A Song of Ice and Fire- A Storm of Swords: Book One- Steel and Snow
George R.R. Martin
1999
Game of Thrones - A Clash of Kings - A Storm of Swords: Book One: Steel and Snow - A Storm of Swords: Book Two: Blood and Gold - A Feast for Crows
1999
Game of Thrones - A Clash of Kings - A Storm of Swords: Book One: Steel and Snow - A Storm of Swords: Book Two: Blood and Gold - A Feast for Crows
"The war has been waged since time began, and before it is done, all
men must choose where they stand. On one side is R’hllor, the Lord of
Light, the Heart of Fire, the God of Flame and Shadow. Against him
stands the Great Other whose name may not be spoken, the Lord of
Darkness, the Soul of Ice, the God of Night and Terror. Ours is not a
choice between Baratheon and Lannister, between Greyjoy and Stark. It is
death we choose, or life. Darkness, or light.”
While I'm really enjoying making my way through George R.R. Martin's epic fantasy series, I've realized that the impending difficulty in continuing to review each installment as I finish it is the fact that there's not a huge amount of new information to say that doesn't involve giving out massive spoilers. While I know that there's only about five people who read this blog, including my grandparents, they might one day decide to take on the odyssey of reading the thousands of pages that comprise George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series, and I can't in good conscious dare to reveal some of the twists and turns of this fantastic soap opera for men. Hey, there's one paragraph finished already, I'm doing well.
Anyway, Steel and Snow picks up where A Clash of Kings so dramatically left the reader, and, like its two predecessors, the narration bounces all around Martin's fictional world tracking the adventures of its many leading characters, almost all of whom swept up in the bloody wars over the crown. Two of my favourite characters stand outside of the land of Westeros, exploring the fringes of the world and biding their time before a probable and powerful return to the forefront. In the middle of the steel and bloodshed, magic seems to be creeping into the world through the seems, as certain characters show off unexpected talents, changing the shape of the landscape and all the while building and building further plot and intrigue. Characters grow and develop, some meet their end. There are twists and turns with varying levels of surprise, and like the soap opera I'm determined to describe it as, it keeps on building to the next episode. The only criticism I have (which isn't really a proper one) is that the ending to this book is somewhat subdued compared to those prior, but then that's only because this is merely part one of two; the UK publisher split A Storm of Swords into two. This might seem a bit of a rip-off to some, but considering this book is about 600-pages long as it is, it's not much of a rip-off.
In terms of quality, this book isn't really any different to A Clash of Kings (which was better than A Game of Thrones, in my opinion). The writing style is unsurprisingly the same, including the sometimes hokey dialogue, and occasional snippets of sex and uber-violence. There's quality of consistency, which is obviously key to building a devoted fan-base as Martin has. There's perhaps less action in this volume than I might have expected, but that didn't really affect my reading. And that's about it. There's no real point in recommending this book to anyone because you either didn't like or aren't interested in the first book, or you do enjoy the series and you're going to get around to it anyway. It's quite good.
Anyway, Steel and Snow picks up where A Clash of Kings so dramatically left the reader, and, like its two predecessors, the narration bounces all around Martin's fictional world tracking the adventures of its many leading characters, almost all of whom swept up in the bloody wars over the crown. Two of my favourite characters stand outside of the land of Westeros, exploring the fringes of the world and biding their time before a probable and powerful return to the forefront. In the middle of the steel and bloodshed, magic seems to be creeping into the world through the seems, as certain characters show off unexpected talents, changing the shape of the landscape and all the while building and building further plot and intrigue. Characters grow and develop, some meet their end. There are twists and turns with varying levels of surprise, and like the soap opera I'm determined to describe it as, it keeps on building to the next episode. The only criticism I have (which isn't really a proper one) is that the ending to this book is somewhat subdued compared to those prior, but then that's only because this is merely part one of two; the UK publisher split A Storm of Swords into two. This might seem a bit of a rip-off to some, but considering this book is about 600-pages long as it is, it's not much of a rip-off.
In terms of quality, this book isn't really any different to A Clash of Kings (which was better than A Game of Thrones, in my opinion). The writing style is unsurprisingly the same, including the sometimes hokey dialogue, and occasional snippets of sex and uber-violence. There's quality of consistency, which is obviously key to building a devoted fan-base as Martin has. There's perhaps less action in this volume than I might have expected, but that didn't really affect my reading. And that's about it. There's no real point in recommending this book to anyone because you either didn't like or aren't interested in the first book, or you do enjoy the series and you're going to get around to it anyway. It's quite good.
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