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Summary: One of the best fantasy books I have read.
Review: This book is better than its predecessors and they were excellent. It was not a fast read. The plots are complicated and interesting. When I finished this book my thirst for a great story had been well satisfied. Thank you Mr. Martin. My money was well spent.
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Summary: Un-B-leavable
Review: Martin is building "A Song of Ice and Fire" to such a crescendo with his latest book that I recommend you read the two previous volumns just to get to this one. Many authors weave disparate threads together to create great novels...Martin does 10 AT ONE TIME. So, while you're dying to uncover the next twist in theme 1, the book engrosses you with themes 2 through 10! I have never experienced any novel quite like it. If you want fantasy with more subtlety, complexity, and depth than some of the other prominant fantasists, get into this series!
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Summary: Gritty, bloody, spooky and nice and looong
Review: Some read for writing style, skill or because one favors a particular author; some for the pleasure of reading good books, and others for the love of the genre. My reading preference is for a long, leisurely stroll through alternative worlds crafted by true fantasy meisters, and, 'frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn' how long it may take or how many novels are required in a series to reach the destination that the author has intended. Just gimme words to tantalize the imagination and I am hooked. George R.R. Martin continues to offer a cornucopia of verbal victuals upon which to feast and fantasize. This continuation of his rip roaring saga of blood and battles, betrayal and beastial behavior within the rancorous seven kingdoms is guaranteed to satisfy. The Lannisters are as malicious, cruel, devious and destructive as always, although, wait! there seems to be a hint of redemption for one or more of the lions. Martin is unafraid to knock off readers expectations as well as heros and kings alike ('ole wormy lips) and to make new ones out of bastards and bogeymen. While the politics of personal destruction are cruelly executed, poor Imp, the snotty dialog stabbing forth from Tyrion's caustic lips is especially biting and bitter yet dead on funny at times. This novel is a rich pastiche of nasty and nice, weak and powerful, and in the words of Lord Petyr, "there are two sorts of people, the players and the pieces". Who will emerge the hero? The pieces are not yet all in play. One of the more engaging players in this saga is the dragon queen Daenerys Targaryen who must overcome betrayal within her own court and those outside who seek to destroy her before she can claim her rightful throne in the seven kingdoms. One wonders if she will succeed after all the other "kings" have self destructed while she awaits in a distant land for events to unfold. Ser Jorah Mormont, her exiled knight will be a crucial player in whether or not she will prevail. I do wish, however, that the author didn't jump around so much from plot to plot with each new chapter. It can confuse and frustrate when one must repeatedly page back to an earlier chapter in order to reanimate the storyline and direction. Secondly, when will the covert power of magic truly animate the story apart from the spooky "Others" that are haunting and murdering the wildlings and men of the wall? Martin sprinkles hints aplenty including those mystical dreams of Jojen Reed, a companion of Bran, and the visions seen by the fire worshipping religious zealot Melisandre guiding the petty king Stannis Baratheon, to those of Daenerys adolescent dragons growing into their own magical powers. If you enjoy a nice long, absorbing read, and are a conoisseur of extraordinary writing then this excellent book is a veritable banquet for those who love words, lots and lots of wonderful words.
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Summary: Storm of Swords
Review: Just a short thank you to those of you that took the time to mention this series while you were reviewing Jordan. After the disappointment with Jordan's last four books, I was looking forward to something I could genuinly enjoy again. Thanks to your suggestions, I found it. My only problem is that I have a friend's daughters (11 and 14) that appreciate my tastes and come to me for recommendations. There are certain things that I wouldn't find appropriate for kids. For any adult though, this is great. Thank You
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Summary: WOW!
Review: Where do I begin. This book BLEW ME AWAY. But then again so did the first two books in "A Song Of Ice And Fire" These characters are absolutely vivid and "real" to me. Even in the slower sections of the novel I was intrigued by the character development and was never bored. The plot twists were always exciting and moving. A Storm Of Swords took this brilliant series to the next level and makes the wait for A DANCE WITH DRAGONS absolute agony. I fell in love with the world that Mr. Martin has created from page one. My hat is off to Mr. Martin for creating in my opinion one of the best, if not THE BEST medieval fantasy series ever written. If you love medieval fantasy that reads like a historical novel...DO NOT let this series pass you by.
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Summary: read it slow...it'll be years to book four, yes that's right
Review: As I neared the end, I was afraid there wouldn't be enough room for the grand resolution I was hoping. Seemed Martin thought so too. He has said in an interview that this will be a five or six book series with two years between the publishing of each. This book is even better than the first two. Cast aside any notions of what you thought was going to happen at the end of Book 2. If you've come this far in the series..I don't need to say more; you know.
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Summary: the blood drained from my face as I read
Review: I read hugely and omnivorously, devouring good, bad, and mediocre alike in my quest for more printed material to stuff into my hopper. This is in many ways one of the best things I've ever read. It's marvelously entertaining, with great characters and a rock-solid world under their feet, and the story is worthwhile and fiendishly complicated and well-crafted. It's a sharp look at a quasi-medieval society unencumbered by much in the way of religion, philosophy or science, where the average man's life is nasty, brutish, and short. Martin tips his hat to dozens of other authors without plagiarizing, and the incredible wealth of detail creates a well-rounded work. But Martin has a thing in common with Stephen King as well: he introduces you to warm, living human beings, then puts them in horrible jeopardy. I literally felt the blood drain from my face as I saw where he was taking his story, and his people. I could rant and rave about the heraldry, and the backstory, and the families and bystanders and the actual fantastic elements of the story, about dragons and shadowbinders and blackhanded zombies with glowing blue eyes, about duty and honor and their obverse as well ... but you'd think I was talking about a Jordan or Goodkind or other Tolkien-imitator. This is the real stuff, the books that go on your short shelf next to Tolkien and Stephen Donaldson. I read once about a trick Eskimos play on wolves by throwing them frozen blubber with a sharpened whalebone doubled over and frozen inside; once in the wolf's belly it thaws and snaps open. This series leaves a similar cold feeling inside for days, as troubling questions about man and society and our obligations snap open and stab at your vitals.
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Summary: Simply a masterpiece
Review: Despite having compiled nearly 3,000 pages through the first three books, George R.R. Martin has yet to write a single insignificant sentence. The story is so enormous that a less focused author would have produced an interminable set of volumes that readers had already lost interest in. Similarly, a less competent author would have left out the little nuances and details that make the story so engaging. In due time, this series will have a conclusion, and the conclusion will be neither rushed nor will it drag on. The story is so tight that these inferior options do not exist. Quite simply, Martin is producing a masterpiece. Unlike many other fantasy series today, the books in this series do not end on cliffhangers - a pathetic ploy used by authors and publishers to get readers to buy the next book, even though the bulk of the book may not have been very engaging. Rather, the entire series is a cliffhanger, with the ends of each book coming to a satisfying temporary conclusion. The characters weave in and out of the story from chapter to chapter, sometimes disappearing for 100 pages or more. However, the reader never knows whether this particular chapter may be the end of the line for that character. Because all characters are fair game to the headman's axe, and each character has both good and evil within, the book reads more like reality than a tale. I never got the sense that everything would turn out alright in the end, no matter how dangerous the circumstances. As in life, people die when situations become perilous. Most everyone is both a hero and a villain. The only current author in the genre that is on par with Martin is Guy Gavriel Kay. However, their styles are so different that comparisons between the two cannot be made. They each bring their unique brilliance to the genre, thus enriching the field for generations to come.
Rating:
Summary: Does not disappoint
Review: IMHO A Song of Ice and Fire is one of the best if not THE best Fantasy series ever written.. so far. If you have read the 1st two volumes you know what to expect - solid writing, sharp dialogue, surprising yet logical plot twists and most importantly (especially in the world of today's fantasy) very believable characters. If you have not yet read the first two volumes, than go read them. Now.
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Summary: The best fantasy I have read since Tolkien...
Review: In the first three books of a Song of Ice and fire Martin has achieved what seems to be so elusive among today's fantasy writers. He develops round, realistic, human characters that, get this, you will actually care about. You will see nobility in villains and cowardice in heroes, set against a fantasy world that is both gritty and imaginative. The separate stories in the book are incredibly engaging and well written. Just like the real world, anything can and does happen in Martin's novels. Much to our dismay sometimes the good guys do die. Unlike obviously designated tragic figures of other fantasy novels you won't be able to tell which characters live or die, which I found to be incredibly refreshing. I cannot wait for the next installment of the series, as I have found these novels to be the best I have had the pleasure to read in some time.
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