"The major fantasy of the decade . . . compulsively readable."--Denver Post "We have been invited to a grand feast and pageant: George R.R. Martin has unveiled for us an intensely realized, romantic but realistic world."--Chicago Sun-Times "A Best Book of 1996: Martin makes a triumphant return to high fantasy . . . [with] superbly developed characters, accomplished prose, and sheer bloodymindedness."--Publishers Weekly, starred review "A splendid saga . . . . Inventive and intricately plotted."--BookPage "Magic . . . George R.R.Martin's first fantasy epic [is set] well above the norms of the genre."--Locus "Such a splendid tale and such a fantasticorical! I read my eyes out and couldn't stop 'til I finished and it was dawn."--Anne McCaffrey.