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Friday, June 15, 2012

Where's My Bookmark: A Storm of Swords by George R. R. Martin

My bookmark's been meandering it's way through book three of the Song of Ice and Fire series since before I left for vacation. See, I thought that it would be the perfect beachside read -- and it's not that I was wrong, it's just that I didn't do a whole lot of beachside reading.

We visited Grand Cayman this past week with mom and my siblings and had a fantastic time snorkeling, kayaking, swimming, wandering around the island, and sightseeing (we went to the turtle farm and swam with stingrays!).

And so I'm not quite finished with the book -- though I'm very close. As in, I think I'll finish this afternoon. In fact, I stayed up late reading last night and would have stayed up later considering the WTF?! moment I hit with the Red Wedding, which I hear is where season 3 of the show will end. Talk about a cliffhanger there! Fortunately the book doesn't end at that point and now I'm in the aftermath and dying to get back to it.

If you aren't current with the show or haven't read the books, you probably don't want to read any further. I wouldn't want to ruin it for you.

The battle at King's Landing is over. The Lannisters have won... for now. Wights have attacked the Night's Watch and Jon Snow has joined Mance Rayder's ranks in hopes of learning enough to help his brothers and defend the Wall. Jaime Lannister has escaped, with Lady Catelyn's help, and is being escorted back to King's Landing where Catelyn hopes he'll be exchanged for her daughters. Arya travels to Riverrun to reunite with her family and Bran is headed North under the cover of his supposed death. Across the sea, Daenerys has gained ships but now needs and army to back her when she returns to Westeros. And though everyone has counted Stannis out of the game, he is far from done. 

I've got less than 1/3 left to go and Martin has already thrown in some major game changers here! I know we've all learned after book one not to get too attached to anyone in the series, but this is craziness!

Each installment in the series is a big chunker of a read and every time I finish one, I'm desperate to move on to the next to find out what happens! And with season three no doubt a year out, I've got book four already lined up for my next GRRM binge.

While I love the tv show, one thing that I adore about this series that's missing from the small screen is all of the intricate background and history of the Song of Ice and Fire world: the stories of Bran the Builder and the various empires that populated Westeros; the lands across the sea, of which we see very little in the show at all; the First Men; the Children of the Forest; each of the family histories that are delved into in each book... this has all become expendable (understandably) in putting together a realistic television series. But it adds such depth and richness to the books that I wish at least some of it was touched on in the show. Ah well, the fact that this epic epicness has made it to tv at all is kind of a big accomplishment and I'll take it as I can get it.

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