[afa]

I'm very, very surprised by your evaluation, =X=. The first 3 books of the series are terrific, and the third is widely considered the best. Can I ask what was it about them you didn't like?

For me, I would say the first three would all get at least a 4 out of 5 stars. It's only the last two books that were disappointing. Although somewhat forgiveable, since they would probably be the equivalent of the 'middle part' of a trilogy.

And like all middle parts, it's got the difficult task of keeping the story interesting while still developing details to flesh out the plot.

In any case, I disagree with most of the opinions here. I would say A Song of Ice and Fire is a very good series. But considering how long Martin seems to take to write, it might be better to get a good idea about when he will actually wrap things up before delving into them.