A Storm of Swords by George R. R. Martin, book cover art

Denver Science Fiction & Fantasy Book Club

A Storm of Swords
by
George R. R. Martin

Book Three of A Song of Ice and Fire

US Bantam Spectra hardback
Cover art by Stephen Youll (left)
note: background is metallic blue

Voyager UK hardback
Cover art by Jim Burns (right)
Both 924 pages + 45 pages of appendixes

Aaron's book review of A Storm of Swords on Fantastic Reviews
Cover art for Blood and Gold

From inside cover of UK hardback:
The Seven Kingdoms are divided by revolt and blood feud, and winter approaches like an angry beast. Beyond the Northern borders, wildings 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 the great cold and the walking corpses that travel with it. But now they face a horde of wildings 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.

From inside cover of US hardback:
Of the five contenders for power, one is dead, another in disfavor, all 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. Filled with the stench of death and decay from the destructive dynastic war, Daenerys is gathering allies and strength for an assault on King's Landing, hoping to win back the crown she believes is rightfully hers.

But as opposing forces maneuver for the final titanic showdown, an army of barbaric wildings bent on overwhelming the Seven Kingdoms 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. And as the future of the land hangs in the balance, no one will rest in the quest for victory until the Seven Kingdoms have exploded in a veritable storm of swords...

A Storm of Swords: Blood and Gold
by
George R. R. Martin

Part Two of Book Three of A Song of Ice and Fire

Voyager UK paperback
Cover art by Jim Burns (right)
527 pages + 58 pages of appendixes

Maps:
In the UK hardback there are four maps: The South, The North, The Land Beyond the Wall, and The Lands of the Summer Sea. They all follow the title page and dedication.

In the US hardback there are also those four maps. The maps of the North and The South are inside the front cover. Maps of The Land Beyond the Wall, and The Lands of the Summer Sea follow the title page and dedication.

The maps are not identical. The maps in the UK edition appear hand lettered and hand inked. The maps in the US edition look slicker, as if computer rendered.

Black design on chapters headings:
The chapter heading and title page designs differ. The UK design is more intricate, a like a many petaled flower with a superimposed sword. The US design is more rounded with a fleur-de-lis.

Point of view characters - chapters:
Jaime, Catelyn, Arya, Tyrion, Davos, Sansa, Jon, Daenerys, Bran, Samwell

Site Links:
Main page for A Game of Thrones - book summary, Aaron's review, Martin bibliography
USA & UK cover art, book blurbs, review links
A Game of Thrones, book one
A Clash of Kings, book two
Artwork from A Song of Ice and Fire series novella
Path of the Dragon
Aaron's book reviews on Fantastic Reviews
Aaron's book review of A Clash of Kings
Aaron's book review of A Storm of Swords
Aaron's book review of A Feast for Crows

A Storm of Swords book reviews on the Web:
SF Site Featured Review - A Storm of Swords
dragonsworn Review: A Storm of Swords

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This page was last updated October 20, 2008