Title: A Storm of Swords (A Song of Ice and Fire, #3) Author: George R. R. Martin Published by: Voyager Books/Bantam Spectra Published on: 8 August 2000 Pages: 1216
My skin has turned to porcelain, to ivory, to steel.
Chapter 61, Sansa V
There are two major emotions you will feel upon reading this book, summed up perfectly by these GIFs:
Let's talk about the prologue. The one given the honour this time is Chett, Maester Aemon's ex-steward. If you remember from the previous book, A Clash of Kings, Chett wasn't a fan of both Jon and Sam -- which is quite understandable, considering. But, he was also quite a shitty person -- which is not understandable, lol. Anyway, so he was plotting against LC Mormont with several shitheads of Night's Watch brothers. Unfortunately, depends on whose POV, a certain plot twist occured that made this hands down the best, most gripping, most thrilling Prologue I've ever encountered. My initial intention of only reading just the Prologue went down the drain.
Most people will say that A Storm of Swords is the best book of the series, and I wholeheartedly agree. If the prologue is any indication, the story is full of twists and shocking revelation, that a mere reviewer such as I finds it hard to tell the synopsis without spoiling anything. But lemmeh try.
First, let's visit the political intrigue of Westeros. The War of the Five Kings is still going strong, but things got a bit shaky in the Stark's camp once they received wind of what was happening in Winterfell. Let's backtrack a bit though, Robb's campaign had been on a roll! He kept on winning the battles against the Lannisters' army, so much so that Tywin had started to count him as a true contender to the throne. Robb then returned to Riverrun to join his mother after defeating the Lannisters in the West. Cat, who thought Robb would blame her for freeing Jaime, was pleasantly surprised on her son's warm welcome. He didn't blame her just one bit, even pondering how one would do anything for love. Sounds like he's maturing, no?
Weeeeeell, not exactly. Because Robb came with news of his own: he married Jeyne Westerling, the daughter of a minor House in the West. Which means that he wouldn't be able to marry Walder Frey's daughter, as promised, in exchange for Frey's army. Which means that Walder Frey's wrath was imminent.
(I would also like to be put on record that, as much as I think Jeyne Westerling is the blandest female character to ever exist in the Ice and Fire universe, I would choose her any day of the week and twice on Sunday as opposed to Talisa Maegyr, whose mere existence is one of the reasons why I will never ever forgive D&D for ruining Robb's character)
(I mean yes he was a fool, but at least he was an honourable fool, not a brain-in-your-dick fool)
Fuck you, D&D
As you might have guessed, Walder Frey was pissed and he took his army off of Riverrun to return to The Twins. This was the last blow, as Robb finally got wind of what happened in Winterfell. Convinced his brothers were dead, he now had to figure out how to get Walder Frey to his side again, as he was slowly losing the war, albeit winning the battles.
In the North, the long lost brothers (i.e. Bran and Rickon) were on their not-so-merry way with Hodor, Meera, and Jojen to meet the Three-Eyed Crow, who rumour had it lived to the north of the Wall. Jon, on the other hand, was doing his spy job amongst the wildlings well -- a little too well, I daresay. Being a pretty, pretty boy (oh Kit), he caught the interest of a red-haired wildling woman named Ygritte. Red hair meant lucky for their people. But the danger of being a spy is sometimes, when you get to see things from your enemy's perspective, you start to understand why they do what they do and grow to sympathise with them. That was exactly what happened to Jon. He started pondering why wildlings were considered the enemy, when they were actually fellow men looking for a better life. And for protection. Wasn't the true enemy those ice creatures from the Land of Always Winter?
In the South, we've got Jaime, Brienne, and Cleos trying to fulfill their promise to Cat; Arya trying to reach Riverrun with Hot Pie and Gendry, but ending up meeting a group of outlaws who called themselves the Bortherhood without Banners; a POV who survived the Battle of Blackwater Bay; and a new player in the game of thrones, House Tyrell. Margaery was such a delicious character.
In Essos, Dany was finally on her way to Westeros, thanks to the three ships and bodyguard sent by Magister Illyrio. With these gifts, came a warning from Jorah, who advised her to be wary of Illyrio and to buy her own army called the Unsullied from Astapor, city of slavery. Considered the best infantry in the world, they would be great addition to help Dany win the throne. Problem was, money was not something Dany had in abundance of. Would our Mother of Dragons be able to channel her inner dragon and be the conqueror Westeros needed? With each character having diverging paths, how would their story end up?
EGGLYSIS
How do you explain the thrill that is A Storm of Swords?
It is a first rate work, completely up there with LotR's Return of the King. Reading it just transported you immediately to another world. All of these characters are like a breathing, living being. Timid Dany overcame her abusive past and became the badass warrior she was always destined to. Jon learning to not be so narrow-minded and the sacrifice that comes with duty. Arya, although being on the run, was in the company of friends. Sansa never lost hope of reuniting with her family. And no matter how impossible it seemed, Robb and Cat were determined to take back Winterfell.
Everything felt real, raw, and you can smell the hope within your grasp. Until that happened.
This was me. No kidding.
That part rendered me numb. I couldn't believe myself, couldn't believe what I just read. I spent the whole day afterwards just staring at the wall and wondered what on Earth I put myself through. I honestly almost gave up, the trauma felt so real because these characters felt real to me. Then, my friend encouraged me to continue, as this was rock bottom and things could only go up then, no?
Indeed, you could feel that the tables have turned. It may not be such an in your face moment, it wasn't even revenge. It was almost like these characters dug their own hole and were left suffocated in it by no one's fault but their own. I also loved that GRRM managed to take your typical hero/villain fantasy characters and turned them on their heads. A villain you surely have despised since book 1 actually had reasons why he did what he did, a hero turned into a fool.
Btw, do watch out on the Martells and the Tyrells. Especially the Martells though, Oberyn Martell was my instant favourite. He lived to avenge his sister's death, Elia Martell (Rhaegar's wife, in case you forgot), and dude had some awesome badass lines. And it isn't a GRRM book if the ending didn't leave you shocked with its stunning reveal and gasping for more.
Overall, A Storm of Swords...
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