Rating: 
Summary: A classic.
Review: By now, this has to be a classic in the fantasy/horror field. I remember picking it up in as price-reduced overstock, simply for the astonishing artwork (the german edition) and that title. I have to say, that I'm still very thankful for that occasion. Not only has Mr. Martin delivered the best Werewolf-Novellla of all time (Skintrade) but the Song of Fire and Ice Series, that had reignited my interest in Fantasy after 15 years.Thank you Mr. Martin. I want a hardcover-reprint of this book. Now.
Rating:
Summary: A Great Book For All the Hippies Out There
Review: Definetly one of the best fiction books about music, featuring not only the downfall of teh band The Nazguls - but also explains the true reasons that induced the hippy movement - specialy Nam. There's great "music" (lyrics at least), wonderful descriptions of music - you can almost hear it, great combination of supernatural, magic, giving it a note of mysticism that alternative music always carries with itself, reminding us of all the priests we heard complaining about Satanism and other forces in rock and roll, and emphasising the influence of the music on it's followers... a masterpiece. Then why only 4 stars..? Why NAZGULS? A little bit of creativity please - we all read Tolkien. I know Lord of the Rings meant a lot at the time, but there's no need for borrowing THAT much. A great book nevertheless - buy it, you won't be sorry.
Rating:
Summary: A Great Book For All the Hippies Out There
Review: Definetly one of the best fiction books about music, featuring not only the downfall of teh band The Nazguls - but also explains the true reasons that induced the hippy movement - specialy Nam. There's great "music" (lyrics at least), wonderful descriptions of music - you can almost hear it, great combination of supernatural, magic, giving it a note of mysticism that alternative music always carries with itself, reminding us of all the priests we heard complaining about Satanism and other forces in rock and roll, and emphasising the influence of the music on it's followers... a masterpiece. Then why only 4 stars..? Why NAZGULS? A little bit of creativity please - we all read Tolkien. I know Lord of the Rings meant a lot at the time, but there's no need for borrowing THAT much. A great book nevertheless - buy it, you won't be sorry.
Rating: 
Summary: Compelling, if dated, tale in a world that really existed.
Review: George R.R. Martin's science fiction novels and short stories strike a resonant chord with compelling, flesh and blood, characters and a real sense of their time... even if that time is thousands of years in the future after a human diaspora into outer space, where many of his tales are set. That sense of time and place is a strength... and weakness, in Armageddon Rag, taking place with a history that really existed and with which the reader is already familiar. This time, we stand at the uncertain, disillusioned dawn of the 1980s, looking back on the chaos of the '60s and '70s, but with the renaissance of the '80s and '90s yet to come. The sad meanderings of the book's former flower children and their yearning for their past delusions are heart wrenching. It's understandable some turn to a bizarre plan to resurrect the Nazgul, a Tolkein tinged, Doors-esque super group whose bloody dissolution years before is part of Armageddon Rag's lush "back story." The sinister truth behind the reunion unravels in a narrative that is both a wistful personal journey and an intriguing mystery. The trouble with the book is that it is so very much a work of its time. In 1980, it would have felt right on. Today, it seems surprisingly dated. Even then, the ex-hippies' lingering desire to destroy the "military-industrial complex," tear America apart, and promote world socialism seemed amusingly anachronistic. Today, after free enterprise's success at bringing prosperity to billions of people, the West's victory in the Cold War and the implosion of the Soviet Union, let alone AIDS, it seems preposterous and makes it hard to muster sympathy for these would-be revolutionaries, including the hero. Even with those shortcomings, Martin's narrative style is mesmerizing and his characters vividly alive, from the conflicted storyteller himself, to the doomed holdouts in the commune... to Froggy the Gremlin. If you can disregard the cobwebs on the protagonist's mindset, Armageddon Rag is a seductive treat.
Rating: 
Summary: fabulous!!!
Review: i read this book when it first came out and after that anything else was just "sloppy seconds" please tell the publisher to hurry up and reprint it so i can buy it and read it over and over!
Rating:
Summary: A real let-down....
Review: I'm sorry, I love a LOT of George's work, & I was a BIG fan of his early days during the 70s, but there's only 1 moment of magic in this whole novel -- that's in an early scene where the narrator pulls down, looks thru & Dscribes the 5 albums released by the Nazgul. This scene only lasts a few pages, but it's filled with a kind of magic, mood & vision the rest of this book just doesn't have. Some of the characters R fun people 2 follow, but the cloak-&-dagger/occult plot doesn't help. The band rehearsal & concert scenes R pretty strong, almost as if U were there in-person, but what's going on BHIND those scenes is nothing new or even 2 Xciting. I miss the fresh flavor & vivid moods of George's work from the mid-70s....
Rating:
Summary: Long live The NAZGUL
Review: I've read this book many times since I first purchased the paperback I forget how many years ago,each time I enjoy it even more than the last time.My poor paperback is falling apart and is taped together in so many places. Martin creates a legendary band,surrounds it with believable characters and plot. I prowl through record and cd shops hoping oneday to see a Nazgul album.Maybe some day. If you loved the rock music of the late 60s and early 70s ,by all means read this book. I want a copy in hardcover this time.
Rating:
Summary: An Interesting book
Review: If a person can read this book without expecting it to be a Song of Ice and Fire Book, they will enhoy it. For some reason people i talk to that have read this book will say its not what they have come to expect from G. R. R. Martin! Well Duh! it was written 13 years before Game of Thrones and is about A rock band The Nazgul. So no, its not about winning the crown of the 7 kingdoms. It is however a facinating character driven story of a journalist/ex hippie trying to solve a ritualist murder of a music promoter of a band that has not played since their lead singer was assasinated on stage. G.R.R tells the story is an interesting way, as we follow Sandy the journalist around trying to get to the bottom of the mystery while finding out who he himself really is while visting his old hippie friends and seeing how time has altered their lives. Buy this book, put on some good music and enjoy the ride... (and for those of you that still want A game of Thrones...There is some supernatural elements in this book)
Rating:
Summary: A Classic-Rock / Horror Masterpiece
Review: It seems quite appropriate that praise from Stephen King can be found on the back of this book. Like many of King's better novels, the "Rag", doesn't seem like a horror novel at the start. Instead, we are given an engaging mystery set in a real-life setting. But as you continue to turn the pages, you begin to get the sense that something is definitely not right, and eventually, we encounter the supernatural. I highly recommend this book, but as I write this review, the question I ask myself is, "Exactly *whom* would I recommend it to?" When I first picked up the Rag, I was dubious. Of course I loved Song of Ice and Fire, and I found myself quite impressed with most of Martin's horror and sci-fi works as well... But I didn't have much confidence in an out-of-print horror book with a hippie/seventies/classic rock setting. Fortunately, I read it anyway, or I would have missed out on one fabulous book.
But will YOU like it?
-If you occasionally find yourself enjoying episodes of VH1's Behind The Music, or the movie Almost Famous, you will appreciate Martin's meticulous attention to the music industry.
-If you are a fan of Stephen King, The Rag will make you feel right at home.
-And, if you've enjoyed any of Martin's other writings, you're sure to approve of his style here as well. The bottom-line is, this is one book that truly doesn't deserve to be out-of-print, and thanks to Martin's rocketing popularity- it soon won't be. As soon as you can, give it a try!
Rating:
Summary: A Classic-Rock / Horror Masterpiece
Review: It seems quite appropriate that praise from Stephen King can be found on the back of this book. Like many of King's better novels, the "Rag", doesn't seem like a horror novel at the start. Instead, we are given an engaging mystery set in a real-life setting. But as you continue to turn the pages, you begin to get the sense that something is definitely not right, and eventually, we encounter the supernatural. I highly recommend this book, but as I write this review, the question I ask myself is, "Exactly *whom* would I recommend it to?" When I first picked up the Rag, I was dubious. Of course I loved Song of Ice and Fire, and I found myself quite impressed with most of Martin's horror and sci-fi works as well... But I didn't have much confidence in an out-of-print horror book with a hippie/seventies/classic rock setting. Fortunately, I read it anyway, or I would have missed out on one fabulous book.
But will YOU like it?
-If you occasionally find yourself enjoying episodes of VH1's Behind The Music, or the movie Almost Famous, you will appreciate Martin's meticulous attention to the music industry.
-If you are a fan of Stephen King, The Rag will make you feel right at home.
-And, if you've enjoyed any of Martin's other writings, you're sure to approve of his style here as well. The bottom-line is, this is one book that truly doesn't deserve to be out-of-print, and thanks to Martin's rocketing popularity- it soon won't be. As soon as you can, give it a try!
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