Martin's present home is Santa Fe, New Mexico. He is a member of Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America (he was South-Central Regional Director 1977-1979, and Vice President 1996-1998), and of Writers' Guild of America, West. Tarth is beautiful,” the wench grunted between strokes. “The Sapphire Isle, it’s called. Be quiet, monster, unless you mean to make me gag you.” Es un libro que me ha atrapado completamente, no solo por el contenido sino por la prosa tan agradable para leer. Martin supo aprovechar perfectamente la ventaja de que existieran los dos libros anteriores. La aprovechó porque aquí no necesitó presentar personajes, ni describir lugares, ni preparar el contexto: ¡Nada! En Tormenta de espadas, sentí una historia completamente impulsada por si misma que avanzaba a la velocidad que el autor quería proponer. Por ejemplo, cada vez que inicié un capítulo, por la prosa serena de los primeros párrafos, creía que me estaba encontrando ante un capítulo de transición, pero una vez seguía leyendo, sorpresa tras sorpresa me dejaba boquiabierto y en ciertas ocasiones quedaba súper emocionado por los giros inesperados que nos tiene bien guardados Martin. Todo el tiempo el autor jugó con mis sentimientos, con mi mente, y no logré adivinar pero en absoluto el contenido que iba a aparecer más adelante. Fueron como seis capítulos con nivel Dios, otros diez aproximadamente con nivel épico, y en general muchísimos capítulos entretenidos, sorprendentes, atrapantes y muy, pero muy adictivos. No sé si Martin planeo así su obra —yo creería que sí— pero usar Juego de tronos y Choque de reyes como aperitivo de este volumen ha sido una gran elección de su parte. Y lo mejor es que para la estructura de este libro, toma de Juego de tronos la prosa ligera, la extensión de los capítulos y los momentos bastante inesperados, pero de Choque de reyes toma la intensidad, el caos, los viajeros errantes, las batallas sangrientas, la desesperación, la muerte, etc. Si se ve de otra manera, es como si Tormenta de espadas fuera una fusión de sus dos predecesores. A Storm of Swords is, in my opinion, an undisputed high point of the series so far. It expanded the story in delightful, wonderful ways. It gave it a truly epic feel. It delivered the cruel punch in the gut with the Red Wedding (excuse me as I go and cry myself to sleep) and reinforced the axiom that nobody is safe in the world GRRM created. (*) * It was heartbreaking, gut-wrenching, and unexpected. But it was necessary, even if just to remind how cruel and brutal this world is, and how little choices can have huge consequences.

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sure, her eyes glow red. sure, she's a little bloodthirsty. sure, she wants to sacrifice some children. what of it? we all have our flaws. don't judge this sorceress... her only goal is to, um, SAVE THE ENTIRE WORLD FROM UTTER DESTRUCTION. have some sympathy for her goals already. it's not like you could do a better job at trying to SAVE THE ENTIRE WORLD FROM UTTER DESTRUCTION. i want her on my team!

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The violence. One of the criticisms of the 2004 Antoine Fuqua film King Arthur starring Clive Owen was the minimization of violence. Whereas earlier adaptions of the Arthur legend were intentionally theatrical and atmospheric rather than realistic, Fuqua seemed to be on to a cool angle by introducing a historically accurate revisionist story of Arthur as a Roman leader fighting Picts and Scots. There’s swords and daggers and arrows and lots of fighting, but not so much blood and guts. The incongruity of the muddy realism with the stylized violence was distracting.

A Storm of Swords: The Illustrated Edition: The Illustrated A Storm of Swords: The Illustrated Edition: The Illustrated

The character complexity parallels the story complexity - both are done masterfully. The characters feel alive and real. They are interesting and fascinating, and fluctuate between likable and despicable in a not too predictable fashion (*). The previously unseen connections between characters and events are mind-blowing. And seeing the select few skillfully manipulating so many others is unsettling.And then there’s Tyrion’s little fiasco with that crossbow. I mean, wow! I did not see that coming. I literally cheered the very first time I read that; it was so perfect and so necessary. The way the chapter ended was superb also. I’d put the quote in, but that would be a big plot spoiler. I guess there is only so far you can push someone before they finally snap, and lash out against the world. Tyrion could only take so much abuse and disuse from the ones who should actually love him. What he did was totally justified and necessary for his own survival. He simply couldn’t go on anymore with that kind of treatment. The end he provides to his victim’s name will well, and truly, sully his reputation. It was most apt to finish him in such a way. What an awful, and deserved, way to go. After spending most of A Clash of Kings imprisoned by the Starks at Riverrun, Jaime Lannister becomes one of the main point-of-view characters in A Storm of Swords. George R.R. Martin has accomplished a nearly impossible feat with Jaime, making the reader feel sympathy for this obnoxious, arrogant, incestuous Kingslayer. Despite all the terrible things he has done, Jaime still has a shred of honor, and I actually felt compassion for him by the end of the book. Reading THAT scene was akin to watching a multi-car pile-up. I freaked out. Literally slammed the book shut, stood up on the bed, and cussed for a bit. Next I curled up into a ball, hugged the book to my chest, and muttered “No no no!” on loop. I wailed to my concerned husband, “What is going to happen now?” Then I proceeded to mull over this development for days. The things you miss in any book is the commentary in someone's head. Of course some I would rather not read about. But I really loved the parts where we could read Tyrion's thoughts about Sansa. They were sweet and true and sad in many ways. The announcers, with no regard for karma, started talking about the possibility in the fifth inning. I didn't start to get excited until the seventh. I thought to myself: I might be watching something for the history books. Then, in the eighth, the third baseman made an error, and the perfect game was over (the following inning, he lost his no-hit bid as well). The game went down as a victory for the Twins, and for Liriano, but it will be lost in the eddies of baseball history. It was a very good game; but it was not a masterpiece.

A Storm of Swords: The Illustrated Edition | Penguin Random

In the book there were certain scenes I liked better than I did in the shows. I love the shows and I love the books so far. But, in this book there were more parts with dialogue that I really enjoyed. My favorite in this book were the scenes between Brienne and Jaime. I know, you didn't see that coming right? I mean you would think it would have been all the parts about Jon since he's my hunneh bunneh but nope. I liked his parts better in the show and nooo it's not because I can look at him in the show. Although. . . nevermind. Among the Stark children, Sansa is essentially a Disney princess caught in a grimdark world. Originally hoping for a happily-ever-after with the pouty-lipped Joffrey, Sansa’s delicate innocence only brings her suffering. In A Storm of Swords, Sansa finally escapes the clutches of the Lannisters but is left to deal with the creepy Littlefinger, who harbors a lifelong infatuation with her mother, Catelyn. It’s hard to tell which situation is worse for the unfortunate Sansa.how do you talk about something that is continuing, for people who have no idea what you are talking about? It’d be nice to say these questions don’t matter, that A Storm of Swords and the other completed novels can stand on their own. They can’t. Ultimately, Storm will be judged upon the entirety of A Song of Ice and Fire. If the cycle falters, or is left unfinished, then Storm will be reevaluated along with the rest. For those of you who prefer Tolkien’s wordy, action-light style to numerous beheadings, maimings, and juvenile descriptions of oral sex, Storm should satisfy those cravings as well. Amid all the slayings and treachery, Martin still finds time for his characters to tell lengthy stories about the old days, and the long, violent, exciting history of Westeros. There are even songs! I keep wondering whether these books are sexist or not, which usually boils down to the question of whether or not female characters have agency. I don't know if that's a reasonable test of gender bias, but that's where my mind goes. It's certainly true that most of the female characters rarely make decisions that influence the narrative, but I think that's equally true of the males. Some exceptions I can think of include Arya escaping Harrenhall, Catelyn freeing Jaime, Danaerys freeing slaves. Cersei, despite being one of the most overtly willful women in the story and the most vocal about gender bias in her society, seems to have little real power. She wanted to spare Eddard, he ended up dead. She wanted to save her kids, Joff ended up dead. She wants to marry her brother but her dad keeps wedding her off for political reasons.