Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Review of A Storm of Swords

So I just finished reading George R.R. Martins third book of the Fire and Ice series, titled a Storm of Swords.  There will be lots of spoilers, so if you have any desire to read the book without knowing what happened, stop reading...now.  I’m also going to make references, and predictions, about the HBO television series “Game of Thrones” based on these books.  At the time of writing this, I have only read the first 3 books, and saw the first two seasons of the show, and as such I make a lot of speculation about what is to happen without knowing what does.

A lot changed in the actual writing of this book.  For me, these changes were improvements.  One of my biggest complaints about the second book, A Clash of Kings, was that there was a lot of repetition of chapters.  Oh look, another chapter of Catelynn Stark moping around her father’s castle, and hey, Brann is still resisting his abilities.  Nearly every chapter in the third installment had a new point, and where it re-hashed information was to give us a different view point of the same occurrence.

I really enjoyed that he had different title characters meet each other, and then let the next few chapters skip between the two.  The fact that the chapters were doing this immediately told me that something was going to happen as it hadn’t happened prior to this book, building suspense right there.  These chapters themselves also really built up the suspense, making the climax of the series of events very powerful, whether that be Sansa and Tyrion witnessing Joffrey’s death, or Sam putting Jon’s name forward to be the new Lord Commander of the Wall.  This book did a great job of suspense, and something I felt lacking in the second book.  The first book was a huge build up to Ned Stark’s execution and Joffrey’s crowning, while the second book, especially now that I’ve finished the third book, felt like a preparation for the third book.  The second book was setting all the dominoes up for the third, and the third was watching many of those dominoes topple (but not all by any means).

Trying to psycho-analyze this, and being a hopeful author myself, I believe this occurred because with a first book of a series, you’re unsure if its going to go anywhere.  You have big dreams of this world you created becoming successful, but you aren’t sure if you’ll be wasting your time.  So the first book has to be self enclosed and full, while leaving a chance for more to occur, and I feel A Game of Thrones did that.  If there was not another in the series, it would have had an ending, albeit one that would always make me thirst for more.  But after that, the flood gates are open.  The second book came with the knowledge that there would be a third and a fourth, and thus allows one to build up, or perhaps the word doddle would work.   This might explain why the second book had so many chapters rehashing the chapter before.  While some major events occurred in the book, there was never any resolution in the second book.  The second book required the third book.  

With that in mind, from what I understand he planned to finish the series with the fourth book.  There were a few incidences at the end of the third that I felt like the book was rushed, and that a character or two acted out of character.  Specifically, Tyrion’s last chapter.  While Tyrion being a rational intelligent person, still frequently had his emotional outbursts... but even with that, I felt his threatening of Jaime was out of character for him, and then the proceeding patricide.  Lord Tywin did deserve to die, but it felt awkwardly place that Tyrion would react so violently.  Maybe he finally just snapped.   I also found it odd, and displeasing, that so many factions quickly aligned with the Lannisters despite their being little warning.

But perhaps that’s part of the mastery of these books.  There are parts of this book that as you approach, you know what’s going to happen.  From the start of the book, Daenerys is warned she will suffer three betrayals, and one of those will be for love.  At that point, it is obvious that Jorah Mormont will betray her, as he does in the end.  Rob Stark’s death was spoiled to me before I read it, but the entire series of chapter’s leading him to the Twins just screamed that this was all a trap, and his death was not a surprise.  If the book has nothing but the unexpected happening, I’d stop reading the book because it would be frustrating.  By allowing the expected to occur, it means when the unexpected does occur you are taken off guard.   Reading the fight between The Mountain and the Red Viper, I was certain that Tyrion’s champion would win..and then the Red Viper gets slaughtered.  I gasped out loud at that moment.  The implications that Tyrion would be sentenced to death was the last thing I’d of expected.

I liked that a lot of the characters seemed to grow quickly in this book.  Arya, Sansa, and Jon all are forced to greatly mature through this book.  Jon grows up the quickest, from being a green boy that is naively following the laws of the wall, to deciding to rejoin the wall.  We see this the best when he’s truly considering accepting Stannis Barratheon’s offer and becoming Lord of Winterfell, but him sitting down and deciding what he truly wants in life.  Everyone should have that moment in their life at least once (if not many times), and getting to peer into his mind as he makes those decisions

I loved Petyr Baelish in this book.  His outright admittance that he is playing the Game of Thrones, and all his actions to secure that.  I dislike when there’s a “Haha, I’ve been planning this all along moment” when it comes out of no-where.  Tywin conspiring with Robb’s allies to kill Robb felt that way.  They Frey’s, Roose Bolton, and the others were untrustworthy, but they did not feel anywhere near close enough to betray their king.   But for Petyr Baelish, he was already a character that could aspire to be king, and many of his bigger actions (the death of Jon Arryn and attempted assassination on Brann) were things that had already been established and we were just waiting for a resolution, or perhaps even shelved those two mysteries as unsolvable.  Petyr’s actions are both cruel and yet there’s something about him agreeable.  He was really given the short end of the stick through his life, and he’s been taken advantage of many times in his life.  Yet at the same time, he’s a very sinister character.

I strongly believe every book or series should have a point, or a theme.  Until this book, I had no clue what that point Of Fire and Ice was outside of “War sucks.”  My friend believes the theme is questioning morality, if there is right and wrong?  After reading the first two books, I disagreed.  The first book almost contradicts that idea.  Ned Stark is a good man, and Joffrey is unquestionably a bad person.  The Lannisters are bad people, while the Starks are good.  Only hint in the first book of that theme is Daenerys’ storyline with Khal Drogo, where the Khal appears to be a bad person but we quickly learn he’s not actually all that bad.  Depending on what side you are on, Khal Drogo is actually quite a good man; but the farmers disagree, and his death is seen as revenge by them.  Tyrion is also a character that is questioned if he’s good or bad.

Setting the world up in the first as having good and bad helps the theme of there not being good and bad.  By setting up those pillars, Martin can tear them down.  Jaime is the main character that this happens for.  Jaime Lannister, the Kingslayer, was a pinnacle of a bad man.  He threw Brann out a window, is sleeping with his sister, cuts down Ned Stark, and not to mention betrayed a man he was sworn to protect.  In the third book we learn the reasons for all these actions.  Whether or not we agree with his incestuous love, we do see that he truly loves his sister, and that he’s done a lot to be with her, good and bad.  We learn why he betrayed Aerys, and it was for a good reason.  He also becomes a sympathetic character when he loses his hand, and then loses his family.  We might not agree with Jaime’s actions, but they are defensible.  Sandor Clegane, The Hound, is a character we learn much about through Arya, and while he’s still far from a good guy by the end, he’s no longer the vilest creature out there.   Many other characters fall in this line, such as Petyr Baelish, Stannis Barratheon, Tyrion and Tywin Lannister.   

Previously good characters are becoming shaded gray.  Jon Snow, while definitely a character that wants to do right and be dutiful, is involved in betraying and killing his love.  Arya Stark, while innocent and lovable, is still running around with the Hound.  In the second book she does some morally questionable things, but we understand why.  She’s not doing any wrong in our eyes, and in many cases she’s trying to do the right thing.  But if we take a step back, we could see if we were getting story from another character, she’d be a devil running around.  We get no opposite side or opinion of Daenerys, but even from her point of view she realizes that while her actions are just, the consequences are from good.  Yes, she’s freeing slaves, but then leaving them to acquire new masters, and in the case of the Butcher, a worse master than when she had come in.  

Yet, there are a few characters that I cannot classify as anything but good.  Brienne of Tarth is one such character.  Her honor is unquestionable, and the only offense to her name is one that we as the audience knows she did not commit, and that is the murder of Renly.  Both Robb Stark and his father Ned were good characters.  They actually share the same offense, which is having an arranged marriage, and falling in love with another woman.  Robb learned from his half-brother and tried to do the right thing and marry this woman, Jeyne.  This causes offense to the Twins, but nothing I think our audience would deem as a “Bad” or “injust” deed.  And Robb again tries to fix this mistake.  Yet, much like Ned, who tried to protect the realm from Joffery as well as follow the laws, is cut down.  Brienne of Tarth is almost cut down multiple times, and if it weren’t for Jaime, she’d of suffered a horrible consequence.  So while there are good characters in the book, they suffer tragic fates.  One cannot survive as a good person, at least not in Martin’s world.

The HBO series plans to split the third book up into 2 seasons.  The second season already dabbled into the third book a little.  While I wish some characters got more time dedicated to them in the second season, such as Brann with the frog-eaters, I understood then why they skipped over many of the events, e.g. not showing the 3 or 4 times Arya switches hands and just send into Tywin’s hands to begin with.   But third book has a lot more going on, and a lot of events I want to see.

I’m not sure if all of them will get shown, but hope with the extra time they can.  I would love to watch Lord Beric, the Lightning Lord, get cut down by The Hound, but at this time I do not know if Lord Beric plays any additional roll in the future books.  If he does not, then I would not expect to see the scene as it was more of just a “That was awesome” part of the book, and Arya could easily just get kidnapped by The Hound directly.  There are a number of other events that I hope we get to see, but if they skip over I understand... but at the same time understand if they do not.

I expect, and hope, that season 3 ends with suspense.  Many characters have points in this book where their story begins to change.  A lot of it would center around Robb and Catelynn, their deaths would be an obvious choice.  It sets a lot of characters up as having a good middle as well.  For Arya it would be her attempting to run in (perhaps have her last chapter be Sandor Clegane bashing her head with the axe).  After losing all her family, Arya really has to rethink who she is now that her noble lineage means nothing.  For Stannis Barratheon, this would be a good point for Davos and Stannis to resist Melisandre’s promise as she promised three deaths, and Joffrey is still alive, building suspense for the next season and wanting Joffrey dead.  For Sansa and Tyrion, the announced marriage between the two would be a counter-balance to the Stark’s slaughter.  Jaime would also be finally returning home.  Jon sleeping with Ygritte would also be a counter, and specifically the scene where Jon and Ygritte are in the ice cave.  The ice cave not only showed Jon truly falling in love with Ygritte and crossing the line on his vows, but also the point right before they literally cross the line across the wall.  Although, another potential point for Jon is where he is at the same camp as Brann, and Brann inadvertently helps Jon escape.  Brann was, to my dismay, rather absent in the third book.  I hope the show adds a few scenes to gather the Reeds, as I really liked their characters and was greatly disappointed in them not being in Season 2...but at the same time, Brann is barely in Book 3, and I don’t know what happens to them in Book 4, so they may be throw-away characters.  Although, I still question what they are going to do with Rickon.  For Daenarys, her gathering her army of the Unsullied is a perfect time to stop as it’s right before she starts her conquest.



I am quite eager to read the fourth book, A Feast of Crows, and see what happens. I refused to pick it up until I posted this!