Montgomery Webster

Story: 7 / 10
Characters: 8
Setting: 9
Prose: 7

Sadly not the “best fantasy book ever”, as I was told. However, certainly a contender for my Top 5. Although I did love the book, there are a few overwhelming issues with the plot that limited my enjoyment.
1. The story has no central character. The saga centres on the Stark family as a whole, thus denying the reader a central conflict to maintain interest. Since most of the characters are children, they are simply victims of pomp and circumstance. A third of the way into the book, it looked as though Lord Stark was the main player. However, the conflict he was following immediately changes form. Ultimately, there isn't a single story being told; the story is multifaceted, but at the expense of its clarity.
2. Two characters besides the Starks are followed: Tyrion and Daenerys. Why are they there? One of them is especially problematic for the reader.

Certainly not going to continue with the literary series. Nevertheless, now that I've invested so much time in the book, I can endure the lacklustre first episode and watch the TV series.

Story: 8 / 10
Characters: 10
Setting: 10
Prose: 7.5

Story: 1.0 / 10
Characters: 8
Setting: 7.5
Prose: 9

I have never had such mixed feelings about a book before. Rendezvous with Rama was a poetically simple, adventure story and offers little else. I experienced the probable uncertainly that our future ancestors will likely face. However, the neutral and honest story is not sufficiently interesting and only contained a few small conflicts.

I may not read another Clarke novel.

Looks like I accidentally read this after Shadows in Flight, though not too sure whether a made a distinct difference. Anyway, I generally enjoyed the book, but like Ender's Game the ending sucks outright.