George R. R. Martin’s A STORM OF SWORDS
October 19, 2011 at 1:16 pm 1 comment
I was getting a bit obsessed with this series so after reading A CLASH OF KINGS I made myself take a break so that I wouldn’t ignore the other books in my ‘to read’ pile. So after a couple of months break I picked up book three in the series.
The third book is unusual because in Australia and the UK it is actually published in two volumes (Part I & Part II), each about 600 pages long. I was only going to read Part I but couldn’t help myself and kept on reading. I’m not 100% sure but I don’t think this book is split in two in the US and it certainly reads as if it should be one volume. Part I doesn’t really end on a cliffhanger, as I would expect of a book purposely cut in half. Part I is also all about building the story up for the huge action and twists of Part II keeping in line with the structure of the first two books. And boy are there twists and turns in this book.
Without wanting to give any spoilers this book is like George R. R. Martin has carefully laid out all his pieces on a board over the first two books and has now thrown every piece up into the air to see where they all land (and some pieces fall off the board!).
I now have two books to go before I’m caught up with every other Game of Thrones fan but I will take another break in between. Maybe over Christmas I’ll knock the last two books over. I can’t wait!
Entry filed under: Book Reviews. Tags: a game of thrones, books.
1.
Ystyn Francis | May 16, 2012 at 12:00 pm
I had the exact same experience after reading “Game of Thrones” and “A Clash of Kings” back-to-back, so it was nice to have a rest before diving back in. I finished this about a week ago and was again amazed at how compelling it is as a series. The hardest thing to accept is George R.R. Martin’s sadisitc streak which is equally the most horrifying and captivating element of the series. “Game of Thrones” would not be original without it.