Rating: 
Summary: Look out Frodo...
Review: In the first book of what looks to be a great series, Martin tells a masterful story from the viewpoints of eight very unique and uncommon fantasy heroes. While Lord Eddard Stark's bastard son, Jon Snow, is dealing with his hard life on The Wall, there is trouble brewing in the Seven Kingdoms and across the sea. A mystery sends Ned on a wild goose chase and eventually brings havoc to his entire family sending the Seven Kingdoms into war from three sides. Daenerys, the "last" of her kin, tries to reclaim her family's once great status.Martin does not fall prey to usual fantasy novel clichés and provides both action and suspense while giving a very in depth and well-told story. No one is immune to the hardships of this very realistic world and one shouldn't be surprised if the "bad" guy turns out to be the "good" guy and vice-versa.
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic and aptly named
Review: This book was fascinatingly real and powerful. The character interactions are scintillating and involving. The story moves, keeping pages turning. Every good review about this book so far is RIGHT! Later books keep opening up new dimentions to this world and its inhabitants. One thing I did want to add for people starting on this series: The later books slow down a bit, and didn't have me turning pages like this one did.
Rating:
Summary: truely excellent
Review: this is a truely excellent work, however, it isn't for everyone. #1) there are a lot of people running around, and while I found it pretty easy to keep everyone straight, it could be a problem for some. Along the same lines, GRRM writes each "chapter" from the perspective of a single character, then switches to the perspective of another character for the next chapter. In a way, it can make the tale seem like a set of short stories, and like all good cliffhangers, it will frequently move away from a character just when he is at the brink of something important #2)Magic is pretty muted. The items that couldn't be found on earth are few and far between. In its stead is political intruge and the cruel roughness of life where wounds fester and people die from a minor wound, people starve, people die in childbirth, etc. Modern fantasy writers seem to forget that the middle ages were a rotten dirty rat infested flea hole in the mud type of place. GRRM does not. If you want dragons and spells and flying carpets and hospital sanitary conditions, these aren't the books for you 3#) similar to above, GRRM's books would DEFINATELY get an R rating for violence and for sex. I wouldn't say it is gratuitious, nor is sex all that often seen, but it is present, and when it is bieng written about, it is direct and forceful, and graphic. GRRM also realizes that sex is sometimes just about one person and their victim, especially in the connection between war and rape that we seem to forget went hand in hand 500 years ago. So, if you've got what it takes, this series will give you something special. A cast of hundreds, earth shattering events, intrigue and political manipulation, the good guys don't always win, the bad guys have motives that we can understand, and the vast majority of people are grey and just trying to get by. Fast action, great dialog, and plenty of humerous moments to go along with those cliffhanges.
Rating:
Summary: Does everything well.
Review: Rarely have I been more riveted to a book. I even dreamed about the characters when I'd put it down for the night. Martin's world is vividly frescoed across his epic tale. This is a high fantasy in its complexity, but grittily realistic in its medieval setting. I was impressed by Martin's restraint. He doesn't linger on any topic gratuitously as so many authors are prone to do. Sex scenes, war scenes, love scenes, and descriptions will never make you groan, as they are all described with just the perfect portion of words. There is a character in this book for anyone to relate to. My particular favorite were Jon Snow - the Stark [guy] who pledges himself to the austere life on the Night's Watch, a near-monastic order that guards a Hadrian-like wall from the savageries of the north. I also enjoyed the tomboyish Arya - a noble-born girl who learns to swordfight with or without her father's permission. I am not one for battle scenes, but I enjoyed this in this book. Also, complex politics can bore me in a fantasy novel, but they are so well-done that I enjoyed these sections as well. Normally, if a book has a chapter on each character as this one does, I will dislike some characters and want to skip their chapters. However, each character's story is so interesting in its own way that I didn't want to do that this time. In short, read it.
Rating: 
Summary: Don't Waste Your Time!
Review: My biases: I love Goodkind, I like WOT but downhill seriously lately. I loved Eddings, Donaldson, Tolkien. I love magic, action, battles. I always read any new fantasy series I start at least a hundred pages before tossing it out. As other reviewers have commented the book has little magic and action and is very political. A soap opera fantasy is probably a good way to describe it. Perhaps comparing Star Trek Deep Space Nine to the other Treks is helpful. I like all the other Treks but found DS9 to be a space soap opera and tossed it. This is what Game of Thrones is like. I am very disappointed since, after reading other reviews, I was expecting great things from Game of Thrones. Starting the book is rather difficult also since the character you are reading about is constantly changing. So I am out my 7 bucks. If you haven't tried Terry Goodkind yet, I highly recommend his work. It blows WOT out of the water and continues to be extremely interesting and very moving.
Rating:
Summary: a real eye opener and heart stopper
Review: I have to admit I was first attracted to this book by the shiny red bar that boasted "the fantasy novel of the year!".... and after having read it over 7 times I have to say that I was not let down at all. This book will surpass the expectations of any fantasy reader. It steps away from the traditional storytelling of the genre and enters an extremely complex and intriguing realm that always keeps you guessing. All of the characters are captivating, grounded and real, be they 9 years old or ancient. This book is centered on a realm dominated by the weaknesses of human kind, and the plot is at once compelling and destructive. It will bring you to fear, to tears, and always leave the fleeting hope of the peace and human salvation to loom tantalizingly in the horizon- but leaves you questioning if it is reachable. Do NOT expect a traditional "happily ever after" ending from this unique series. This is definitely not a book for the faint-hearted or fastidious, and is not a novel for those seeking a fairytale realm where goodness always prevails. Martin manages to draw out the many aspects of human nature that characterize human failings and fallibility. Rather than prominently display darkness and light in the fashion of Tolkien, Eddings, Jordan, and other fantasy writers, "good" and "evil" are never distinctly defined in Martin's novel. Instead, he writes it as it is in the real world, where good and evil are two intertwined capacities inherent in unpredictable human behaviour. This is an extremely enthralling saga whose philosophy does not allow readers the chance to clearly believe "that there is still some good left in the world, and that it is worth fighting for" (a la Samwise Gamgee), but instead invites us to a critical reexamination of the many different shades of human nature.
Rating:
Summary: Simply Superb
Review: I was at first hesitant to read this book; however, it turned out to be not only a worthy investment, but one of the best fantasy novels I have read(and its sequels are even better). It is very well written: the characters are intriguing, the story strays from the cliche and completely draws you in. I recommend this book to any and everyone.
Rating:
Summary: Long winded and overrated
Review: Read many fantasy books. this is too long, too descriptive. i'm bored. Goodkind so much better.
Rating:
Summary: The greatest start to a series ever
Review: I couldnt believe how wonderfully this series started off. It was great. They stuck in characters perfectly in every situation and moves through the characters constanly which makes you read through the book faster than u can believe. What's sad though is how the author can kill off people so fast. Defianently, not your typical good and evil story. This book is a great start to a series that is sadly, going downhill. Hopely though with A Feast For Crows he can stick this series back up there with the best series.
Rating:
Summary: Fantasy Soap Opera
Review: There's only one way to describe this book: a Fantasy Soap Opera. This has EVERYTHING you get in your favorite soap opera: 1. Lots of characters 2. A story that takes FOREVER to develop, and even longer for anything to happen, and has no end in sight 3. Sex and infidelity/immorality galore, sometimes more explicit than necessary (yes I know these things happen in real life, but we don't need explicit details to get the picture) 4. A story with many threads, each thread getting its turn in little snippets - VERY little snippets. Not to say that soap operas are necessarily bad, but they definitely aren't my thing, and neither was this book. Another thing that turned me off was that this didn't have any of the fun magical-type things you get in other fantasies. Isn't that what fantasy's all about?
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