Rating: 
Summary: i agree with most of the reviews here.
Review: martin's gift for character development, coupled with his keen ear for dialogue, makes for a compelling read. but, i have one question. after killing most of the "good guys" that we identified with, and after killing most of the "bad guys" who gave the book it's rotten core, who are we supposed to root for and against? i mean he's literally offed most of the interesting characters. i can't see the next book revolving around stannis baratheon or walder frey. like others, i'm sure it will be worth the wait. highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Best Fantasy Novel Ever!
Review: A Storm of Swords is simply,the best fantasy novel ever. I thought A Clash of Kings couldn't be topped, yet Martin did it again with the third installment in the series. It's totally unpredictable and characters you thought were evil show a more benevolent side. I couldn't put it down, and will be in agony waiting for the next book. If you haven't read the series yet, rush out right now and pick up all three books. I promise you will not be disappointed.
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Summary: Someone has FINALLY stepped out of Tolkien's shadow!!
Review: First, I'm not critisizing Tolkien; his epic 'Lord of the Rings' series basically got the entire fantasy genre started. But there-in also lies the problem--99.99% of the writers who followed Tolkien created little more than clones which did little to advance the quality of fantasy writing. Well Martin has definitely broken the mold with this series. I won't go into the details of the book (most of the reviews here have already done that extremely well). Instead, I'll just outline the three ways in which Martin is revolutionizing fantasy writing: 1) He's adding complexity. If you don't tend to like fantasy books because the characters and settings are all the written equivalent of cardboard cut-outs, Martin will give you a pleasant surprise. His characters are complex (they are convincing blends of good and evil rather than being purely one or the other), his settings are complex (his explanations of the various cultures his characters interact in read like a good history text), and even his take on magic is complex! Yes, no more dashing around and wildly blazing away with fireballs at everything that moves; Martin's characterization of magic is much more subtle and, although it is obviously powerful, it is not the overwhelming force that other authors (Jordan springs to mind) have made it. 2) His books are believable. The act of suspending disbelief is obviously a necessity when reading fantasy unless you're one of those kooks who thinks Dungeons-and-Dragons is a valid portrayal of reality (in which case I'd highly recommend either taking fewer drugs or taking more depending on your circumstances). But Martin makes this almost ridiculously easy for his readers to do. His world easily COULD exist and you can see people acting similarly to his characters just by turning on the news. Everything is logical and just plain makes sense. Even his dragons are designed to be aerodynamic instead of relying on 'magic' to fly! With that level of detailed 'realism', it's very easy to lose yourself in Martin's world. Ok, time for my Prozac now... ;) 3)Lastly, his books are True. Not true in the sense that our Canadian brethren are fending off Other attacks and the US has erected a gigantic glacial wall to keep both of them out (see my above reference on Prozac), but true to the story. Martin does not flinch when faced with a tough, brutal ending to a significant plotline--he simply writes it out. He does not allow himself to use the stereotypical (as another review aptly put it) 'faeries-will-save-you' out whenever faced with a difficult situation. I can't count the times I've quit reading fantasy books in frustration after a major character 'died' and then somehow miraculously got resurected by 'Glorfindineral's Magic Do-Dad'. In wars, people--even people you know well--can and often do die. Martin stays close to this Truth in his story. So, having said all this, what are you still doing reading me when you should be reading him! Trust me, you won't regret it.
Rating: 
Summary: The greatest? Whatever..
Review: OK.. I've read all these reviews, and I don't get it. Every one of the books in this series practically bored me to tears. Not only that, but you have trouble rooting for anyone in particular because there are so many characters trying to take the throne. Just when you start to root for a character, Martin runs off and beheads him. He's basically wasted thousands of pages to write something he could have wrote in half of that. I'm imagining this guy basically has no clue how the series is going to end up, so he's just writing a big blob of nothing.. Is there even a point to this series?! He should have made the entire series one big book, I'd have felt better. Obviously several others do not feel this way. So I suppose you have to read for yourself. He's good, but not that good.
Rating:
Summary: Never has there been anything better
Review: George R.R. Martin is a fantsy prodigy. He has done the near-impossible: created a whole new world -- from top to bottom. Millions of people, thousands of places, tons upon tons of history. And every t's crossed and every i's dotted. This man didn't miss a thing. He plays by reality. None of this Faerie Comes to the Rescue bit. If you fall off a mountain-you fall. No faeries to save you and no magic to make you come back to life. Your dead. This is his reality (altough I must admit there is one exception, but my lips are sealed) and it's worth staying up till 3:00 to finish it. My sister actually introduced me to the Song of Fire and Ice series, and I loved it. And--this'll really throw you for a loop--Im 13. It just goes to show that age and reading has no corospondence whatsoever, and never let the size of a book throw you off, 'cause if you stay on, you're in for the ride of you're life. And with A Storm of Swords, that's exactly what you'll get.
Rating:
Summary: So where are all the acolades?
Review: The only thing that puzzles me about George R. R. Martin's phenomenal series is that it is not put front and center of every booksore, and online retailer; not raking in every literary award in existance; not hailed in the press as a book that trancends the often limiting classification of "fantasy fiction." I know that other Amazon reviewers have claimed (rightly so) that Martin eclipses every contemporary fantasy writer. What I want to establish is my opinion that Martin deserves credit as one of the great writers of our time. Period. If you haven't read any of Martin's work yet, get your hands on A Game of Thrones. By the time you soar through the first 3000+ pages of the series the 4th installment might just be ready.
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Summary: All hail the King
Review: George R.R. Martin is the king of the fantasy genre. He is doing things that nobody else is even thinking about in their work at this time. To mention him alongside other mere fantasy authors is to lower the respect and pedestal I place him on. Enough with the hyperbole. This novel is by far the most gripping book I have read in a long time. You can pick it up and read the first 400 pages. But after page 450 or so, I could simply not put it down. Every chapter is an amazingly compact story of its own, which can and does, gasp, advance the story line. Reading a 900 page book by GRRM leaves you howling, gasping, and begging for more of the tight storyline. There is no one else who does what he does right now. There will certainly be imitators in the future. All hail the once and future king of fantasy.
Rating:
Summary: No Need for a Vote recount on this one!
Review: Move over Robert Jordan, George R.R. Martin has captured the prize. Can one actually salivate thinking of this great tale? Not since I read Lord of the Rings for the first time has my heart beat this fast while reading. O.K., I'll admit that I have stuck with the Wheel of Time waiting for the great tale to reemerge that was begun in the Eye of the World. But nine has got to be the limit. Ser Martin has shown that you can have substance and intricacy without a Britannica length story. I am absolutly stunned when a major character (or so I thought) says goodbye. What a twist! This certainly has kept me on my toes while savoring every bit of this juicy feast of imagination. If your trying to decide whether to invest or not all I can say is that this is the first time I've contemplated staying home from work just so I can keep reading.
Rating:
Summary: More than Outstanding
Review: Martin has returned to the heights he reached in A Game of Thrones with this tremendous work. This book has greater emotional depth (exploring the perversions and impulses of Jaime Lannister and his family), character development (Tyrion and Jon especially) and momentous events than virtually any other mid-series volume in print. The action in the second half is tremendous, while the description of the bleak torn lands of Westeros is vivid throughout the novel. Martin is not averse to killing off (literally) major characters. In a Storm of Swords, many major players meet their demise and others meet a different doom. Be prepared for the cliff-hanger ending that sets up the last 3 books in the series. That said, this series is on its way to eclipsing every fantasy series (except Tolkien, of course) in terms of scope, complexity, skill, intrigue and readability.
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Summary: A New Kind of Novel
Review: I agree wholeheartedly with the previous reviews. I have read most of the major series out there (tolkein, goodkind, jordan, eddings, tad williams, etc.) and this series is far better than any of those. The contrast people are making with Jordan and the Wheel of time is particularly good. Jordan's series fell apart after the second book and has become progressively more vapid with each passing volume (even the first two were nowhere near as good as the Clash of Kings and the Game of Thrones). GRM has gotten better with each book. His characters keep getting better, the plot gets better, the storytelling gets better, the world is more intricate. His willingness to put every character "in play" so to speak adds an urgency to every page that is absent from every other series I have ever read (do we really think that Rand Al Thor is going to die before the last book for example?). You cannot know what is going to happen with each subsequent chapter, only that it will be interesting and perhaps shocking. On one level the series works purely as a study of medieval politics. However, the current book suggests that we are about to move into more magical and mystical dimensions in coming volumes with more on wargs, dragons, others, etc. The plot twists are shocking but logical and now you can see that the major characters are being developed in unexpected ways that leaves open the possibility that the series will devolop in a completely new direction. A great series that shames all those that come before. There is not much uplifting stuff in GRMs world but it is tough to walk away from. Also no kid under 14 should read this book as it is substantially more gritty than other fantasy epics. If the author is reading reads I would suggest no more than 5 books...that should be enough to bring the story lines together and reach a satisfying conclusion. Any more than two more books and you risk jordanizing yourself...writing more pages not in the aid of the narrative but because you know that people will cough up $20 for a hardback. This series is too good for that. Keep up the good work.
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