Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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33 of 33 people found the following review helpful:
Stunning, 17 Jan 2004
Forget Jordan, give up on Goodkind. This series is absolutely amazing, everything you want from a fantasy series. The characters are so real, you laugh and cry with them. Martin isn't afraid to kill off central characters either, so you anxiously anticipate who is going to survive each plot turn, which gives an edge to the writing that Eddings, Goodkind and Jordan et al could well learn a lesson from. Bloody, sexual, uncompromising, and realistic, I've just read the first four books of the series back to back over the space of a week - I've done no housework, or shopping, my daily papers for the last week are sitting in an unread pile and the kids are unwashed and feeling neglected. Yes, it is that good. And the best thing of all about it is that the story is planned over six books, book 5 out in April, so there is an end in sight unlike some long-running series' I could mention, and I know when I've read the last book I will mourn for the end of the best fantasy world out there to date.Buy the books, get in the Pot Noodles, take the phone off the hook and send the kids away for a week. Really.
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29 of 29 people found the following review helpful:
Melancholic fantasy, 1 Sep 2006
I bought this book on the strength of previous reviews and am pleased to say I was not disappointed. As has been stated, GRRM's style is one of multiple viewpoints (initially confusing although by the middle of the book you know who's who, and in which 'house' they belong), within a continuous time thread. The writing is dark, gritty, and melancholic.
This isn't a 'quest' book; more of a history. And a realistic one at that. Although there is a complete lack of elves, dwarves, orcs, goblins etc, this book should be classed as high fantasy. Dragons, monsters, and magic exist in this world but they are relegated to the background. Nine tenths of this book deals in the down to earth machinations of the various courts. Heroes and villains do not exist. Everyone is painted in shades of grey. (Some greyer than others).
In the last 20 years there have been two books that completely blew me away. The first was Magician by Raymond E Feist, the second was Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb. A Game of Thrones is the third. If you enjoyed either of the first two you will surely enjoy this.
Having read the rest of the books in the Song of Fire and Ice sequence, I can reassure you the standards set by A Game of Thrones are maintained.
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24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
Surprised - But in a Good Way!, 6 April 2003
By A Customer
Anyone who has read a lot of fantasy knows how each book tends to meld into another until, on looking back, you realise that you've lose track of exactly what characters are in which book, where they live, and what's going on. Every now and then though, you find an author who somehow manages to make you feel a closeness to the characters, and a geniune fascination in their lives. It's this that makes a fantasy novel or series stand out - and which means you may just remember it a few months after reading it! Despite having been reading fantasy for years, I neglected George R.R. Martin when A Game of Thrones first came out, and have continued to do so until a few days back. I now discover my mistake. The novel is superbly written, the characters diverse and original, and despite it's seemingly typical fantasy plot - political battles, a bit of magic here and there, honour, betrayal etc etc - Martin's approach leads me to believe I will not only remember, but come back to re-read his series when a few months have passed me by. Excuse me, must go buy the second book....
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