Customer Reviews

A Storm of Swords: A Song of Ice and Fire: Book Three

5 star:		(493)
4 star:		(52)
3 star:		(40)
2 star:		(19)
1 star:		(23)

 

 

The first 2 books I loved and read them almost nonstop. However in this the 3rd book some of the things are getting old. Dany is boring, Cat is getting boring same things over and over. However I think the book was good and I would not stop to recommend it to anyone.

One of the biggest problems with the book is that I want some "good guys" to have a little better outcome. I do not know how to explain it really it is just reality of the world of the 7 Kingdoms seems way to much "Earth reality"... I do not know it is like the Starks started out as the center point and they would bring about a heroic and masterful success in the realm. We had good guys and bad guys and guys in the middle. I like Tyrion very much and have a strange respect with the Kingslayer.

However my favorites keep getting stamped out and the others that are very interesting are not getting enough time. Jon for instance, Jon and his adventures and misadventures could be a standalone book without any of the rest.

I know this is a hard review to read it is hard to explain how I feel about the book. It is for sure that you must read it there is no doubting that. I just sometimes feel depressed after reading parts of it!

There is not White and Black in this series only shades and shadows of good and evil which is spread a little thicker here and there and neutral with other characters. Too much like the real world?

3 or 4 stars I will go for 3 just because I am not having a good time reading anymore. Is like reading about history in this world and I read fantasy to get away from here. Even so Martin is one of the finest if not the finest storytellers I have read. I just wish for little less depression and mental let down once I connect with a character. Sometimes I just expect Jon to fall off the wall or get stepped on by a Mammoth... yes I want a hero that lives long enough to do something. And like a Timex watch the bad guys just keep on ticking.

The first 2 books I loved and read them almost nonstop. However in this the 3rd book some of the things are getting old. Dany is boring, Cat is getting boring same things over and over. However I think the book was good and I would not stop to recommend it to anyone.

One of the biggest problems with the book is that I want some "good guys" to have a little better outcome. I do not know how to explain it really it is just reality of the world of the 7 Kingdoms seems way to much "Earth reality"... I do not know it is like the Starks started out as the center point and they would bring about a heroic and masterful success in the realm. We had good guys and bad guys and guys in the middle. I like Tyrion very much and have a strange respect with the Kingslayer.

However my favorites keep getting stamped out and the others that are very interesting are not getting enough time. Jon for instance, Jon and his adventures and misadventures could be a standalone book without any of the rest.

I know this is a hard review to read it is hard to explain how I feel about the book. It is for sure that you must read it there is no doubting that. I just sometimes feel depressed after reading parts of it!

There is not White and Black in this series only shades and shadows of good and evil which is spread a little thicker here and there and neutral with other characters. Too much like the real world?

3 or 4 stars I will go for 3 just because I am not having a good time reading anymore. Is like reading about history in this world and I read fantasy to get away from here. Even so Martin is one of the finest if not the finest storytellers I have read. I just wish for little less depression and mental let down once I connect with a character. Sometimes I just expect Jon to fall off the wall or get stepped on by a Mammoth... yes I want a hero that lives long enough to do something.

The first 2 books I loved and read them almost nonstop. However in this the 3rd book some of the things are getting old. Dany is boring, Cat is getting boring same things over and over. However I think the book was good and I would not stop to recommend it to anyone.

One of the biggest problems with the book is that I want some "good guys" to have a little better outcome. I do not know how to explain it really it is just reality of the world of the 7 Kingdoms seems way to much "Earth reality"... I do not know it is like the Starks started out as the center point and they would bring about a heroic and masterful success in the realm. We had good guys and bad guys and guys in the middle. I like Tyrion very much and have a strange respect with the Kingslayer.

However my favorites keep getting stamped out and the others that are very interesting are not getting enough time. Jon for instance, Jon and his adventures and misadventures could be a standalone book without any of the rest.

I know this is a hard review to read it is hard to explain how I feel about the book. It is for sure that you must read it there is no doubting that. I just sometimes feel depressed after reading parts of it!

There is not White and Black in this series only shades and shadows of good and evil which is spread a little thicker here and there and neutral with other characters. Too much like the real world?

3 or 4 stars I will go for 4 just because Martin is one of the finest if not the finest storytellers I have read. I just wish for little less depression and mental let down once I connect with a character. Sometimes I just expect Jon to fall off the wall or get stepped on by a Mammoth...

Martin is a great storyteller, but no Tolkein. I enjoyed this series, but the storylines tend to keep repeating themselves--namely: treachery, murder, killing, rape, sexual exploits, and torture. The storyline keeps jumping from character to character, so you have to try and remember what the character was doing the last time you read about them (perhaps four or five chapters before). Sometimes the storyline seems to drag until you just want to read the last chapter and see what finally happened. And--heaven forbid you get too attached to any character or are looking for a hero or heroine in these books! There are no "good guys" here and if there are, they don't last long! One thing that really turned me off about these books is Martin's graphic descriptions of murder, mutilation, torture, and especially the sexual exploits of characters (especially Tyrion and Danerys). Martin uses so much crude language that sometimes these books seemed more "X" rated smut literature, than good fantasy. Maybe he is trying to appeal to a more masculine audience--but from the standpoint of a female that enjoys Science fiction/fantasy books, I was repulsed by the vulgarity and crude graphic sexual explanations. Don't get me wrong--every chapter does not contain this kind of text, but he does tend to have certain crude words that he uses like common adjectives over and over. He could take a lesson from Tolkein and learn that great fantasy doesn't necessarily mean that you have to have explicit sexual encounters, vulgarity, and extreme graphic violence to create a great fantasy novel. I did really enjoy the basic storyline in these books and Martin kept me interested enough to finish the series. Will I read "A Feast for Crows" when it comes out--probably yes, because I want to see what happens. Don't get me wrong--Martin is a great storyteller. Just be forewarned that some of the explicit and graphic content and vulgar language may turn some people off. I would personally be very careful about who I recommended these books to.

First off, I must admit: I adore reading the Song of Ice and Fire series, I've read it more than once, and I believe it's very well-written. The political intrigue is brilliantly conceived, and the world it's set in has been developed to the exceeding detail that's a characteristic of many great fantasy novels, like Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time (and of course Tolkien's Lord of the Rings). And SoIaF is better at keeping the reader's interest in some ways than WoT, refraining from going into immense detailed paragraphs about things irrelevant to the plot.

However, Song of Ice and Fire's intensifying sources of woe(horrendous rape, torture, execution, etc.), growing particularly apparent in Storm of Swords, are getting slightly tiring. The fact is, even though you come to sympathize with many of Martin's great, well-developed characters, you start to become sick of everyone becoming subject to every awful occurence that one could possibly conceive of in a fantasy setting...multiple times. Inner conflict starts blurring together, and I cringe every time I come upon yet another character about to declare: "ANGST! Angst, angst angst and more angst! Oh my angsty angsty angst!" etc. etc. Little that is new and different from what's previously happened in A Game of Thrones and A Clash of Kings shows up, also. The novelties that seemed so interesting and wonderful in the beginning start getting old--"Oh, no, not more obsessing over the Iron Throne. Aaah."

This books owes more to TV soaps & dramas like "All My Children" & "Dallas" than it does to written works like Tolkien's "Rings".
That's not to say it's a "bad" book, far from it. The story lines are well written and despite the 900 plus pages, it is a very enjoyable fast paced read. The short chapters focusing on an individual character at a time keep the book flowing and moving forward quickly. And, like TV soaps, the plotting, scheming and backstabbing (literally in this case) are first rate! However, if you enjoy reading books (a trilogy in this case) that come to a conclusion, ending or finale, best look elsewhere. After 3 books and almost 2500 pages, you would think the "R.R." could have finished what he started, not. The book ends with more unanswered questions than answered ones. Most of the storylines woven throughout the book are left hanging with no closure. I guess the reader will have to wait for the next installment of the series to find out "who shot J.R.". Personally, I am looking forward to the next book; but, I still can't decide if Martin's choice of the initials "R.R." is blasphemy.

My favorite aspect of Ice and Fire is the complexity of its characters. You are allowed to see the humanity of the most dastardly villan, while at the same time, even the most virtuous of characters have elements which, at best could be called weaknesses.
While there is a solid core of the supernateral within the series, obvious in the opening, do not look for it within the first book, it is a captivating political story of a disintegrating kingdom with some of the best battle scenes in literature.
I am EAGERLY awaiting the continuation. I will enjoy the first three again, before reading the forth. My only question is why the hard cover version of the first book was pulled by the publisher.

When I first read the reviews for this series, I was in hopes of finding another epic series like "The Lord of the Rings, "Wheel of Time", and "The Sword of Truth". Martin has a mixed writing style compared to many of the masters of fantasy, He follows in the foot steps of Jordan and Goodkind, evolving multiple semi-complex plots and characters across an entire fantasy realm.

As a reader of fantasy novels, I understand that all writers have their own unique styles, but one thing that has always stood out was the main character(s) and purpose. With the three books in, "A Song of Ice and Fire" series, I am still lost to both. In the first book, the apparent main character was killed, then a second minor character took his place. Halfway through book two, he's gone from the story line and five other characters are now bidding for the main character position in books two and three. The purpose of each main character is different, some looking for justice, some for wealth and power, and other characters disapear from the story line all together then re-appear to have some major impact of the story line.

One other item that tends to pull me away from this series, is the lack of magic. There is a small hint to it, but nothing as profound as the other series listed above. I would place this series more in the like of King Author and Round Table, than Middle Earth and the Midlands.

All in all, I will probably continue to follow this series, but it lacks all the things I feel are necessary to be an epic fantasy series.

I have just finished this book and am still in a daze. Actually I read all three of the "Song of Fire and Ice" books, one right after another and my eyeballs are ready to fall out. These are VERY long books! Not that I at all mind long, thick books. And let me say that there is something about the way that George R.R. Martin writes that is addictive. Despite my growing frustration with this series, I could not put any of the books down and walk away. He pulled me into whatever is going on at the time -- and often there isn't MUCH going on -- even if it is from the POV of one of my not-so-favorite characters. At first I resented the back-and-forth of the book. One chapter was about the Wall, the next was about Dany and her dragons... I was tempted to read all the "Jon" chapters, for instance, all at once and go back and read all the "Tryrion" chapters etc. Except that it became obvious that somehow they are all tied together and that skipping back and forth wouldn't work...

After praising Martin's writing abilities, I have to say that the overall series is a big disappointment. Some reviewers insist it's "better than Tolkien". Not even close. The first book, "A Game of Thrones" started off the series in good shape. But by the second book, "A Clash of Kings" it was flagging badly. This book confirms what I dreaded -- Martin is really Robert Jordan and will never end this story. Jordon's never ending "Wheel of Time" series is on it's 10th 1000 page book. I read the reviews for those books and many recommended Martin's series instead. But what is the difference? Other than the fact that Martin is a better writer, that is. This series has bogged down. How can you not advance the plot in 3000+ pages?? Sure we saw some major characters get removed. But the plot itself -- i.e. who gets the iron throne -- is as far from resolved as it was in book #1. There are a couple fewer king wannabes running around but still no real king in sight. The remaining major characters go from one crises to another but never solve their own individual problems. And from the trends in book #3, they aren't likely to do so any time soon.

I see there is a 4th book coming out (in hardcover, of course). I would be very surprised if this was the final book of the series. Why do these authors milk their cash cow to death? Jordan is still going strong and it looks like Martin is following in his 10+ book footsteps. When the 4th book comes out I'll get it from the library, if I read it at all. By the time it's published I'll forget who is on what side (not that that is clear anyway) and what "ser" has which sigil. Oh well. Another promising author lost to the money god...

I read this because of the glowing reviews. It took me 3 months to get through this garbage mascarading as book. Not because it's 1,000 pages but because of mindnumbingly boring. In hands of a real writer this would have been 500 page book and possible good. As written it isn't even readable. Nothing happens for hundreds of pages. The only thing to keep you turning pages is the thought something must happen. Characters like Eddard Stark are so one sided they are a joke. Everything that happens is forced. Characters are never rational. Most of the scenes are contrived. The whole off with his head thing is so pathetic. Then I am left wondering what third grader edited the book. Does Martin know how to say anything without thirty layers of nonsense surrounding it? Doubtful...No, oops that's he said doubtfully, anxiously, darkly...Oops no, I meant he spit or should I have said. No Martin wouldn't have. His characters don't say. They swear, admit, spit, snort, echo but they do it quietly, bitterly, sourly, softly, respectfully, happily, breathlessly, calmly, and that's only in the first few pages. Imagines the joyfully, tearfully, fitfully wondrous things to come.