A Storm of Swords
Enhanced Edition
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4.8 • 598 Ratings
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- $8.99
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- $8.99
Publisher Description
Available only on Apple Books, this enhanced edition is an amazing way to explore the rich world of George R. R. Martin’s series. Stay on top of the epic story lines with annotations, glossaries, and family trees. Follow each main character’s journey with interactive maps. Explore the symbolism of every house’s sigil. In addition to hundreds of enhancements, you’ll find an excerpt of The Winds of Winter, the hugely anticipated sixth book in Martin’s series.
Here is the third volume in George R. R. Martin’s magnificent cycle, which is destined to stand as one of the great achievements of imaginative fiction.
Of the five contenders for power, one is dead, another in disfavor, and still the wars rage as violently as ever, as alliances are made and broken. Joffrey, of House Lannister, sits on the Iron Throne, the uneasy ruler of the land of the Seven Kingdoms. His most bitter rival, Lord Stannis, stands defeated and disgraced, the victim of the jealous sorceress who holds him in her evil thrall. But young Robb, of House Stark, still rules the North from the fortress of Riverrun. Robb plots against his despised Lannister enemies, even as they hold his sister hostage at King’s Landing, the seat of the Iron Throne. Meanwhile, making her way across a blood-drenched continent is the exiled queen, Daenerys, mistress of the only three dragons still left in the world. . .
But as opposing forces maneuver for the final titanic showdown, an army of barbaric wildlings arrives from the outermost line of civilization. In their vanguard is a horde of mythical Others—a supernatural army of the living dead whose animated corpses are unstoppable. As the future of the land hangs in the balance, no one will rest until the Seven Kingdoms have exploded in a veritable storm of swords.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
The third volume of the high fantasy saga that began with A Game of Thrones and continued in A Clash of Kings is one of the more rewarding examples of gigantism in contemporary fantasy. As Martin's richly imagined world slides closer to its 10-year winter, both the weather and the warfare worsen. In the north, King Joffrey of House Lannister sits uneasily on the Iron Throne. With the aid of a peasant wench, Jaime Lannister, the Kingslayer, escapes from jail in Riverrun. Jaime goes to the other youthful ruler, Robb Stark, to secure the release of Joffrey's prisoners, Robb's sisters Arya and Sansa Stark. Meanwhile, in the south, Queen Daenarys tries to assert her claim to the various thrones with an army of eunuchs, but discovers that she must choose between conquering more and ruling well what she has already taken. The complexity of characters such as Daenarys, Arya and the Kingslayer will keep readers turning even the vast number of pages contained in this volume, for the author, like Tolkien or Jordan, makes us care about their fates. Those two fantasy greats are also evoked by Martin's ability to convey such sensual experiences as the heat of wildfire, the chill of ice, the smell of the sea and the sheer gargantuan indigestibility of the medieval banquet at its most excessive. Perhaps this saga doesn't go as far beyond the previous bounds of high fantasy as some claim, but for most readers it certainly goes far enough to command their attention.
Customer Reviews
Best in the Series
Five stars!
Buggy
A decent percentage of icons don’t populate and images don’t render. It seems like a great idea, but by the third or fourth time the app crashes or you have to force quit, the appeal is gone. If you want maps and character bios, check out the WOIAF app.
This enhanced edition is much worse than the previous books.
I was a super casual GoT fan for a while, but being a fantasy dork with some extra time, I decided to read the series. The first two enhanced editions are awesome! Helpful information, plenty of maps and info. I like having visuals - family trees, crests, maps, pictures. These were just the right amount of “enhanced”, even if a few descriptions were pretty useless- i.e. a character name link. The link would say “X is a member of house Y, a vassal to house Z. X is known for (insert random feature here).” And the very next sentence would be “X, a member of house Y, was known for his (insert random feature here).” Ok, cool, whatever.
This one, I’m not even through the prologue and there’s a major issue - it spoils the end of the prologue! Character’s links and bios describe the character AND reveal whether they did or did not survive an attack that hadn’t happened yet! The war horns being blown like they are isn’t even surprising, and reading through the end of it isn’t suspenseful, since I already found out who lives and dies! This is a huge oversight that I cannot believe was submitted like this.
There are also several spelling and grammatical issues so far. Like I said, haven’t even finished the prologue. I’m hoping the rest of the enhanced edition of book 3 isn’t like the prologue, but if it is I won’t be purchasing any more, despite my love for the first two.