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This was incredible. It was bought for my wife by a good friend of ours about 12 years ago and sat on the book shelf for as long.

The timing was good for me as the spiritual elements of the book tie in nicely with some of my philosophical meanderings right now.

“I dance when ever I can, but music only exists because the pauses exist, and sentences only exist because the blank spaces exist. When I'm doing something, I feel complete, but no one can keep active twenty-four hours a day. As soon as I stop, I feel there's something lacking. You've often said to me that I'm a naturally restless person, but I didn't choose to be that way. I'd like to sit here quietly, watching television, but I can't. My brain won't stop. Sometimes I think I'm going mad. I need always to be dancing, writing, selling land, taking care of Viorel, or reading whatever I find to read. Do think that's normal?”

The first is A Game of Thrones and was rather an enjoyable read (or, in this case, listen, since it is the audio book that I have, unabridged and read by Roy Dotrice - since having a family, my reading for pleasure time has pretty much disappeared and so I do most of my ‘reading' in the car through audiobooks).

I had actually had this book, and the two following books, on my iPod for some time, in fact about a year I think, as I remember getting a few chapters into the first book around Christmas time last year and finding it too difficult to get into. It's not an easy read, by which I mean that there are a lot of characters and relationships to deal with from quite early on. When I started listening to it for the second time, I actually took notes of who was who, how old they were, what houses they belonged to, etc. and that really helped to get past the difficult beginning.

The characters are very well developed and Roy Dotrice is very good with the voices for each character. Although one of the characters (Tyrian Lannister, for those who have read it) seemed to develop a Welsh accent as the book went on!

The book switches points of view between the main characters, and usually when that happens, I have favourites and unfavourites, but that wasn't the case in this book. There was never a moment when I thought - oh no, not this character again.

There are some unexpected moments, but I shan't spoil the book by revealing any of them here.

As fantasy books go, it was a refreshing change from the “underdog prevails” type of plot, and there was little evidence of a talisman whose power needs to be unlocked.

It was slow to get going and in places felt like it was written by someone applying rules learned in a writing class. Then I remembered that I was reading a translation and forgave the stilted language and choice of vocabulary and just enjoyed the story. It was an entertaining read but hasn't really whetted my appetite to read any more of the series. Certainly not as good as the hype.

I just finished listening to this book, all 48 hours of it! (I started it on 16 April) It's the third in the series and was utterly enthralling. As with the previous two audio books, this one is read by Roy Dotrice and he does a wonderful job of bring the characters to life.

The scope of this series is huge and it has pretty much become part of my life since I got hooked on the first one after my second attempt. It took me two attempts to get going on the first one due to the sheer number of characters and their various alliances and family histories.

One of the great things about these books is that the author presents ALL the characters in an objective light. Sure, there are “goodies” and “baddies” in a sense, but the lines are blurred and it becomes easy therefore to feel compassion for whomever happens to have the limelight in the tale.

As with the first book, Martin has no qualms about killing off the central characters, although it does still come as a shock at times. It makes the story more gripping though, as there are times when the reader really doesn't know if a main character is about to meet their demise or not. They die when it's not expected, and stay alive when it seems likely that they will be killed.

I won't give away any plot spoilers, so better leave it there.

I just read a few reviews over on audible.com of the fourth book, A Feast for Crows. It's read by someone else and that seems in poor taste to me when I've got so used to Roy's voices and accents (strange that Tyrian Lannister should be Welsh though, when his father, Lord Tywin, sounds like Winston Churchill!) It also seems the case that the content of A Feast for Crows was intended to be included in the next book but was spun off for reasons of size, and so A Feast for Crows is pretty much a filler to pad out the story and does not really follow the main characters. So I'm not quite sure whether to wait or dive right in.