Here is the third volume in George R.R. Martin’s magnificent cycle of novels that includes A Game of Thrones and A Clash of Kings. Together, this series comprises a genuine masterpiece of modern fantasy, destined to stand as one of the great achievements of imaginative fiction.
Of the five contenders for power, one is dead, another in disfavor, and still the wars rage as alliances are made and broken. Joffrey sits on the Iron Throne, the uneasy ruler of of the Seven Kingdoms. His most bitter rival, Lord Stannis, stands defeated and disgraced, victim of the sorceress who holds him in her thrall. Young Robb still rules the North from the fortress of Riverrun. Meanwhile, making her way across a blood-drenched continent is the exiled queen, Daenerys, mistress of the only three dragons still left in the world. And as opposing forces manoeuver for the final showdown, an army of barbaric wildlings arrives from the outermost limits of civilization, accompanied by a horde of mythical Others—a supernatural army of the living dead whose animated corpses are unstoppable. As the future of the land hangs in the balance, no one will rest until the Seven Kingdoms have exploded in a veritable storm of swords… (Goodreads)
So, I became a hug fan of A Game of Thrones and from that, decided that reading the books was an absolute must! Of course, the first book was fairly similar to the film, as was the second – although it had its differences. This book, however, was completely different and I found myself having to completely forget everything I thought I knew about ASOIAF and take the events as if they were completely new to me. I still love it! It was so amazing and just… *sigh* how do I even find the words?
I have to admit, I was forced to put this book down quite a few times and for quite a while. However, when I picked it back up again, it wasn’t that difficult to remember where I was and what had happened beforehand in the book. I think, considering the amount of information that the reader has to take in on a general basis with this series, Martin has done a good job of making it fairly easy to follow and to remember who is who and what is going on in multiple places at any one time.
Of course, as an major fan of this series, I had to get to the Red Wedding and the Purple Wedding. I have been waiting to read these events sinceI started the book and I finally got to it! I felt just as emotional reading the book, as I did watching the events take place within the tv series. There were, obviously, differences – however, I loved the fact that there were differences because the experience is new. I felt sorry for Tyrion, as I always do – he is the scapegoat for everything and Joffrey treats him especially bad. It almost makes me wish that Tyrion was the person who poisoned him. Joffrey is dead! Let’s throw another party to celebrate!!
Sansa bugs me. A lot. She is childish and seemingly stupid when it comes to politics and the way that people are in general. You would have thought that she would have learned by now that she should trust nobody and always be on her guard, but no. This hasn’t happened. She is still our naive character – maybe she will learn in the near future?
The characterisation and world building within, not just this book, but this series, is so good that it is easy for the reader to fall into this story and forget about the world around them. I could easily sit and read this book for an entire day and still not get bored. This is also one of those books that you can read multiple times and you will always pick up/learn something new that you may have missed the first time round.
I love this series, both in word and in motion and I gave this book 5/5 stars.
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