I was not sure for the entire first book if I liked that book or not. This book took about 500 pages to get moving. Those first 500 pages were very slow and took me over a month and a half to read. The 2nd 500 pages went quite quickly and I read in the past week or two.

The characters are fabulous. There are ones you don't like, ones you like, ones you love to hate, and the twists are really good. I am often surprised at what happens next. Martin does not follow "the rules" which irked me at first, but it is growing on me. I still don't like that his book seems to just end and you have to read the next book already. I have several other books I need to read and get moving on their spirals, as well as books to read before I give it to my daughter and son to read.

Of course, I am moving onto the next book in the series and will probably read the series out, assuming Martin finishes it.