, another in disfavor, and still the wars rage, as alliances are made and broken. Joffrey sits on the Iron Throne, the uneasy ruler of the Seven Kingdoms. His most bitter rival, Lord Stannis, stands defeated and disgraced, victim of the sorceress who holds him in her thrall.

Young Robb still rules the North from the fortress of Riverrun. Meanwhile, making her way across a blood-drenched continent is the exiled queen, Daenerys, mistress of the only three dragons left in the words.

And as opposing forces maneuver for the final showdown, an army of barbaric wildlings arrives from the outermost limits of civilization, accompanied by 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..."

* *

Over one thousand pages makes up this amazing novel, the third installment in the series A Song of Fire and Ice, A Storm of Swords by George R. R. Martin. 

Dreamstine

The characters who offer their point of view, have changed again from the first and second book. This creative angle is an effective method to draw the reader in by allowing them to see some events from various perspectives to better understand the underlying motives of the characters. It serves to bridge the reader to different characters throughout the series, changing the way the readers perceive them.
And where their loyalties lie...

However, I found myself stopping to consider how the characters had gotten to where they were. The ever changing perspectives creates the problem of forgetting where certain characters were while simultaneously offering the aforementioned understanding. 

The plot, which I just have to mention briefly, literally had my mouth hanging open, the word "what" perched on my tongue. It was completely unpredictable! So many things happen constantly: characters die, known plans fail while secret plans succeed, and betrayal is everywhere. Loyalty a hope lost on the raven's wing. 

I was a little disappointed, okay more than a little, when three of my favorite characters "died." I put the quotations around the word because more and more people who die in these novels are re-appearing as... I'll let you figure that our for yourself. 

And not to spoil anything, but the last page will blow every reader away. It makes the previous 1126-ish pages totally worth it.

A Storm of Swords 
on Amazon

rating: 3/5 cups

Teaser Tuesday (5)

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Another teaser this week from George R.R. Martin's series! :) Spring Into Reading really has me racing through these books and I'm absolutely loving it! (I've even started the watching the HBO series) :D 

A Storm of Swords (p. 404)
              - George R.R. Martin

"Down in the square, a thrown stone caught the captive on the cheek, turning his head. Not the Kingslayer, Arya thought, when she saw his face. The gods had heard her prayers after all." 

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