A Storm of Swords

A Song of Ice and Fire, Book 3

By: George R.R. Martin

Narrated by: Roy Dotrice

Length: 47 hrs and 34 mins

Publisher's summary

Of the five contenders for power, one is dead, another in disfavor, and still the wars rage as violently as ever, as alliances are made and broken. Joffrey, of House Lannister, sits on the Iron Throne, the uneasy ruler of the land of the Seven Kingdoms. His most bitter rival, Lord Stannis, stands defeated and disgraced, the victim of the jealous sorceress who holds him in her evil thrall. But young Robb, of House Stark, still rules the North from the fortress of Riverrun. Robb plots against his despised Lannister enemies, even as they hold his sister hostage at King's Landing, the seat of the Iron Throne. Meanwhile, making her way across a blood-drenched continent is the exiled queen, Daenerys, mistress of the only three dragons still left in the world....

But as opposing forces maneuver for the final titanic showdown, an army of barbaric wildlings arrives from the outermost line of civilization. In their vanguard is a horde of mythical Others, a supernatural army of the living dead whose animated corpses are unstoppable. As the future of the land hangs in the balance, no one will rest until the Seven Kingdoms have exploded in a veritable storm of swords....

©2000 George R.R. Martin (P)2004 Books On Tape, Inc., published in arrangement with Random House Audio Group, a division of Random House, Inc.

Critic reviews

• Locus Award, 2001

"A riveting continuation of a series whose brilliance continues to dazzle." (The Patriot News)

"I always expect the best from George R. R. Martin, and he always delivers." (Robert Jordan)

Response to other reviewers: narrator and disorder

The narrator was fantastic: this book has a wealth of characters all hailing from different parts of the novel's world; yet, Roy Dotrice made everything more approachable and real by giving all the natives of a given region similar accents (note the similarity between TL and JL).

As for the disorganized chapters: the book on mobile has this problem. When I switched to the web version, the chapters were in the right order. I hope this helps.

Keeps getting better

I was a little nervous starting book 3. It had been a while since I finished book 2, and there is the further confusion of where the TV series left off, so it's hard to keep track of what has happened. However, Martin has the confidence of a storyteller who knows he has a good story to tell. He manages to entwine the recap of the last book with the plot threads of the new book in a way that feels totally natural. In fact, he takes such a long time getting his multiple story lines back in motion that I had forgotten I had ever taken a break in between books by the time all the characters were back in place.

I think Martin has improved as a writer. The first two books suffered from having too much exposition inserted under the pretence of interior monologue. Here in the third book the exposition is much better integrated and used to drive the story, not just as background filler. He often sets up certain vocabulary to foreshadow or bleed across in the transition to the next segment of one of his multiple storylines. And somehow he pulls off the amazing trick of making the ending incredibly satisfying and simultaneously leaving you craving the next book.

And now the list of words I would be happy never to hear again: garron, boiled leather, small clothes, milk of the poppy, dream wine, flagon.

Amazing story telling.

GRRM writes an entrancing story. Narrator's reading of Missandei hard to understand and kinda offensive?

Great work Well told

I would likke it to go faster, but I must admit it is as juice a story as you'll ever hear.

A true epic that draws you in...

Having finished all three books, George Martin has written an enthralling set of characters into a well-developed world; Surprises around every corner. I can't wait for Audible to offer the fourth book. These are a must listen.

Amazing

I have watched the show before listening and I still do not become bored. I am enjoying all the little details that the books contain.

it's a addiction

I've watched the show over and over now reading all the books before the last season comes out

Great book and narrator

The narrator makes the book really entertaining with his myriad of character voices. My only complaint would be that he says names wrong which can be annoying. For instance, Petyr Baelish, he pronounces “Petire” instead of “Peter”. But that’s only a minor complaint. The book and narrating is great!

Great way to pass the time on a long work commute!

I picked up the audible for this book halfway through reading it so that I could listen to it on my commute to work. If you've watched the show, prepare to be thrown off by the way Roy Dotrice pronounces some of the names, but other than that, it was a great read, especially for fans of the show!

Excellent

The story is famously good so you don't need me to reiterate that point.
Roy Dotrice does an incredible job narrating, providing voices for every character that really bring them all to life.
I truly enjoyed this book and can't recommend it enough.