Rating: 
Summary: EPIC
Review: George R. R. Martin has created a fantasy world that rivals Robert Jordan's Eye of the World series, and possibly that of Tolkien's. The book has many twists that leave you hungering for more. When's book four being released?!?!
Rating:
Summary: Absolutely incredible...
Review: ...but it will be absolute torture waiting for book four.This book, amazingly, was actually _better_ than the preceding two. Mr. Martin is without a doubt the most enrapturing fantasy writer I've ever had the privilege to read.
Rating:
Summary: Best epic fantasy series ever (so far)...
Review: ...and I'm pretty sure it will continue to dazzle me. Yes, there are many cliffhangers, but they only add to the immediacy of the whole darn book. The point-of-view character additions works very well-- I especially enjoyed Jaime. I've found more characters to enjoy, also. Oberyn Martell, for one. Whew! And of course I have one major complaint: it's too short! (Shoot me!) The ending seemed a little bit rushed, if that's possible.... Otherwise, I very highly recommend this novel to all but the very squeamish.
Rating:
Summary: Simply Amazing.
Review: I've said it before, and I will absolutely said it again - George R.R. Martin is UNBELIEVABLE. I'm not going to divulge book secrets, but Martin kept me gaping like Robert Jordan could never do. If you read this, Mr. Martin, I'd like to thank you for the magic you've woven into my life with this series.
Rating:
Summary: Once again raising the bar...
Review: I recommended book one. I raved about book two. Book three did not let me down! There are going to be lots of reviews here, so I'm going to stick to the essential points of what makes this a phenomenal piece of fantasy literature: (1) Never have I been so continually surprised by a story's plotlines. Nothing is cliched, and there is NO model. I have read nothing like this before. ANYTHING can happen, and usually does. (2) No character can be pegged. Just when you think you understand and hate someone, Martin lets you in his head, and you realize that there is no black and white, only grey. (3) Rare is the book that makes me realize that is is NOT always good to be the king. (4) How many books can continue to be exciting after 2500 pages?!?! Martin has quickly climbed my short list of the absolute best storytellers. I'm already anticipating book four!
Rating:
Summary: The best of what's around....
Review: Reading Drake, Goodkind, Jordan, Modesitt, Marco, RRMartin. Waiting, waiting, waiting. As far as the monolithic 'epic' fantasies out there right now, George RR Martin's is superior. This third book is so very frustrating, and that makes it worth reading. Martin's treatment of the fantasy genre, the use of fantasy-history, and the political system he has developed in A Song of Ice and Fire transcends him from the banality some of these other authors have seem to find themselves in. The interwoven plot lines are deftly handled and I found only one of the Point of View characters leaving something to be desired. Comparison to older authors and novels is tricky at best, and I believe that Tolkien, Lewis, White, or LeGuin do not need their works watered down with commentary linked to present fantasy. Neither does George RR Martin need his intelligent and valuable addition to fantasy fiction compared to them. These books are simply better than much of what is being published right now, not that other authors have had inferior ideas for stories, but that this author sticks to his ideas, and doesn't waste time or pages doing it. Read A Storm of Swords and its two predecessors, wait for the next installment, and be glad that there is a major addition to the genre unfolding right now.
Rating:
Summary: Like ice water in the face
Review: It shocked me and upset my stomach. Fiction doesn't do that to me, so Martin must be writing about real people in a real world somewhere. The stakes are high, for writer and character: this series will be discussed and emulated for decades. Martin has set the bar higher for his own work and for those who follow him, or try to. There are no cartoon Dark Lords or intricate authorial puzzles to negotiate, and no Ring or magic jewel to bring a happy ending. In a world so real you can smell the icy wind and hear ravens quorking, Martin has braided an epic story of ice and fire, blood and guts, love and disgust, honor and treachery, and most of all, right and wrong. Who are the true knights? Who are the true nobles? While mankind squabbles, the eerie Others march from their icy northern wastes, and a zombie horde precedes them. Winter is coming. It's colder than expected.
Rating:
Summary: Fantasy as it should be.
Review: Storm of Swords places Mr. Martin at the vanguard of today's fantasy writers. There may be works as well crafted (Kay, Hobb, Rohan, Tolkien) but none more so. His character development and sheer story telling abilities are without parallel. You actually find yourself empathizing with characters who had well earned both your enmity and your wish that they suffer an especially greusome demise. This story of king making and unmaking lets the reader slide into its chaotic, brutal and wonderful world. The series belongs on your shelf next to the other treasures you read only to re-read. Mr. Martin if you are reading: please devote yourself to finishing the next volume. Many are waiting.
Rating:
Summary: Exceeds expectations
Review: This series gets better and better. Martin seems to have no compunction about killing off major characters--unlike Jordan, some of whose characters hang around several novels past when you wish they would die. However, this only gives Martin's storylines a sense of urgency unequalled by any of his fantasy-writing contemporaries. I somewhat ruined the novel for myself by first following only Arya's storyline, just because I couldn't stand the thought of her being killed. Don't do it, Mr. Martin! Highly recommended.
Rating: 
Summary: too old for this
Review: I guess I have a bad attitude about this. Like many of the characters in this series, I'm getting too old to be likely to see a resolution. I fear my heirs are going to have to stand over my grave to tell me what happened. The last time I started a series I vowed it would be the last - but I guess you can brand me an oathbreaker because I started this one. I'm guessing it's likely to be a seven course meal and that means a lot of years before this tale is said and done. Seriously, this is a well-written, gripping epic, but I can't abide the cliffhangers. I don't feel like waiting another year just to replace the current set of situations with another. I'm about ready to fly out of the Moon Door. So, I doubt that I'll buy the next one unless it's the last one. Instead, I'll see if I can manage to outlive whoever the survivor turns out to be and wait to read them all at once. Of course, given that the characters can come back from the dead and I can't...
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