Book 3 has been divided into two parts - Steel and Snow, and Blood and Gold. The story is continued in the second book from where it stopped in it first, and the parts are sometimes published as one book too. I loved both of them a lot. The beginning of the second part was slightly slow, but the main action took place in part two itself.
In the first book, Daenerys boards a ship to cross the seas to get to Westeros with her dragons. Sansa is wedded to Tyrion, and Arya gets captured by Dondarrion. Meanwhile, Bran is on his way to the Wall with Meera, Jojen and Hodor. Robb wins all battles but he loses some of his allied houses as well as Winterfell. The Lannisters still rule from King's Landing, with their unending supply of wealth, and newfound allies. The Watch loses their battle with the Others, while Jon pretends to be a turn cloak to survive with the Wildlings.
I loved the plot twists in this book. It had an element of surprise and suspense. The author has usually chosen the most unexpected path in the story. The viewpoints overlapped sometimes, to keep us updated about everything. When a character suddenly discovers something shocking, it surprises us as well, although the previous chapters gave us an illusion of knowing about it. I was surprised when they burnt Winterfell down since Theon seemed to have won it. The author also doesn't tell us anything else about him in the first part, which adds to the suspense. We can only believe that the reinforcements turned on him and burnt him down with the castle.
Reading these books is very satisfying. The author gives the readers what they want, but in a twisted, unpredictable way. It's thrilling to read the action scenes, as the fights have been described very vividly. Since the battles do not always turn out the way we expect them to, we are kept on the edge of our seats wondering who will win. The author has portrayed all the characters and their emotions very clearly. This makes us feel as though we know them well, only for someone to turn out to be a liar, and when they turn on their friends, we feel betrayed too. The constant formation and breaking of alliances make this book very exciting. We never know what might happen next, as friendships are shaky at best even among the same family.
I love how characters are killed off without a second thought, and no prior warning. It makes all the battles seem truly dangerous for the people and not a war where the hero's victory is certain. The Lannisters have been shown as cunning, wicked people who do not hesitate to lie and deceive to get what they want. Yet, Tyrion Lannister is an honourable man and protects those whom he can. There are no true villains or good people, and every king's claim to the Iron Throne is as legitimate as the last. The suspense is also added to when people seemingly dead come back to life, and sometimes even the truly dead are awakened. It makes us think that nothing is impossible.
George Martin has used instances of necromancy, magic and dragons, but they do not seem silly or forced. Everything in the book has been explained well, and somehow his explanations make even the most unnatural of things seem normal. Nothing happens without a reason, and we can only imagine what he plans to do next.
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