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A Storm of Swords Complete Edition (Two in One) (A Song of Ice and Fire, Book 3) (Kindle Edition)

This is probably the high point of the series. I loved book one and would encourage everyone to read it, if they don't get further than that then fair enough at least they tried. I think it is unwise to give up after book 2 as this book (the third) is probably the highlight, afterwards they are a little more so-so. What makes the series strong as a whole is the characterization, I think this is the single greatest strength of his writing. The plot is good, and in many cases full of intrigue, although at other times it feels grindingly slow.

Even in this book there are times when the book feels like it is grinding but this is the minority rather than majority. There are twists and turns as there are in all of the series but I felt that they were less numerous than in book 2. You never quite know which characters are going to die and which are not, the suspense keeps you turning the pages to find out. The author is willing to beat up and kill his heroes, sometimes with too much fervour, but there are too many authors that make their heroes invincible.

In this book there is a scene called the Red Wedding which is one of the most moving scenes of any novel, I didn't predict it coming and was completely stunned when I read it. I had that knotted feeling after reading something awful, I don't want to say any more but this is truly great story telling. Once you've read this book you can Google up the author's own thoughts and feelings about this book, it is interesting to hear his thoughts too.

Any of my complaints in this book are overshadowed by the better parts, one of the few absolutely solid 5 star books.