A Song of Ice and Fire, 7 Volumes: The box-set collection for the bestselling classic epic fantasy series behind the award-winning HBO and Sky TV show and phenomenon GAME OF THRONES

I came to this having watched the first series of the TV dramatisation having not read any serious Fantasy novels for about 20 years and was not disappointed. However that isnt to say this series of novels isnt badly flawed. I give it 5 stars because it is compulsive reading but then crack cocaine is compulsive, and I suppose that would probably get 5 stars if anyone ever reviewed it. Actually what it reminded me most of was Harry Potter, but only if JK Rowling had come to hate her creation. Like Harry the world that is created is compelling and the detail is fantastic, the characters are fully realised, the writing is only OK and the plots creak at best and at worst are non existent. Here, seven books in, we are mostly worried about what has happened to Theon's appendage ( and the revelations in the Tv series do nothing to resolve this). The two basic tropes here are the entire book being written from characters point s of view in an episodic way and the authors propensity for bumping off major characters when you least expect it. Which starts out as refreshing but eventually gives a chaotic and disjointed narrative and no real plot trajectory. There are just too many voices and too many ideas, this could be thirty books not nine ( or ten).He says he knows how it is going to end (I wonder if Charles Dickens ever felt compelled to make such a statement!) but he has clearly lost the map of how to get there. Having said all that the journey of reading this is amazing and clearly he is not going to bump off Tyrion ( or probably John Snow unless to spite us all, or Dany) which means that, once done it might become the most important fantasy about a vertically challenged hero since.....well Frodo Baggins.This does seem to be the case where an authors creation has gone out of control in the era of the internet. Blogs, forums, ideas and pressure while the plot is unrealised and as a consequence opinion feeding into the plot development, either to satisfy his audience or to spite them. An interesting aside is whether he will live to finish it, or whether it will ever be finished!And finally, the TV series (which is brilliantly realised) follows the main trajectory of plot but characters are amalgamated, plots changed and mutated and information provided that is not in the book but may not be...real..again this means the unfinished novel exists in a post modern world where it is influenced not just by the internet but by television but the reaction to televison and the requiremnts of television.So an author who may not live to finish his creation which is evolving out of his control because of the internet and the exigencies of television. A metaphor for our times I think. My favourite character? Obviously John Snow.

For all Game of Thrones or Song of Ice and Fire fans this is the set to get. First of all great service from Amazon, it came a day earlier then expected, which was fantastic. The story, itself, is brilliant; there are a tone of great characters that develop superbly in a gigantic, fantasy medieval world called Westeros, ( a very authentic map of Westeros is actually included in this set if you buy it in papaerback and it's easily nice enough to be framed if you're a massive fan) the story lines are very exciting and there is always a good fear for the characters as Martin doesn't mind killing them.However if you are new to the series I'd recommend you pick up the first in the series, A Game of Thrones, or watch some of the TV show before buying this to see if the series is definitely to your taste. A lot of people complained that there is too much sex, swearing, detail and that their favorite characters were killed off. If you don't like any of that in the your fiction then I wouldn't suggest the series to you. If, however, you love that sort of stuff in your fiction, like me, then I urge you to go read A Game of Thrones right now or try and catch the TV show.The books themselves are a lot better quality then the previous paperbacks. Before I bought this set I already owned all of the books but they were very used, small fat things with tiny print and the hardback of the fifth title was very, very heavy and after a while a nuisance to hold, if you have kindle those issues are not a problem but a lot of people have been annoyed with the kindle edition so I wouldn't recommend that unless the kindle edition is significantly cheaper. These paperbacks are taller, slimmer and the print is easier on the eye then older editions.Also the fact that the newest book in the saga, A Dance with Dragons, is split into two parts; Dreams and Dust and After the Feast is an advantage for the majority of Ice and Fire fans that didn't like A Feast for Crows and A Dance with Dragons as much as the first three. The latest two books in the series were not as well liked because Martin put half the characters in the fourth book and the other half in the fifth book and they both carried on directly after the third book in the series. The advantage about the fifth book being split is that you can read book 4 and 5 part 1 together so you won't go to long without half the characters and come Part 2 After the Feast all the characters are back together in the same book again.Lastly some readers were irritated at the the box, mines okay, but it's just okay, nothing special. Many faults were that some boxes had split and a few customers experienced difficulty putting the books back into the box, honestly I wouldn't worry about it too much because Martin plans to release at least two more books in this series so the box isn't vital. On the whole, though, this set is outstanding, I would definitely recommend this box set to you if you're a fan of the books and/or the TV show unless you can get them cheaper separately and aren't worried about the map. Thank you for reading my review, hope it was helpful.

These books are fantastic. It's nice to read them and compare to the tv series. They arrived it great condition and the product is exactly as advertised.

Before I purchased this box set of all 7 books I read the reviews of each book individually and was disheartened by the growing dissent amongst the readers. Ignore that for now, this box set is a definate 5 star buy. The price for all 7 books, along with the box and map is an absolute steal, and worth the investment in time.The characters are well developed and the continual plot twists drive this set of books foward leaving you gasping for more. The HBO television series may be your introduction but the books will flesh out the well loved (and not so well loved - Joffery I'm looking at you here) characters and really adds another dimension to them.However, this comes full circle. If you buy this you'll be left waiting for the last few books. George R.R. Martin is notoriously slow are pumping these books out and that is the crux of the bad reviews. You read a book and then have to wait 5 years until the next one. By then you've forgotten who is who, whos fighting who and why they are fighting in the first place. Then, your favourite character dies and you're introduced to 12 new ones.Take delight in this offering of 7 books at a great price. Heed this warning, you will be addicted to Game of Thrones and you will be left wanting more. However, the longer the wait, the more the hype the bigger the disappointment. A great set, lovely books with a good weight and feel and well worth the price asked.