A Storm of Swords: Blood and Gold - George R.R. Martin

As I slowly make my way through A Song of Ice and Fire, I am trying to contemplate how on earth someone can create a world so full of characters that they can kill off so many people and still have plenty left to cause trouble.

This fourth book is the bloodiest one yet (hence the title, I suppose), in which several main characters die. What's more, the deaths of these people and the reasons behind them are going to cause further issues down the line for the likes of Tyrion Lannister. The best part about it is that two of my most hated characters die in this book, and that has made me extremely satisfied.

As we read on, the plot thickens to a point where the complexity begins to have no rival in any book I have ever read. Honestly, the series is so complex that it feels entirely real, as if Westeros and the Summer Isles are only across the shore, albeit in a different time zone.

Without utterly ruining the plot for all you readers who haven't read the previous books, or have only watched the TV series, I want to make a few points about the characters. Good points I think:

Sansa's story is really beginning to take shape now, and I like who the girl is becoming. Hopefully she will no longer be a pawn played in someone else's game, and she won't need a knight to take care of her. Well, here's hoping. Tyrion is awesome. Sometimes he is also a bit scary, but on the most part I love him, and his story is really going to get interesting now (as if it wasn't already!). Jaime is, yet again, one of the best characters in terms of growth and in doing interesting things.

The only thing that bugs me is that I used to empathise with Arya, but now I don't feel that any more. Her story is just growing more chaotic and her character is getting more.. well.. mean.

Now for the TV series. It would usually go that each season would represent each book, but the front half of this book has all been melded into Season 3, leaving not too much else for Season 4. Saying that, there is one super-shocking death that has been held up for Season 4, and I can't wait to watch it (yes, it is a hated character).

All in all it gets yet another thumbs up from me. I'm going with a 9.5 out of 10.

A Storm of Swords, Part 1; Steel and Snow - George R.R. Martin

George R.R. Martin yet again delivers the next part of this epic tale with a spirit and style that makes it impossible to stop reading.

This story begins during the battle at the end of the second book, and then details the events that follow in each character's perspective. The stories vary greatly in terms of how far and wide the characters journey, both emotionally and physically. Arya, who has grown so much in the last book, is left to wander the lands, but her story does not move on nearly as much as Sansa's or Jamie's. Each chapter ending is a cliffhanger which you absolutely have to know about, only to be faced with another from a different character. As in the previous books, there are a lot of things going on at once, and as more characters are introduced, the plot only gets more complex.

This book comes as a pair with the next one, and this is quite obvious as many events unfold that will eventually cause much larger disruptions to the lives of other characters, particularly the arrival of the Dornish prince's bloodthirsty brother to Kings Landing. There are eyebrow-raising marriages and dubious alliances forming that will almost certainly become larger plot points in the next book. A few cliffhangers at the end of this book ensure that you are craving the next one soon after.

One issue I have already raised with this series is that the complexity of the book may leave some people with an aching head. If you tend to read other books in-between, you will certainly not remember events that happened in the last one, or minor characters, and yet in some occurrences the reader seems expected to remember what happened between certain characters from what seems like an awful long time ago. A reader with a short memory would want slightly more information when little-known characters become more like protagonists.

Apart from that point, it should be said that this is an excellent read which does not disappoint. In fact, it was difficult to stop reading it at times. The next book is shaping up to be every bit as good as its' predecessors. 9 out of 10.