Rating: 
Summary: Deceptively Gritty
Review: George R. R. Martin is quite possibly the greatest fantasy writer ever. That's right, you heard(or read) me. Ever. That is including Tolkein. Tolkein was a genius in the way he created a world so lush and filled with life that the reader could believe in it. He was brilliant in his creation of the fantasy genre as we know it, orcs, wizards and elves who aren't faeries are all staples of high fantasy that Tolkein created. Since him, everyone has used his templates, call them what you want, aes sedai are still wizards, and trollocs are still orcs. Tolkein, despite his genius, had one major flaw, he never brought the horror and sorrow of war and death home to the reader. While orcs and foot soldiers may die by the thousands, no main character's death is described in any detail. Gandalf was a great character, his death was incredible and I cheered as much as the next geek when he returned even better. Ten years later I look back and wonder, why couldn't he just stay dead? George R. R. Martin is better. His world is even more real and rich in detail, but he is so much more realistic, and isn't afraid to pull punches. While Tolkein might say the orc carried a sword, and Jordan might say that the trolloc carried a black scimitar, Martin would say that Lionel of house Lannister wielded a well oiled blade, with that worn look a longsword may get after being blunted on an opponent's neck and sharpened again on a whetstone. But despite his genius, one must be wary of His books. They are housed on the fantasy shelf, bu when one thinks of fantasy, one thinks of Rand Al'Thor blasting mountains, and Richard Cypher dueling of a thousand men single-handedly, one dose not think of a world in shades of gray, where main characters die gruesomely and graphically in horrible ways left and right, where young children are slaughtered by fathers who cannot afford to feed them. Horribly dark, Sword of Truth this is not. Martin will never change fantasy the way Tolkein did, while some may say this is a shame, I think if every book was this dark and jaded there would be know such thing as a light read.
Rating:
Summary: wonderful
Review: I got lost in this story. The end of the second book with all the breast feeding dragons, sort of lost me for a minute, but this one has pulled right back in! This is the kind of book that makes you dread reaching the end. I can't wait for #4.
Rating: 
Summary: More twists than a bowl of spaghetti
Review: I started reading this book with huge expectations. And I can gladly say that it fulfilled them. Having read many books in the fantasy genre, I believe that only Robert Jordan can better Martin in the creation of a world you can live in. At certain times I still founnd myself needing to look at the map to identify exactly where parts of the story are occurring. This aside, Martin's vivid portrayl of characters combined with twist after twist make reading this book pure pleasure. Deftly woven plots -as subtle as gossamer- and coniving characters ensure that it is as hard as ever to put the book down. Martin is adept at not only warring famalies and bloodlines against eachother, but is masterfull in contrasting personalities too. Robb's charisma, Jon's survival instincts, Tyrion's scheming, Cersie's conniving and Bran's overgrown boldness. In the intersts of not giving anything away I will not comment in depth, but will make 2 comments on things I see detracting from the book. First and foremost, it would seem that Martin has developed a penchant for culling characters off willy nilly and for no apparent purpose. This begs the question how many new characters and plots does he plan to introduce. My second point is tied into this. With new plots developing already and with the scope for many more, will Martin be able to bring the story to a close within a book or two, or will instead, this become a series that will sit on the shelf looking like a set on Encyclopedia? That said, I thoroughly recommend this book to everyone with the warning, do not try and predict this book! You will only go mad if you do!
Rating:
Summary: Refreshing due to its reality.
Review: I left of reading Robert Jordan's Wheel of time series to reread Martin's "a Song of Ice and Fire". The differences were all in the favour of aSoIaF (pardon me, but I won't keep writing the full title). Robert Jordan writes myths and legends, the characters are set in roles, and it seemed to me that they stayed true to those roles. Giving the series the same feel as the lord of the rings. aSoIaF is more real and is written in a style I have never before come across in any fantasy books before. aSoIaF was (apparently) written to emulate the War of the Roses with a fantasy element there, but not obstructing reality. Therefore when someone picks up any of the books one finds oneself in a world harsher than today, a world more akin to middle ages england than today. There are roles laid out for characters in aSoIaF, but whether a character is playing a good or bad role isn't certain and some roles seem most neutral. Often one will find oneself disliking a character only to have them change roles while remain in character, and from that point you find yourself liking him, or her. If there is one fualt, the books are not published nearly fast enough for my satisfaction, Once the series has finished I'll still wish for more.
Rating:
Summary: I Hate When Other Reviewers Say This, But...
Review: ...this is hands down...the best book I've ever read! G RR Martin has firmly secured his place as my favorite fantasy author to date! I never thought he'd top Game of Thrones, let alone *this* dramatically. Even though it was 920 pages long, it wasn't nearly enough. I am in agony waiting for the next installment... Nothing I have read since has been able to ease the pain! Who will survive the Storm of Swords? Don't bother trying to guess, because Martin's tale of too-many-kings NEVER leads where you expect it to, and his pen may kill even main characters at any moment. Time and time again he builds up the suspense until you want to scream. And just then... when he has you in the palm of his hand waiting to see what happens next- he does nothing short of blow you away! Hurry up DANCE WITH DRAGONS! For the love of God- PLEASE HURRY UP!
Rating:
Summary: A Storm of Swords (A Song of Ice and Fire, Book 3)
Review: i just want to say - this books ROCKS!!! never read much fantasy novels except for those by old master Tolkien, but boy, this book tops! brought me from anger to tears to satisfaction to hurt, echoing in myself each character's emotions and pain. never was i this taken and swept into the players' lives - felt like i was right there, there and then. i can't wait for book 4, 5, 6 *AAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH* all of them!!! *valar morghullis* i see myself in Arya.....
Rating:
Summary: it doesn't get better
Review: great characters, page-devouring pacing, and boot-in-the-stomach plot twists, my only critique is that I'm forced to read something worse when I'm done Jordan and Goodkind take note
Rating: 
Summary: off with their heads
Review: It is interesting to note that most reviews for this series give 4 to 5 stars. Mr. Martin has embarked on an ambitious project to bring us, the readers of fantasy, a new "epic". However, he does seem to overdo it at times in regard to gratuitous gore. This book is not as well written as the previous two. As you will find many of the characters disappear at a somewhat alarming rate. This is not necessarily a bad thing. We have come to know that anyone is expendable to this writer. Hopefully the deaths serve some purpose as did the deaths of Ned Stark and Robert the King. I enjoy these books but am not ready, as I have witnessed some reviewers do, to proclaim this series the best fantasy ever written. In fact while Mr. Martin does not over indulge in the use of sorcery, dragons and talking trees...he does not even come in as a close second to the greatest fantasy series ever written, but then no one comes in close to Tolkiens' Lord of the Rings.
Rating:
Summary: Grim, depressing and absolutely brilliant.
Review: Finally, a fantasy author that can write mesmerisingly well for 3 novels in a row. Keep up the good work, Mr Martin.
Rating:
Summary: When the story didn't stop, my heart did
Review: Mr. Martin amply fulfills his readers expectations based on his previous books. This one is not quite as good as ACoK, IMO, but is still worthy of five stars. I'm sure by now you've read most of the reviews so I'll summarise quickly:Amazing writing; better character development than the previous two; Jaime Lannister and Samwell Tarly(yay!) get viewpoints;bad and good guys alike, die. The book all around wasn't as good as the first two, but had some of the best individual chapters in the whole series. Mostly with Davos, Arya, Jon and especially(!) Tyrion; trust me on this one. A definite read, some questions are answered from the previous books also. If you haven't started this series, pick up AGoT now! Can't wait for A Dance with Dragons!
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