A Storm of Swords

Rating:
Summary: Amazing !
Review: Well, I was looking for new authors to explore and am I glad I read the rave reviews of this and the other 2 books in the series. I picked up the first one and kept reading until I'd finished all 3 books in the series.

There is plenty to recommend, the kingdom is believable, lots on in faction fighting and the downfall of one of the most noble houses at a time it's needed the most. The Author is not afraid to kill off key characters and loosing them is hard but keeps everything realistic - you can't count on any character if some of the strongest fall ! Keep you on the edge of your chair and you occasionally might even fall off once or twice.

Great read - check the amazon sample chapter.

Rating:
Summary: The Rein and Fall of Fire and Ice
Review: Wolves, lions, and dragons converge in A Storm of Swords. Dark, powerful and sinister as you want to imagine.

Brilliantly realized characters of complexity (like the Hound) - one of my favorites - and contradictions like Littlefinger (who I love to hate).

Characters of cruelty and brutality among oathbreakers, turncoats and cutthroats at every turn. Plus a beautiful, most evil sorceress. Revenge is scored high with dripping horror.

This book is not for the faint of heart.

Just when you think to toss this book when (seemingly) absolutely everyone and everything is spiraling downward into despair (without one ray of hope) comes along a few stories full of twists and mind-stretching events that capture real genius in the telling and you are once again held spellbound.

· The Knight of Flowers and the day of the Tourney
· The Frey's wedding party for the Starks
· All the Maid of Tarth's story (especially in the bear pit)
· The presenting (and to whom) of the reforged, famous greatsword Ice
· How Kingslayer redeems some measure of honor (bit by aching bit)
· The Red Viper's duel with Mountain---You will never forget the name, Ella of Dorne, I promise you!

For these stories alone, this last book (in a trilogy) is a must read. Martin (to my humble estimation) has not equaled this mammoth saga before or since.

Rating:
Summary: My favorite of the series yet
Review: Having read the first two, I think Storm of Swords was the best yet. I devoured this book in about 3 days, barely able to set it down. He has a style of writing so when you finish a chapter your left on the edge of your seat, excited to get back to that particular substory. The story itself bounces back and forth amongst 5 or 6 substories but you can see them all set for an exciting collision course. If you like Jordan but are tired of all the boredom, come here. Theres really not a boring chapter in this entire book. Great read

Rating:
Summary: Another Bull's Eye for Martin
Review: Martin's epic continues to be excellent. The characters are still some of the deepest that I have ever read, and they all continue to develop (those that are left). As anyone who has read the first two books knows, Martin has a singular passion for killing off his leading characters. But far from detracting from the story, this adds an entirely new feeling of excitement, one that most fantasy books, and indeed all books, do not possess. For almost any novel you can be quite sure who is going to be alive at the end, such as in Lord of the Rings, where all but one member of the Fellowship survives to the end. In Martin's book, there are a "realistic" number of deaths, and there is a certain satisfaction in knowing that no character is protected by divine providence (the author).

Martin has certainly left a lot of story to write. As with his previous two books, he has unearthed more questions than he has answered, and the war continues to go badly for the Starks. Daenerys has become a far more gratifying character to read, now that she has amassed some power. Jaime and Davos enter the fray as new POVs in this book. Jaime's sections are extremely well-written, while Davos' is slower, but significant to the story.

I only have two small complaints: 1. There is simply so much double crossing and murdering going on that it stretches the limits of credibility, though only very slightly. 2. Martin includes far too much explicit sex. The sex does not need to be removed, but it SHOULD be more implicit.

This series, Song of Ice and Fire, is easily one of my all-time favorites. Martin is already in with Tolkien, Jordan, and Eddings.

Rating:
Summary: another great book
Review: before i begin this review i would just like to warn all readers that these are not happy books. if u read fantasy to get a nice escape from reality, dont read these books. in a song of ice and fire, good people die, bad people live, the honerable are killed, and there isnt always a happy ending.

now that thats done.. i liked this book better than Martin's other two. there were so many twists and turns that i got dissy. the characters are deep, and i came to think of them as real people as the story continued. the plot was great, and interesting. then why the four stars?

during the first two hundered pages, and the last three hundred pages i couldnt put the book down, but then there were those four hundered pages in the middle that were sooo boring. i had to force myself to read them, and even then i nearly fell asleep. luckily the whole of the book was so wonderful, that i cant give it anything less than four stars without feeling guilty about it.

another thing that bothers me about this series is that i have to wait two-and-a-half years for the next one to come out! what am i going to do untill then?

before i leave i would just like to say that if u dont like this book, it shouldn't be because 'it doesnt compare to tolkien' or any other authors out there. no, this book is not like the lord of the rings, but this is a completly different type of fantasy. if ur going to dislike this book, do so because of what it is, not because of what it isnt.

once again this was a great book and i loved it. enjoy

Rating:
Summary: Superb.
Review: This is by far the best recent fantasy epic. I highly recommend all three, and I'll be buying the fourth as soon as it comes out.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent saga
Review: This is the third book in what is turning out to be a great saga. In many fantasy series the main characters are given great powers but can't seem to use them until the last battle when it saves the day and vanquishes the bad guy. This novel along with the saga doesn't do that. Characters must get by like everyone else using the sharpness of their minds as well as their blades. No character is unbeatable or unkillable, no character suddenly learns to use his magic power, no character is truly good or evil. This is what gives the books it's appeal the realness and believablity of how the characters behave.
There is magic, dragons, monsters in abundance but subtly done so they aren't central to the story and characters accomplishments.

Rating:
Summary: My question
Review: When will this book be released in true paperback?
I have the previous 2 books in paperback, and want to match them all up in my collection. Trade paperback is nice, but doesn't fit on my bookshelf.

Rating:
Summary: Martin Falls short...
Review: I praised the first two book in the series for Martins' ability to tell a historical-fantasy and make it the most gripping story I have ever read. Despite the constant use of this phrase I believed at first Martin truely was the Tolkein of our era, however how can one continue reading a story if we are left with shallow characters who simply cannot relate too. When the characters we cared so much about are gone?

During this novel Martin murdered nearly half of the characaters that kept the story going. Though some of them had the tendency to do things that frustrated us. It was our attatchment to them that kept us coming back. Like in reality members of our own family, do things that frustrate us more than we can stand, however our love for them keeps us coming back. That what Martin managed to do within the first book.

During the first half of the novel one found themselves feeling as if they truely are related to the family that is staring in the novel. Martin managed to fully accomplish what so many writers failed to do which since Tolkeins time, which is draw us into a plot so deeply one has a hard time adjusting to the real world we all live in. How many authors alive today can truely boast that of their readers?

I must reccomend the first two books in the series but not the third. Martin simply falls short of what could have been an epic that could have crushed Jordan into the dusty.

Rating:
Summary: Triumph of Swords
Review: This one does not let you down; if you've gotten to the point where you're considering this book, you must have read the first two (you should, you know, or you'll be utterly lost in this one...And the series is amazing quest fanatasy, taken to the next level). So I'll just say that Martin has done it, again, and this one is better than the first two. The only disappointment is that you need to wait for the next book, once you finish this one, and you know you're only half way through the overall story...