A Storm of Swords by George R. R. Martin

A Storm of Swords by George R.R. Martin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

There is a lot going on in this book.

From court intrigue to murder to torture to love, this book has a lot of everything and then even more after that.

I would say the biggest downfall of this book, and the series, is how emotionally draining they are. You learn to either not invest in any of the characters, or to brace yourself for a world of sadness and grief. I find that even being numb to the characters can be draining, however.

Then there's also the length of the book - my copy was 1128 pages long (not including the appendix). That makes for some dedicated reading, and it's because of that that I always need to take a break between books.

While it is initially hard to keep track of all the characters in the series, by this point it's fairly easy A) because about 1/3 of the characters are dead and B) the same names keep popping up over and over (the only people this does not apply to are the Freys. Fuck the Freys, there are far too many of them and they're basically all awful).

I think this book has a good mix of POV characters, so there's sure to be a favorite or two in there for everyone. I do wish we could branch out and see some different POV characters, as we basically have the usual her save for Jaime and Sam (was Sam a POV character in the second book? It's been so long I can't remember now). Especially people not from/on Westeros, but maybe that's just me who would like that.

The plot has both simmered down and started to stir up again with this book, as some kings die, new kings are made, and we finally being to approach "the Others" in this book (although not as much as I would have liked).

It's a good book part of a good series, but you really need to dedicate yourself to the task. You cannot half-ass this series. If you can't give it your all... Well, there's the TV show and easily a million other books to read. But if you have the time, it's well worth it.

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