Rating: 
Summary: Awesome
Review: Without a doubt the best fantasy novel I have read in many years. This 3rd installment of the A Song of Ice and Fire series is actually better than the first two novels. What makes this series so remarkable compared to any novel or series in any genre is it's brutally realistic character development and unique plot progression. As far as characters are concerned, there is no absolute distinction between good and evil characters. "Good" characters aren't the pure paladin or innocent maiden we have become accustomed too while many of the "evil" characters seem more honorable than the good characters. Plot progression is virtually impossible to foretell. Several times during the course of this book I was completely surprised at what I had just read. And with the apparent rule that no character is safe from death this makes for refreshing reading. Unlike that "other" series, there is plenty of action and side plots actually contribute to the overall story. Brilliantly written. I can't applaud Martin enough.
Rating:
Summary: Best of the Best
Review: This is the best book in the best fantasy series ever written. Of course, I also said that about "A Clash of Kings". I never thought that Martin could top that book but he found a way! If you have any interest in Fantasy you have to read this series. It will be talked about 50 years from now and become the standard that all fantasy series are compared to.
Rating:
Summary: You will squeal with joy...
Review: ...and gasp in disbelief. As the book barrels toward the climax like an 18-wheeler with no brakes, every chapter will make you light-headed with wonder and horror. Evil happens to the evil and good to the good in thrilling, shiveringly satisfying events -- and then evil happens to the good and good to the evil in jaw-dropping, shattering -- but somehow equally satisfying -- moments. The final revelation, at the tail end of the epilogue, knocked me for a loop for hours afterward. A lot of reviewers are tearing Jordan to pieces, and while that's somewhat fair in light of his last 2 or 3 books, I have to say the only book that's equalled the roller-coaster ride of agony and ecstasy in A Storm of Swords is Jordan's Dragon Reborn (Book 3 of Wheel of Time). Remember when Jordan's revelations came fast and furious, when his detailed world history was rich and rewarding rather than tedious, remember when you used to shout out loud with the end of every chapter because you could not BELIEVE what just happened and couldn't WAIT to see what happened next? That's Martin's Storm of Swords. The main difference between the two? Martin's story has a murderously hard edge that promises he will never lapse into complacency. Martin is the new master, no question. Jordan needs to study Storm of Swords and remember how to make things HAPPEN -- like he used to do, and still could.
Rating:
Summary: Winter has come
Review: Martin has accomplished something truly amazing with this work. In some sense (and to only a certain degree), he has finally moved the fantasy genre, which is by its very nature behind on the times, into the 20th century. At the end of about 800 pages, it appears we've stepped into fatal tragedy on the order of _Hamlet_; it seems probable that NO ONE is going to survive this work. He backs off from this vision with a couple of windfalls and resurrections, but still, the amount of well-developed bloodshed is sufficient to delight readers like myself who found the execution of Ned Stark to be a wonderful thing in principle. His focus on Jaime Lannister is improbable, impeccable, and perfectly representative of his work: in other fantasy series, readers must content themselves with one or two characters steeped in shades of gray, but here Jaime simply joins the long list of meaty, breathing, utterly delicious men and women conceived by this extraordinary series. And, delightfully, this is no perfect ending to this series, merely a stop along the ascent of the Eyrie. Gods bless, Maester Martin: take your well-deserved break and then, I implore you, give us more.
Rating:
Summary: simply amazing
Review: if the frist two books did not make earn your awe of GRRM's story telling, character development, making you care for the characters, and his cold realistic no holds bard killing them off to make the story, this book WILL. Pages 1 to around 450 simply build the storm up and then from 450 onwards you are simply swept along. Each chapter leaves you shaking wondering WHAT on earth could come next. By the end of the book you will be tearing your hair out wanting the next saga in this epic tale. It is just that GOOD. Simply amazing
Rating:
Summary: A SLEEPING DRAGON ROARS HIS HEAD...
Review: Aii, where to start. So much has been said already here. Two magnificent instalments, and then STORM OF SWORDS, eagerly, oh so eagerly awaited. And this third volume initially lulled me into a false type of security so immense that I sure won't forget it. The first half & something moves along rather placidly, relying more on character & plot build-up than real fireworks. GRRM taking a breather from the general "character slaughter" ? Well, nasty tongues may call the first chapters somewhat Jordan-esque, building up to...something (?), but certainly interspersed with some brilliant scenes & interludes (e.g. Sansa's interrogation by the Tyrell family, Jon Snow's adventures beyond the wall, anything about Daenerys, etc.), but so what...- until certain parties join for a hastily arranged wedding feast to correct wrongs done out of impulse by some of the protagonists...and all hell breaks loose...and the final 350 pages that follow are simply a brutal, no-holds-conventional-rule-breaking-watershed in modern fantasy - no more, no less - all the way up to a last page of an epilogue that may be the eeriest, most mindboggling final lines ever written in a fantasy epic. You want details ? Buy the darn book ! But kidding aside, why the so-called watershed ? Well, here we have to return to the Grandmaster Himself who defined the rules of high fantasy for decades to come: JRR Tolkien. Basically, he established a manicheistic system as the basic tenet for the genre (good is good, bad is bad; roles & morals of given individuals are clearly defined). While Tolkien was a brilliant writer, he unfortunately forced the genre into a rather limited straightjacket of characterization, which - even more unfortunately - was gobbled up like ambrosia by the D&D crowd - anybody for Forgotten Realms, R.A. Salvatore and friends ? - turning Modern Fantasy into a McDonalds-like affair. The best, recent attempts in this field to escape the pattern were Donaldson, Eddings, Jordan & Goodkind, but ultimately they succumbed to the major rule of the game: manicheism combined with emotional repetiveness of the characters ! ...which is nice & comforting in a genre that is conservative in nature - but ultimately boring if you are in for the kicks in the Internet-Age (especially in a case like R. Jordan, that seems afraid to take his series to a cathartic conclusion and keeps meandering around the bushes...). Over the last 25 years, I only see two authors (and yeah, damn, I've read quite a few of them in the genre) that have made serious attempts to break this straightjacket: First, Gene Wolfe with his early-Eighties-series "Book of the New Sun" - in spite of widespread literary acclaim at the time, this epic seems to have been condemned to oblivion for the simple reason of its incredible lyrical density - it is a "tough" read - too tough for the conventional human fantasy-consumer. If you can get a hold of it, get it - it'll turn your fantasy-world upside down ! And the second author - of course - is George RR Martin - literally an iconoclast who is rewriting the rules of the genre, blowing Tolkien's unchangeable law of manicheism into deepest outer space, with a lightness of pen and pencil unseen in decades in this genre. Should we be surprised ? Ladies, gentlemen, especially the Jordan-ites - whether you like it or not: GRRM has been around as a SF-borderline-to-fantasy-writer for almost 30 years, winning his first of three Hugo-Awards in 1975 (!), being renowned as an excellent stylist ever since. It is humbling, almost humiliating and indicative about the current state of fantasy literature that an old master of sci-fi take a short "vacation" from his mainstay business to show hotshots like Jordan, Goodkind, Feist, T. Williams & x-amount of others how to go about to redefine the rules of the genre. And I must confess - I am looking forward to the next GRRM-volume - and not the next, repetitive R. Jordan dissertation on Rand, Nynaeve, etc. The genre is changing...because it must. Hang in...and soar with the real deagon - GRRM. Sparrowhawk
Rating: 
Summary: The Jordan Trap
Review: George Martin seems to be falling into the same trap as Robert Jordan in his Wheel of Time series.Too many characters, too many story lines and a plot that's moving at a glacial pace. He needs to tie things up and reach a conclusion in a couple of books. This book hardly moves the saga along. Character development is important but not the cost of losing your readers!
Rating:
Summary: A Masterpiece
Review: Undoubtedly THE greatest modern fantasy series currently on shelves. This work has amazing focus, a tight, powerful structure and a story that is fresh and full of engaging surprises and characters. There is nothing being written today in the fantasy genre that can compare to A Song of Fire and Ice in regard to scope or execution. Martin is a master of the written word and this series is more than proof of his skill. If you're a lover of fantasy and have grown tired of the endless tedium of Jordan and his disgusting tendency to drag on a single plot line for ten books without any resolution, then this is a series you should read. You won't be disappointed.
Rating:
Summary: The next classic of modern Fantasy?
Review: I can't remember ever reading a 900+-page novel and feeling that it was a little too short --- until now. Martin starts A Storm Of Swords with five or six balls already in the air, and, before the reader or the rotating cast of characters can catch them, tosses a few flaming brands and some sharpened throwing knives in with the balls. With the exception of a few breath-catching pauses, this novel hurtles head-long to the climax at a pace that would seem impossible to maintain over the course of a work this long. I thought that Game of Thrones was the best epic fantasy I'd read since The Lord of the Rings, but I was disappointed in Clash of Kings, which seemed ponderously slow, disjointed, heavily padded, and filled with characters acting out of character, or just reacting instead of acting. But with A Storm Of Swords, Martin has redeemed himself, and possibly even surpassed the complexity, epic scope, and realism of Game of Thrones. But the true strength of Storm, and indeed of the entire series, lies in Martin's exceptional gift for bringing the characters to life. With the exception of a few false notes in Clash of Kings, the second volume in the series, the characters, heroes and villains alike, are well-drawn, fully realized, and grow and change as the story progresses. The fact that the villains go through as much character growth as the heroes, and that their motivations are as carefully thought out, is what initially made the series stand out in my mind. By the close of the third book, the lines between "good" and "evil" have been blurred as Martin explores all the shades of grey that make up the spectrum of human nature, revealing the dark deeds that so-called good men will stoop to when their pride is hurt, and the nobility that the evilest of men can find rising to the surface, surprising even themselves. Be warned -- don't fall in love with any of these people. I've never seen any author so completely willing to put to the axe a character that seems at first glance to be the lynchpin of a major story arc, and then do it again, and again, and again. In A Song of Ice and Fire, Martin is showing us what a top-notch writer, writing at the top of his form, can create within the boundaries of epic fantasy. In doing so, he is stretching those boundaries, raising the bar on what epic fantasy is and what it should be. Only time (and the last three volumes of the series) will tell, but we may be witnessing the creation of the next great modern fantasy classic, a work that will influence and inspire future generations of writers in the same way that another "R.R." influenced and inspired the last generation.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best fantasy books I have read.
Review: This book is better than its predecessors and they were excellent. It was not a fast read. The plots are complicated and interesting. When I finished this book my thirst for a great story had been well satisfied. Thank you Mr. Martin. My money was well spent.
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