Review of 'A Storm of Swords Part 2: Blood and Gold' by George R R Martin

2020 is going to be the year I finish reading the Game of Thrones series. Probably. But I'm feeling pretty determined to get through it after starting back in 2018. This is the fourth volume, the second part of the third book in the series. It's probably the most action packed of the books so far, and if you're a fan of the TV show, there are some massive scenes from it that all fit into this book.

This book mostly revolves around marriage, betrayal and revenge. After Robb Stark betrays the Freys by marrying a woman he falls in love with, breaking his engagement to one of the members of their family, they propose a marriage between his uncle and one of the many Frey daughters. This leads to the Red Wedding, where things don't quite go to plan for the Starks. Margaery and Joffrey Lannister are married, another wedding that tragedy strikes. Across the water, Daenerys is on a mission to free slaves and allow them to join the army she is amassing.

It's hard to ever go into much detail on the plot for these books because each one just has so much crammed in. Part 1 of A Storm of Swords really set the political background for a lot of the drama in this, and it really felt packed full of shocking scenes without making them seem forced, as the narrative had been leading up to them for a long time.

I'm very excited to read the fourth book in the series now, which I managed to find in a charity shop a few weeks ago!

Follow me on Bloglovin | Twitter | Instagram | Youtube

Review of 'A Storm of Swords Part 1: Steel and Snow' by George R R Martin

Last year was the year I really tried to get fully into the Game of Thrones series and honestly I'm pretty proud of having made my way through three of the volumes (two of the books - A Clash of Kings and A Storm of Swords) because these things are HEFTY. A Storm of Swords is split into two because together they'd come to over 1200 pages. This first book, although it has a fair amount of action in it, really sets up a lot of the big scenes for part two.

The book is told from the point of view of ten different narrators, switching between them as the story develops. We start off just before the Battle of Blackwater (which is where the previous book in the series finishes off). Tensions are increasing: Jamie Lannister is being held captive by Catelyn Stark and the Tullys, King's Landing is trying to rebuild itself in the midst of fractions in the Lannister family, the Red Lady has an ever-increasing hold over Stannis Baratheon, and Jon Snow is becoming truly a member of the Wildlings. 

As the book develops, Catelyn sets Jaime free in the hope that it will help her see her children again, whilst things take a turn for the worse for the Starks when Robb reneges on a marriage alliance to a supporting faction and marries for love instead. Arya's recognised for being a Stark and loses her anonymity as a wild 'boy', instead gaining a hefty target on her back worth a lot of gold. Over the sea, Daenerys is building her army and meets the Unsullied.

This is such a massive tome that it's really hard to summarise quickly without either giving everything away or ranting on forever. However, just writing this post has made me remember just how much I loved reading the series - maybe 2020 will be the year I finally complete it? The book really delves into the heart the stories of some of my favourite characters: we see Tyrion recover from the battle of Blackwater and how this changes him, and some of the scenes between Daenerys and the owners of the Unsullied are incredible.

This is for sure a 5 star read for me. If you're a fan of high fantasy, or want to push the boat out with some big books this year, I'd really recommend this. 

Follow me on Bloglovin | Twitter | Instagram | Youtube

Review of 'A Clash of Kings' by George R R Martin

This year I went through a *bit* of a Game of Thrones reading phase, but WOW they are exhausting aren't they?! This one came in at almost 900 pages, and whilst the first 300 pages (aka pretty much an ENTIRE NORMAL BOOK) set all the different scenes of action, the rest of the book was very intense and I really did enjoy it.

The book is told from 9 main characters' perspectives (Arya, Bran, Sansa, Catelyn, Daenerys, Jon, Tyrion, Davos, Theon), with an extra prologue from a tenth point of view, and I've broken the plot down into much more detail on my other blog here. It's the second and longest (in a single volume) book in the series. 

Joffrey, Renly and Stannis Baratheon all believe they have a claim to the Iron Throne after Robert Baratheon's death. With Robb Stark having proclaimed himself King of the North and Balon Greyjoy raising fights as a self-proclaimed king too, this time is declared the War of the Five Kings. 

Tensions are evidently high, and Stannis calls on witchcraft through the Red Lady to help him secure his foothold as a contender for the throne. Meanwhile, the Lannisters are still looking for a wedding with a Stark to tie the families together in the hope that at least one of them will be powerful by the end of the war.

The book culminates in the Battle of the Blackwater at King's Landing. It's fiery and deadly and changes everything for the warring factions.

This is my favourite book from the series that I've read so far. Whilst it was a VERY long read, it did mean that all of the action-packed scenes were set up with lots of details beforehand that really came together and made everything a lot more powerful. It's hard to summarise a 900 page book without going into masses of detail, but I really think this is where some of the characters really started to come to life. Sansa finally becomes tolerable, Bran becomes less tolerable but more himself, and Tyrion becomes even more likeable.

If you're a fan of the show, or sci-fi fantasy in general, then this really is a great read.

Follow me on Bloglovin | Twitter | Instagram | Youtube