A Storm of Swords

George R. R. Martin

A Storm of Swords is one heavy book. It's third in an ongoing series set in the kingdom of Westeros, which looks a lot like the UK. The first book started off with a focus on the Stark family, who have traditionally been the Wardens of the North, a cold and grim place in northern Westeros. When the king dies, the kingdom of Westeros plunges into chaos as new kings spring up to from almost every corner of the kingdom. Another storyline deals with yet another heir to the kingdom, who is in exile in the lands across the seas east of Westeros and she too is attempting to come back and win her kingdom. Add to this mix, the threat of supernatural evil from the north and the entire story becomes a complex mass of threads and characters.

This is the type of story for people who love huge series and who love teasing out all the different strands in the plot. I enjoyed it very much, especially because the plots tended to head in directions that were totally unexpected. Many conventional sci-fi and fantasy stories tend to have a cast of good guys against bad guys. Nothing really tragic happens to either of these camps until the final showdown when the bad guys are vanquished and the good guys win. In this story, characters whom I felt sure were out-and-out villains ended up receiving sympathetic portrayals, good characters ended up in situations I was sure would never happen to them and sometimes I couldn't even tell who the good guys were. I loved this book and the shocks that the author kept throwing at me. It was long, but it was worth it.