I made it! All four (at the time, anyway) GOT books. It's funny, after I added this to my "currently reading" list, Goodreads kept sending me reminders to log on and let everyone know what I was reading. I had just added a 4k page 4 volume set to my queue. What do you think I was reading?

ANYWAY, It's a pretty amazing series, and I highly recommend it for anyone who is a fan of the show but has yet to take the printed plunge.

I'm not usually a fantasy reader, so I can't really compare and contrast this series vs. anything else, but I've been assured it's pretty much top drawer. I mean, it would have to be to sell so many books and get the attention of HBO...Oh wait, that's right, we live in a world where Twilight exists. Scratch that theory.

There were a few times in the later books where I felt like I was catching on to some of the author's literary tricks and could see a few things coming, but that might have been more about Martin's style than any sort of shortcoming. Plus, at almost 4,000 pages, you can expect every single chapter to be flawless.

So yeah, if you like the show and have the time, read the books. You won't be sorry.