Rating: 
Summary: GREAT BOOK!!!
Review: This is, quite simply, one of the best books I have ever read. Although some parts of it can be a little graphic, it just adds to the flavor of the story. The plots are intricately interlaced, and the reader is never sure what will happen next, or who the real bad guys are.Each chapter takes you to the point of view of a different character in the story, and each character is wonderfully detailed, each with their own thoughts, feelings, and struggles. Truly a great book.
Rating:
Summary: Great characters but change the religion
Review: What I really love about this book are the characters. Each chapter is writting from the perspective of a character so you really get to understand how they think. The characters are very realistic and complex. Also you can plan on feeling very conected to the characters while you read this book. When one of the characters is betrayed by a friend, or gets lost in a dark castle you feel like you're right there with them and it's happening to you. I bad thing about A Game of Thones and the books following it is that the description of sexual activity is very explicid , and it is sometimes very bezaar. I think George R. R. Martin uses the sex to help you better understand the characters in his book, but this objective would still be accomplished without the sex. I sugjest you skip forward a page whenever you encounter a sexual scene. The plot is good. It has lots of activity and is fairly complex. In the plot many things are going on in different places at once. One thing to be aware of before you start reading is that the first few hundred pages get you acquainted with the characters and setting so they are not as fast paced as the rest of the book. A flaw in most fantasy is that all the major good people survive despite going throgh very dangerous circumstances. A Game of Thrones and the books following it are different. In them main characters who are good sometimes die. The intrigue in this novel is good but not comparable to a book like The Baker's Boy. The thing I least like about this book is the religious perspective it is written from. Nearly every fantasy book I've read has the same demonic gods in it and is written from an eastern religious perspective. I would like it if more fantacy written by Christian authors was available. There are Christian fantasy books out there but they are not being published.
Rating:
Summary: Great characters but change the religion
Review: What I really love about this book is how it focuses as much on the characters as on the plot. The book doesn't waste your time with characters but you get to know them as the story develops and as they have to make tough decisions. Also the characters are very substantial and commonly have heart. When one of the characters is betrayed, or gets lost in a dark castile you feel like your right there with them and it's happening to you.
The thing that I don't like about this book is the religion. Nearly every fantacy book I've read has the same demonic gods in it. I would like it if more christian fantasy was available. There are christian fantasy authors out there but they are not being published.
Rating:
Summary: Great characters but change the religion
Review: What I really love about this book is how it focuses as much on the characters as on the plot (Neither are laking). The book doesn't waste your time with characters but you get to know them as the story develops and they have to make tough decisions. Also the characters are very substantial and commonly have lots of heart. When they are betraied or get lost in a dark castile its like your there with them. Martin women makes very good woman charaters.
One thing I don't like about this book is the religion of it. The gods in this book are the same as in nearly every fanticy book I've read. I would like to see some Christian fantacy. There are Christian fanticy writers out there but their books aren't being published.
Rating:
Summary: Not your everyday, average fantasy novel
Review: Winter is coming...and in this haunting refrain, a new fantasy series is born that breaks the boundaries yet stays in them so seamlessly, the beauty of it is breathtaking. Mr. Martin creates a surreal world so like our own and yet so different, irresistible with its colorful personalities that are parts of us all. Who will survive in the richly woven tapestry of honor, humanity, and betrayal? The answers may surprise you, for it is not necessarily the most noble, the strongest, or the most-deserving. Felicitations to Mr. Martin for creating an engrossing, moving, and refreshing tale. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: This was a good book
Review: I liked this book. It was a good book. Everything about it was good...
Rating: 
Summary: intresting..
Review: this is a great book, but dont expect a happy ending. this book brings out all the bad things that happen in the world, which we would all rather ignor. martin shows that bad things do happen to good people, and sometimes we cant stp that. put shortly, if u want a happy up-lifting story, look elsewhere.
now that thats done with, i loved this book. it was excelent in its own unique way. although i found the format annoyong at times, i liked how u got to see different views with different charaters. the major problem with that of course, is that it took 100 pages just to get to a character i was remotly intrested in.
there were also long periods of time when i was soo bored... i was waiting for something intresting happen, and when nothing came i was disapointed.
like i said this isnt a happy book; any person with an inch of decency is either forced to live in horrible sercumstances, or dies. it sucks, but thats life. what u gonna do?
wether u like this book or not it will not be because of poor writing. martin does an excellent job at manipulating ur emotions and caring for, some, of his characters, and hating others.
all and all, a great book, but one that u should only read if u dont mind facing the harsh realities of exsistance. either way i loved it. enjoy
Rating:
Summary: A welcome change to the Fantasy genre
Review: I'm not a big fan of the fantasy genre. With few exceptions, I've found it to be loaded with overblown series composed of overwritten stories. When I first A Game of Thrones at a local bookstore, I assumed, by its girth, that it fit in the same category. Then, a couple of friends were talking about how good the series is. I read the first book and, I have to say, I was wrong to place it in with your typical Fantasy series. Its that good. Why? Well... Most fantasy worlds are peopled (creatured?) with a variety of different races of creatures (Elves, dwarves, giants, etc.) all engaged in an epic quest of some sort. Usually involving magic. The magic and fantasic creatures are here, but in a minor way, perfect to be expanded upon in future books. A Game of Thrones is set in a feudalistic society and reads like a story of historical fiction set during our Medieval period. Its a story of power, those who want it and the intrigue surrounding the achieving of it. The characters themselves are very life-like. They each have their own beliefs and goals which they follow as a real person would. The bad guys are extremely ruthless in the pursuit of power and do whatever strikes them. When in a position to harm the good guys, they don't stand around mouthing pages of exposition until the author can find some way to rescue him. The antagonist will do what he feels necessary and move on. The good guys also perform in a similar manner, but with a bit more constraint. Most characters also change their behavior and beliefs according to what has happened to them. A point of warning: People behave here just as people have always done in the real world, for good and bad. If you don't like reading about violence, incest or sex (including with minors) then you may want to stay away. I'm not saying these things are a large part of the bool, but they are there and they do reflect how people do act in reality. Again, this is way the characters seem real. The act the way real people do. There is no epic quest or overriding prophecy that is being adhered to. Which isn't a bad thing. Its all about achieving the throne. Martin has done a commendable job in creating his world, populating it with believable characters, and filling out at least 8000 years of history to give his world a deep sense of texture. Which leads me to my only criticism of this book. I feel that Martin has a tendency to be a bit overlong in his descriptions. I found myself skipping several sentences at a time to get to the good stuff. Which is really good. This book will pull you in and make you want to read, to the exclusion of anything else, until its finished. But that's a good thing since there are 5 more books to go!
Rating:
Summary: A nice suprise!
Review: I am not a fanatical fantasy reader but I have occasionally enjoyed fantasy over the years. After re-reading the Lord of the Rings, I was all tasted-up for some more good fantasy... This is NOT the Lord of the Rings, and I couldn't be happier. Monsters, dragons, and magic are far form everyday occurrances. And who needs trolls when you have some of the most loathsome human villains I've read in a good long time. These are the sort of characters who keep you reading just to make sure they eventually get what's coming to them. There are a lot of characters, yes, but most of them are memorable. There is a lot of political intrigue, but it is just as gritty, suprising, and often as stunning as the battles. Over all, the book is well written. Putting "fantasy" and all its stigmas aside, the story is entertaining and keeps you wanting more.
Rating:
Summary: Winter is Coming ...
Review: Martin's book is a brilliant combination of old ideas, new ideas, pulp and literature. Overall this equates to a great read, which the reader can enjoy immersing himself in. Martin does a wonderful job developing the implications of a world where the seasons last for an indeterminate amount of time (is. some number of years) without beating it over the reader's head. I really enjoyed the concept that very young adults would have no memory of winter and the difficulties that are associated with it. It reminded me a bit of those who graduated during the years our economy was flourishing and had no concept of what it was like to find work in a recession - until recently. No doubt, those older than me have much better comparisons. It is the subtle development of such ideas that contribute a great deal to elevate the book above standard pulp fantasy. Other examples of well developed ideas are the mysterious and fearsome direwolves kept by the Stark family; the idea (and implications) that some characters follow gods which are more "ancient" than the gods followed by other charters; the well placed references to the historic races of man which inhabit the world; and the slow revelation of the history of the world. One reviewer complains that the characters are uninteresting because they are archetypal. While I have to agree that many characters were archetypal, I found many of them to be so likeable or interesting that I did not care. For example, the fat King who enjoys overindulging in food and women. Stereotype -yes, but also more than enough extra character development to make him a very interesting and likeable character. Having said all of that, I do believe that some of characters were a little one dimensional (i.e. Viserys, Lysa, Joffrey) and that the book might have benefited from editing out some of the details associated with them - and also some other scenes. I also have a major problem with a decision that Catelyn makes, which is pivotal to the story. Granted she had very little time to commit to a course of action, however frankly I found it hard to believe that she was stupid enough to be tricked as she was. I thought this quite inconsistent with her character. I suspect it was done in an attempt to be true to life - everyone does stupid things that are out of character occasionally - however to me it appeared to be a huge flaw in the story. Final complaint - the language is occasionally a bit melodramatic. Otherwise, the prose was excellent so this is a very minor point. It is easy to be a critic. The bottom line is that this a great accomplishment and I am excited about starting the second installment.
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