The Seven Kingdoms are torn by strife as the three surviving contenders for the throne continue their struggle for power, Robb Stark defends his fledgling kingdom from the ravaging Greyjoys, Winterfell lies in ruins, Jon Snow confronts an escalating threat from behindthe Wall, and Danerys Stormborn and her dragon allies continue to grow in power. Here is the third volume in George R. Martin's magnificent cycle of novels that includes A Game of Thrones and A Clash of Kings. As a whole, this series comprises a genuine masterpiece of modern fantasy, bringing together the best the genre has to offer. Magic, mystery, intrigue, romance, and adventurefill these pages and transport us to a world unlike any wehave ever experienced. Already hailed as a classic, GeorgeR. Martin's stunning series is destined to stand as one ofthe great achievements of imaginative fiction. A Storm of Swords 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 rulerof the land of the Seven Kingdoms. His most bitter rival, Lord Stannis, stands defeated and disgraced, the victim ofthe jealous sorceress who holds him in her evil thrall. But young Robb, of House Stark, still rules the North fromthe fortress of Riverrun. Robb plots against his despised Lannister enemies, even as they hold his sister hostage atKing'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 dragonsstill 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