Description

A gorgeous illustrated edition of the third book in the beloved A Song of Ice and Fire series, for fans of HBO’s Game of Thrones, published in celebration of the twentieth anniversary of the book.

This special edition of A Storm of Swords features twenty-five original colour illustrations by Gary Gianni, the acclaimed illustrator of George R.R. Martin’s A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms. This beautifully packaged book continues the series of anniversary releases of the iconic A Song of Ice and Fire novels that began with A Game of Thrones: The Illustrated Edition.

Of the five contenders for power, one is dead, another in disfavour, 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 manoeuvre for the final titanic showdown, an army of barbaric wildlings arrives from the outermost line of civilisation. 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…

Publisher Review

'Colossal, staggering... Martin captures all the intoxicating complexity of the Wars of the Roses or Imperial Rome in his imaginary world... one of the greats of fantasy literature.' SFX 'Fantasy literature has never shied away from grandeur, but the sheer-mind-boggling scope of this epic has sent other fantasy writers away shaking their heads... Its ambition: to construct the Twelve Caesars of fantasy fiction, with characters so venomous they could eat the Borgias.' Guardian 'Truly epic... An extraordinarily rich novel... with its magnificent action-filled climax, it provides a banquet for fantasy lovers with large appetites... The book stands out from similar work by virtue of its superbly developed characters, accomplished prose and sheer bloody-mindedness.' Publishers Weekly 'A vast, rich saga, with splendid characters and an intricate plot flawlessly articulated against a backdrop of real depth and texture.' Kirkus