Well, another great read in the series but it is almost like so much happened, but at the same time nothing really happened. Every chapter leaves you with a cliffhanger and most are still hanging. This is all just a medieval soap opera...but of much better quality. ( )

Wow. It took me a long time to read this. I blame parenthood and our summer move.

Having said that, I continue to marvel at the world spinning inside Martin's head. The breadth and depth of everything contained there... These books are an incredible achievement.

The story and characters and plot are all very compelling, but what keeps me coming back is the writing. Martin uses muscular, concrete language that feels perfect for the tale he's telling. I remember reading the first lines of A Storm of Swords when my wife was reading it: "The big black bitch had taken one sniff at the bear tracks, backed off, and skulked back to the pack with her tail between her legs." There's nothing spongy or soft or inexact here, and that's when I realized that this much hyped series was not just another poorly written fantasy epic about dragons and wizards and shit, although it does have those things.

So even though each installment will likely take me months to read, I'm hooked. ( )

Well, that only took 5 years. ( )

CW: Sexual content, violence ( )

A Game of Thrones 2