Spoiler Free Storm of Swords Review

Like a lot of people, I didn’t know or care about the Game of Thrones world until the HBO series. I remember reading about an article on The Mary Sue about a New York Times article in which it was stated that this was ‘boy fiction.’ I didn’t read it right away because the first book seemed a little thick to read just to prove a point. I had things to do and other books to devour.  That changed after the second episode of Games of Thrones and I haven’t looked back since.

Two long books later and I finally reached the third. I have been told by everyone I know who has read it that this is the best one. These people clearly love to have their feelings messed with by George R.R. Martin. I am sitting here with about 200 pages to go and I am feeling wiped. I took a break with another book but the blue cover lured me back.  During these past few weeks or months I really don’t know at this point, I have laughed, yelled and thrown the book down. I have turned off the lights and stalked away, only to return a day or so later.

I will say this though, read it. I can’t imagine the series getting any better than this. I just cannot. I joked with De that I would do a blog post with just one word: WHY? The longer version of that post being: “WHY, SIR?”  This book makes the first two almost feel like a chore and I enjoyed the first two books.  It has some of everything (including the long drawn out descriptions of nothing that rivals Stephen King in his glory).  I won’t lie either, the racial cringe moments stand out and appear to be proud of themselves. Another one of the drawbacks could be that there are too many characters but….I can’t finish this joke without spoilers.

Again, I say read this series if you like the show, if you like epic fantasy, or if you have a bunch of free time on your hands.  Jokes about details aside, the pacing gets faster the longer you read. Tyrion’s chapters will always be the most entertaining because the character and his life master the balance of tragic humor. Martin also deserves credit for everyone else. You may not like them but you will feel their desperation in the portions written in italics. Seriously, I never thought I would care about the Onion Knight and yet I was happy to see him whenever he popped up after or before more interesting characters. Samwell also falls into this category, but he’s yards more lovable.

Enjoy Season 3!

About these ads