Rating: 
Summary: Diamond in the very rough
Review: This book's effectiveness comes from the depth of its characters and the pitiless handling of their fates. In an interview Martin stated he was inspired by Tad William's "Memory, Sorrow and Thorn" trilogy, a favourite of mine which succeeds for similar reasons and led me to begin reading Martin's series. Martin has stated there will be six volumes in his series, and for the first time since Williams I believe each will prove worth the wait.
Rating:
Summary: Intricate and Imaginative
Review: George Martin has created an incredibly intricate fantasy world in which intrigue and treachery unfold with every page. I enjoyed this book and its sequel, A Game of Thrones, thoroughly. I am looking forward to the next!
Rating: 
Summary: No Tolkien but a cut above many others
Review: A good effort built on universal themes of honour, love, ambition, greed, friendship etc. The characterisation is shallow; inevitable, perhaps, due to the number of characters. Very few characters piqued my interest (Tyrion, the dwarf being one of them). Still, it was a pleasant way to while away a long and wet holiday weekend.
Rating:
Summary: Good read, bad feeling at the end!
Review: As I began to read this book, I was impressed by the details and the excellent character development. I loved the tangle of sub-plots and the reality of the situations. However, after I put the book down, I was disappointed. So many of the situations near the end seemed extremely violent and shocking, as if the author didn't really beleive he could hold onto a reader with old-fashioned excellent writing and must throw A LOT of really nastly things in for shock value. I felt like I had inadvertantly watched an episode of springer. Good on the whole, I'll read the next one, but left me feeling a little yucky.
Rating: 
Summary: I can't quite seem to put a fork in it
Review: I'm on page three hundred something and I'm stuck! The book seemed to start so promising, but now has bogged down. The writing is reminding me more and more of Robert Jordan. Too much detail about clothes and buildings and beards, etc. Can we just take it as a given that everyone wears the typical armor described in the story and only tell us on the rare occassion when someone isn't? I will say that, having read Ivanhoe several times, a couple of parts of the story that could have been exciting were only a pale imitation of that classic story (I have no doubt they were based on similar passages in Ivanhoe). Unfortunately, it seems modern fantasy novel sales are driven by page count, not story quality. I already have the next book in the series, but I'm going to have to be a masochist to get through them both.
Rating:
Summary: An epic done right.
Review: This book is the way to write epic fantasy. Having been disappointed by Jordan's novels by 1998, I was leery of picking up another doorstopper fantasy. Well, I was blown away. Trying to keep the names of families straight in the beginning is difficult. But, it is well worth the small times of confusion. Once you have the families straight, the story is that much more rewarding. As Martin has stated, one of his main inspirations was the War of the Roses, which is a turbulent time of history for Britain. You can see the similarities between the primary families of the novel and the main families involved in the War, the Yorks (Starks in the novel), and the Lancasters (Lannisters in the novel.) There are other similarities. But, I am not comparing the two here. Suffice to say, this is still a work of fiction and a masterful one at that. The book reads like a narrative history, and this is also one of its strengths. Martin is not afraid to make his characters live and suffer consequences. And they are richer for it. And they, in turn, enrich us, as readers. If you are looking for a true page turner that will keep you up well into the night, look no further. And, as some other reviewers have suggested, buy the second novel "A Clash of Kings" when you buy the first, because you will want to continue this sweeping saga as soon as possible. And "A Clash of Kings" does not disappoint either. In fact, I enjoyed the sequel more than "A Game of Thrones." Readers, drop that Jordan book, and step away from the bloated series. Put your hands on one of the best fantasy novels ever written, "A Game of Thrones."
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful...
Review: Those of you looking for a book about magic and wizardry might as well hit the "back" button on your browser now. But those of you looking for intrigue, super complex plots, twists, betrayels, murder, sex, danger, and the fantasy genre's ever-present impending doom...stop reading this and add it to the cart. Mr Martin offers a truly refreshing change of pace for us die hard fantasy enthusiasts that are tired of the old "small town hero fights off the ancient prophesied evil" plot that has sadly become a stable point in modern fantasy. The Ice and Fire books,(only two so far) deal with a medieval lands politics and warring, and they have their fair share of dispicable power-hungry "villian" characters. This sensational work has characters from all across the spectrum. There are those you hate, those you dont, and those you arent sure about. They all share one thing in common however, and that is that danger COMPLETELY surrounds them. For those of you that are fascinated (like me) by a good story rich with intrigues, twists, and back stabbing, this is the book for you. But WAIT! It gets better in the second one...what are you waiting for? Add it to your cart now!
Rating:
Summary: a great read
Review: This book was incredible and it was just the beginning. There are many carecters and Martin does a good job developing them. Some complain that there are too many name thrown out but i think for an epic "YES I SAID EPIC" series that i am sure this will be, it is required. Just to hear that this lord or that lord died is one thing but to know their name, family, children etc. just adds a whole new aspect to it. This reminds me a lot of Melanie Rawn's writing. Pick it up. But you better get book 2 at the same time because you won't want to wait.
Rating:
Summary: THE masterpiece!
Review: Fantasy is my own personal favorite. I have been reading from Tolkien and Dragon Lance to the Farseer trilogy and the Discworld series. If any of these is worth the paper they're written on then, in comparison, this one's worth it's weight in gold! Never have I encountered a book which can drive one's imagination into a thickly weaved story with such vivid images. Martin's particular brilliance has created a wonderful masterpiece - fascinating, suspensing, realistic and fantastic all over, making it the best fantasy story I have EVER read! Do not miss!
Rating:
Summary: A MASTERPIECE
Review: It took half the book to recognize the plots within plots between the houses during a larger event. The mastery of weaving the plots together make Martin's book a masterpiece.
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