Man, what a read, and what to say without spoiling things. So many deaths, so many twists, and even though I’ve been keeping a super open mind with how things are going in these books I still didn’t see the twist at the end coming... ( )

A Storm of Swords by George R.R. Martin

My Rating : 4.5/5
#books #reviews #fantasy #goodbooks

Need not say much about this third book of the GoT series. Very much in liking for the chapters with Tyrion Lannister and Stannis Baratheon. A bit underwhelmed with those of Arya Stark and Sansa Stark in this book. Overall, a good read as usual. :) ( )

What a construction! As this book wound down from the climax, I found myself marveling at the technical skill Martin wields as an epic storyteller. It was very satisfying, if difficult. I read this book over the course of about three months (hey, I have a job and kid and it's a thousand pages long). Now I need a break. Something shorter... ( )

Las huestes de los fugaces reyes de Poniente, descompuestas en hordas, asolan y esquilman una tierra castigada por la guerra e indefensa ante un invierno que se anuncia inusitadamente crudo. Las alianzas nacen y se desvanecen como volutas de humo bajo el viento helado del Norte. Ajena a las intrigas palaciegas, e ignorante del auténtico peligro en ciernes, la Guardia de la Noche se ve desbordada por los salvajes. Y al otro lado del mundo, Daenerys Targaryen intenta reclutar en las Ciudades Libres un ejército con el que desembarcar en su tierra.

So I'm one of those people that read the books after watching the show, because - as my friend put it - "otherwise you'll enjoy the show less and it's much harder to find a good show than a good book". I'll drink to that! This way I enjoy the show, and then I read the books and enjoy them too, and don't have to get annoyed with every change made between the two.

That said, this review will be about those differences.

I feel this book is where they really start to deviate from the book more than they did in the other two seasons. Some of the changes are understandable (like Robb's love story: it was all fine for a sixteen year-old, but it just wouldn't have made sense for someone aged 25-ish as Robb looks in the show), while others... I don't really know what they're up to? What the fuck is going on with the Greyjoys!? Theon completely disappears in this book, his dad dies, but in the show we get to see more of Theon than we ever wanted. Is there a point to this!? Don't get me wrong, I love seing Yara/Asha kicks some ass, I'm just suspicious. The answer is probably in season 5/book 4, but of course I won't know that for a quite a while...

Also, Stannis. I don't like Stannis in the show, I think he's boring as fuck. But in the book? I kinda like the dude. I always assumed that Melisandre was just power-hungry and used her powers and her cool god to get that power, but that's not what's going on, is it!? When she said that the three "false" kings would soon be dead, I freaked out beause I knew both Robb and Joffrey would die during the book, and Balon's death was quickly confirmed. Melisandre was right! And the second they heard about what went down at the wall, Stannis and friends fucking went there to deal with it. I still find the dude boring and I don't want him on the Iron Throne, but he has his priorities straight and Melisandre seems to know wtf is up (even though I don't always approve of her methods). I haven't gotten this impression from the show at all????? Shame on you, show.

In defence of the show, they made me love Tywin and I have no love for him in the book. I'm not sure if what they did to Shae works though, Tyrion strangling her was one thing in the book because he wanted revenge and he got it. Like, it was a bad thing to do, but all characters in these books do bad things. In the show, it was way more angsty and I didn't really get it. It seemed like an unfitting end to their love story, and I see why they tried to combine the Tysha and Shae stories into one, but nah, didn't really work (I may have blinked during that scene, but did Jamie admit that Tysha wasn't a whore in the show?).

But mostly I think the show isn't adapting the books terribly, except for the 500 times where they add unnecessary nudity for the sake of... grittyness? I don't even know.

And the next thing will be a major spoiler because this has not been in the show, so, really, be warned. WHAT THE FUCKING FUCK CATELYN IS ALIVE HOLY FUCKING SHIT I'M SCREAMING!?!??!?! I READ THE BOOKS AFTER THE SHOW TO AVOID SPOILERS BECAUSE THAT WAY THE READING ISN'T STRESSFUL, YOU CAN'T DO THIS TO ME!?!??!? Although wow fucking wow this might get fucking awesome. I'm just ... wow. I imagine they have a cool reason not to reveal it in the show though, so I'm not mad, just FUCKING FREAKING OUT!?!?! ( )