Rating: 
Summary: Excellent, but a little choppy
Review: I've reached page 600 after about a week, and thought I'd share my thoughts so far. First, I agree with many of the posts praising this book. However, I do have a couple of complaints about it.First, it feels "choppier" than the others, in that just as a chapter gets going from one character's viewpoint, you are switched over to a different character. It almost feels like a tv script, with mini-climaxes every 10 pages so you can have a commercial break and switch to a different scene. For whatever reason, the first two books seemed to have a better overall flow. Because of that, unlike the previous two books which I could sit and read for hours on end, I find myself reading this book in smaller one and two-hour chunks. My second problem with this book is that so far it hasn't generated the emotional interest in me that the first two did. (Book 1 SPOILER ahead) Remember Bran being thrown out the window by Jaime? Remember Ned's men being slaughtered in the castle at King's Landing and him subsequently losing his head? So far nothing sticks out like that in this 3rd book, although I have about 300 pages to go. I won't rehash the plot, since others have done that. I will say that of the myriad characters and storylines, four stand out as the most interesting in this novel: Daenerys, Jaime, Tyrion, and Jon Snow. For others such as Robb, Bran, Catelyn, Arya, and Sansa, we don't get any insight into the characters - we mostly see them either swept along by events or we see an external view of them acting without hearing about internal motivation or conflict. All of that said, it is still an excellent book and a worthy followup to the first two. Martin deserves nothing but praise for his excellent writing and high standards, unlike other recent high-profile sequel flops like Jordan's "Path of Daggers" or Clancy's "The Bear and the Dragon".
Rating: 
Summary: ASoS: treasure the novel worth your time and money...
Review: This is the series we've waited for. Jordan, Goodkind, even Terry Brooks haven't published anything that matches what Martin has done in these three books. Typically in the third book of a long series we get the slow down, a lull in the action to allow the plot to progress, or simply for the author to put out one more novel and make some time to write the next GOOD book (like Jordan's last 2). Martin has given us none of this. A STORM OF SWORDS offers everything the first two books in A Song of Ice and Fire, and even more in a few aspects. The most obvious of these is the developing conflict beyond the Wall in the North. Been missing out on the magic and fantasy in this histori-saga? Well it's here, making its way into the pages slowly, picking up pace in the middle, and offering us at the end of STORM what was unnoticably missing earlier. It's true, Martin writes a fantasy series so good it doesn't even need the magic and dragons to make it entertaining enough to finish; those things make it that much better to devour, though. Character development? With four marriages, a funeral, and more betrayals and running around the countryside like bandits and fugitives than you could possibly imagine, STORM is the real deal from start to end. Characters live, die, and <GASP!> come back from the far side of Hell under Martin's careful hand. Once again he shows he has no true love for any of his creations, because even the few that seem so intricate to the story they cannot be done without once again meet the cold touch of steel... Perhaps the one low point in this novel that seriously lacks such is the slow bits involving Bran and his company as they travel towards the Wall. And of course, there's the sea of names of mostly insignificant characters we could do without, but then of course the book wouldn't be quite as good as it is. The bottom line is that this novel is the only one I have read since A CLASH OF KINGS I felt was worth the cash, even in hardcover, that was payed for it. But don't take my word, read it, and enjoy more than any of those OTHER wannabe epic fantasies.
Rating: 
Summary: Come on, what a disappointment
Review: Why do the authors in the fantasy have this new 'cool trend' of writing huge 'epic' series filled basically with subplots and only a nebulous main theme?All the so-called 'fantasy kings'- Jordan, Terry Goodkind and now GRR Martin have disappointed me greatly. The 'epic' style is very unsatisfactory, more like a soap opera than an epic. Tolkien wrote epic and grand stories, but were they neverending, rambling creations? I had more hopes for this particular series but the author appears to be squandering it away with another Jordan-like fiasco. If you want tightly woven, well-written fantasy, don't expect to be satisfied here. Look at Pullman's provocative and beautiful His Dark Materials, or Ursula K Leguin's thoughtful trilogy. Or go back to the major figure in the genre, Tolkien, and see why these authors are worth reading. These books are more like Swords-and-sorcery Grisham then fantasy. The genre really is going downhill.
Rating:
Summary: An amazing and worthwhile sequel
Review: At last, the long awaited third book is here, and what a book it is! Martin continues the series in admirable form; each book is better thn the one before, and at nearly a thousand pages, this one is guranteed to temporarily sate you appetite. Martin is at the top of his form as usual, with deft character portrayals, witty dialogue, and an addictive world which mixes gritty realism and high fantasty. Martin is in fact an artist, painting exquisitely in so many shades of grey. There is much betrayal, death, and violence as old characters are swept up in the tides of and destroyed, while a host of new and equally fascinating ones are introduced. Martin skillfully povides an answer to the question, why do bad things happen to good people? It's because they do stupid things, just like in real life! Martin is never afraid to punish his characters, no matter how kindhearted, wise, and noble they are. Meanwhile his evil characters are made all the more believeable and frightening by the very banality of their acts, rather than being paintd garishly as world-devouring, slavering fiends. Without question the best fantasy book of the year.
Rating:
Summary: Enough to make want to throw down my own pen in shame.
Review: Gods be good, where do I start. It says a lot about a book when you skip writing class to read it. It says a lot when you can laugh out loud on one page, and come as close to crying as you have since the first time you saw Home Alone (Come on, guys. Give me a break. I was nine.) on the next. This book was utterly phenomenal. Old villains are seen in a new light, and old heroes as well. You keep turning the pages and turning the pages. Martin's style is neither sparse nor long-winded, and the story is really no longer than it has to be. By the end of the story, you have an idea of what the plot of the series is about.\ The fact that Martin kills major characters almost at a whim (though we all know it's not) just serves to help you empathize. It's hard to fear for a character in jeopardy in a book where you know they'll never die. On the other hand, when your favorites can die suddenly, every time they're in the slightest bit of trouble, you can't help but feel a sense of terror every time they're even on the page. One particular scene is so perfectly written that you can see what's coming, but you can't stop reading, and it all seems to go in slow motion, to the point where I was actually shouting "No!" in my head, in slow motion, really deep like I was actually in the scene. This man's a genius, the sort who makes aspiring writers like me think "Why bother. I can't even approach this." I only have a few fears. One, that I won't live the next year to read the next. Two, that by the time he finishes the fourth book, EVERYBODY will be dead. Three, that the series will end when it's supposed to, leaving me unable to get any more fixes. And four, that the series will peter out and keep going on and on and on and on until a six book series winds up going at least twelve. We've all seen that, haven't we? If I had to sum up George R.R. Martin's work in three words, it could only be these: "Buy this. Now."
Rating:
Summary: Getting better ant better
Review: This book is one of the best books Ive ever read. This book has it all: marvelous story, vivid plot and great characters And what is most important: something is happening all the time. The only drawback is the lengh of these series. Expect at least 5 more books.
Rating:
Summary: A Storm of Swords
Review: Simply amazing. George R R Martin is ranked among my favorite authors now for the simple reason that he is not afraid to make the reader fume at his grand design. Characters whom the readers emphasize with are often lost or a flaw introduced making one think twice about why that person deserves the reader's loyalty. All in all, Martin's characters are not 2D but instead show the true personas of people who have to make tough choices during a war and a battle for a kingdom. I actually rate the books in quality in this order ( 3, 1 and then 2. If you haven't tried this series I suggest you put down your copy of "Rand - one day to a billion" and read a story that will actually have an ending that was thought out at the beginning to the end ( instead of milking the cash cow by a certain author we all know about ).
Rating:
Summary: brilliant
Review: I throw myself at George R. R. Martin's feet. I'll shine his shoes, lick his boots, do ANYTHING, because GRRM is god, as he has proven with this third installment in A Song of Ice and Fire. The story picks up right where A Clash of King left off, and the nearly 1000 page volume continues at breakneck speed. The plot twists and turns in surprising and unexpected ways (and that's saying a lot, coming from me -- I spent two years trying to predict what would happen), yet the story is always logical, realistic, and tightly-woven. There are no contrived plot devices here, and for once all the characters remain consistent. And there are MANY characters. A Storm of Swords contains more POVs than ever, but Martin does a brilliant job of weaving the various plots together, so the "waiting" feeling present in so many fantasy volumes is pretty much non-existent. You're never reluctant to start a new chapter. Readers will delight in the new POVs, particularly Jaime Lannister's, and several new and fascinating characters are introduced, including notables such as the Queen of Thorns, King-Beyond-the-Wall Mance Rayder, and the notorious Red Viper of Dorne. Martin's writing is as vivid and refreshing as in his previous novels. His style seems even sharper and is well-suited to the the tone of the series; ASOS is a string of incredibly poignant and exciting scenes. Martin's world comes to live before your eyes. And his characters are incredibly human; it's often impossible to tell whose a villian and whose a protagonist. Be forewarned, however: A Storm of Swords (and A Song of Ice and Fire in whole, for that matter) is not for the light-hearted or feeble-minded. The book is grim and gritty and chock full of deaths and tragedy, and after finishing it you'll probably walk around depressed for days. At times, you may even be tempted to stop reading altogether, but continue on. There are high points as well, and things WILL get better, right? After all, the last book IS titled A Time for Wolves. . . But in short, A Storm of Swords is genius. It would've been a masterpiece as a stand-alone book (though DON'T read it before you've read AGOT and ACOK; you'll be hopelessly confused), but as the follow-up to the previous novels it is simply beyond belief. Martin does an incredible job of defying expectations and smashing the typical fantasy cliches. It just doesn't get any better than this. Bad points? A Dance With Dragons isn't out yet. Waiting is pure agony. And of course, all other fantasy pales in comparison, so you'll be hard-pressed to find a decent novel after reading this.
Rating:
Summary: As always, Brilliant
Review: A tour de force, really. Martin digs into the very depths of his characters to bring out heart-rending moments of disaster and monumental moments of victory. It's a dark ride, and many bad things happen, but hope glimmers even as the cold breath of winter rests on the necks of many of the characters. Now we've hit the halfway point in the six-book series ("Six. Definitely six. No more than six. Six will allow me to tell the story I want to tell; three did not," to quote Martin) and there's no sign of unnecessary bloat. Perhaps some character POVs contain less revelations and action than one might have hoped (Bran, for example), but every character's chapter ends with a strong resolution that will bode well (or ill, for some) in the gap of 5-6 years separating the events of _A Storm of Swords_ and _A Dance with Dragons_.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best books of the Year!! Easily
Review: What can I say about a series that is so shockingly real that major characters can and do die? How human each character is the story seems? George R.R. Martin has written a supreb heoric fantasy that seems so real to be unfantastic. The insights into each character shows how good and bad is in the eyes of the person doing the looking. This book will routinely surprise you, sometimes with unexpected results. A word of caution in reading this series would seem to be not to get too attached to anyone. Mr. Martin writes a gripping and compelling tale that will leave you speechless at times, cheering for your favorites and cursing your villians. And when you thought it couldn't be any more convoluted, he will throw in a few shocking revelations. If you are looking for an adult minded, well-written, gripping story that has all the aspects of heroic fantasy with a healthy dose of reality, pick up this book and the first two in the series. You will not be disappointed.
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