there are about a billion reviews of this one so i doubt i have anything to add. the only thing i feel truly compelled to say is TYRION THE DWARF IS AWESOME! my God, i haven't read a character who is so different and so enjoyable in years. many-layered and consistently surprising, hero & antihero, generous & spiteful in equal amounts, as capable of high-handed miscalculation as he is of clever deduction, brave & loyal & vindictive... just overall a superb creation. Tyrion, you are the tops! and now you're going to be played by the studliest dwarf actor in the business. GO, TYRION, GO!the novel itself is fast-paced and fun, featuring lavish and completely enjoyable world-building, a narrative that is widescreen in scope but often intimate is scale, some nifty twists, and strong & vivid characterizations. this is not a novel with much idiosyncratic "style" but there is a very literary feel to it nonetheless. it is complex but straightforward, nuanced, carefully planned writing, in the classic historical-novel mode... but made grand & epic by the range of fascinating (and overlapping) multiple perspectives. the action scenes are sparse but very well-rendered; the magic is likewise rare but that rarity make each appearance even more fascinating. although it is all rather archetypal and familiar, it is still never less than pleasing.
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when thinking on it again, a few months after first reading it, everything just seems perfectly accomplished, even meaningful. DING DING DING!! you & your sequel just won 1 more star, congratulations amazing novel!
