Customer Reviews

Storm of Swords (Song of Ice & Fire 3)

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I have just finished this fourth book in the Song of Ice and Fire series, and will be reading no further. I am bored out of my skull, with what started out as a fabulously-engrossing story in Game of Thrones, but has now deteriorated into an endless series of 'cliffhanger' chapter endings and an endless parade of characters, created apparently only to be killed off or passed around, ad infinitum. I no longer give a rip who becomes 'king' or IF anybody ever becomes king, who survives, who doesn't, or who-marries-whom. This is going on too long. Ho-bloody-hum.

Is there any resolution to this saga in sight? Well, no, apparently not yet. I understand this author has written, what, 5 books, 6 books, and STILL his 'story' isn't anywhere near being finished? I do think Mr Martin is having us on here. As long as people keep buying these books, he'll keep on churning them out. Why kill the Golden Goose?

What a waste of such a strong writing talent!

A GOOD story -- any kind of story, short OR long, including fantasy sagas -- must have focus. It needs a beginning, a middle, AND an end. The ending need not be happy, but all loose threads need to be tied together in some satisfactory and believable way at the conclusion. And there really DOES need to be a conclusion.

Mr Martin should take a gander at Joe Abercrombie's First Law fantasy trilogy, to see how a multi-viewpoint, lengthy and complicated 'gritty' story SHOULD be constructed. That story was one of the most original and engrossing tales I've ever read, with a very satisfactory conclusion indeed. This one ...well, sadly, it's not. Unfortunately, this 'saga' has turned into a soap opera.

Soap operas are different from stories. No matter how original the setting (remember Dark Shadows?), soaps just diddle on and on and on from day to day, until somebody finally pulls the plug on them. Exciting events come and go, original characters have their moments of drama, leave the show, new characters appear, hang around, have THEIR dramas, then THEY leave, etc, etc. Characters continually swap partners till nobody can remember who started with whom, family members fall out with each other, make up, fall out again ...etc, etc... Sound familiar?

There are obviously folks out there who enjoy this kind of never-ending saga, but I'm not one of them. If somebody comes to me and says 'Hey -- did you know George RR Martin actually FINISHED his Song of Ice and Fire saga?', I might pick it up again and read on. But until that day dawns, I'm through. Sorry.