Rating: 
Summary: Fantasy writing at its best
Review: This book is the single best Fantasy book I have read ever and I have been reading Fantasy for years. The characters are life-like and you feel something for each one as they appear throughout the novel. The battle between the Starks and Lannasters is of epic scale and keeps you reading and wanting more- even the wolves play a part in the story. This is one Fantasy novel everyone interested in Fantasy should read.
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Summary: Game of Thrones takes its place in the High Seat of Fantasy
Review: I've been reading fantasy for 19 years, and this is only the second book I've read twice!The best thing about this story is the vulnerability of ALL characters. No one is safe. No one is above injury. All of the characters are very mortal, so we truly do not know what will happen between chapters. This makes for very interesting reading. My favorite thing @ GoT is how the main characters by the end of the book were not the main characters at the beginning of the story. The ones I thought were the catalyst for future events weren't, and the ones I was sure would die or become insignificant, became critical. For example: Robert, Jamie, and Eddard were critical characters to get the ball rolling, but they are not essential to the saga. Make sense? Other good points - Tyrion is a wonderful character. He's a bad guy, or was, yes he is, well wait, maybe he's not. The different perspectives between chapters also makes for interesting reading. Of course there are a few things I didn't like. The ending to Eddard Stark's storyline left me furious, but good writing will do that to ya. The whole Dothraki/Daenyres chapters seem out of place, and they remind me too much of Aiel and the waste land from the Wheel of Time. But that is my problem, not the fault of Mr. Martin. Read this book - twice! It is a non-stop action packed ride that will grip you and keep you in its grasp until the very end. Then you'll be forced to read Clash of Kings.
Rating:
Summary: This is how it's done.
Review: This is a meticulous epic of nobles, knights, kings, and traitors set to a very subtle fantasy backdrop, which pulls you in deeper with every page. A Game of Thrones is quite easily the best single fantasy novel I've ever read- and there have been many. So it stands to reason that you just might enjoy it yourself! I've never seen an author so consistently brilliant as Martin has been in these 835 pages. This is no fluke. After just this one book, I am positive that he is one of the top three talents in the Fantasy genre. Tolkien... Jordan... Hobbs... Watch out for George R. R. Martin- He has his eyes on the throne! -There are some who feel this story has too many main characters. That it is too confusing. Any veteran of Jordan will take to GoT like a duck to water. In fact, pick out your favorite Wheel of Time book... This destroys it. -Want more? Heard of that short story collection called "Legends" featuring all the modern masters of fantasy? Do NOT miss Martin's "The Hedge Knight" -It's Dynamite!
Rating:
Summary: How much better can one book get!
Review: WoW! This is By far the best book Ive ever read. Ive gone into the book store many times and picked up this book, just to put it down again becaus I THOUGHT I found a better one. Boy was I wrong Time and Time again. Then one day I borrowed this book from my cousin and I was hooked after the very first chapter. Martin does one hell of a job giving each character in the book depth(and there are allot of characters). The only problem I have is I was sorry to see the book End. So I sit here patiently waiting for more. My sugestion is BUY THIS BOOK!
Rating: 
Summary: Good fantasy...
Review: is so rare, and this book is one of those rare gems. The reason why I am giving it only four stars is that I suffer from an uncureable disease where I compare all fantasy to J.R.R. Tolkien and Mervyn Peake, and what modern fantasy writer can really compare to those two. Anyway this book is good, and it is extremely engaging. Martin has drawn some intriguing characters and with them a wonderful storyline that makes me excited to pick up the second book. As I say, this book is good fantasy - standing (in my book anyway) well above many other authors of the genre like Robert Jordan (whose books are engaging even dispite his unlikable characters and inability to construct a complete sentence). So if you have already finished the Tolkien and Peake epics, I suggest George R.R. Martin.
Rating:
Summary: A good start, hoping for the best
Review: Goerge R.R Martin is a true veteran of the field, and as such has produced a very well written and professional book. A game of thrones is a great book, it's got good characters, intrigue, and people actually act realistically, not your regular fantasy angel/demon seperation. Though it is very long, it only took me 3 fascinating days to go through. I haven't read part 2 yet, i would like to offer my prayers that the rest of the series wont distentegrate like a lot of them do.
Rating:
Summary: Very good
Review: When I begun reading I felt that this was a good book with depth in both caracters and story, but as I came to read further i had to concede that it was nothing short of brilliant. The story is well crafted and has a true magic with exellent descriptions of the land and its inhabitants. Martin uses just enough words to interesst us but not enough to sate us. This leads to questions and curiosity as the story unfolds (smart since it sells sequals). The stage is grand with large armies and great heroes. Here I must admit that Martin sometimes wonders a bit, he has the same tendency as Jordan to describe armies consisting of thousands, yet at the same time the number of people with a face rarly comes beyond a handfull. In the same way he ignores the logistacal problems of moving thousands over long distances, but the fantasy authors who adress problems of this kind are rare indeed. The caracters are magnificent, Martin juggles the sides against each other and although there are a few clear heroes not all of them are on the same side, something I can do nothing but apploud. He also tries to give the heoroes flaws and the villains reedeming qualities. There are (naturally) a number of extreme personalities that would never be accepted in other forms of literature, but in the world Martin draws in our minds they fit in beautifully. Even if I sometimes feel that Martins respect the abillities of children a little to much, a nine year old girl is no grownup. But overall I must surrender to his descriptions. The part that at first was my greatest problem with the book was the language. Martins English is good but he spices his language with a lot of four letter words now and then. I think nothing of his choise to let sex be a part of the story, anyone who claims that thoughts of the opposite sex does not take up a large part of there thoghts are simply thinking of there own sex (or are lacking vital parts). Sometimes though it feels as if he uses the coarse language deliberetly to distance himself from "books for children" and in doing so succedes only in making it just so. Martin does not have the mastery with words that enables Pratchet in his early work to make lewd comments only somebody well familiar with the meckanics are able to spot. This is not to say that Martin is bad, on the contrary he is exellent only that in this part I feel he overreaches. All in all this is a brilliant work of fiction that I recomend anybody with an interest in fantasy.
Rating:
Summary: Another author for my short list
Review: Although I really think Mr. Martin is out to exploit all of us who have nothing else to do but read these brick-thick tomes, he can exploit away as long as he does it with such skill. Has anyone else nticed the little nods to other fantasy authors Martin gives here and there (Kinslayer and something else from Robert Jordan, and Josua and Elias from Tad Wiliams)?
Rating:
Summary: 'Historical' Epic Fantasy
Review: The first installment of A Song of Ice and Fire reveals Martin's genius in creating a feudal society and the political machinations that went on behind the scenes. The end result is that everything seems real...and it is only when a direwolf or other non-earth creature appears that you remember that this is not a (wonderfully done) recreation of European history, Hadrian's wall and all. (But then again, maybe it is!) His characters come in so many assortments and with so much psychological depth that there is always something new, something deeper to discover about an individual and there is always someone you love to hate or to mourn with. An author who can do that on the scale that Martin does is truly a dedicated, talented, hardworking author, and every page reveals that Martin is just that. The writing is superbly crafted, the situations and plot carefully and intricately developed. The book is full of many surprises and developments that kept me unable to put it down, and I awaited the 2nd volume with much anticipation and I'll read the 3rd as soon as it comes out. This book truly earned its 5 stars.
Rating:
Summary: Best on so many levels!
Review: It has been over 2 years since I have read this book - and it remains one of the all-time great literary works. This book is for those lovers of fantasy/science-fiction that like to see the grit and dirt of life. The book is hard-core, and actually attains the greatest level of "fantasy realism" of any book I have ever read. Incredible web of political storytelling, epic nature of ultimate gain and loss, and the best job I have ever seen at character development. Martin takes a very unique and extremely rewarding style by writing each chapter from the first person of a main character. One chapter you might be in the head of a nine-year-old tomboy, and the next chapter you are in the head of one of the most dangerous hands to the King. He is able to pull off these changes with such excellent writing style and grace; it is actually amazing how he does it. What this style also does is to give the reader a true glimpse into each character, their inner thoughts, hopes and fears, and through the course of the book we are able to learn to so much from so many people - I could not put this book down. The hardened style (swearing, rape, etc.) mixed with a hardened world; this book is able to capture the true essence of medieval life built on a very subtle fantasy base. There are not Trolls and Dragons everywhere like many books, but the "fantasy" that does fuel the book is marvelous. Besides these amazing feats that Martin performs in this book, the dialog in this book is unparalleled. The wit and bite and artistry of spoken words in this book are simply magical. It is the best dialog I have ever read - possibly better than Leiber, the master! If you love Leiber or Howard or even a good book - you will love this book and series. I place it up with Tolkien as the best written, most exciting and stimulating work I have ever read.
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