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. ( )

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. ( )

First of all, you must read the first paragraph on the front flyleaf, preferably aloud and with great gusto. I was able to make my coworker run away cringing when I read it.

Next: I read the first four books in the Song of Fire and Ice series in a mad rush right around the time the fourth book was published, so it must have been late 2005 or early 2006. When the fifth book was finally published last year, I thought about going back to reread in order to remember the backstory before launching into "A Dance With Dragons" but still have not gotten around to it. So picking up this graphic novel was a step in the direction of someday rereading the series.

The drawings are beautifully detailed and the colors crisp and vivid; there is plenty of violence and nudity, so it's definitely not a children's comic book, and don't let anyone try to trick you into thinking it's so. If you've seen or heard anything about the books or the TV show, you must know what you're getting into -- this is MA material.

The next installment is due out in December, although I find it hard to believe that they'll be able to keep up the pace of publishing, given the intricacy and work that goes into each collection. I hope the collaborators on this work manage to make it through the entire series -- for that matter, I hope Martin makes it through the series; it started out as a trilogy and is creeping its way to a seven-book series at last check. ( )