Rating: 
Summary: Just getting better
Review: .... Anyway, I loved this book for a number of reasons. The first one was, when a certain event happened at a wedding in the middle of the book, I was literally mad for the rest of the day, back in my real life. It's a little cruel to giveth and taketh away main characters, and in fact, I don't think I've EVER read a fantasy series that does this, except at the end of novels where the character finally triumphs (a la Thomas Covenant). It really keeps you on your toes. The second reason is that each character has a rich, personal, flawed life that we can look at and see from his or her point of view. The nastiest characters like Cercei Lannister or Gregor Clegane never get their own chapters, but characters like Tyrion (who is actually becoming my favorite character) or Daneryes, who are classically unsympathetic characters, get their own point of view told, with a decidedly different skew from what the others think of them. And though it puts some readers off, it's about ... time some hero-wielding knight can't defeat five men at once, can get out of 100-1 odds situations, and where yes, might DOES make right most of the time. When this series began, I, like most readers, probably thought it was going to be about the Starks, and about how they would triumph despite tremendous odds. Well, it hasn't exactly turned out that way so far, though there's still SOME hope. Killing Eddard Stark off 200 pages into the first book was a real stunner, but the ride was just beginning. I think about nine characters have gotten the story told from their point of view, and by the end of the third novel, only three characters have their plotlines going generally how they would in a typical fantasy series (Jon,Dany, and Tyrion). The story just keeps getting more and more complicated, more and more surprising, and (like the Jordan fiasco mentioned above) leaves me hoping that the author will keep putting out books this good for a number of years.
Rating: 
Summary: Want to give it a five, but can't
Review: First of all, let me say that I read this book with insane abandon for a week and a half. I am very happy with this series, and this author, for the same reasons as the other 300 or so people who have written reviews, so I won't bore you with the details. So why the 3 star review, and not five? 1. The plot is exceedingly depressing. Everyone says that Martin writes realistically (or at least as close as possible in a fantasy series), but I really don't think so. The fact is, good guys don't ALWAYS finish last. If you trust your friends and try to do the right thing, you don't always get hanged for it. I know there are some bitter people who like to walk through life thinking that way, but the plain fact is it's not true. In this series, everyone with any shred of honor and compassion is brutally--and I mean BRUTALLY--dealt with. By the end of the book, I had only one character I could still root for. I seriously doubt he'll survive the next book. 2. Not too sure what the main plot is yet. I mean, is it the fight with the Others in the North, or the struggle for the Iron Throne? On one hand, I think it's amazing that he shows us how human concerns often get in the way when we SHOULD be dealing with something more important. After all, the Monica Lewisky trial got more coverage on U.S. television than the Taliban's brutal takeover of Afghanistan. On the other hand, IT'S A BOOK. I need some sort of plot. That's my spiel. Outstanding series so far, but I swear to god if another good guy gets hacked to pieces or paralyzed I'm quitting.
Rating:
Summary: G.R.R. Martin is human after all.
Review: The first book in the series was reviting and kept me up late in a mad dash to finish before the end of the weekend. The second book was highly interesting, but not quite a good as the first. This third installment is the weakest of the three, and if the next 3 books in the series continue this decline, then I don't think I'll read them. This is unfortunate because the first book was spell bounding: the prose was excellent (and it's still good in the next two books), the characters were well developed, the plot was rich, but mostly it was DIFFERENT. This fresh approach to fantasy writing was invigorating and I fell in love with it. However, in the second book, I found myself successfully anticipating the author. The story began to meander, and characters began doing things that were, well, out of character. The third book had confirmed my misgivings of this series' direction. I'm afraid that Mr. Martin, despite considerable skills, is human after all. I don't think he has the ability to sustain the quality of writing through a reported 6 books (900 pages each?). I can see him sitting at his desk, thinking furiously on how to top the previous book: what shocker can he pull out of the hat? His only answer is to increase the body count, much like a 2nd rate slasher movie. It's a tired formula: since he shocked everyone by killing a main character in the first novel, therefore everybody will be twiced as shocked if he kills off twice as many main characters in the next novels. If we continue the formula and double up on the slaughter, then by the sixth book he would have killed off 32 main characters. I apologize if I sound bitter, but the first novel held such promise that I really wanted the whole series to suceed. Its a shame that the publishers talked him into extending the series to 6 books, I really think it would be much better and tighter if he had kept it to three or four.
Rating:
Summary: Be calm, my heart
Review: I'll be brief. When I finished this book, I stood up, clutched it to my breast, and walked around the house in a daze, trying to snap myself back to reality, trying to calm my turbulent heart, clear my shock-stunned brain. Such is the power of George R.R. Martin's literature. He doesn't just tell you a story, the story comes up to you and talks to you, slaps you mad with the earth-shattering force of its tumultuous plot, makes you grim with tears. Passages of emotional/mental discussion mix with stories of violent clashes, and with tales of sorrow, snowing with beauteous sadness throughout "A Storm of Swords". What more can I say which others have not yet said? Please read this book and its predecessors, and find out how human we all are, what it is to be so, and why Martin is a genius. Be calm, my heart, it's a long wait till book four. I think I'd better sit down now.
Rating:
Summary: A bit dragging...
Review: After a long wait, ASoS was finally available in the book stores in the Netherlands. But only in Trade Paperback, which I very much regretted. With the highest expectations I started reading, and I must admit, I was disappointed. The book is really good, but slightly slower than the first two. GRRM is still very original in his style of fantasy, the dark flavor, the sense of dread, knowing that there might not be a happy ending is great, but this third part was just an elaboration on the second. The only really surprising part was indeed the very ending, but that left me with a sour depressed feeling. The book is not as good as the others, but I hope that the other three will be better and this third book was only a sort of "shifting of focus".
Rating:
Summary: Read This Book Now!!
Review: I devour books like cadbury mini-eggs, but the latest in the Song of Ice and Fire saga forced me to take my time and enjoy. Rarely am I tapping my fingers, anxiously awaiting a new installment in a literary series, but I had been waiting for almost a year for this book to come out, and I was not disappointed. I now find myself in the same predicament as I was before-when's the next one coming out? If you haven't already fallen under George R.R. Martin's spell, order yourself a copy of of "A Game of Thrones" and see for yourself why THIS series is the best fantasy I have had the priviledge to lose myself in since.....The Lord of the Rings.
Rating: 
Summary: Nice work, but is he doing a "Robert Jordan"
Review: This review goes for all the song of ice and fire books. The world G.R.R.M. has created is not unique but good enough to feel alive. The 4 stars are mainly because of the character drawing. It's still rare to find an author of fantasy that can create people who are complex, interesting and have a real feeling to them. It's even rarer to find someone who actually makes the players of his fantasy drama not all good or all bad. They are just people, and you may not like all of them but why they do what they do becomes understandable. What worries me is that the story seems to be long in the telling and G.R.R.M may lose, not the hold of the readers (cause everyone wants to know how a story is going to end) but rather the total fascination that's still got it's hold on me. That's what happened to the "wheel of time"-series by Robert Jordan. I will read them all but my pleasure is not what it was and I also got an irritating thought that says "get to the point". Please G.R.R.M. don't let it happen with the song of ice and fire-series.
Rating:
Summary: I'll make this short.............
Review: Did you ever sit around the campfire as a child and have someone tell you a story so good that you didn't want them to stop but demanded a conclusion as well....this series is that story. I have mixed emotions: Finish the story....NO don't stop. I just hope George is sitting somewhere writing the next book and looks both ways before he crosses the street. (Otherwise I'd have to demand a séance!!)
Rating:
Summary: I hate fantasy, but I love this series.
Review: The only other fantasy I remember reading and enjoying was the Lord of the Rings. As great as Tolkien was, I really think Martin has taken a seat at the head of the table. I read all three books in this series in a couple of months, then went back and read the whole thing over again. I never do that! Absolutely delicious characters and plotting, cleanly written. It's going to be a happy day when I can lay my hands on the next one, right now would be soon enough for me.
Rating:
Summary: An emotional roller coaster ride: bliss, surprise and sorrow
Review: First off, I'm a heavy duty fan of GRRM. I've read over a 100 different fantasy authors in my time (started at 12; I'm now 32). Took about 5 years off from the genre b/c I felt it was all getting too formulaic and cliched. Typical archetype character who turns out to be the missing heir or boy wonder who saves the world against the Dark Lord. So, when I came back to fantasy at the end of 1999, I read the usual: Goodkind, Jordan, etc. and then someone told me about GRRM and man, that was the kicker! Here are the reasons to choose GRRM. I've also listed the reasons not to choose him to make it fair b/c I know their are certain personalities who won't like this series: WHY TO READ GRRM (1) YOU ARE TIRED OF FORMULAIC FANTASY: good lad beats the dark lord against impossible odds; boy is the epitome of good; he and all his friends never die even though they go through great dangers . . . the good and noble king; the beautiful princess who falls in love with the commoner boy even though their stations are drastically different . . . the dark lord is very evil and almost one sided at times . . . you get the idea. After reading this over and over, it gets old. (2) YOU ARE TIRED OF ALL THE HEROES STAYING ALIVE EVEN THOUGH THEY ARE UNDER CONSTANT DANGER: this gets even worse where the author kills a main hero off but that person comes back later in the story. Or, a hero does die but magic brings him back. This sometimes carries to minor characters where even they may not die, but most fantasy authors like to kill them off to show that some risked the adventure and perished. (3) YOU ARE A MEDIEVAL HISTORY BUFF: this story was influenced by the WARS OF THE ROSES and THE HUNDRED YEARS WAR. (4) YOU LOVE SERIOUS INTRIGUE WITHOUT STUPID OPPONENTS: lots of layering; lots of intrigue; lots of clever players in the game of thrones. Unlike other fantasy novels, one side, usually the villain, is stupid or not too bright. (5) YOU ARE INTERESTED IN BIASED OPINIONS AND DIFFERENT TRUTHS: GRRM has set this up where each chapter has the title of one character and the whole chapter is through their viewpoint. Interesting tidbit is that you get their perception of events or truths. But, if you pay attention, someone else will mention a different angle of truth in the story that we rarely see in other novels. Lastly and most importantly, GRRM doesn't try to tell us which person is right in their perception. He purposelly leaves it vague so that we are kept guessing. (6) LEGENDS: some of the most interesting characters are those who are long gone or dead. We never get the entire story but only bits and pieces; something that other fantasy authors could learn from to heighten suspense. Additionally, b/c the points of views are not congruent, we sometimes get different opinions. (7) WORDPLAY: if you're big on metaphors and description, GRRM is your guy. Almost flawless flow. (8) LOTS OF CONFLICT: all types, too; not just fighting but between characters through threats and intrigue. (9) MULTILAYERED PLOTTING; SUB PLOTS GALORE: each character has their own separate storyline; especially as the story continues and everyone gets scattered. This is one of the reasons why each novel is between 700-900 pages. (10) SUPERLATIVE VARIED CHARACTERS: not the typical archetypes that we are used to in most fantasy; some are gritty; few are totally evil or good; GRRM does a great job of changing our opinions of characters as the series progress. This is especially true of Jaime in book three. (11) REALISTIC MEDIEVAL DIALOGUE: not to the point that we can't understand it but well done. (12) HEAPS OF SYMOBLISM AND PROPHECY: if you're big on that. (13) EXCELLENT MYSTERIES: very hard to figure out the culprits; GRRM must have read a lot of mystery novels. (14) RICHLY TEXTURED FEMALE CHARACTERS: best male author on female characters I have read; realistic on how women think, too. (15) LOW MAGIC WORLD: magic is low key; not over the top so heroes can't get out of jams with it. REASON TO NOT READ GRRM (1) YOU LIKE YOUR MAIN CHARACTERS: GRRM does a good job of creating more likeable characters after a few die. But, if that isn't your style, you shouldn't be reading it. He kills off several, not just one, so be warned. (2) DO NOT CARE FOR GRITTY GRAY CHARACTERS: if you like more white and gray characters, this may unsettle you. I suggest Feist or Goodkind or Dragonlance if you want a more straight forward story with strong archetypes. (3) MULTIPLE POINTS OF VIEWS TURN YOU OFF: if you prefer that the POVS only go to a few characters, this might be confusing for you. (4) SWEARING, SEX: there's a lot of it in this book just as there is in real life. If you have delicate ears, this book may upset you. (5) YOU DEMAND CLOSURE AT THE END OF EVERY BOOK: this isn't the case for all stories in the series. Some are still going on; some have been resolved; others have been created and are moving on. (6) IF YOU WANT A TARGET OR SOMEONE TO BLAME: this can be done to some extent but not as much. This is b/c he doesn't try to make anyone necessarily good or evil. (7) ARCHETYPES: some readers like archetypal characters because it's comfortable; we like the good young hero (sort of like Pug in Feist's THE RIFTWAR SAGA); it's familiar and we sometimes like to pretend we're this upcoming, great hero. You wont' get much of this in GRRM with the exception of one or two characters. There really aren't any super heroes compared to all the other characters as it's more grittier and no one is shooting fireballs every milisecond or carrying around some super powerful sword. (8) LENGTH: you don't want to get into a long fantasy epic series. In that case, look for shorters works as this is biiig. (9) PATRIARCHY: men are most of the main characters with lots of power (one female exception). While this is realistic of the medieval era, some readers may not prefer this if they want more girl power, so to speak. By the way, if you don't want to commit to a big book until you know the author better, check out his short story, THE HEDGE KNIGHT, in LEGENDS.
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