Rating: 
Summary: The Mastery Continues
Review: Everything I said in my review of Book One is true for this one as well, only more so.This has to be the most unpredictable fantasy series ever written. When a Major Character [to put it mildly] got killed off in Book One, I knew it was hopeless to try to figure out what was going to happen next, and I was right. A villain turns out to be a [sort of, at least] good guy in disguise. A nice guy turns out to be nasty. A weak-kneed girl isn't really. The all-powerful witch isn't all-powerful. The Two Boys in the Tower are, as expected, killed. Or are they? Clearly based on The War of the Roses era in English History, this series nevertheless manages to be universal. It's about ALL politics and ALL politicians, not just Richard the Third and his cousins. It's about every family who ever feuded. I am trying to force myself to wait for the paperback edition of book three, but may not make it!
Rating:
Summary: Great Fantasy
Review: This is the second book in this series, it is a good one for those who enjoy authors like Terry Goodkind and Robert Jordan. It's really long, but very readable, unpredictable, and exciting.
Rating: 
Summary: So Many Characters
Review: So many characters - so little action - find a better way to spend your book dollars. This trilogy uses many pages to say nothing and what is said is so confusing that it is more a puzzle than a novel.
Rating:
Summary: The R.R.'s Don't Make it a Good Story
Review: This seems to be a never ending story. After suffering through 807 pages told from NINE different perspectives in the first book, I think we deserve some resolution to the story and have some questions answered...but NOooo. You have to buy This book, suffer through 969 pages told from 11 different perspectives and still end up with more questions than answers...and no ending. If you can't tell a story in 1776 pages then you're not much of a writer in my opinion. I don't appreciate closing a "book" that doesn't have an ending. This is the epitome of flagrant commercialism: "Let's keep the audience in suspense so we can sell more books." Well, it's not going to work on me. The characters are unlikable, the manner the story is written is monotonous, and if I want to read about disloyalty, betrayal, and suffering--then I'll read the newspaper. (And, by the way, I don't CARE what every person in the room is wearing and eating in every scene.) Give it up George...the R.R.'s do not make you a good writer or your never ending story worth reading.
Rating:
Summary: Great Continuation But Not As Good As The First
Review: Well, first I'll start with the praises. Mr. Martin can definitely write a story. Period. This characters are three dimensional, his plots are surprising, and best of all, his narrative is much better than any other author in the fantasy genre. In other words, he can actually write. But I do have some complaints to this book. The book takes a while to get going. If you are not completely fixated on the series, it would be easy to give up before the real fun begins, around page 500. Relative to the length of the book, not much happens and a lot of dragging goes on, especially with Jon Snow and Bran. But all in all, it is still a fantastic book in the genre. Unlike authors like Robert Jordan and Terry Goodkind, Mr. Martin can actually write good prose (I gave up on Jordan at book 7 and Goodkind at book 4 for this very reason, and also for the lack of real suspense, wonder who will win, a wild guess, maybe Rand?, by the 25th book in the series if we're lucky?). Highly recommended, and also the only author I would recommend in the high fantasy genre other than J.R.R. Tolkien and Guy Gavriel Kay.
Rating:
Summary: Amazing
Review: I won't talk about specifics of this book, because I think you need to get this book and spend a weekend doing nothing else but reading it. As a longtime fan of fantasy, I have to say that this is one of the most exciting series to come along in years. I needed something to hold me over while waiting for the next Robert Jordan ("Wheel of Time") book. I found George R R Martin's "A Game of Thrones" and was hooked. Now, those two authors are vying for the top spot of my all time favorite fantasy writers. Tolkien was good and started (for the most part) the genre, Jordan and Martin have taken that genre and "ripped it a new one"!! Jordan just published his 9th "Wheel of Time" book, while Martin is on his 3rd "A Song of Ice and Fire" book. No two authors have ever made me this hungry for their next installments. If you are into MMORPGs or just great writing, read these series. These are two of the best authors you will ever have the privilege of reading As a longtime fan of fantasy, I have to say that this is one of the most exciting series to come along in years.
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Summary: relentless, gutwrenching, engrossing........
Review: 200+ pages into this series, I stopped reading the morning paper. 400 pages in, I started to go to bed a little earlier. And now 1600+ pages later, I'm trying to reconcile breaking my no hardcover rule and buying book three. For as much as I can't wait to see what happens, I also fear forgetting half of what and who has happened waiting for part 3 in paperback. GRR Martin belongs in very elite company, critically, for me. He is the Frank Herbert of fantasy. His talent for characterizations is unmatched....gifting us with characters that are varying shades of good and evil. His plot twists are brutal. His use of suspense dizzying. There is no clear cut hero, all are flawed. Don't get too attached to anyone. Expect anything (usually the worst) to happen. And know that who makes it all 900 pages-in tact or no-is as much a crap shoot as the first installment.
Rating:
Summary: Stand out effort
Review: I used to buy novels like this based on # of pages -- find the biggest one in the store & figure the author must have some character depth to continue on for 800+ pages. The old rule of thumb doesn't apply anymore, does it? Martin manages to take a bit of a contrarian point of view in this series. In the second book, he deftly shows his characters through their own lens on reality. His characters are not simple, and I found myself looking forward to each vignette -- regardless of the focal character (You know how you're normally pining away until the 'interesting' character's plot line comes back around? You won't feel that here) This book exceeded both my expectations and (to me) the accomplishments of book 1. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: A Stunning Return (Again Better Than 5 Stars)
Review: I know that it has been said, but George R. R. Martin is the best author in the business. No one can match him in character development,attention to detail, complexity of background, plot twists, or plain old fashion surprise. I must keep harping on the character because they are what make this series great. Robb's development as a leader is completely believable, as is his foil to Jeoffery. Theon was not all that you thought he was. In Stannis, Martin has created a character of complete moral rectitude, endowed with strength, courage, and conviction, who is utterly without likeability. He is the hero that you want to hate, while Tyrion is the villian you want to love. This host of characters delievers the real emotion of human life that is so seldom found in literature. Compared to almost any other score in fantasy, these protaganists and their foils come out on top. The story is just as diverse as the characters in it. The plot unfolds with more surprises than even A Game of Thrones. Yet unlike most fiction, this story rings true. Somehow the world could be like this. This story should however come with a warning: A Song of Ice and Fire is not for the faint of heart. Unlike with Jordan, there is no reassurance that good will triumph, and that is painfully apparent. This is a world of stark brutality, and anything can happen (most of it bad). War is not glamourous, knights are not chivalrous, and maidens are not modest. THIS IS NOT A HAPPY STORY, AND BAD THINGS HAPPEN TO GOOD PEOPLE. Perhaps this very characteristic is what makes this series so great. A Song of Ice and Fire is not a children's fairy tale, nor should it ever be presented as one. Yet neither is life often the stuff of stories.
Rating:
Summary: Incredible series!
Review: Geroge Martin's "A Song of Ice and Fire" is rapidly becoming one of the greatest fantasy series of all time. "A Clash of Kings" the second volume in the projected six volume series meets and perhaps excedes the expectations produced by the first book. Unlike many other fantasy series that are simply long this one is long becuase the story it tells is so huge that to tell it in less words would simply be impossible. At times I felt the book was almost too short as sometimes key events are recounted after the fact and with little detail by charaters in the book. The story of ASoiAF is not simply huge it is engrossing. I found it difficult to put down. Not only are the all the interconnected story threads interesting and well written but the back story, which includes such elements as the overthrow of the Mad King a generation earlier, the mysterious parentage of Jon Snow, and the death of Eddard Stark's sister, is equal fascinating and it is real joy to see this other story slowly unfold while to current events are described. Martin has also created a very rich fantasy world. The culture is fully developed, the politics is gritty and realistic, the action is violent and unsanitized. Martin also includes traditonal magical elements such as dragons and wraiths, but rather than being common and trite, magic is a rare thing in Martin's universe which had dissapeared years ealier and is now slowly returning. The characters are diverse and realistic, as well as numerous, but there are not so many the the reader cannot keep track of them all. Each character behaves in a believable way and all the major characters contribute something to the story. And though there are good guys and bad guys in this book, the line between the two is often blurred as the good characacters frequantly do bad things and the bad characters just as often do good things. It's often hard to know who to root for though Martin does give his reader a few truly abominable characters to root against. It is hard for me to say enough good things about this book and this serious, but there ar a couple of minor critisms. The principle one is that each section often ends with a cliff hanger. This in itself is not a problem, but when we return to that character it is often days later and the crisis the character was in has already been resolved. It's kind of like when a TV show goes to commercial break and when they get back the hero is out of danger. It's not actually that bad since Martin always fills the reader in on what had happened but it is a somewhat ackward style and I wish Martin would drop it in later books. The other criticm that could be made, though I don't neccessarily make it myself, is that the book is very violent and Martin is not hesitant about killing off main characters just as he did in the first book. Overall, this is a great book in a series that has the potential to sit next to "The Lord of the Rings" as a true classic of fantasy. I highly recommend it.
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