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4.5
I really wish they would call these "A Song of Ice and Fire" but besides that, I cannot say too much bad about these books.For the readers of this review. I am not going to go into much if any book detail, I am simply going to explain who might like the books and why you might want to read them, along with some of the challenges.Firstly these are long books, everyone of them. They are not for somebody looking for a 250 page novella or novel, and they are not great stand-alone books. As a series they introduce, and remove, dozens of characters and plot lines. It is actually kind of amazing at how Martin was able to weave so much of this together. If you read the first book, you will undoubtedly need to read the second which leads to the 3rd and so on, they are that good.To go with the length, the pacing needs to also be talked about. I feel that the books are pretty well paced. They are not overflowing with boundless amounts of action, but there is enough to keep you interested if that is what you are looking for. Political intrigue runs deep and takes up huge chunks of the story line, which is really what makes things so interesting. The plans behind plans, behind plans, behind plans are what these books are really about. Yes the action is there and pretty realistic most of the time, but the politics and social and cultural world that Martin has created is what sucks you in. This is truly a fully-fleshed series, that although it has some cookie-cutter pieces (middle-aged, swords and dragons, magic) it really does not depend on that nor does it really use that as its identity. The identity of this book is real human emotions based on real human decisions and the realities of the world we live in and that Martin created. He did not have to dream up some mythical world that, by its sheer existence is awe-inspiring. He did it by just simply showing what humans are capable of in a pretty familiar setting that just works with the books.One major challenge is keeping certain characters straight. You start to kind of realize who the major players are, but more than once I would almost need a memory jog on who somebody was or why they were significant to the story. It can be overcome, but there are many many many characters, some minor, some like a medium-minor, some important, and others very key to the story. If you keeps these straight though, it is worth it.He has some magic but it is more of an undertone really, and has not played much of a part through the 1st 5 books. It is there and may eventually play a bigger role, but up to now it has been minor in most cases (few exceptions).I would recommend this book to somebody who really wants to dive into something deep and immerse themselves in the world Martin created. It will suck up many hours of your time and you will hate that you have to wait for the final 2 books, but when it is all said and done you will be happy you read them. I loved reading these in the winter, especially scenes beyond the wall and in Winterfell. That almost made me lose myself in the story more to be physically surrounded by snow and reading about it in the book.As an aside I think the tv show is very good as well and really does a pretty good job of capturing most elements of the book. I would say though, that even if you watch the show before reading the books, you will still get a great experience from each book.
