A Storm of Swords: Steel and Snow (A Song of Ice and Fire, Book 3 Part 1) - Books (George R.R. Martin, Paperback)

The third volume of his six-volume fantasy epic A Song of Ice and Fire, A Storm of Swords continues Martin's vigorous account of the civil wars which follow the death of King Robert, the usurper who deposed a dynasty gone mad and dangerous, and the judicial murder by his widow and heir of Ned Stark, the man who made him king. The surviving Stark children are scattered--Robb leading revolt in the North, Arya learning hard lessons as she treks through the war zone, Sansa an observer of court intrigue, crippled Bran heading towards a sorcerous destiny, Jon engaged in desperate defence of the icewall against barbarians and worse things. Daenerys, pretender and ruler of dragons, is building an empire elsewhere. And characters we have thought of as villains, notably Jaime Kingslayer, are developing belated consciences ... Martin keeps on upping the ante of violence and betrayal in this compelling saga of a fantasy middle ages soiled with blood and mud; his economic use of magic and his fascination with complex characters make this the sword-and-sorcery series for people with adult taste. As the series proceeds, his writing gets ever leaner and sharper, the evocation of the magical ever more sinister. --Roz Kaveney

Customer Reviews of A Storm of Swords: Steel and Snow (A Song of Ice and Fire, Book 3 Part 1)

Female Fantasy Fanatic
Wales
21st April 2008

Fantastic Fantasy
These books are just intense and wonderful and gripping and deep and they move you at every level!! I LOVE them.

Oh and Tyrion is the best character EVER.

Robbie Swale
York
21st November 2007

Brilliant
George R R Martin is at least mostly a genius. His plots are excellent - complex, slightly confusing and thoroughly engaging - made even more so by the juggling act he performs in having the story told from between six and ten characters' points of view. This is something I love - you get to the end of a chapter, feel let down by having to leave one character's journey only to find yourself smack bang in the middle of a story you didn't want to leave three chapters before.

But perhaps the best thing about Martin's writing is his unwillingness to do what is expected. No, it's not that what he writes is necessarily unexpected (although it sometimes is), it's that he doesn't write what you want to happen. Throughout the series, he is perfectly willing to write what happens regardless of any attachments, expectations or hopes his readers may have. And it is in this book that it comes to a head. The emotional reaction I associate most with Martin's writing is one which occurs usually once in each book, but uncomfortably more often than that here - is a gut wrenching sense of disbelief. An almost physical reaction of disappointment or surprise. Martin doesn't really deal in emotional impact in any other ways - other than these moments of disbelief the plot is exciting and free-flowing, and provokes a real interest in the characters and their stories.

A thoroughly recommended read. But make sure you start at the beginning...

Benjamin Harrison
England
26th April 2007

Steel and Snow
Following on directly from (and, as Martin's note on chronology informs us, sometimes simultaneously with) A Clash of Kings, this is the first half of book three of A Song of Ice and Fire.

Steel and Snow begins at a far more exciting pace than the two books before it, and it never really slows down. It is full of the wonderful character development, powerful but subtle fantasy, unexpected twists and turns, and beautiful writing of 'Thrones and 'Kings, but with book three being split into two volumes, the pages seem to turn all the more quickly. Steel and Snow also includes some surprises in which characters are given chapters -- Jaime Lannister hardly gave the impression of being main character material in the previous books, but Jaime's chapters are some of the most enjoyable here. This is a true page turner, and will grab you in much the same way as the rest of this series.

Some of the foreboding fantastical elements that have remained subtle and behind-the-scenes in the series so far are made more apparent here, and the book is all the better for them. It certainly feels like more of a fantasy tale than 'Thrones did, though thankfully the edge to Martin's writing is never lost from word to word... and nor does the characterisation suffer. For those who enjoyed the previous books, this is a real treat (and no doubt something of a relief; it must have been difficult to imagine this writing equaling the closing chapters of 'Kings) -- I hesitate to say it's better than those books, but it certainly goes by more quickly. Indeed, its page by page brilliance is only really matched by the second part of book three, Blood and Gold.

duffer

14th February 2007

Lost sleep
This book is the best in the series by far. I read the first in the series of George Martin's 'A Song of Ice and Fire' and I was blown away by it. So much so I wrote a review here on Amazon to exult it to those considering buying it. I have now read Book 1, 2, 3 part 1 and this book, A Storm of Swords: Blood and Gold, Book 3 Part 2. I was let down by book 2 and 3 part 1, they were good but not great and if I tried to write a review I could not because the plot all amalgamated into a fuzzy series of events that I think should have been shortened down. However this book makes up for the previous 2 completely. It is a fantastic read and truly insomnia-inflicting! I could not put this book down virtually till I finished it. There are more twists and turns in this book than any of the previous. Events that were dragged out in the previous two are teetered over the edge and thrown off into a thundering development that you cannot help but get swept up in. Remarkably characters that were evil redeem themselves, characters that were good frustrate and annoy the reader.

Martin's use of the written language makes him a master at his craft and can slow or pick up the pace at will and completely manipulate your emotions. If you are reading this review then I presume that you have read at least the first one in the series 'A game of Thrones' therefore I wont summarise the plot incase I ruin it for anyone.

If by book 3 part 1 your getting a little stuck in the mud from the length of the story and the lack of significant movement then please read on because it is worth it to reach this far.

Reaper_FBB
England
13th October 2006

A marked improvement over the last episode
"A Storm of Swords: Steel and Snow" is the first part of the third book of the "Song of Ice and Fire" series (stick with me here). After the excellent first volume (A Game of Thrones), the somewhat disappointing second (A Clash of Kings) meant that for me, Martin had a bit of catching up to do in this one. I am pleased to say that this is a more than satisfactory continuation of the saga.

My intro suggests that there is nothing wrong with this book, but as I stated in my previous review, a 5 star book has to be one of my favourites. While this is a very good book, there are a few things that stop it hitting the heights.

Firstly, the chapters again follow a specific character and although this works better than in "A Clash of Kings", the one problem I had with it here was that a number of the featured characters have quite a small part in this book and as such, the amount of time between their chapters meant that it was quite difficult to remember where they got to and what had happened to them. I often found myself looking back to the previous instalment to refresh my memory, which obviously impacts the flow.

My second issue was also a good indication of how goods the book gets. The last few chapters really ramp up the suspense and action and I found myself turning the pages faster and faster. Then suddenly, I turned over only to be confronted by the Appendices, which take up a rather hefty 50 pages or so. Although I really enjoyed the story, hitting this situation invoked an even bigger feeling of anti-climax than is usual when reading a good book.

The only other item (more of an irritation than a problem) was that Robb Stark, who has generally been seen as the "good guy" basically had more and more things go wrong, with very little respite. I have never been one to insist that a book be happy and indeed enjoy a good tragedy, but the fact that the "hero" (if there is such a thing in Martin's story) had everything go wrong, seemed to be a bit too depressing for me. I understand that the tragedies a character encounters make their redemption all the sweeter, but it just seemed a little too much.

Anyway, enough of the bad... Here's what I liked. I have always enjoyed Jon's and Arya's stories and they made up a lot of the backbone of this book and with good result. They were exciting and contained a nice balance of good and bad. Tyrion is, as always, an excellent source of amusement with his wit and self-depreciation and I like the fact that he kind and ruthless sides. Funnily enough, each book increases the number of characters that blame Tyrion for their mishaps or bad luck and for an unaccountable reason, I find this very amusing. I am sure that by the end of the series, he will have been blamed for all the woes of the world.

My favourite character has become Daenerys. She has been through a lot of hardship and has really earnt the position she has attained. Again, she shows a very human side (when quite clearly she is much more than that... Mother of Dragons, etc.), but also initiates and condones some moments of real brutality and ruthlessness. What I particularly like about the character is that whatever she does, it is borne out of necessity and in this way she reminds me of another great, strong female lead in the mould of Mara of the Acoma (leading lady in the excellent Empire series by Raymond E Feist and Janny Wurts). It is good to see another fantasy book where a main character is a strong and moral lady striving to succeed, rather than another muscle-bound warrior.

As a page-turner, this has been the best of the series and I couldn't believe how quickly I finished it when the only time I get is my train journey to work. When I finished this one, I immediately bought Book 3: Part 2 and the early signs are that it will be just as good. The series as a whole has an excellent balance between success and failure, humour and drama and adult themes and fanciful things. The duality of the characters is still one of the strong points of the saga and the writing encourages you to read "just one more chapter".

I will be writing a review for part 2 and if this one is any guide, this could be sooner than you think.