I've read almost everything to do with the Song of Ice and Fire series. The visuals in the books seem to be more inspired by the book descriptions then the show which I really enjoy. It's very satisfying to see the world in more colour. I was always kind of disappointed that the show gave up on depicting the the colour of the clothing and banners described in the books. The story and dialogue is definitely simplified but the back of the comics gives details of how the creators decided what dialogue to keep in graphic novel. ( )

Perfect in every way. I can't wait for the next one. ( )

It is a character and location rich story so it took me some time to get through the comic book graphic novel. At the time that I read these, I didn't know the story very well so I had to look up the people and locations to fully understand what I was reading. I'm not sure who the target audience is for such a book. Is it people that already know the story and aren't bothered by the lack of details or is for people that never read the story or saw the HBO show to get them interested in seeking those sources out? I know I wouldn't be satisfied with this as a story with no other knowledge.
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I read vol. 1 & 2 but don't want to shelf both. ( )

Considering that this adaptation had the novel author's input and his personal assistant working on it, I was surprised at how much it left out from the books. In many ways the television series is a more faithful adaptation as well as being more thorough. ( )

This is the first graphic novel I have ever read. When I went to the library to get the fourth book in the ASOIAF series, the book was out on loan, and seeing these graphic novels of the first book, I decided to read them.

It was interesting, but I have mixed feelings about the artwork, and appreciation of the illustrators art was what motivated me to read these in the first place. So many of the male characters were interchangeable.....the only way I could differentiate Renly Baratheon from Theon Greyjoy was the green armor worn by Renly. They all have square jaws with strong chins and pretty much the same nose. The female characters are unrealistically youthful......there is no mid-life sag despite multiple pregnancies. To be honest, it was difficult to visually differentiate Sansa from Catelyn and Robb and Bran were almost identical.

Now, my pet peeve.......the horses. To be both brutal and honest, I recall classmates in fifth grade; horse crazy girls who could draw a horse far, far better than anything in this book.

On the other hand, the illustrators did a fine job with the landscapes. The illustrations of the Wall, the Vale of Arryn and the Eyerie, King's Landing, the Red Keep, Moat Cailin, were all very detailed and a treat for the eye.

All things considered, this was a fun and interesting companion piece to the ASOIAF series of novels.

*Disclaimer: this is a review of all 4 books in this series, they don't break down well for individual review. ( )