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What's New
Review Features
S - Science Fiction
F - Fantasy
H - Horror
Complete Listing
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Adams, Douglas (S)
Asher, Neal (S)
Aylett, Steve (S)
Banks, Iain M (S)
Barclay, James (F)
Barker, Clive (H)
Baxter, Stephen (S)
Brin, David (S)
Bury, Stephen (S)
Card, Orson Scott (S)
Cherryh, CJ (S/F)
Clute, John (S)
Cockayne, Steve (F)
Cook, Glen (F)
Danielewski, Mark (H)
Dick, Philip K (S)
Egan, Greg (S)
Feist, Raymond (F)
Gaiman, Neil (F)
Gibson, William (S)
Goodkind, Terry (F)
Grimwood, Jon C (S)
Hamilton, Peter (S)
Jeter, K.W. (S)
Jordan, Robert (F)
Lethem, Jonathan (S)
McAuley, Paul (S)
MacLeod, Ken (S)
Martin, George RR (F)
McMullen, Sean (S)
Miéville, China (S)
Moran, Daniel K (S)
Morgan, Richard K (S)
Nagata, Linda (S)
Niven, Larry (S)
Noon, Jeff (S)
Robinson, Kim S. (S)
Rucker, Rudy (S)
Simmons, Dan (S)
Smith, Michael Marshall (S)
Stephenson, Neal (S)
Sterling, Bruce (S)
Vinge, Vernor (S)
Westerfeld, Scott (S)
Williams, Sean (S)
Williams, Tad (S/F)
Collections (S/F)
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| The Classics |
Bradbury, Ray (S/H)
Burgess, Anthony (S)
Tolkien, JRR (F) |
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| George R R Martin |
| Author Information |
Reviewed Books |
Other Books |
| Notes: (S) - A Song of Ice & Fire Series |
A Game of
Thrones (S)
A Clash of Kings (S)
A Storm of Swords (S) |
A Feast for Crows (S) (Soon)
Dying of the Light
Windhaven
Fevre Dream
The Armageddon Rag
Dead Man's Hand |
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 Our
Ranking A Game of Thrones is the first in a multi
part fantasy series by George R. R. Martin. This is the first book I've read by
him, so I didn't really know what to expect when I started this. It was awarded
the Fantasy Novel of the Year when it came out, so I figured it had to be good.
Well, it certainly turned out to be a fine fantasy novel, but I must admit I had
my doubts for the first 300 pages or so. Looking back now that I've finished this,
it is fairly obvious what Martin has done with this novel. Basically, when you
start reading this, you pretty much need to know you are reading a series and
not an individual book. You almost need to think of this as a full 2,400 page
novel. (800 pages a book) The first 300-400 pages of this book are fairly slow
moving, with very little action. Looking at it this way, 300 pages of set up is
not horribly bad. Basically, those first few hundred pages contains a lot of posturing,
and setting up the political environment of the novel. Martin goes through very
heavy detail of all of the families involved and their histories, and how this
world has reached its current place in time. I'll admit, I was beginning to wonder
if this book was going to go anywhere. However, once it got started...wow..this
was a book I had trouble putting down. First off, the characters in here are very
well done. Martin provides a lot of background history around the various families
and does a wonderful job of actually incorporating that history into the traits
of the characters. Each character, is very unique and is developed exceptionally
well. Another thing that impressed me was Martin's use of children as character's.
For some reason, especially in fantasy novels, children are usually very
cliched. Martin managed to avoid this almost completely and the children (and
there are quite a bit of them) turned out to be just as interesting and unique
as the adults. The plot is also very well written. As I mentioned above, it takes
a long time to get moving. However, once it does, you see just how much all of
that setup work paid off. The characters infighting and backstabbing feels even
more personal due to how deeply Martin has laid down the base for the tale. You
are left completely understanding the troubles in taking over a certain castle
or region, and just how devastating this will be to one character when an other
flees or doesn't come to help. Martin actually has about three major plots all
running at the same time and does a good job at keeping all three interesting.
At the same time, he gives quite a tantalizing hint at where these three might
meet in the future, causing quite a nice little explosion. All in all, this was
one of the better true fantasy novels I've read in a while. There is a tiny bit
of sorcery and mystical beasts in here, but for the most part, this is a tale
of mankind in a fantasy setting. There are hints that more sorcery and the like
may be coming in the next two novels. While I didn't enjoy this as much as Cook's
Black Company series, I would say this ranks right up there with Jordan's Wheel
of Time. And to be honest, if Martin wraps it up as nicely as he started it, I
might put it ahead of Jordan's never ending tale. I will certainly be buying the
second book. |
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 Our
Ranking A Clash of Kings is the second novel
to what is becoming an incredible fantasy series. This is yet another monster
900 pager but was well worth the effort. For the most part it takes off exactly
where the first book begins and just dives straight into the story. A quick warning
though, I'm doing this review assuming you've read the first book. So there will
be some spoilers in here. Do not read this if you haven't read the first. You're
on your own from here.... Martin, so thankfully, avoids the Robert Jordan trap
of spending the first quarter of the book lamely recapping the first book. Sure
he drops a few hints here and there especially just to remind you who is related
to who and who killed who before, but otherwise from page one you are already
in fresh material. The plot is basically an intensification of what the first
book started. With the King dead, the entire empire is scrambling in a massive
power void. Kings are popping up all across the empire, each staking claims to
their respective regions and following ambitions to either control the entire
Seven Kingdoms or in some cases just to happily control their own declared land.
Obviously the Lannisters, among others, aren't going to stand for this and war
ravages across the entire nation. The book covers a ton of different battles and
wars, focusing a lot around the Battle with Rob in the North as well as the eminent
battle at King's Landing between the Lannisters and which ever foe makes it to
them first. The battles are very well done, especially the finale of the book
which left me ripping through the pages. In addition the book continues and then
gets even deeper into the political wars that rage on. The chapters centering
around Tyrion especially drip with political intrigue. For the most part, the
characters are the same as the first book (the ones that survived that is). Martin
adds a few new key characters to tell the story from a few other perspectives,
but otherwise doesn't expand it too much, which is good. In my mind that became
another problem with The Wheel of Time. He just grew it too much. Martin has a
terrific grip on this plot, and doesn't fall to the urge to expand it unnecessarily.
The first book proved to just be a taste to come of how expendable every character
is no matter how major. It adds such an edge to the reading when you know that
in any given scene Martin won't hesitate to kill off your favorites. I'm actually
writing this review after reading straight through the second and third book so
believe me when I say, this is an amazing series. It is a very tight tale with
believable characters and an exciting plot. If you enjoy fantasy you absolutely
need to read this one. |
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 Our
Ranking A Storm of Swords is the third installation
of what is now an official 5 star series. It's a rare quality in a series, but
this thing is getting better with each book. Funny thing about this one though,
was that I read the entire book thinking this was the last book of the series.
I wound up spending the last 200 pages or so desperately trying to figure out
how Martin was going to pull it all together. Thankfully, there is a fourth coming
out, and I think I saw somewhere (not sure where though) that it was coming out
next year some time. Also, before I begin, as with the last review, I am reading
this assuming you read both of the first two books. Please do NOT read
any further if you haven't and don't want to see spoilers. You've been warned...
Martin dives right into this one, once again with very little recap from the first
two novels which I love. Right off the bat, you are up beyond the wall, in what
is an incredible Prologue. From there, you are basically thrust into the aftermath
of the war at King's Landing and the repercussions it has for the Seven Kingdom's.
Martin does a tremendous job bringing the now utterly war torn countryside to
life. The Lannister's stunning victory at King's Landing has thrown the entire
nation into chaos, and obviously made the lives of the Stark's quite a bit more
difficult. While in the second book, the battles were some of the best scenes,
in this one it is more the one on one battles and the intrigue that leaves you
wanting more. Martin really begins pulling in the strings that were laid out in
the first two novels. With the way his characters are now wonderfully developed,
it really adds to these scenes. You knows each of their old rivalries, bitter
hatreds, and their fears, and all of this enhances the scenes. There are two simply
stunning scenes, one of which just blew my mind that Martin actually did it (I
incorrectly thought this one character was untouchable in Martin's eyes) and the
second which is a duel towards the end of the book is just mind blowing. I wound
up rereading the scene four times, it was so incredible. Finally the Epilogue
for this book is wonderfully sinister. As with the other two books, maybe even
more so, the characters here are all at risk at any point to be wiped out. Martin
is simply ruthless with them, a trait that has my complete respect. It's not often
I'm left with my mouth hanging wide open in disbelief that a character just died.
It happened twice in this one. What's more impressive, is Martin manages to dig
a little deeper into a few of the more off to the side characters here. In particular,
you get very deep into Jaime, offering a fresh perspective on what was a very
biased account in the first two novels. Overall, this book was the best so far
and truly brought this to a five star series. I can not wait for the 4th book,
especially after reading the Epilogue which was just so evil. I've said it in
the other two reviews, but this truly is a must read fantasy series. This is now
up there, probably just a bit below that Black Company, but in rare company nonetheless.
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