A Song of Fire and Ice (a series)
Author: George R. R. Martin
Amazon info
When I realized that I was going to have to spend several days on my back recuperating from the spinal tap, I figured it was time to get a nice long series of books. I started out planning to re-read the Thomas Covenant Chronicles, but they were not available from the library and I had no time to wait for a shipment from Amazon (and buying books at retail price just isn't going to happen). I did some research and found that the "A Song of Fire and Ice" was a VERY highly rated series of books in the fantasy/sword-and-magic genre. And it was available for download on the Kindle - perfect for someone that was sentenced to bed rest. It was a wise choice. Not having to hold the book was perfect for remaining flat and when I finished one book, I could just download the next one. It really got me through the recovery period.
As for the content of the series - it is excellent, but it is starting to remind me of the endless Wheel of Time saga. And I was saddened to hear that the author of that series died after writing a prequel and ELEVEN books (over 9700 pages) but BEFORE finishing the final book. Apparently his wife and the publisher have found someone to finish the twelfth book. But back to Fire and Ice. The first three books are excellent and it is interesting to note when they were written. #1 A Game of Thrones (1996), #2 A Clash of Kings (1998), #3 A Storm of Swords (2000). Then it was a five year wait until Book #4 (Feast for Crows). And even then, Feast for Crows is only the first half of Book #4, and doesn't really cover any of the major characters from Book #3. Apparently the full book #4 would have been about 1400 pages, just too long for a book. So it was split in half. When it was published, the second half (#4b?) was slated for summer 2006. Well, now it is said to be ready in September 2008. This is scarily reminiscent of what happened with Wheel of Time - the plot got so overwhelmingly complex with so many different characters that it became hard to read and overwhelming to write. Yet the story is compelling and the writing is good, so the reader is hooked - and frustrated.
The story is far too complicated to summarize, so I won't try - and there are many websites dedicated to this world, with Wikipedia's http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Song_of_Fire_and_Ice being a good start.
My advice - that I won't follow - is WAIT UNTIL IT IS DONE! Then buy them all and read them all the way through. It is a good time to spend a month. The first "three and half" books are almost 3800 pages, so it is a good value for your money (and there was a Kindle special, so I got the first two books for $3.50 each).
Recommended - NO ONE - at least not until it is complete.