The third book of the series “A Song of Ice and Fire”, “A Storm of Swords” is easily the best of the three. Released less than a year after the second book, the story feels much closer and continuous than the gap between the first and second books. The story feels a bit less chaotic to follow, and its whopping 82 chapters are counter-balanced with many, many shocking story twists.
Stylistically, it is the darkest book, even with no less than 5 weddings. As the wars wind down, we clearly see their devastating effect on the world. Maybe that’s why I had to finish it quickly, as its darkness was often too much to bear and I wanted to move on to lighter things. The book also has many songs, to pay homage to the series’ title I guess, and I found them mostly uninteresting and contrived; Martin is no Tolkien.
I can’t say much more without spoiling anything. What I can say is that if you liked the first book, read sequentially (without much break) the second and third book, since the second book doesn’t stand as well on its own and the events in the story lines are too much intertwined. As the wars between the various kings wind down, I suspect I can take a much needed break before the 4th book.
Published on September 29, 2012 at 21:22 EDT
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