A Song Of Ice And Fire: Every Book Ranked Worst To Best
2. A Storm Of Swords: Blood And Gold
From the very opening of Blood and Gold, the second half of A Storm of Swords builds on the strong groundwork set by part one, and delivering an incredible, non stop chapter of the saga. The War of the Five Kings is turning the way of the Lannisters and the Baratheons, war is coming to the Wall from the north, and Daenerys is putting Qarth behind her.
After the slower pace of Steel and Snow, spending time moving key pieces of the story to where they need to be, George R. R. Martin is able to offer in Blood and Gold one of the most compelling and explosive installments in the entire series.
It is amazing how much is actually crammed into the 554 pages of this book. The Red Wedding, Joffrey's death, Tyrion's trial and the subsequent legendary battle between the Mountain and the Viper, the reveal of Jon Arryn's killer, Stannis' attack on the wildling army, the murder of Tywin Lannister, and the birth of the mysterious Lady Stoneheart, to name but a few.
As far a gripping, tense, and white knuckle reading goes, Blood and Gold is second to only one other in George R. R. Martin's back catalogue.