From a review of the audio version: I read this years ago, and all I remembered is that so many people died. When I made the decision to revisit A Song of Ice and Fire, and this time move beyond book one, I chose to listen to the audio version. It was like a completely different book. Sure, lots of people pop off, but that's hard not to do in a world based on something medieval. What I found this time were some very compelling story arcs that will lead me into the rest of the series eventually. I was particularly struck by how in depth and well written the children characters, and the women characters were done. (And of course Tyrion (I had to look up the spelling of his name, since I'd gone audio). Perhaps the more broken or weak a character type is often portrayed in fantasy, the more depth and strength Martin granted them in this series. Having recently read/re-read another epic fantasy series, which had moments I loved and moments that didn't hit the mark for me, I was fascinated by how very human, raw, and earthy these characters and this world was. There were a lot more cocks and (female body part C word which I don't like to use)'s in this book than in any of the fantasy books I've recently read. But those moments, the descriptions of sex, battle, and the spectrum in between, helped carve a world that seems real in my reader's mind. The differences between it and our own are a fascination every time something is revealed.

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