A Storm of Swords- Book 1: Steel and Snow (2000) by George R. R. Martin

WARNING: Here be SPOILERS!!!!

So I've jumped well and truly on the Game of Thrones band-wagon. I can't even claim to be a true fan, as I started reading after watching the first episode.

 If I'm honest, I don't even watch the show anymore. I've seen the first season in its entirety, but that's it. I'm sticking pretty closely to the books, mainly because of my girlfriend, who is a frothing A Song of Ice and Fire fan, eagerly awaiting George R. R. Martin's (hereafter referred to as GRRM) next instalment. It's actually quite funny, I'll come to some shocking revelation in the book and discuss it with her, and she'll just scoff and tell me how far behind I am ("You know nothing, Jon Snow!").

What did I think of this, the first-half of the third book (that's a mouthful) in the series? Yeah, I enjoyed it. Quite a lot actually. I initially went in believing that GRRM was a really solid purveyor of what I term meat-and-potato prose (that is, prose with no real emphasis on the poetry of language), but there are a few parts in this book, a few little jokey flourishes that are surprisingly poetic on a comedic level.

When Tyrion awakes from his coma after the events in A Clash of Kings, he is greeted by the loveably ambiguous eunuch, Varys, who tells him how the Queen-Regent Cersei has stolen Tyrion's spies, the Kettlebacks. The following exchange occurs:

"The Kettlebacks report frequently to your sweet sister." "When I think of how much coin I paid those wretched... do you think there's any chance that more gold might win them away from Cersei?" "There is always a chance, but I should not care to wager on the likelihood. They are knights now, all three, and your sister has promised them further advancement." A wicked little titter burst from the eunuch's lips. "And the eldest, Ser Osmund of the Kingsguard, dreams of certain...other...favors... as well. You can match the queen coin for coin, I have no doubt, but she has a second purse that is quite inexhaustible."

The double entendres are deliciously funny and you get a few of them in Steel and Snow.

I've often described A Song of Ice and Fire as a kind of R rated Lord of the Rings, and I stand by it. I love this series, I love how unconventionally bleak it is.

 Magic, in the world of Westeros (and beyond) is a dark and almost unheard of affair. When it does crop up, it's treated as if it's completely mundane by the characters, and even though the dragons are sought after, they are pursued with a greed and lack of wonder that only adult human beings can possess. When men try to buy Daenery's dragons on her journey, they do so the way you can imagine certain affluent men pursuing sex slaves; not with an appreciation or wonder at beauty, but with a cold and calculating need to dominate everything unique and beautiful about the world.

I've also maintained that A Song of Ice and Fire is a actually a study in the pursuit of political power, and how the laws dreamed up by men, even those claiming to be of divine origin, are fickle in comparison in the face of brute power and violence.

The Unsullied, an army of robot-like, disciplined, soldiers, trained since birth (not unlike the Spartans) is a pretty cool idea, as well. Each member of the The Unsullied are given a puppy dog at birth and they have to kill it when they come of age, in a sickeningly brutal rite of passage.

I enjoyed this book, but I also feel that I can't really give an adequate review of it in isolation. Maybe when the whole series is done, I'll do a massive review of it. Until then, I thoroughly recommend A Song of Ice and Fire-- not that you probably need my recommendation to know its brilliance, not at this point in time.