Rating: 
Summary: Better then the rest
Review: If you haven't started reading this series yet....don't start. The reason, it is too good. All other fantasy novels I've read pale in comparison. Everything you have heard about this book being as great as the first two is true. Martin's ability to write such a gripping 900+ novel astounds me.
Rating:
Summary: Sour Grapes
Review: This book is certainly all that the other reviews say it is, and well worth the money. Martin's writings only get better with each volume, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It's one of the few books that I will buy anymore in hardback...And, since he originally said that this was a trilogy, and now has doubled that, there is no guarantee that he will finish in six and not nine. It would be nice if he could focus himself better. At the rate he is going now, I will be able to buy his last volume with my first Social Security check (assuming that there is any) and will the series to my great-grandchildren for them to finish.
Rating:
Summary: You'll feel guilty for ever thinking RJ was 'neat'...
Review: If you have a few spare hours and dollars, immediately get yourself immersed into 'Song of Fire and Ice'. No archetypes, no Uber-men, no fluff. Just a wickedly exciting, tear jerking, and eye opening experience. Much like Tad William's with "Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn", Martin uses his 'fantasy' realm to explore all of our misconceptions about life, our dreams, and our prejudices. As in the first two novels, prepare for the unexpected and be ready to put the novel down and take a break to collect your shattered illusions about the stability of life. Bravo to Mr. Martin. Good luck with the next novel.
Rating:
Summary: Real life fantasy!
Review: If you want a book or series to take you away from the trials of the real world; where the hero or heroine rides a white charger and saves the day; where the nobility are noble and the bad guys are bad, then this book and this series are NOT for you!! What I love about George R.R. Martin is that he writes about real life, in a fantasy realm. He spares no good or bad moment from the reader. You suffer the grime of life in the streets, along with the "glitter" of life in nobility. He is also prepared to provide different perspectives to actions or events. For example, in "A Storm of Swords", we are given an opportunity to see life through the eyes of Jaime, who in the previous books was unashamedly a bad guy. Is he now? He has done some despicable things from a 20th century viewpoint, but now you have his perspective. This book is an excellent continuation of the series, and never allows the pace to falter. The constant change of protagonist at each chapter means that you never get bogged down anywhere, and you are always eager to get back to the particular plots when that protagonist returns. (this might frustrate some, but not me) If you're looking for a book or series to keep you through the upcoming Christmas holidays, then I would heartily recommend this.
Rating:
Summary: It doesn't get any better than this!
Review: A Storm of Swords is simply amazing. There are so many plot twists, devious schemes, and mind games that it boggles the mind. GRRM keeps the reader in suspense the whole book. It may be 1000+ pages, but after reading ASOS, you'll wish it was 2000. If you don't like A Song of Ice and Fire, something is wrong with you.
Rating:
Summary: It just keeps getting better...
Review: It's rare when a series of books can inspire such a wide range of reactions within a single volume, but this whole series has that ability. Each book has moments of poignant tragedy and comic relief, lofty triumph and dark foreboding. We care about these caracters, and though this is true High Fantasy, the characters and politics are very realistic and true. This work is the best of the three so far, and that is high praise indeed.
Rating:
Summary: Outstanding Read!
Review: George R. R. Martin is a truly gifted writer and story-teller, and "A Storm of Swords" is about as good as it gets. The characters in this series are credible and compelling, the lines between good and evil are complex and deftly handled, and the storyline itself never fails to, at turns, both delight and horrify the reader. I would rather read through any of Martin's books over and over again than slog my way through most other fantasy novels and/or series--Martin is THAT good. If you are unfamiliar with these books, then buy "A Game of Thrones" and read it. You, too, will become totally hooked on this marvelous and engrossing series, one that, amazingly, just keeps getting better and better with each new volume.
Rating:
Summary: TEN stars
Review: Amazing. A fantasy series that actually gets better with every book, an author who can actually WRITE without insulting his adult audience, and real characters who pay the ultimate price. I'm (almost) speechless. Every prediction I made after Clash of Kings was WRONG. I was actually SURPRISED. And not always pleasantly, as Martin deals harshly with characters that you love. But I was always on the edge of my seat. I have to read the book over again, because the first time my heart was in my throat and it was sometimes too heart-rending to concentrate on details. Be prepared. And be thankful that there is actually a deft practitioner of the art of fantasy somewhere in the literary world...
Rating:
Summary: Trust No One
Review: Martin's books are not ones you read and walk away from easily, and A Storm of Swords works its way into you even more than the previous two in the series. "Storm" is an apt word...summer is over in the Seven Kingdoms and autumn has arrived with an unforgiving rain that drowns crops, bloats the many corpses, and leaves the characters searching for physical and emotional shelter. Unfortunately for them, little of either is to be found. Betrayals are expected, and as each person's defenders prove false one by one the feeling of desolation and loneliness is overpowering. You can read this book and gasp at Martin's ability to twist and turn the plot against itself, to create an immersive world, to avoid predictability at all costs. But when, an hour into another daily task, you suddenly feel inexplicable sadness and tears, you truly have experienced his gift: to create characters that live in you, and a mood that seeps into you as much as the rain does the gray, bloody mud. Is there any reason not to buy this book? The fact that the series is only half over would be my only one. Waiting the years until it's completed is only part of the difficulty. Finding something else half as good to read in the meantime is the hard part.
Rating:
Summary: A Classic
Review: Everyone who is interested in reading this book will have read the first two, so I will not waste everyone's time talking about how Martin plays for keeps and isn't afraid to kill good guys, kill bad guys and make you stare at the book like you are the dumbest person in the world for not realizing this is what he had to do to move the story forward. This is definately one of the best books I have ever read. No book has elicited such an emotional response. This book is what I call the total package. A good story, excelent dialogue, violence, romance (real life romance not that sugar coated crap of pulp romance novels), and most importantly it moves the story along. When I was asked to describe to a friend after I handed him my copy of the book to read, he asked me to sum it up in 1 sentence. I said this was the Empire Strikes Back of the Song of Ice and Fire series. It falls right in the middle, and it explores the darkest aspects of the trilogy, and I don't see how Martin could possibly write a better set of three books. I will keep reading them as long as Jon doesn't go exploring in the north and happen upon a group of unsuspecting midget bear looking things calling themselves ewoks. I just don't think I could handle that.
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