Yeh know nuthin, Jon Snow
What's that? ANOTHER book review? Oh yes!
Wait.
You want an actual blog entry? Oh.
Well…see, the past few weeks have been boring, but fine, have an update: work is continually boring and now I get to attend weekly meetings (on Mondays of all days); going on vacation soon (Disney); extended family is planning a November trip to either Italy or Spain, but I probably won't go; previous work in progress shelved at 60k because I need to redo the opening; current work in progress is 25-33% complete; no, I still haven't submitted any shorts or flashes.
Onto the review!
A Storm of Swords by George R.R. Martin
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
To date, this is the longest book in the series and now my current favorite. It didn't start out that way, though. It started out with more dying of POV characters, more stupid decisions, and a reader openly complaining to all who would listen that I wouldn't read beyond this book—what's the point when my favorites keeping coming out short by a head?
It started with the crazy idea of Cat freeing Jamie, continued with Arya still refusing to tell anyone who she was, and continued with Jon becoming more and more of a wildling. The Red Wedding nearly finished me, with Rob—one of the more intriguing characters—getting killed in a horrible fashion. But, that's when things started to turn. In the end, Jon and Tyrion redeemed the book with finally catching a break and thus, restoring my faith in the series.
I've touched on Martin's penchant for killing off people, and I don't hate it, but it's truly a double-edged sword. The deaths are dramatic and painful and sad, which ends up touching the reader, but at the expense of know characters going by the wayside. The next novel, A Feast for Crows, is mostly filled with POV characters I don't know and don't care about. Thousands of pages in and it's nearly like starting over. The War of Kings is over, the Dragons still sit on the wrong side of the narrow sea, and the South just doesn't interest me. But, A Dance with Dragons sits on my desk awaiting my eyes, so I must go through book 4.
All I've done is complain, so how can this truly be my favorite? Well, this is really a culmination of the first two books. Underhanded deals are revealed (and many people behind the mask are surprising). Many character's arcs are at an end, but other appear to just be starting. Some characters I disliked now have me on the fence, while others get my blood boiling as much as ever. And there are a still favorites hanging around. And the final chapter, the epilogue, wow. A bad time to be a Frey.
The only thing I've begun to dislike is how the author continually refreshes the reader of previous events. We get it. We've read the previous books. There are some chapters that seem to drag on much more than required, but given the length of the saga, I think Martin has the right to venture from the path and indulge from time to time. The scene with Sansa building a replica of Winterfell was touching, even though I found it boring at first. All in all, I'm a bit tentative about reading book 4, but I'm sure the new POV will be interesting and possibly refreshing.
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