Fantasy Annotation: A Storm of Swords

 

Author: George R.R. Martin

Title: A Storm of Swords

Genre: Fantasy

Publication Date: Nov, 2000

Number of Pages: 1177

Geographical Setting: Westeros

Time Period: Medieval era fantasy

Series (If applicable): A Song of Ice and Fire, 3

Plot Summary:

The kingdoms of Westeros have been torn apart by war and divided allegiances as more and more men crown themselves “king” and claim lands for themselves. Chief among them are Joffrey Baratheon, illegitimate heir to the Iron Throne; Stannis Baratheon, the legitimate heir and brother to the recently deceased king; Robb Stark, the teenage Lord of Winterfell and “King in the North;” and Balon Greyjoy, lord of the Iron Islands to the northwest. In the midst of the fighting, the Stark siblings have all been separated, with their half-brother Jon Snow fighting against otherworldly enemies to the very far North. Meanwhile, Daenerys Targaryen, last surviving member of the original royal family, is on the other side of the world amassing an army with three fledgling dragons, and she has a mind to crush everyone in Westeros. Battles are fought, lives lost, alliances made and broken, and trust won and lost; who will remain standing when the storm of swords has subsided?

Subject Headings:

    Fantasy fiction

    Political corruption

    Magic

    Nobility

    Knights and knighthood

    Good and evil

    Violence

    Rulers

    Winter

    Dragons

    Imaginary kingdoms

    Imaginary wars and battles

Fantasy Appeal:

Worldbuilding: we enter the realm of Westeros, a world that is highly detailed, has its own political dynamics, and a long history.

Dark Fantasy tone: “filtered through a grim, violent, and gritty worldview.” A Song of Ice and Fire is a very dense series.

Characterization: a huge cast of characters including underdogs, antiheroes, kings/lords and queens/ladies, and dozens of secondary characters.

Pacing: “leisurely, building, and engrossing.” There are over a thousand pages featuring the point of view of usually five or six lead characters and their own separate adventures and paths that sometimes cross, sometimes not.

Subgenre (epic fantasy): quasi-medieval, point-of-view shifts, good vs. evil, power struggles, magical creatures – this series is full of the tropes and signifiers of an epic fantasy.

3 terms that best describe this book:

Gritty, Character-driven, Dramatic

Relevant Non-Fiction Works and Authors:

Blood Sisters: The Women Behind The War Of The Roses by Sarah Gristwood

Lannisters and Lancasters… Starks and Yorks… Tyrells and Tudors. The drama of A Song of Ice and Fire was in no small part inspired by actual historical events of the Wars of the Roses, a series of civil wars fought over the English throne back in the 1400s. Gristwood’s novel looks at the women involved in the war; the Cerseis and Aryas of the time.

Joan of Arc: A History by Helen Castor

Brienne of Tarth, a prominent character in A Storm of Swords, is said to be inspired by Joan of Arc. Castor’s history delves into the true story of Joan’s quest to put Charles VII on the throne, similar to Brienne’s oath to King Renly who sought the iron throne.

Glencoe: The Infamous Massacre 1692 by John Sadler

The infamous Red Wedding from A Storm of Swords is based on two massacres from Scottish history, and this novel tells the tale of one of them. The Campbell clan brutally murdered the MacDonalds under the pretense of hospitality.

 

Relevant Fiction Works and Authors:

Joe Abercrombie’s First Law trilogy

Abercrombie’s trilogy is described as “gritty modern fantasy” and features bloody battles, morally gray characters, underdogs, and moral dilemmas.

Steven Erikson’s Malazan Book of the Fallen series

Erikson’s series spans ten books, which is great for fans of ASOIAF who are dying for the final novel to finally be released. The series depicts a season of turmoil in the history of the Malazan Empire and features a large cast of characters and storylines.

Tad Williams' Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn trilogy

George R.R. Martin has said that this trilogy inspired him to write A Song of Ice and Fire, to the point of even reusing some plot devices. Williams’ series is a dark, epic fantasy in its own turn inspired by The Lord of the Rings.