I am proud to say that I finished all 1000+ pages of A Storm of Swords, the third installment of George R. R. Martin's Game of Thrones series (and I only had to renew it twice from the library to do so). For those of you unfamiliar with Game of Thrones/Song of Ice and Fire, it is the fantasy series recently turned into a TV show by HBO. It's Lord of the Rings with more complex characters, more political intrigue, and of course, way more boobs and beheadings.
The series takes place in a universe stuck in the Middle Ages; the trade off for lack of indoor plumbing and electricity is that they get to play with magic and dragons. The story can be confusing at first because there are so many characters. Martin introduces over 1000 characters in the series (not this book alone), and the main characters are part of seven different kingdoms. I had to write down a cheat sheet at first so I could remember who everyone was.
Once you're acquainted with the basics of the story line and the characters, these books are so good. The books are broken up into chapters told from different characters' points of view. This makes the "goodness" and the "badness" of the characters less distinct- which makes the story way more fun in my opinion.
A Storm of Swords tells the story of the battle at the "Wall," the dragon queen's conquests, and the War of the Five Kings (see - even that is complicated. Why couldn't it have just been two or three kings?). One of the biggest plot twists of all the whole series takes place in this book and left me saying "Why George R. R. Martin?? Why would you do that? Do you hate your characters?" This book also left me wondering how Arya could have such a boring story line when she is such an amazing chracter. And when Sansa will grow up and stop acting stupid. And what Tyrion is going to do now that he ... well you'll know if you read the book.
Now that I've finished the book, I can finally start watching the third season of the TV show - which correlates with the first half of this book. Season 4 will take on the second half. And in case you're worried what people will think of you if you start reading this book, just know you're not alone.