lucis

After a very gripping and explosive start, the book meanders sluggishly till about the half way mark. It got so slow at places that I almost stopped reading it a couple of times. But once it changes gears, it is a completely different book! Each chapter in the second half of the book is full of surprises. The story perfectly unfolds amidst tonnes of action, and politics. More characters die than I could care to count. I dont think I can do justice to the second half of the book here. It is practically perfect, and I seriously doubt the second half could have been made any better.

If the second book was all about characters, the third is more about the story and history. We learn quite a bit about the history of the land, the Targaryens, and the Lannisters. The book gives very interesting answeres to some of the questions that were raised in the first book, and raises many new questions. Several chapters are written from the point of view (pov) of Jaime Lannister (the second Lannister pov). As usual, Martin wonderfully brings out both the good and evil sides out of him. The fourth book is supposed to have Cersie Lannister as a pov - now that would be very interesting (Cersie is almost your perfect evil queen, and only her bad side has been explored so far)!

On the whole, I think the book equals or surpasses the second book. This inspite of the rather disappointing first half. The fast paced, action packed second half has left me hungry for more. Cant wait for the fourth book, “A Feast for Crows” to be released…

For anyone interested, here is an amazing gallery of artwork related to the series. Simply brilliant. Most characters are exactly how I picture them while reading the book. Also check out this really cool forum for discussions about the book (including spoilers for the unreleased fourth book).