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4.36 AVERAGE
4.36 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
4.5/5 stars
"What is it you would have me see?"
"The way the world is made. The truth is all around you, plain to behold. The night is dark and full of terrors, the day bright and beautiful and full of hope. One is black, the other white. There is ice and there is fire. Hate and love. Bitter and sweet. Male and female. Pain and pleasure. Winter and summer. Evil and good." She took a step towards him. "Death and life. Everywhere, opposites. Everywhere, the war."
This instalment in the series for me is probably the most important one so far in terms of tying things together and eluding to the future of the story. We finally see Daenerys start to tie in to the rest of the world, which is something i wasn't feeling in the previous novels, but in this one i genuinely found myself enjoying her chapters for the first time. And it's not that i didn't like what was happening, i mean in full honesty when i say that i cannot think of a single time where i was bored by Martin's prose. I can't think of another author i've read where the huge amount of information and backstory on things hasn't bored me and lead me to giving up. The only reason Daenerys' chapters weren't sticking with me is simply because I really don't like her as a character. I feel like too much of her monologue is all I am the blood of the dragon, I am Daenerys Targaryen and that really annoyed me. She just seemed far too self centred due to being of Targaryen blood that she came across as arrogant to me. That changed in this book. I found her less annoying in that manner, and more matured as a character, actually seeking power without seeming as arrogant as she had in the last books in the series. That being said, she is definitely still a bit annoying when it comes to having counsel from the people in her immediate power, because the way she just dismisses some people and goes full on ahead to do her own thing because she thinks she's all high and mighty really annoys me. Similar to Joffrey in a way cause my god fuck that guy so much. And just quickly, WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK WAS UP WITH HER WAKING UP IN THE NIGHT FEELING A BIT HORNY, FULL ON JERKING IT RIGHT NEXT TO HER BLOOD RIDERS, AND THEN ONE OF THEM WAKES UP, AND PROCEEDS TO FINISH THE JOB OFF ON HER? WHAT IS THATTTTT?!?!!? IN WHAT SCENARIO DOES THAT OCCUR. THAT SHIT MAKES NO SENSE. Anyway, enough about Dany.
Sansa Stark. I think this had been a long time coming, Even in the very first book I kinda realised that Sansa wasn't my favourite, but in this book it dawned on me that Sansa is an absolute bitch. Where i'd previously pardoned the things she did and the way she acted and was able to understand things, I just couldn't take it any longer when she decided to fuck with my boy Tyrion. That was just the last straw. The dude is trying to be genuinely good to her, and she's just an absolute asshole in return. I can understand that yes, he's a Lannister. Yes, the Lannisters are complete pricks, but Tyrion is a babe and I'm almost certain no one would disagree with that. So when Sansa decides to totally disregard him, that was when i'd had enough of her. I hate Sansa.
The biggest issue I had with this as well. I'm either incredibly dumb, or this is one of the worst decisions i've ever read. Can someone PLEASE explain to me, how does Theon supposedly kill Bran and Rickon, mount their heads outside of Winterfell, and then somehow they were in the Crypts, the whole fucking time. So many questions. 1. who the fuck got killed instead of them. 2. HOW DO YOU MISTAKE THEM DUDE, HOW DO YOU KILL 2 INNOCENT BOYS INSTEAD OF THE FUCKING HEIRS TO THE CASTLE. 3. Does it not say that Summer and Shaggydog went on without them, how did two other random boys under 10 years old end up with them and then get killed after being somehow mistaken for the only remaining Starks at Winterfell. Makes no sense to me.
Despite all that, this was a very enjoyable read, and really started to make me realise how much of a masterpiece this series is shaping out to be.
Part 2 will almost certainly bump this rating to a 5/5 stars for storm of swords. Just don't pull anymore fake deaths on me George. That shit made no sense.
"What is it you would have me see?"
"The way the world is made. The truth is all around you, plain to behold. The night is dark and full of terrors, the day bright and beautiful and full of hope. One is black, the other white. There is ice and there is fire. Hate and love. Bitter and sweet. Male and female. Pain and pleasure. Winter and summer. Evil and good." She took a step towards him. "Death and life. Everywhere, opposites. Everywhere, the war."
This instalment in the series for me is probably the most important one so far in terms of tying things together and eluding to the future of the story. We finally see Daenerys start to tie in to the rest of the world, which is something i wasn't feeling in the previous novels, but in this one i genuinely found myself enjoying her chapters for the first time. And it's not that i didn't like what was happening, i mean in full honesty when i say that i cannot think of a single time where i was bored by Martin's prose. I can't think of another author i've read where the huge amount of information and backstory on things hasn't bored me and lead me to giving up. The only reason Daenerys' chapters weren't sticking with me is simply because I really don't like her as a character. I feel like too much of her monologue is all I am the blood of the dragon, I am Daenerys Targaryen and that really annoyed me. She just seemed far too self centred due to being of Targaryen blood that she came across as arrogant to me. That changed in this book. I found her less annoying in that manner, and more matured as a character, actually seeking power without seeming as arrogant as she had in the last books in the series. That being said, she is definitely still a bit annoying when it comes to having counsel from the people in her immediate power, because the way she just dismisses some people and goes full on ahead to do her own thing because she thinks she's all high and mighty really annoys me. Similar to Joffrey in a way cause my god fuck that guy so much. And just quickly, WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK WAS UP WITH HER WAKING UP IN THE NIGHT FEELING A BIT HORNY, FULL ON JERKING IT RIGHT NEXT TO HER BLOOD RIDERS, AND THEN ONE OF THEM WAKES UP, AND PROCEEDS TO FINISH THE JOB OFF ON HER? WHAT IS THATTTTT?!?!!? IN WHAT SCENARIO DOES THAT OCCUR. THAT SHIT MAKES NO SENSE. Anyway, enough about Dany.
Sansa Stark. I think this had been a long time coming, Even in the very first book I kinda realised that Sansa wasn't my favourite, but in this book it dawned on me that Sansa is an absolute bitch. Where i'd previously pardoned the things she did and the way she acted and was able to understand things, I just couldn't take it any longer when she decided to fuck with my boy Tyrion. That was just the last straw. The dude is trying to be genuinely good to her, and she's just an absolute asshole in return. I can understand that yes, he's a Lannister. Yes, the Lannisters are complete pricks, but Tyrion is a babe and I'm almost certain no one would disagree with that. So when Sansa decides to totally disregard him, that was when i'd had enough of her. I hate Sansa.
The biggest issue I had with this as well. I'm either incredibly dumb, or this is one of the worst decisions i've ever read. Can someone PLEASE explain to me, how does Theon supposedly kill Bran and Rickon, mount their heads outside of Winterfell, and then somehow they were in the Crypts, the whole fucking time. So many questions. 1. who the fuck got killed instead of them. 2. HOW DO YOU MISTAKE THEM DUDE, HOW DO YOU KILL 2 INNOCENT BOYS INSTEAD OF THE FUCKING HEIRS TO THE CASTLE. 3. Does it not say that Summer and Shaggydog went on without them, how did two other random boys under 10 years old end up with them and then get killed after being somehow mistaken for the only remaining Starks at Winterfell. Makes no sense to me.
Despite all that, this was a very enjoyable read, and really started to make me realise how much of a masterpiece this series is shaping out to be.
Part 2 will almost certainly bump this rating to a 5/5 stars for storm of swords. Just don't pull anymore fake deaths on me George. That shit made no sense.
Amazing. Slow to pick up but once the plot ball starts rolling it doesn't quit. So many story lines from the first book are brought to closure which was my big complaint about the 2nd book. An incredible read.
There wasn't a lot of movement in the book, with several major characters who started the book wandering in the wilderness still there 600 pages later, but a great deal of back-story was supplied and I suspect that a number of big plot shifts are being set up for the next book - just how many rebuffs can a dwarf take from his family before he decides that enough is enough and changes sides?[return][return]http://nhw.livejournal.com/956062.html
Non so davvero più come descrivere questa saga, le parole non bastano più. Amo alla follia lo stile di Martin, le sue descrizioni, i suoi personaggi. Ogni singolo personaggio, anche quello che appare solo per qualche pagina ha una sua storia, un suo perché. Nessuno compie azioni a caso. Ogni pagina è densa di azioni e di emozioni.
E' incredibile come si possa passare dal nord oltre la Barriera, a Delta delle acque, ad Approdo del re senza alcuno sforzo, semplicemente sfogliando delle pagine.
Questo è uno dei libri che più mi è piaciuto, ho amato alla follia Daenerys, è salita moltissimo nella mia scala dei personaggi, ha quasi raggiunto la piccola Arya, che però continuerò sempre ad adorare e venerare.
Una delle saghe migliori di sempre.
E' incredibile come si possa passare dal nord oltre la Barriera, a Delta delle acque, ad Approdo del re senza alcuno sforzo, semplicemente sfogliando delle pagine.
Questo è uno dei libri che più mi è piaciuto, ho amato alla follia Daenerys, è salita moltissimo nella mia scala dei personaggi, ha quasi raggiunto la piccola Arya, che però continuerò sempre ad adorare e venerare.
Una delle saghe migliori di sempre.
George, you've done it again! This time, so much better!
THIS BOOK WAS PHENOMENAL.
Well-written, as usual, but a few characters have to be mentioned specially here.
JAIME LANNISTER.
TYRION LANNISTER.
OBERYN MARTELL.
DAVOS SEAWORTH.
These were the characters that stood out in ASoS for me. Jaime and Tyrion go through some really bad moments throughout the book but reading their POVs didn't exactly make me feel all depressed and wanting to jump of a tower. Quite the opposite. Jaime and Tyrion's POVs were among the most lighthearted chapters in this book and that's saying something, considering the pretty messy stuff practically everyone in this book goes through, some even less painful than what Jaime and Tyrion go through respectively. The introduction of Oberyn Martell and the lords and ladies of Dorne was the spice of this book in my opinion. There are so many lands and people in Westeros and all of them have their own stories to tell. Dorne just stood out because of how different the Dornish are from the rest and not one of them was a POV character at all. Davos Seaworth's POV chapters were notable because of Davos himself, a smuggler turned knight. He's hardly highborn and the way he sees things acts as a counterbalance to how the highborn characters think.
Best Scene: see Chapter 70. :)
THIS BOOK WAS PHENOMENAL.
Well-written, as usual, but a few characters have to be mentioned specially here.
JAIME LANNISTER.
TYRION LANNISTER.
OBERYN MARTELL.
DAVOS SEAWORTH.
These were the characters that stood out in ASoS for me. Jaime and Tyrion go through some really bad moments throughout the book but reading their POVs didn't exactly make me feel all depressed and wanting to jump of a tower. Quite the opposite. Jaime and Tyrion's POVs were among the most lighthearted chapters in this book and that's saying something, considering the pretty messy stuff practically everyone in this book goes through, some even less painful than what Jaime and Tyrion go through respectively. The introduction of Oberyn Martell and the lords and ladies of Dorne was the spice of this book in my opinion. There are so many lands and people in Westeros and all of them have their own stories to tell. Dorne just stood out because of how different the Dornish are from the rest and not one of them was a POV character at all. Davos Seaworth's POV chapters were notable because of Davos himself, a smuggler turned knight. He's hardly highborn and the way he sees things acts as a counterbalance to how the highborn characters think.
Best Scene: see Chapter 70. :)
GRRM's skill at weaving together so many complex storylines continues to astound me. This book features some of my favourite ASOIAF scenes (Arya and Gendry at Acorn Hall - YEA BOI -, Jon beyond the Wall with the Free Folk, Jaime and Brienne's 'wild road trip', Melisandre's control over Stannis continuing to grow, Sansa's continued manipulation in the capital, Robb beginning to show signs of losing the War and the set up for Red Wedding, Daenerys freeing the Unsullied), and is a page turner from start to finish. I love these characters and this world so intensely, and I love the depth in which GRRM creates both; as a reader you feel completely immersed from start to finish.
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
Great fantasy. Better than Clash of Kings. Definitely feels like "half a book" though. Wouldn't want to leave it here without immediately reading Blood and Gold.