Rating: 
Summary: Epic in Scale
Review: George RR Martin's website states that this story will run at least 6 volumes. I hate to say it, but I can't wait to read each and every one of them. I know that I join many other readers when I say that the first 3 installments have been gripping and exceptionally well written. I just hope that the storyline doesn't decline into another "Wheel of Time" debacle.
The story itself grows more epic in scale with each chapter and quickly reminds the reader why he or she loves fantasy fiction. Martin has kept the use of magic to a minimum and the story is tremendously better for it. Magic exists, but the story is not driven by wizards and warlocks. The characters resound with realism and the plot takes them places you would never expect.An excellent story told in 3 books so far. Martin's website says (as of today) that he is still writing Book IV. I feel like a kid in a toy store. I can't wait to get my hands on it.
Rating: 
Summary: No More for me please....
Review: Well, I have to say, that George R.R. Martin is one the best fantasy writers around. His latest book is full of magic, intrigue and twist and turns that just make this book go forward. I dare anyone to say that they can see where this series is heading. Because a particularly interesting plotline that seemed to be developing was absolutely destroyed in the last half of the book. I have never seen this many well loved, and truly hated characters come to a gruesome, and painful end in my life. If you have grown attached and like ANY characters that were introduced in the first two books forget them! They are dead meat. That readers would hail this book as refreshing, and groundbreaking is a shock to me. To me this guy is just plain morbid. Personally I could not finish the story, after one character got killed, I decided to rush ahead and read the last 4 chapters of the book. I was thunderstruck and disgusted by what I read. Great characters butchered like animals, wonderful subplots destroyed for the sake or realism. The only saving grace is that my favorite character was spared. But for me this is it. The last book, I can't read what comes next. IN all fairness it should tell you something that I may give it 2 stars, but my feelings are so strong is because the writing is so good. The series is just not moving in the direction I would like it to.
Rating: 
Summary: Is Your Taste All In Your Mouth? Bon appétit!
Review: When I go through the checkout line at the supermarket, I see displayed such tabloids as the National Enquirer. I often wonder who buys such things. Obviously a lot of people do--though I have never actually seen anybody pick one up. I think I have the answer now. The readership of the tabloids coincides with the admirers of A Song of Ice and Fire. Mr. Martin has obviously hit on a good thing--good, at least, for his bank account, though not good for fantasy literature. He has taken all the sick, morbid plot elements his fertile brain can concoct and put them into a series of novels; and he has--this clever man--discovered that there are a lot of philistines who will eagerly buy such stuff. What bothers me is not that Mr. Martin has done this--authors must makes a living, and one must not judge a man by the books he writes (too much, anyway)--but that I see people saying that this series of sensationalistic, blood-and sex-drenched penny dreadfuls is "greater than Tolkien," and "the best fantasy series ever." Such statements are erroneous, and those who make them are.....well, they are wrong. Mr. Martin's books are the literary equivalent of "adult" films and slasher movies. They are being written to make money by a man who has well judged the tastes of a good many people, and who may well be laughing up his sleeve at the apparently limitless appetite for this modern equivalent of Titus Andronicus. (Mr. Martin has not yet, as far as I know, had one of his innumerable villains kill his enemy's children and serve them up at a banquet baked in a pie, but when he does, remember you read it here first. Jacobean "tragedies of blood" are nothing new. But at least Shakespeare, or whoever wrote Titus, managed to confine his gore to one short play, not a series of volumes thick enough to give you a hernia if you picked them all up at once.) I do not really care if there are people who prefer twinkies to steak, or kindergarten finger-paintings to Rembrandt, but it is a little annoying to have them say their preferences are the superior. Fantasy literature is being permanently degraded by the success of Martin's books (and by the success of certain others, as well), because aspiring authors are going to start thinking that lurid, shocking melodrama is what readers want. Unfortunately, maybe it is.
Rating:
Summary: An amazing addition to an already amazing Series
Review: As other reviewers have pointed out, it's a rare sequel that surpasses the previous books, but this does so fiercely. One of the reasons I like this book, and the previous two, so much is that I'm often forced to stop and change my opinion about who are the good guys and who are the bad guys. The unpredictability of the story is such a refreshing surprise from the usual good vs. evil. I highly recommend Mr. Martin and eagerly await the next installment.
Rating:
Summary: The other authors vanquished!
Review: Step down Stephen King, John Grisham, and yes... Mr. Tolkien. There is a new king, a new prince of the pen. And his name is R. R. Martin. He is simply the best living author alive today. If you have not read this series then you're missing out. Very rarely do you see a writer who can develop characters and plot at the same time. I'm not sure if he has a weakness... he is like Tiger Woods. Solid in every area. He dominates the genre and is clearly heads and shoulders above any fantasy author and I will go one step further and say any living author. He is the Shakespeare of our time. And it's time we gave him the credit he deserves. Now I need to go get some sleep. Reading his novels is probably not good for my health, no food and sleep for this long can kill a man. -Martin Fan
Rating:
Summary: Winter comes closer
Review: The prologue sets the tone by laying out the fate of the men of the Night Watch who had gone beyond the Wall. From there Martin quickly reintroduces his characters and his multiple story lines moving from viewpoint character to viewpoint character as the story unfolds. While the focus of the book is on the political intrigues of the Seven Kingdoms much of the action has shifted to the northern wastes beyond the great wall and the tragic turn of events for the men of the night watch. A surprise is the use of Samwell as a viewpoint character. Samwell is the ultimate un-hero, describing himself as fat cowardly and inept he somehow manages to stay not only alive but a player in events north of the wall. Across the sea with Daenerys Targaryen has emerged as a character and a power to contend with. She has grown form an abused little girl to a queen in exile. Her dealings with the slave traders gives insight into her character and offers a growing number of possibilities as to how she, her three dragons and her now massive army of former slaves will fit into the political struggle going on in the Seven Kingdoms. The war goes well for the easy to hate Lannisters and poorly for the sympathetic Starks. Even though he has won every battle he has fought, Robb Stark's position continues to weaken, he literally wins every battle he fights but in process is loosing the war. Mr. Martin is as unflinchingly honest about the brutal reality that forms the heart of the chivalrous world he has created. No characters are safe from death, disfigurement, betrayal or their own mistakes. Mr. Martin does not save his characters or his readers feelings about these characters by saving them at the last minute from their fates. The gray morality continues and one is never certain who to root for. "A Storm of Swords" also expands on the magical aspects of the elaborate world Martin has built. Magic and the supernatural were quietly hinted at in the first two volumes of the series and are finally coming into play. Most impressively, Mr. Martin manages to blend in these magical elements without losing any of the gritty realism that has been a hallmark of the series so far. Like its predecessors, "A Storm of Swords" is packed with special details, the sights and sounds and smells of life in a retooled Middle Ages setting. It is a complicated and sprawling attempt to portray an entire world and a myriad of events; despite this it never loses sight of the mundane lives of the individual characters. Mr. Martin has promised that this series will continue for six books. However I am wondering if he can successfully pull that particular rabbit out of the hat. The sheer number of major plot elements beckon for more space to develop and this does not include the ever expanding number of sub-plots. Given the stories emphasis on the number seven, seven kingdoms, seven deities and so on, I suspect that there will be a total of seven books in this series.
Rating: 
Summary: Almost Great
Review: The first 3 books of George R.R. Martins Song of Ice and Fire series are extremely well written and very good. The only problem I have with them is his use of switching the readers point of view from place to place and character to character every chapter. This kicks me out of the book at the beginning of virtually every new chapter where I suddenly have to shift gears and try to remember exactly where I was when I read about this character 60 pages earlier. It would not be so bad if he only had 5 or 6 different characters that he focuses on, but he has more like 10 to 12 characters that he focuses on in each book. For someone like myself, this becomes very tedious. For example, instead of continuing reading while I'm hungry (i.e. getting so pulled into the book that I cannot put it down), this forces me to notice that I am hungry and I will put the book down to go get food. Other than that, it is extremely well written. I won't bother to list all of the things that I like since most everyone else has done that for me.
Rating:
Summary: This is a terific book
Review: This book has characters and a plot that are both complex and developing. But there are two things I would like to warn anyone who wants to buy this book and the two books before it about. Firstly the religions in this book are confusing and generally evil. They really screwed with my head. I think that the author since the first book is trying to slowly cause readers to understand his revelation about religion. I don't believe that his concluding revelation will be that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. Secondly there are about ten very explicit sexual scenes in this book. I think they are used to help readers better understand the cultures of the people in this book and they do that well, but they are really disgusting and bizarre. I almost feel like not recommending the book because of them. Sex in books one and two are the same as I've described this third book as being. Outside of sexual and spiritual stuff I think that this is a great book to read. It has lots of plots, and cultures, and tons of characters. Each chapter is told from the perspective of a major character and the characters are spread out to many different places. I am giving the book five stars because I think these other aspects of it are so awesome and sex and religion are a matter of taste.
Rating:
Summary: The Only Re-Readable Series
Review: I have to admit, I have a derelict and dusty box filled with the trilogies, quartets, and quintets of past, and I have yet to re-read any of them. They just don't feel right. But after reading the first novel in this series, I have read each book at least twice. Martin's multi-layered storytelling and full, dimensioned characters make you want to see what happens to them, and the plotlines are beautfully laid out, a serpentine structure that gets better as it slowly uncoils. In addition, martin knows how to keep an audience without the feeling of making the reader tired of reading. Jordan has nothing on this guy, and he never will.
Rating:
Summary: Only six books he said...that a promise?
Review: Can it be a true? A great fantasy epic not trapped to follow the opening sequence of LotR? Where's the powerful magician coming to visit the town? How about a mysterious stranger lending a life saving aid? Someone whose name most resembles Tolkien (two middle names initial r. r.?) writes a great fantasy novel devoid of significant similarities (I mean how can any author not have similarities to Tolkien even a little while writing anything 'fantasy'?). Well G.R.R. Martin certainly did just that. As if on a quest to break the major rules of fantasy writing, anyone who's dead tends to stay dead on his series. And the 'good' guys are not impervious to death either. I find it refreshing for an author to be so definite and bold. And his boldness doesn't in any way mar his great story. Quite the opposite, it lends to the story and briskly carries the story along (and on some cases too brisk, but that's nit-picking). I don't know who started having more main characters then can be counted with one hands (Robert Jordan jumps to mind) but I do find it distorting to read couple of chapter about one character and to have it abrubtly end to start fresh with another. I'll tell it straight off, I don't like reading about certain character's exploits. On the topic of stating the cons, I've heard some people not liking this series due to its overt amount of sexual content. Sexual content - more stronger then your average fantasy fair (ok, more so then ALL the other fantasy series) but I don't find it in any way to be 'overt'ly sexual. Lovely series thus far. Here's hoping GRR Martin doesn't make more then 6 books on this series.
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