I think the nerds are right on this one, but why, in this genre, are there so many wise people around. You can get an aphorism from a passing mage, a dwarf or your retarded cousin, and after you blow-off your retarded cousin's comment, the mage will say "he is wiser than you know". I read this on the Kindle, so no maps, but, believe it or not, if you check on the internet there are whole galleries of maps of Westeros. ( )

This took me a bit longer than the first because I had books I had to read first in between but I'm still enjoying this series. I felt a bit cheated at the end of this one, however, where I didn't with the first. I think it's just my aversion to cliffhangers of any kind. I need to have closure, damn it. I dove into number 3 the moment I finished the last page though, so I can't complain. Now, if I had to wait for the next book to be published like others had to, I'd be irate. That's not the case, so I'll rub that in a bit. ;)

Things are really heating up by the end of this book, and I'm still strangely in love with Jaime and Tyrion. I can't help it. Robb is also becoming quite interesting, and I love Ayra of course. Jon is waning, I hope his character gets some balls soon. ( )

Kind of a long slog, not as good as the first book of the series. Martin feels the need to alternate each chapter between characters making it tough to maintain continuity of the story, especially given the number of characters he parades in and out of each scene. Also, he uses the second book to impart the backstory he missed in the first.

Where the first book seems written for the screen, this one is going to be tough for the HBO crew to translate for the series.

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