Totally brilliant
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It's taken me this long to give Martin a go. Seen the books on the shelves, thought the series perhaps too much of a commitment and avoided them. Oh dear, what an oversight! I haven't enjoyed a book so much in years!!!! Absolutely cannot recommend it highly enough. In a funny way, it's not really fantasy [but OK, what exactly is?] apart from the beginning and the end. What happens in between is basic political power-struggle. Interesting to see Martin admitting his inspiration was the Wars of the Roses. There are similarities!! I could go on and on but am now totally smitten and Book 2 will be started shortly. Incidentally, I think I see where Abercrombie got Glokta from.....
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Best book . . .EVER!
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I've read the whole of George R R Martin's Song of Ice and Fire series and love them all. I was addicted to the books and couldn't put them down. Some fantasy books are predictable and have become very similar to each other. This one is different, it constantly keeps you guessing about what will happen next and I love how Martin shows the plot from the 'good' and 'bad' characters. Only complaint is that he takes sooooo long to write each one. While your waiting though try out Trudi Canavans books, (the Age of Five and the Magicians Guild), they are really good books and worth a read, but nothing compared to A Song of Ice and Fire!
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Absolutely AMAZING.
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This book, and the rest in the whole series, are absolutely fantastic. So much depth, so many characters, so much....plot!!! I loved them all and I am eagerly awating the release of A Dance of Dragons at the end of the year. Seriously, if you are after a series of books that offer so much over such an expanse of story, then pick up this one - the first in the set - and be on your way!
Thoroughly brillient. This is all.
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Almost a good book, but too muddled
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From it's description this book sounds like a fantastic piece of fantasy, which is why I was very disappointed with it. My main criticism is the huge amount of characters in it, you have to keep flicking back and forward to remind yourself who a character is, which doesn't make for any easy reading experience. Also, the story progresses very slowly, it alternates back and forth between different groups of protaganists, some of whom are interesting, some very dull. By the end the book is weighed down by the sheer huge numbers of characters and story threads which become a little overwhelming and swamp the storyline with confusion.
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Disappointingly violent
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I bought this and the second in the series A clash of swords on the recommendations that Martin was the successor to Tolkein. No way do these books bear any resemblance. Tolkein was a master at the genre, these two books are full of sex and violence and have more in common with Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sam Peckinpah than Tolkein. I donated them to the local charity shop and what's more, they're still on the shelf unbought.
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