I have recommended Game of Thrones to every last one of my friends, and in every case, they came to me when they were finished reading the book with a look of wide-eyed wonder on their faces. Martin accomplished more in just one book than Jordan has managed in SEVEN. Game of Thrones is sweeping and powerful, evoking mythic elements and a grand sequence of events that resonate like a Shakespearean tragedy. I eagerly await A Clash of Kings, and like another reviewer, I intend to save these books for the day my children are ready to read a classic fantasy series.