Rating: 
Summary: Darek, violent and pornographic. . .with complex characters
Review: Sure the man can write. He can write circles around lots of the contemporary fantasy writers pumping out pulp. Trouble is, he's spinning too many plates, and obviously trying to create the kind of moral universe in which he'd LIKE to live in. Lewd sex everywhere, anytime, between any partners. Inscest, rape, and more references to bastardization than you would think possible--unless you had 3 books of nearly a thousand pages each to liberally sprinkle throughout every chapter. Now you're getting the idea.
There are many characters very well drawn. Too many. Most characters we think evil are shown to have endearing flaws in their makeup, and the "good" folk are sure to take their virtues to the extreme to make them look foolish. Of course, life, and people are often that way. However, coupled with the constant violence, this book is like watching a contempoary action flick for every hour it takes to read the thing. It's a trial.
It's certainly NOT for younger audiences. Parents beware for your children's sake.
Rating: 
Summary: Perfection of Imperfection
Review: This book is not a happy one. Actually, I can't really remember whether this particular book is happy because I read the other two as soon as I finished the first, and if you read "A Game of Thrones", you'll jump for the sequels ("A Clash of Kings", "A Storm of Swords") as well.Back to the title of this review: "Perfection of Imperfection". How many books have you read that left characters truely unhappy? Eddings lost the seer's bodyguard, McCaffrey lost the guy on the blue dragon. I figure I should have been touched around then, but, quite simply, in most fantasy series, the people who die or have horrible things happen to them simply aren't important enough. The last author to come close to what Martin does was Tolkien in the Shire (for risk of spoiling things for those who have had an interest in the books sparked by the movie, I'm not going to be specific). Martin is perfectly willing to do more than sacrifice characters. In this book, as I was waiting for a character to be beheaded, I kept wondering, how are they going to save him from this? It seemed impossible. And I guess it was. Tough luck. "A Game of Thrones" is just the beginning to about 2500+ pages of betrayal, war, and dirty tactics, with incest thrown in just for fun (ok, not for fun, it sets off the whole revolution thing). There are a large handful of self-proclaimed kings of the land (named the Seven Kingdoms, but nobody will even think about just splitting them up). Each has their own devious little webs to spin, each has a likable character and despicable character on their side, so you never feel quite secure in rooting for a particular group. Good and bad are not so clearly defined in Martin's works. Then there are the characters themselves. Cersei and Jaime Lannister remind one of Cesare and Lucrezia Borgia (although their old man, the strict Lord Tywin, would never take Rodrigo's place in the rumors). But the two are balanced by their deformed, dwarf brother, Tyrion (I think that's his name, anyway), who tries to do things for the good of the people. Sansa and Arya Stark seem to be two opposites: gentle lady versus wild woodsey fighter girl. Dany, exiled daughter of an ousted king who plans to take back her family's kingdom, seems to be the median between the two: gentle but also firm and dedicated to her cause. Robb Stark, firmly raised by his noble father, Ned, is the antithema to Prince Joffrey, Queen Cersei's spoiled, willful brat. And Jon Snow, ... half-brother of Robb, has this calm within sort of personality that explodes when convenient to the story. The sad part of all this is that so many of theses characters and more die in this book and the next two. While there is no gratuitous violence, Cersei and Jaime make this book frankly inappropriate. In other words, it would make a great movie, but it would be R if they didn't cut certain scenes. If you're looking for a fantasy series where the good guys aren't clear, every side takes violent hits, and the world is not perfect, I suggest you pick up this book.
Rating: 
Summary: *sigh* Yet Another Embarrassment to the Fantasy Genre.
Review: My brother warned me not to read A Game of Thrones. I didn't listen. The big "Fantasy Novel of the Year" banner on the cover was just too inviting. Too bad for me.
I feel genuinely sorry for J.R.R. Tolkien, whose books are relegated to the same shelf as a man who would even stoop so low as to copy his initials for publicity by association. Martin claims to give us "fantasy realism", with complex characters that are neither good or evil. What we get instead is a montage of graphic violence and porno interspersed with long periods of boredom conveyed in leaden prose. Despite their billing the characters were pathetically flat and stereotyped; a big, boisterous king "poesessed of huge appetites", a beautiful but evil queen, a scheming nobleman, grizzled men at arms, horseriding savages, have we met these before? Women are reduced to sex objects, common people to bit players. Barely anyone seems guilty of an altruistic impulse, and I found myself greeting their eventual gory deaths with a feeling of vague relief. The whole thing smells like a soap opera set in the middle ages.
Fantasy is by nature escapist. Our world is an ugly one, and one that most of us are powerless to change. A fantasy world offers us another place to live, another way to imagine ourselves.
I would ask fans of Martin's books if they imagine themselves personally chopping the heads off prisoners, or possessed of a harem of 13-year-old girls. Such fantasies are those of an adolescent sociopath. If realism is what you crave, read a few good medieval histories. If you enjoy cutthroat politics, have a stab at Machiavelli. If your thing is long lists of characters to remember, try Dostoyevsky. Whatever you do, give Game of Thrones a miss.
Rating:
Summary: How can I read an 800 page book?
Review: That's the question I asked myself when I decided to start this book. I had read all the reviews and wanted to see what all the fuss was about. I won't bother with plot synopsis because it's too darn complicated, but let's just say this in an engrossing book. The 800 pages flew by and left me wanting more. Although this novel is considered fantasy, you won't be beaten over the head with trolls/orcs/dragons/etc. Aside from the opening and closing chapters, there is no mention of monsters except for Old Nan's tales, a few reanimated corpses and the ever ominous Others beyond the Wall. Make no mistake, there are creatures in this world, they're just not EVERYWHERE. This may bother some hardcore fantasy readers, but the story and character development are so deep that you don't even miss them. A great story, a great writer, a great series.
Rating:
Summary: The Beginning of the greatest fantasy series written
Review: The title speeks for itself, truly... No writer has ever depicted a realm of such magic, intrigue, mystery, complexity, brilliance and perspective so realistically that a piece of your mind is utterly absorbed into the World of Westeros and everything beyond. This book will change you. His characters are so realistically made that they will actually reflect upon those you see in reality, and I tell it true. You might even dream of this world. He even stresses the role of women, and incredibly well. This is a story of tragedy, treachery and conspiracy. The Seven Kingdoms bestir themselves as its great Houses dispute, with word and sword. Families plot against families, in clandestine meetings. The shall slowly crumble as you will witness if you read...and read well, VERY well.
Rating:
Summary: George R.ated R. Martin
Review: If you don't mind a little brother-sister lovin', this is a great book!
Rating:
Summary: A Game of Power and Pain
Review: This book is something out of the ordinary. Instead of good against evil, (stereo type fantasy) It gives you the charecters and lets you try to figure out who you should trust and who you shouldn't. The two main families are: The Starks who live in the far north and are very harsh, and the Baratheons who rule the kingdom. It begins with the some of the Stark family traveling south with the Kings company and the rest of the Starks staying back at their castle, Winterfell. but before you know it evryone has dispersed off in differant directions and well... the plot thickens. You also can't foreget Daenerys, she and her brother are the last survivors of the old bloodline the Targaryens. Banished arcross the water they are angry, for they want the throne that is theirs by right... And as everyone competes in the game of thrones you never know who will come out dead or alive. This book promises good things to come and provided an endless source of entertaiment!!!
Rating:
Summary: At long last.
Review: A game of thrones is different. It's better. I've spent years rooting through the impressive fantasy collections of the biggest bookstores and finally gave up trying to find new favourites. Most of the books written in the last ten years all revolve around the same type of plot, with a firmly established "Dark Lord" and "Only-he-can-save-the-world-guy". Most of the authors have no experince with writing and just wan to make some cash an present their dungeons and dragons adventures before the world. Mistakes in grammer, plot and character generation are common. A game of thrones is better though. Everything has a new, original feel to it. From the intriguing, gripping plot(One of the few that has kept me awake till seven in the morning) to the appealing variety of characters.
Lord Eddard Stark is forced to leave his home in the north to serve his lifelong friend, King Robert, as "the Hand of The King". The Queen, however, has evil intentions. Eddard must survive in the murky world of politics while trying to come to grips with the king he knows has changed. His honour and integrity is one scruple to many in this city where everyone appears hostile. Members of his family go their own way or have to learn to get along without him, as multiple story lines demonstrate, with each chapter continuing the story from the point of view of a different one of the main characters. This revolves around only a few though, so no need to be apprehensive of endlessly changing heroes. Mainly they are Starks family. Threats build up from all sides, however, and all the Starks will be needed to fill in their own part.
Read it. You will NOT be dissapointed. I would rate it higher than Raymond Feist or Terry Goodkind and the others(this is my own, personal opinion, I dont want to antagonize any of the millions of their fans!).
Rating: 
Summary: Nice series
Review: I haven't read the second and the third volume but it seems very promising so far. I rate the plot more than excellent and few books get this rating from me. It's intriguing and exciting and reminds me of the PC games I play (just one more page, just one more page). The reason I didn't give the fifth star are the characters. Those have some hidden agendas I fail to understand. I just cannot get through why they act and think in certain ways. Kids like Robb are successfully able to command armies and win while others, veterans like Ned make foolish mistakes. But I guess this just happens to everyone in real life, so I don't consider it so bad. The big minus is the deaths. *Don't get attached to any of characters. Anyone can die at any minute.* And of course that anyone is the coolest characters. I don't like the "die hard, always survive" type of characters we meet in most series like Robert Jordan and Terry Goodkind. However, when those you set your highest hopes die, you hardly ever get time to get to like another one before s/he dies too. I have always been such a sucker for magic but I think these books are a nice cool off from the overwhelming world of channeling of Jordan, let's say. So, if you like the might side of the fantasy genre or are tired of magic, this one is a must read. On a general note the book seems balanced. It lacks the awful brutality of Goodkind (60 pages of massacre. 40 pages of torture. 3 pages of rape.) It also lacks the mawkishness of Tolkien (don't get me wrong, I love Tolkien but I find LotR too ... softcore ... with the elves and their songs). I still don't think it beats Raymond Feist and his saga, though. To sum it up: MUST READ IF YOU:
- enjoy intricate, deep and surprising plots
- are tired of magic series or just don't like books about magic
- enjoy battling scenes
- are interested and like the history of England and the War of the Roses
- play mostly barbarian heroes in games
- like "hardcore" type of fantasy books
- prefer characters in development who are not just good/bad MUST *NOT* READ IF YOU:
- are such a sucker for magic and can't read a book without it
- would leave a book in its first 50-100 pages because you don't understand what it is about
- *get easily and deeply attached to characters*
- you get angry at characters who turn out to be "bad" when you think they are "good"
- are under 15-16. This is certainly not a book for kids in my opinion
- are sick of violence in books I personally am going to get the next 2 books in several days and am looking forward to it.
Rating: 
Summary: Fresh, but still a let-down
Review: George R.R. Marin is one of the finest and innovative authors to enter the sibling genres of science-fiction and fantasy in the last thirty years. As rumors of his return from televistion writing blossomed into rumors of an epic high-fantasy series I became extremely excited. If anyone, I thought, can revitalize this ailing genre it would be George R.R. Martin. Although this series has indeed turned out to be a fresh look at the genre, true revitalization is still far away. Martin does bring some adult sophistication to the genre. His characters are not one-dimensional, and are not "good" or "evil." Unfortunately, he has difficulty sustaining this. There are characters that we are supposed to like, and characters that we are supposed to dislike. To create this Martin has slumped to the classic high-fantasy trick of giving us "good guys" who "really care about the little people," whom we never really see, and are never cared about as a whole (e.g. "I'm not going to tax them as much this year), but only as individuals. The "bad guys" are all sharp-witted and care only about themselves, and somehow have managed to concoct far-fetched ideas of how to better their personal situation. Although, each character appears to be a unique and complex individual at the beginning, by the half-way point they have become formulaic. Every character has only one way of speaking, and only one topic to talk about, and it becomes tiresome and boring quickly. These critical comments should, however, be put into perspective. While Martin's series cannot stand out among good literature, it definitely can -- and does -- stand out among good high-fantasy literature. So, if you have not yet become disillusioned about the genre, you may find this new series worth your time. I still think, though, that you will find it difficult to make it all the way through the six proposed volumes before becoming tired of the series -- and the genre.
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