Title: A Storm of Swords (Song of Fire and Ice #3)

Author: George R.R. Martin

Publisher: Bantam Books 2000

Genre: Epic Fantasy

Pages: 1177

Rating:  5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: T4MC - Animal on Cover (I have the version with a dragon on the cover); Genre - Fantasy; Mount TBR; Bingo -- 2 from everyone but me; NPR Scifi and Fantasy (Perpetual)

How I Got It: I own it

Of the five contenders for power, one is dead, another in disfavor, and still the wars rage as violently as ever, as alliances are made and broken. Joffrey, of House Lannister, sits on the Iron Throne, the uneasy ruler of the land of the Seven Kingdoms. His most bitter rival, Lord Stannis, stands defeated and disgraced, the victim of the jealous sorceress who holds him in her evil thrall. But young Robb, of House Stark, still rules the North from the fortress of Riverrun. Robb plots against his despised Lannister enemies, even as they hold his sister hostage at King’s Landing, the seat of the Iron Throne. Meanwhile, making her way across a blood-drenched continent is the exiled queen, Daenerys, mistress of the only three dragons still left in the world. . . .

But as opposing forces maneuver for the final titanic showdown, an army of barbaric wildlings arrives from the outermost line of civilization. In their vanguard is 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.

I'll admit, this one started off a bit slow.  Mostly because I thought I knew what was going on...  but after about 150 pages, I was totally engrossed in the novel.  I couldn't wait until I had time to read more about the inhabitants of Westeros (and other realms).  That's not to say that there weren't times I wanted to throw the book across the room. Martin has killed even more characters in this volume, and many of those dead I really liked.  The cast of characters from the beginning of the series had dwindled to but a few.  We meet lots of new characters, some good, some bad...  We also catch up with some thought lost at the end of the last book.  I finished this volume in a flurry of reading this afternoon and can't even imagine where Martin will take us next, but I'll be sure to go with him.

A Song of Fire and Ice:

1. A Game of Thrones
2. A Clash of Kings
3. A Storm of Swords
4. A Feast for Crows
5. A Dance with Dragons
6. The Winds of Winter