Rating: 
Summary: ****Astounding****
Review: Now, I've read a lot of Sci Fi/ Fantacy. When reading a genre such as this, there are two different categories: the good, and the bad. There is no maybe here. With the Game of Thrones, Martin has outdone himself. One thing I loved was that, you could never tell what would happen next. There were times when I wanted to put it down, just because I couldn't stand what was happening to the characters, but, Martin has a way of wrapping it all up, though not entirely prettily, even though so much "bad" has happened. I am amazed by the book. If possible, I would give it as many stars as are in the sky. A book well written, Martin. A job well done.
Rating: 
Summary: Really good, but....
Review: At first, this was certainly a highly enjoyable book to read. The first several hundred pages were amazing, and exactly what I'd expected and hoped for when I picked up this book.From the beginning, one main thing caught my attention and held it fast: the finding of six direwolf pups, wolf-type animals which grow to be the size of a pony. As a lover of wolves, this immediately hooked me, as they are found in the first chapter. There were six direwolves, each of them given to the children of Lord Eddard stark of Winterfell. His bastard son Jon takes the white one which he finds away from the rest of the litter, which proves to help him quite well later on. The direwolves are constant throughout the book, as it is told through the view of many characters, including most of the children. Instead of chapter numbers, "A Game of Thrones" has the chapters labeled as the name of the main character it is following. With several main characters who are being followed, oftentimes it is quite easy to come to really love certain characters, and loath others so much that you just don't want them to exist anymore. From time to time, that could keep me from reading on, but once you really get into the book and the little plot of each character begins to really take shape, you find yourself looking forward to all chapters in the book. I still had my favourites-Jon Snow, Eddard Stark, his daughter Arya, and a dwarfed man called Tyrion Lannister-but I still found all of the chapters thoroughly enjoyable once the book truly got going. "A Game of Thrones" is a very well-developed book. The characters are simply amazing, the histories of the differing houses and the land well planned and intricate, and the settings clear and well-defined. The characters often have certain traits associated to their particular house, such as the Lannister pride and the Stark honor. Seeing the story from all different views does little to change opinions of certain people, as their personalities do not change from seeing them through the eyes of different people. All of the houses and families of the book have deep histories to them, often explaining certain alliances seen as tension mounts in the political system of the Seven Kingdoms. The setting of the forests seen throughout the land, and the city of King's Landing are well set in the mind throughout the book. Slightly disappointingly, the cold of the north does not seem to be mentioned very much at all, making it seem almost as if snow is warm. Still, the idea and images are easy to remember and imagine. There was a point in the book where I began change my high opinion of it, to some extent. There comes a point where everything seems to come crashing down around everyone, loved characters are stabbed in the back and chance moves completely the other way. Alliances are made and broken, men betrayed, and ambition rewarded as everyone plays their hand in the game of thrones. Too bad most of the losers seem to be some of the most loveable characters. When this begins, it doesn't end until the book ends. I couldn't put the book down, but still I was rarely happy about how things were going, and ofttimes I was very saddened about what happens to certain characters. It left a bit of a bitter taste in my mouth, so in the end, I just couldn't quite say it's the best I've ever read, even though it was extremely close for several hundred pages. Nevertheless, this was a very good read, and I'd suggest this to just about anyone to read. Overall this was worth the time and money, and I look forward to the rest of the series.
Rating:
Summary: Deserves an extra star!
Review: "A Game of Thrones" is a rich saga with splendid characters and an intricate plot. This book is EXCELLENT. A must read for anyone who likes character-driven stories and rich world with well developed political and historical structures. Very highly recommended!
Rating:
Summary: Raw, reckless, and superbly-crafted fantasy
Review: The world of Westeros, the setting for A Song of Ire and Fire, contains the perfect balance of realism and magic that has been missing in the genre for some time (are you listening Forgotten Realms editors?). We find moral ambiguity and the constant and real threat of an untimely demise, even for the most important characters. The characters are well-nuanced, with real motives and human passions. Magic is reserved for the few and, when it manifests, it does so in incredible displays of power. I labeled Martin's prose "raw" and "reckless" because he does not appear to be afraid of any theme or issue and he turns many conventional fantasy elements on their collective heads. Martin, quite simply, is the best fantasy author since Moorcock. A warning: don't buy this book unless you are prepared to purchase the entire series. The books are, at once, compelling and addictive page-turners that will leave you clamoring for more.
Rating:
Summary: An Epic & Nothing Less
Review: The first 40 pages of this novel brings you even deeper into the lives of the various characters than even Tolkien could do in a hundred pages. Treachery, deciet, lies and incest lie at every turn... George grasps you with his fluid story telling and tempts you "deeper down the rabbit hole". It is an epic that once you have started reading, you'll be compelled to continue. I have read the all of David Eddings, Cecilia Dart Thornton, Garth Nix and several other fantasy novelists and by far George's books never cease continually amaze me with the darker side of human nature and how honor and valor can ultimately triumph over evil.
Rating: 
Summary: Melodrama at its most crass
Review: When I was deciding whether or not to buy the book, I read the reviews and was impressed by how many people thought it was well written and how the character development mirrored the complexities of human nature. One person even said it was better written than Tolkein's LOTR. After having read through the book (all 800+ pages of it) I can only conclude that most of the reviewers must think trashy melodramatic soap opera to be 'high art'. Otherwise they would not have given the book such false pretentions.
The author stoops to portraying his characters as trashy, incestous, weak-minded, apathetic fools without much of any backbone. I was so disappointed with the book's characters. The males were bad enough, the portrayal of the females was disgusting. It was like reading about a bunch of teens coming into puberty and trying to gain some independence from controlling parents and get it on w/ whoever was available. That is basically what the book is about, when all the trappings are stripped away...
Rating:
Summary: Real
Review: I think the series is great. I am not sure why some people didn't like this book. They complain a lot about the characters: what they are like and what happens to them. Well, I thought the characters were very creative. Everyone is working for a larger cause, but they all have their own ideas and ambitions, just as people do in real life. This isn't a book with a main character that is all good fighting the all evil villian with all the armies mindlessly doing as they should. All characters are complicated people that you try to figure out, but can never be certain. Unexpected, yet truely believable, things happen to them, just as in the way things can happen to anyone in life. I thought it was very real and well written.
Rating: 
Summary: I think this guy is over-rated
Review: I don't see the why there is such a buzz about this book. I've read most of the fantasy/sci-fi authors that you can think of off the top of your head. I don't think Martin is in the same league with Tolkien, Jordan, Tad Williams, or Feist. I thought the book was well writen, but lacked novelty, wit, and most of all creativity. It read more like a romance novel. This book now holds up my window. I suggest raeding Fritz Lieber, Micheal Stackpole, Gene Wolf, and Tad Williams.
Rating:
Summary: Salvation for turned-off Robert Jordan fans
Review: Remember how you thought the first three volumes of Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series were so extraordinary? Well, Martin's Song of Ice and Fire saga is at least one order of magnitude greater. I read a lot of epic fantasy....and this series is head and shoulders above anything else in the genre.
Rating:
Summary: Great - but confusing.
Review: I really loved this series, but the one thing that drove me nuts was the random deaths of some of my favorite characters, only to have them not really be dead. The treachery in this book is great, but I like my characters to die and stay dead, and not have all these fake deaths. Plus, it's kind of hard to keep track of all the characters, as the story jumps around a lot, and all these fake deaths don't help as you never know who's alive, who's dead, and who's just missing. But other than that, the series is a great read that kept me busy reading for about a week, as I couldn't put it down!
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