A Storm of Swords

Der dritte Band des Liedes von Feuer und Eis schließt nicht direkt an Band 2 an, sondern geht noch einmal ein wenig in der Zeit zurück und erzählt einige Ereignisse vor der Schlacht von Kings Landing bevor der Erzählstrang weitergewoben wird. Martin bleibt seiner Erzählweise treu und schildert weiterhin die Ereignisse in Westeros aus verschiedenen Blickwinkeln, jedoch kommen in diesem Band einige neue Personen bzw. neue Sichtweisen hinzu. Auch diesmal steht eine Prophezeiung am Anfang des Buches, welche die Komplette Handlung vorwegnimmt, ähnlich wie im ersten Band, die auch während der Handlung durch weitere Prophezeiungen untermauert wird. Die Geschichte ist voller Hinweise auf kommende Ereignisse, so dass kaum eines der Geschehnisse wirklich überraschend ist, denn alles wird vorher angekündigt, teilweise schon in Band 1 oder Band 2 der Reihe. Diese ausgefeilte Erzählweise, die Hinweise, die bereits im ersten Band Ereignisse dieses dritten Bandes andeuten zeigt, wie minutiös geplant diese Geschichte ist. Ereignisse aus der Vergangenheit beeinflussen die Gegenwart und Zukunft und nehmen den Protagonisten teilweise die Möglichkeit die Ereignisse selbst zu kontrollieren, denn die Entscheidungen wurden teilweise vor ihrer Geburt bereits für sie getroffen und überrollen sie. Dieses Buch ist eine Parabel auf Macht, das Streben nach Macht und die Unfähigkeit diese verantwortungsvoll einzusetzen. Macht um der Macht willen, Macht um Reichtum anzuhäufen korrumpiert die Protagonisten und vieles davon findet sich in unserer aktuellen Politik wieder. Der Bürgerkrieg in Westeros wird immer brutaler, Allianzen zerbröckeln, jeder verrät jeden, jeder nimmt Rache, und keiner ist bereit zu vergeben. In diesen Kriegswirren versuchen die Kinder von Ned Stark ihren Weg zu gehen und zu überleben. Bran ist auf der Suche nach der dreiäugigen Krähe, Sansa versucht in Kings Landing zu überleben, Arrya will nach Hause und Robb versucht sein Reich zusammenzuhalten. Für die wirklichen Überraschungen sorgen jedoch Jaime und Tyrion, die langsam zu sich selber finden und erkennen wer sie sind und sein wollen. Sie beginnen sich zu emanzipieren, und eigene Entscheidungen zu treffen. Der Einfluss der Magie wird stärker spürbar, sie erwacht erneut. Die Geschichte wird langsam von einem alternate history Mittelaltersaga zu einem klassischen High Fantasy Roman und zusammen mit den Protagonisten lernt auch der Leser langsam diese magischen Prinzipien kennen. Nur einer erkennt, welche Gefahr dem Reich wirklich droht und welcher Kampf das Überleben der Menschen sichern wird: Stannis Baratheon, aber auch seine Tage sind gezählt und der wiedergeborene Retter Azor Ahai ist noch ahnungslos, welches große Schicksal ihm beschieden ist. Vielen Autoren muss man vor allem einen Vorwurf machen: Sie lieben ihre Protagonisten wie eigenen Kinder und tun alles, um sie am Leben zu erhalten. Das ist ein Vorwurf, den man Martin nicht machen kann. Kein Leben ist sicher, jeder kann sterben, jederzeit. Die Geschichte ist wichtiger als ihre handelnden Personen, eine Seltenheit in der der Literatur.

‘A Clash of Kings’ picks up directly where ‘A Game of Thrones’ ends. It introduces new characters and elements like the prophecy about the prince that was promised—affecting not only people in Westeros but also Daenerys over in Westeros. Following Eddard’s death, the Stark family is even more scattered: Sansa finds herself in King’s Landing in the clutches of the Lannisters, Arya is on the run, and Robb, Eddard’s eldest son, goes to war to take revenge on the Lannisters, with his mother Catelyn by his side. She believes her youngest sons, Bran and Rickon, are safe in Winterfell. The inspiration for this conflict came from the Wars of the Roses in medieval England, centred on the Houses of York and Lancaster (Stark and Lannister!).  At the Wall, there is little sign that the Seven Kingdoms are at war: Jon sets out north of the Wall for the first time with his brothers of the Night’s Watch and realises that a far greater threat lurks there. The highlight of the second volume of ‘A Song of Ice and Fire’, published in 1998: Tyrion Lannister, who, with his incredible wit, rules in King’s Landing as Hand of the King to his nephew Joffrey and even plays mind games with the cunning Master of Whispers, Varys, and the shrewd Master of Coin, Littlefinger. The novel is a perfectly executed continuation of the story and is every bit as good as ‘A Game of Thrones’.

This book is one of the hugest I've ever read but still I loved it. In this book the old king is dead and several factions struggle for control. The King in the North has made common cause with the rivermen and now fights a bloody war against the Lannisters. Meanwhile Roberts brothers Stannis and Renly claim the throne, but while renly leads an army 100.000 strong, stannis only has the support of a few lesser lords near dragonstone. At Castle Black, Jon Snow and the Men of the Night's Watch march north, against a sudden grouping of the free folk. Meanwhile, across the Narrow Sea, Daenarys targaryen and the remains of khal drogos khalasar cross the red waste, lead by a mysterious comet the colour of blood and flame. This book offers all it needs: Battles, politics, mysterious enemies, the fight for survival in a cruel world and love. It can be brutal at some points and there are a few cringe scenes (espacially with theon or tyrion) but in total you have to read this Book. Note: The series still isn't completed

In the second volume of „A Song of Ice and Fire” several factions claim their right to the Iron Throne and thereby to the Seven Kingdoms. The entire realm is at war and loyalties can change at any moment. Brothers are fighting against brothers and not everything is as it seems. Between incest, murder and intrigues everyone tries to find their place on the winning side. Until in the end it all leads to one final battle right at Kings Landing. 

I don’t think there is anything new I could add to the thousands of reviews already out there but since I review almost every book I read I did not want to make an exception here. To be honest I have no clue why I waited so long to finally start reading the “A Song of Ice and Fire” series. While in the first book I had some problems to differentiate between all the different characters it was way easier in this one. Probably because I already knew all of them from the last one. So far I still have not watched the tv show yet because everyone keeps telling me to read the books first. Therefore I can not compare the two at all but I also do not think that this is necessary. While reading this book I really enjoyed the style of writing and also the great world building. I loved to have so many different POVs so I could really learn a lot about this world and all the characters and families in it. Although some characters are more important than others I would not say that there is one main character and therefore it’s not like most books where you can really watch one protagonist grow and change throughout the story. As the series progresses I hope we will see more developments in the main characters though. While the start of the book was a bit slow, the pace really increased in the second half and there was quite a lot of action.

In my opinion it’s a great sequel in the series and I will definitely continue reading the next book soon. 100% recommendation from my side.

In the second volume of „A Song of Ice and Fire” several factions claim their right to the Iron Throne and thereby to the Seven Kingdoms. The entire realm is at war and loyalties can change at any moment. Brothers are fighting against brothers and not everything is as it seems. Between incest, murder and intrigues everyone tries to find their place on the winning side. Until in the end it all leads to one final battle right at Kings Landing. 

I don’t think there is anything new I could add to the thousands of reviews already out there but since I review almost every book I read I did not want to make an exception here. To be honest I have no clue why I waited so long to finally start reading the “A Song of Ice and Fire” series. While in the first book I had some problems to differentiate between all the different characters it was way easier in this one. Probably because I already knew all of them from the last one. So far I still have not watched the tv show yet because everyone keeps telling me to read the books first. Therefore I can not compare the two at all but I also do not think that this is necessary. While reading this book I really enjoyed the style of writing and also the great world building. I loved to have so many different POVs so I could really learn a lot about this world and all the characters and families in it. Although some characters are more important than others I would not say that there is one main character and therefore it’s not like most books where you can really watch one protagonist grow and change throughout the story. As the series progresses I hope we will see more developments in the main characters though. While the start of the book was a bit slow, the pace really increased in the second half and there was quite a lot of action.

In my opinion it’s a great sequel in the series and I will definitely continue reading the next book soon. 100% recommendation from my side.