I think I'm the only person who thinks that this series was mediocre.

The start of the series is pretty good. Tyrion was a fantastic character. So were Jon and Arya. And Ned and Dany, really. Good characters with good development. Littlefinger and Tywin and Cersei and them make good villains. Nothing exceptional, but very good.

However, it all falls apart after that. Catelyn Stark is the most annoying, frustrating character I've ever read, and is unrealistically stupid to an absurd degree. The plot is thrown together in what appears to be an almost haphazard fashion with the flimsiest of justification (Ned's and Lady's sudden death - though the former is somewhat justified, Tyrion being taken captive by Catelyn who insists that he tried to kill her son with NO evidence (part of her boundless stupidity), etc). The latter books become dull as they concentrate more and more on the less interesting characters (Sansa, Cersei, Jaime, etc). If the series had more Jon and Arya and Dany and Bran, it would at least be more tolerable.

The plot is suffering by there being too many character perspectives and not enough plot movement. Too much of simply plodding along, especially in the last book, which was the worst by far.

<a href="http://raistlinknight.livejournal.com/70483.html">Here's</a> my review of the first book right when I finished reading it, and <a href="http://raistlinknight.livejournal.com/71090.html">here's</a> my review of the last book.

I love reading fantasy books, but this series deserves a single read-through at best.

EDIT: For people that actually liked this series, read <i>DragonLance</i> or <i>Death Gate Cycle</i>. Now those are amazing fantasy series.