A Storm of Swords (2000) Book Review

 Hey everyone, how's it going? I'm doing okay. So today I'm here to review A Storm of Swords by George R.R. Martin, which came out in 2000. I'm not sure how much I actually have to say about this book, so this might be a short review. There will also be some spoilers, but given that the Red Wedding happened in the third season of Game of Thrones, and everyone who has watched the show knows what that is, basically the spoilers aren't really spoilers at this point. So let's get into it.

I'm going to be honest with you. I think that this is probably the weakest of the three books that I've read in the series. It's still really good, and Martin did a wonderful job of developing this world, but with the exception of Joffrey's death, the Red Wedding, and Tywin Lannister dying at the hands of Tyrion, not a whole lot happens in this book. Winterfell is basically gone since the Boltons took it from Theon Greyjoy at the end of the last book, and several of the storylines are pretty weak compared to how and where they started in the first two books.

I think the weakest storylines in the book are Arya's, Bran's, and Sansa's. Sansa's story started out strongly, but was ultimately weakened by her forced marriage to Tyrion, not long before Joffrey's death at his wedding to Margaery, and then suddenly she's with Littlefinger at the Eyrie, under the name Alayne Stone, Stone being the female equivalent of Snow for illegitimate daughters in Westeros, and it doesn't really make much sense. I think what I dislike about Arya's and Bran's storylines is the traveling aspect, given that both characters are constantly traveling, never staying in one place for too long. Being that the traveling part is what I like the least about The Lord of the Rings, I'm not surprised that I don't like the aspect of either Arya's or Bran's storylines. I think it's also because of who each character is traveling with. I've never liked Sandor Clegane, known as the Hound, and nobody else Arya travels with are likeable characters either, so it's really hard for me to be invested in Arya's storyline.

While I like Bran's companions, Hodor, and Jojen and Myra Reed, again, it's that uncertainty of their journey that I find difficult to invest in, along with the more magical, and mystical elements attached to his storyline. Even Martin has said that Bran was the hardest character to write for, according to his interview in Science Fiction Weekly magazine from 2000. Just the whole magic stuff is really hard to deal with in such a realistic setting compared to the world of Tolkien. 

I think the strongest storylines though are Jon Snow's and Jaime Lannister's. While a good portion of Jaime's storyline also involves him traveling quite a bit, the dynamic between him and Brienne of Tarth, and Jaime's growth from that dynamic, makes the storyline more interesting than Bran's and Arya's. Jon's is just brilliant. The Night's Watch, the Wildlings, and all of the intrigue beyond the Wall had me riveted anytime a Jon chapter came up. His relationship with Ygritte was also pretty great too. It almost felt like Jon's time with the Wildlings, and with Ygritte, made him grow as a person more than his time as a member of the Night's Watch did in the first two books.

Of course, Tyrion is still my favourite character. Which is why his storyline in this book was hard for me to get through. It was good, but he really got put through the ringer in this book. Especially with being forced to marry Sansa, and then learning that Tywin had lied about Tyrion's first wife, Tysha, AND being accused of murdering Joffrey. That's rough for sure. As for Daenerys, I feel like she's lost her way. I guess I agree with Jorah's assessment that Dany is wasting her time in capturing the cities of Slaver's Bay when she should be amassing an army to move on Westeros. 

Overall, despite my feelings about it, A Storm of Swords is still a very good book. It's well written, it's just that I disagree with the direction that Martin took some of the surviving characters from the first book. But I suppose that such is life in Westeros.

That's going to be it for me for this week. I'll be back next week with more reviews and other posts. Besides my review of next week's episode of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds I'm not sure what I'll be posting exactly, but I have things to consider. So until then have a great rest of your weekend and I will talk to you all later. Take care.