Customer Reviews: Read 401 more reviews...
 The Once and Future King January 2, 2009
This book is exceptionally good although I can see how it might split fans of more conventional fantasy (no elves or dwarves here) and those who like mundane fiction might still struggle too (although the complexity of character interactions and the link between individual actions and wider social ramifications had me thinking of Dickens of all people).
Imagine something by, say, Feist only written by and for adults (no offence meant- 'Magician' is a lot of fun, but it's very juvenile in tone and style compared to this book). Imagine something written by Tolkein, only with fully rounded female characters- who make up more than half of the key protagonists here, and again more for adults than for 14 year olds.
Yes, it suffers from some of the problems of epic fantasy- the over-description of clothing and meals (boiled leather seems popular for Martin), and there are the occasional lapses into modern American ('butt' for what should be 'arse', and 'blood sausage' for what is actually black pudding, are ones that jolted me out of my suspension of disbelief for a moment).
BUT the characterisation is spectacularly good- as good as any work of mundane fiction I've ever read (and with a literature degree, I've read a fair few "classics").
If literary references are not your thing, then this is a little like Lost or Heroes- tons going on, lots of characters that it takes a while to work out who's who, but once you do work them out, you care intimately about them- even the "baddies", although it's rarely that black and white-and some of the scenes later on are incredibly captivating and moving as a result. Or, if you prefer, imagine this as a reworking of your favourite childhood fantasy story in the manner of the Battlestar Galactica remake- rich, deep and serious.
Also of note is the way the book creates a sense of location, history, and mythology, all with a neatly paced, soap opera style series of events (again more like Dickens than some pseuds would admit), that keep you in the here and now of human machinations, and not ever worrying where the elves, goblins etc. are- they're just not needed in a quite wonderful tale.
 Incredible story and impressively written October 14, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This book truely was gripping. For one which is over 800 pages long, I was amazed at how quickly I finished it.
Firstly, it must be said, this is the most realistic fantasy book I have read, and the world has many links to the history of Britain. From different families turning on each other in every battle, to having a wall in the North to keep creatures out. The story may not be an epic tale (such as Lord of the Rings) but that doesn't prevent it from being incredible. Its a lot more down to Earth, believable, and intrigueing.
The characters are well developed and the story itself is told from the viewpoints of eight different viewpoints (Eddard, Catelyn, Jon, Sansa, Arya, Bran, Tyrion and Daenarys). Out of these I felt the most enjoyable were Eddard's, Jon's and Tyrion's chapters, these three were all interesting and I kept on wondering what would happen to them throughout the book.
The prose is superbly written and constucted. I find it amazing that Martin was able to have periods when the plotline was relativley slow, yet still grab at my attention.
All in all, this was an excellent read, I am really pleased that I gave it a go. A detailed world that immersed me and then blew me away, Martin is a genius.
Think Fantasy is a stale genre? Try this...!! October 13, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I'll keep this short and sweet:
I gave up reading fantasy in the 80s...it was all so much rubbish. Every book seemed the same. I'd occasionally try a new book only to be disappointed yet again. Then I read this book and was totally gripped from start to finish...in fact, it only took me a few days to read and that is with a toddler trying to distract me. This book won't let you put it down!! READ IT!
 Will i buy the second book? October 11, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
After this i'de likely say yes, eventually. It has taken me AGES to read this monster of a book but you lose nothing from doing it like me mainly because after you finish one of the very long character based chapters, theres at least another 3 before u'll see them again, meaning theres no momentum.
Call me old fashioned as well but i like a good magic base in a book, as far as im aware, i havn't seen any evidence that magic will be explored in this series.
A decent hero getting through a few tough spots would be nice as well, after looking into the next few books in this series, it becomes pretty obvious that Mr Martin has a bit of an obsession with killing off his main characters, saying no names ofc.
Undeniably excellent writing by a gifted author but im left wondering 'do i really care about politics?' and 'whats everyone else doing?' alot of the time.
why so much hype? October 2, 2008
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
(*slight spoiler warning*)
It's okay, but not great. Yes it is better than a lot of the middling fantasy novels out there, but not even close to being on par with Jordan or Erikson (and neither of them perfect).
The way Martin changes the perspective with each chapter means that each chapter begins with more filler to set the scene - meaning the book is a LOT bigger than it needs to be. It also stifles the flow of the story. Any book is usually just a collection of events weaved together, but this book feels like that at its core - lots of events that have to happen, with one in each chapter. It doesn't seem to flow together well as a result. Also there is no real bonding to any of the characters - I don't feel for any of them or really care what happens to them, possibly as a result of not staying with them for more than a small chapter each.
And for the reviewers who say this is the most original fantasy novel out there - First Men, forest dwellers, the others, seven kingdoms etc. show it most certainly is not. Which is fine if weaved into a good story, but that is the problem with the book. Even some of the huge events like the capture of Jamie Lannister take place 'off stage' and all in a page or 2.
Yes, he does have moments of really, really good writing, but Robin Hobb's prose is vastly better, and after all, you do expect an author to be able to string together good sentences.
An okay read, but certainly not great and not worth the hype.
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