Wow. At first I was unsure whether or not to start another potentialy trashy fantasy series, there are just too many bad books out there. But I was wonderfully impressed by this book, and the two that follow it. They are very rich in detail and the imagery is fantastic. Not only that but you dont have to wade through those cheesy tawdry sex scenes like so many fantasy authors love to pepper their stories with (Goodkind comes to mind). Bottom line, if you have the time to start a great series than I would highly recommend this one. If not, find the time.

First of all let me say that I really enjoyed this book, and the next two that have come out so far as well. It is engrossing and the world Martin has created is spectacular. Many people have a problem with the plethora of names, especially in the first book when they are all unkowns, and I admit that it threw me for a while too. One of the major rules of writing is to keep the number of names to a minimum to avoid confusion and eventual dislike of your story. However, once you start to get a grip on all of the names you begin to really get into a wonderful story that I would highly recommend. The reason I gave it four out of five stars, however, is the ultra trashy seedy sex scenes peppered throughout the series. At first you read it and think "Whoa, what just happened" then after the second or third such scene you begin to dread them coming along. Let me just say that using words like "throbbing manhood" or "taking him into her", things like that should be avoided like the plague. If your going to talk about sex just say what you mean and avoid the cliche and stupid sayings, it just embarasses me to read things like that. If your going to say penis than just say it. But besides that the series is quite good and worth your time, just skip a couple of paragraphs everytime a scene starts to heat up and get cheesy.

Bottom line is, this book was a great read, I enjoyed it immensely and whether or not it is a truthful portrayal of Opus Dei or Mary Magdalene isn't really important. It's just a book, take it as it is and enjoy it for what it is.