George Martin is a stunning story teller with a vast ego. Too much of the story is staged wandering from one place to another, with little purpose ex...more George Martin is a stunning story teller with a vast ego. Too much of the story is staged wandering from one place to another, with little purpose except to give the character of Arya, the 11 year old daughter of Eddark Stark, a mention. There are other errors too. Armies have hundreds and thousands of soldiers but there is no population. The time scale implies months and years but only weeks seems to have passed. However, despite the verbosity of Martin, this is an amazing read. If only I had his powers of description. But for me – a shade too long.(less)