LoveReading Says
LoveReading Says
The third novel in the epic A Song of Fire and Ice series has been split into two books; the first part Steel and Snow continues to reinforce the reputation of this masterful conjurer of the written word. Martin has the wonderful ability to make a living breathing world without a whiff of the fanciful; yet dragons fly and the Others are a terrifying menace that the majority of the realm can not even begin to imagine.
You should be used to the unpredictable twists and turns that Martin is so skilful at composing, however he still has the ability to stun with his sudden change of pace. You may well find yourself begging the author not to slaughter your favourites (who are not necessarily the most admirable) as surprises continue apace and characters you previously loathed with good reason, start to reveal hidden depths.
Steel and Snow feels as though a towering and precarious set of building blocks is being deftly constructed, just in time to crash to the ground during the second part of a Storm of Swords; Blood and Gold.
Liz Robinson
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A Storm of Swords Synopsis
The Seven Kingdoms are divided by revolt and blood feud, and winter approaches like an angry beast. Beyond the Northern borders, wildlings leave their villages to gather in the ice and stone wasteland of the Frostfangs. From there, the renegade Brother Mance Rayder will lead them South towards the Wall. The men of the Night's Watch are ready for the coming of a great cold and the walking corpses that travel with it. But now they face a horde of wildlings twenty-thousand strong - hungry savage people steeped in the dark magic of the haunted wilderness - poised to invade the Kingdom of the North where Robb Stark wears his new-forged crown. But Robb's defences are ranged against attack from the South, the land of House Stark's enemies the Lannisters. His sisters are trapped there, dead or likely yet to die, at the whim of the Lannister boy-king Joffrey or his depraved mother Cersei, regent of the Iron Throne. Cersei's ambition is unfettered while the dwarf Tyrion Lannister fights for his life, a victim of treachery. And on the other side of the ocean, the last of the Targaryens rears the dragons she hatched from her husband's funeral pyre. Daenerys Stormborn will return to the land of her birth to avenge the murder of her father, the last Dragon King on the Iron Throne.
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Press Reviews
George R. R. Martin Press Reviews
'Colossal, staggering... Martin captures all the intoxicating complexity of the Wars of the Roses or Imperial Rome in his imaginary world... one of the greats of fantasy literature.'
SFX
'Fantasy literature has never shied away from grandeur, but the sheer-mind-boggling scope of this epic has sent other fantasy writers away shaking their heads... Its ambition: to construct the Twelve Caesars of fantasy fiction, with characters so venomous they could eat the Borgias.'
Guardian
'Truly epic... An extraordinarily rich novel... with its magnificent action-filled climax, it provides a banquet for fantasy lovers with large appetites... The book stands out from similar work by virtue of its superbly developed characters, accomplished prose and sheer bloody-mindedness.'
Publishers Weekly
'A vast, rich saga, with splendid characters and an intricate plot flawlessly articulated against a backdrop of real depth and texture.'
Kirkus
Author
About George R. R. Martin
George R. R. Martin published his first story in 1971 and quickly rose to prominence, winning four HUGO and two NEBULA AWARDs in quick succession before he turned his attention to fantasy with the historical horror novel FEVRE DREAM, now a Fantasy Masterwork. Since then he has won every major award in the fields of fantasy, SF and horror. His magnificent epic saga A Song of Ice and Fire is redefining epic fantasy for a new generation. George R. R. Martin lives in New Mexico.
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Author photo © Karolina Webb
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