A Year of Thrones: A Song of Ice and Fire, Book 3: A Storm of Swords

A Storm of Swords (2004)
Written By: George R.R. Martin
Narrated by: Roy Dotrice
Genre: Epic Fantasy
Length: 47 h 37 m (Audiobook)
Series: A Song of Ice and Fire, Book 3
Publisher: Random House Audio via Audible

The premise:

Of the five contenders for power, one is dead, another in disfavor, and still the wars rage, as alliances are made and broken. Joffrey sits on the Iron Throne, the uneasy ruler of the Seven Kingdoms. His most bitter rival, Lord Stannis, stands defeated and disgraced, victim of the sorceress who holds him in her thrall. Young Robb still rules the North from the fortress of Riverrun. Meanwhile, making her way across a blood-drenched continent is the exiled queen, Daenerys, mistress of the only three dragons left in the world. And as opposing forces maneuver for the final showdown, an army of barbaric wildlings arrives from the outermost limits of civilization, accompanied by a horde of mythical Others—a supernatural army of the living dead whose animated corpses are unstoppable. As the future of the land hangs in the balance, no one will rest until the Seven Kingdoms have exploded in a veritable storm of swords.

Spoilers Ahead!

Discussion: My Year of Thrones continues with Book 3 in the Song of Ice and Fire series: A Storm of Swords. I must begin by telling you that I listened to the unabridged Audible edition of the book.

I’m about to say something I honestly didn’t think I would: I like book 3 better than the TV series! In fact, I really enjoyed this book.

Why didn’t I think I would like the books better than the show? Especially when everyone knows that books are always better. Let’s face it, TV is easier and faster. 10 hours of my time, not 47.5 hours. I watch for a few hours, I get a great story, great visuals, some nice eye-candy, a little too much sex and violence, and I get the appeal of the story with enough hook to keep me coming back. Sure I’ve enjoyed the more detailed character development in books 1 & 2, but they didn’t make or break it for me. There was something different about book 3, though. It wasn’t the pacing (and yes, I’ve figured out that season 4 of the show is essentially the second half of book 3). Dare I say it? I think it was the actual writing, the storytelling.

Now I’m going to try and figure this out and explain it at the same time.

My enjoyment of this book was definitely aided by the extra character development. In the TV series, Daenerys is roaming the free cities, freeing the slaves. She knew instantly what to do. In the book, there is trial and error, uncertainty. Even when she succeeds, she questions herself, her purpose, whether what she is doing is truly for the good of anyone.

Margaery Tyrell’s grandmother made me laugh, out loud, the way she refers to her two serving boys as Left and Right. And Margaery isn’t nearly as manipulative as she is on the show. While I appreciate her empoweredness on the show, her character in the book seems more in keeping with the other female characters, who are all pawns, to be wedded and bedded to birth an heir.

The Red Wedding made me cry. For me, as a writer and a reader, it is the sign of great writing if you can  pull out some kind of emotional response from your reader. I’d heard about the Red Wedding for years. I’d expected one thing, I watched it and saw another. I’ll confess now, that I’ve watched that episode 2 times. The first time I think I was non-plussed because of the hype. The second time I knew what to expect and I was a bit more invested, I did feel a little bit of emotion, particularly for Catelyn Stark. But reading it…I don’t know…was it because of the added detail? That “The Rains of Castermere” is being sung and I know that it is a warning of death to traitors? Is it because the action is spelled out in detail so that I am there in the moment, truly invested in what happens? It isn’t like I didn’t know what was going to happen, and yet there I was, sniffling and wiping away a couple of tears.

I feel like I should have put two and two together though, and figured out that Joffrey was behind the attempted murder of Bran. Maybe the clues were there, maybe I just hadn’t really cared that much. I had assumed Cersei had had something to do with it, but I suppose I should have known she didn’t have the nerve to do it, just like she wasn’t behind the murder of all of Robert’s bastards when she had every right to be.

That Littlefinger is behind the death of John Arryn and Joffrey surprised me. Not so much that he would do such a thing, but to what end? In killing Joffrey, he tells Sansa it is to be unpredictable. John Arryn is was to free up Lyssa. I can see that his maneuvers to be Lord of Harrenhal to wed Lyssa and become Lord of the Eyrie as well, sure. And he’s creepy and after Sansa now, to become Lord of Winterfell too, I guess. He still has the West and the South to marry and become Lord of, if this is his way of getting the Iron Throne. Curious, and I shudder with revulsion.  Poor Sansa. Will she ever get a break?

By the way, Ding Dong, Joffrey’s dead, the Evil King is Dead!

In Conclusion: There were a few parts that just meandered for me, but as a whole, there was so much more to love in this book. The detail of the Night’s Watch fighting Mance Raider, Jon Snow becoming Lord Commander, though it broke my heart that Ygritte died! Samwell Tarly finds his courage. There is trial and error for all the characters. Nothing comes easy. They have to earn their reward if they get one at all. There is growth and pain, and it dwelled on the characters whose stories really mattered, to me at least. There are paralells between many of the characters, feeling alone. Arya has no family and everyone else has left her. Daenerys has no family and is betrayed by those supposed to be closest to her. Jamie has no father. Tyrion has no family. They have no one, and they have no home. Winterfell is burned. Daenerys is still in exile. Jamie is technically at home in King’s Landing but he is less than himself, and Tyrion is unable to claim Casterly Rock even though it is rightfully his, and is now in exile.

They are all fighting for the land, a place to belong, because none of them belong anywhere. Except for the Starks. The Starks belong in Winterfell. They are of the blood of the First Men. Is that why the Starks are the only honorable people? Because they have a true sense of home, of belonging, of place? The Lannisters have a kind of honor. They have Casterly Rock. Their home, their place of belonging. And yet they are not there. Is that why their honor is corrupted?

I shall think on this as I continue my Year of Thrones.