Rating: 
Summary: Buy this book
Review: Wow, I don't know what can be said that could do this book, or this series justice. I can say this is the best fantasy series ever written, and this is the best book within the series. I strongly recommend A Song of Ice and Fire. The book to start with is A Game of Thrones. Once you read that there is no doubt in my mind you'll pick up the rest of the books. Enjoy
Rating:
Summary: More than just fantasy...
Review: The problem with fantasy authors these days is that when they write, they set out to write good fantasy. When George R.R. Martin writes, he sets out good literature. What he ends up with is what we've all enjoyed these past four years, excellent quality literature that makes you better for having read it.This series is for an emotionally balanced person. That is, one who can appreciate as well as endure the entire spectrum of emotions. One who is not too dependent upon the good feelings and are vulnerable to the bitter ones. For it is a bittersweet story, filled with despair and hope, grief and joy. All of it good to the very last drop. This series is also not for the squeamish little girls in you. Violence is as real and horrid as it should be. Sex is not overlooked either. Some may find fault in the inclusion of these elements but I assure you that they are not for gratuity's sake. They have purpose, to set the tone for the entire series. They are to make you uncomfortable, for comfort dulls the senses. So that you do not get any misconceptions, this series is not entirely bleak or monotonously disturbing. There is much wonder and mystique, and a sense of romance. It is a well balanced series, with a grim serious tone to it. That very tone however, serves to heighten the aura of magic about the whole series. And lastly, while this series is grim and solemn, it won't damage your psyche or make you a cynical and jaded person. Its entertainment value is still quite high, but not at the cost of its intellectual value. It's a fun read for those with sophisticated taste in epic fantasy. Having said that, beginners to the genre will find it hard to read. There are lighter novels and series which are easier to digest and get into. For those who are disillusioned fantasy grognards, this series will turn you into babbling fools again. For those buying book after book from Jordan or Goodkind, you may be ready to graduate to a higher level of fantasy and broaden your horizons. If all of this has not convinced you yet, consider this. This series is one of the few, if not the only series to have gotten better with each installment. That's hard to say of very many other series...hint hint.
Rating:
Summary: Hits you like tonne of bricks
Review: This was an amazing book. Martin takes you on a rollercoaster. He flips you up and down, turning you around until you don't know which way you are facing. I'd been waiting for months for this, and when I finally got it I couldn't put it down. It can be really irritating, coz you finally get to a cliffhanger with one character and he changes to another. It was great to see some more characters added to the first person view, and gives you a much larger insight into their personality. One thing I really like about Martin is he's not afraid to kill main characters off. Many authors will not touch a central figure, so to have so many drop off like flies was a real shock. And then the epilogue, who was expecting that? I recommend this to anyone who wants a really good, epic fantasy series. Excellent characters, great plot and makes you see everything from all sides. The only warning, the guy is only getting started, we're in for a long haul. But it really is worth it. Buy it, you will not regret it.
Rating:
Summary: It only gets better
Review: Had you given up hope that a fantasy series that started out great could ever stay great as the story wound on? Do you take it for granted that fantasy authors with a successful formula will milk the cow to exhaustion? Do you expect action to always degrade to repitition? Well, take heart! You're wrong. I thought the first 2 volumes of this series were great fantasy. I think this volume is great, period, forget restricting it to the not very demanding standard of fantasy. Martin continues his technique of telling the story from many different points of view. Every chapter delivers action, surprise, real development. Every one of the dozens of chapters. Unexpected developments, complicating developments, characters who refuse to stay within any one-dimensional cliche of good or bad, characters who form surprising aliances with each other, characters who grow and change in ways I at least would never have guessed. I was eager for this next volume. I had no idea how fascinated I would be. It's a very big book. It is too short.
Rating: 
Summary: Martin's Captivating World Darkens
Review: Martin's world has successively darkened over the three volumes of his saga; in this book, terror, gloom and shadows are prevalent. Death is an every-day companion to all. Martin is not afraid to kill main characters, which adds spice to an already captivating plot. While Martin's device of writing each chapter from the perspective of a different main character continues to fragment the storyline, taking away some of its continuity and emotional punch, he manages to integrate the chapters better in the latter half of the book. There were too many viewpoint characters, however -- Samwell's endless trudging through the snow and Lord Davos' brief interludes fell rather flat. Arya also seemed to go in circles, mostly, and Bran's wanderings and dreams added nothing new. On the plus side, Jaime was an interesting addition, Daenerys' chapters were among the best, and Jon and Sansa well-written. Unfortunately, it is easy to see which characters Martin is most enamoured with -- I would be very surprised if any of them died. Overall, it was an enjoyable read. While Martin upped the level of violence in this book, it fit into this bleak world, and was compensated by a few small, beautifully evoked triumphs of the protagonists.
Rating:
Summary: Superlatives do not exist
Review: Australia receives the UK distribution so we are ahead of Uncle Sam. As somebody else said in another review - it would be difficult for Mr Martin to go upwards from his first two volumes. Difficult or not, he did. This is fantastic stuff. Characters who are neither perfectly good or totally bad, characters who change, characters who DIE (most unexpectedly). You come up gasping for breath after a session of reading. This is really good. I don't know if I can wait the year until the next volume and I both hope and don't hope that he will stop at six.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent once again -- really a 9.5 out of 10
Review: Martin has again reached the heights he hit with A Game of Thrones. A Storm of Swords is rife with intrigue and betrayal on a scope that dwarfs any other major medieval/fantasy series. As usual, there is plenty of action but Martin understands the psychological wounds that fester in people's souls from their early years and which shape people's adult lives. His main characters have more depth than major characters in any series other than Tolkien or Donaldson. Even though he paints stark portraits (Roose Bolton, Balon Greyjoy, Walder Frey), those bit-players have subtlety and nuance to their personae. Most stunningly, 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. This volume was well-worth the expense of buying it from Amazon's UK site. Thanks to Mr. Martin for winning the battle with his US publisher and keeping Storm of Swords one volume.
Rating:
Summary: Best so far
Review: I have earlier been hesitant to give Martin the full five stars, but I have to give in and admitt that he is the best fantasy writer right now. Eriksson ("Gardens of the Moon", "Deadhouse Gates") needs to polish his style and Jordan (Wheel of Time series) to rediscover his form to get this good. Elliot (Crown of Stars series) is another snapping at Martins heels, but for now Martin is the best. The pace that I felt slowed somewhat in the last book now picks up again. Focus is shifted towards new caracters and many of the plots that begun in the last book are actually concluded. This makes for a very interseting read (I bought it and read it the same day). Without saying to much of the plot the magic ingrediant becomes a more important part of the plot. Another change from the earlier books is that this one is more brutal, showing some of the not so nice sides of war. I think that anybody that has made it through the first two books will need nobody telling them to continue (the series is that good). All in all this is the fantasy series to follow right now, the only bad side I can think of is that it will now be at least a year untill we find out what happens.
Rating:
Summary: This is the fantasy series to read
Review: This fantasy series continues to live up to the extremely high standard set with the first volume. These books are novels first, and fantasy genre second. In other words, characters are fully developed, plot lines are far from predictable, the writing style is never annoying or weak (as so frequently with Robert Jordan and others) and fantasy cliches have satisfyingly failed to appear. Oh, there are three dragons, but in this book they are not cliches and not what you think. The magical elements are deftly handled and not dominant. The books are filled with adventure and surprise, but it must also be said that they are very bleak indeed. The world that Martin depicts is one torn by war and he does not hesitate to show us what that really means. So, if you want sunshine and light all round, then this series is not for you. But, that aside, if you are looking for absorbing fiction written by a master of the art, then read this series ... but definitely start with the first book. And, if you have already read the first two, reread them before beginning this one. You'll be glad you did.
Rating:
Summary: What can you say about a Masterpiece?
Review: The cliche would be to say that words can't express how great this book is, but that, of course, is false. For words DO express how great it is - George R. R. Martin's words, though, not mine. A Storm of Swords is the third, and the best (so far), of the Epic Fantasy series A Song of Ice anf Fire. In a time when half the world is writing Epic Fantasy, George R. R. Martin is the only one who is doing it as it should be done. A Storm of Swords' pace is like that of a snowball, it start small and slow, and accelerates. The book's beginning is a masterful art of wieving threads together, and about a third way into is you start to shadder because you're in the most incredible rollar costar imaginable, and it won't let you off until the very ending, and you'll be left suffering until a Dance with Dragons will be out in 2002 - but that's true for all of us Martin fans. A Storm of Swords shows Martin's loathing of happy endings and black/white characters - Martin's world is so realistic it hurts. The morality gets much more complicated, as we get indights into a character we thought was a villain, and see his actions completely differently. The twists are very logical, but completely surprising. For each development predicted by the fans, three weren't. Some questions are answered, but more are asked, and through the entire story, the Stark words can be heard: "Winter is Coming" After A Clash of Kings, I thought Martin wrote a story that was practically impossible to top. But he has, and now all I can do is to count the days until A DANCE WITH DRAGONS
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