When I started the Song of Ice and Fire series a few years ago, I was blown away. The scale of the world and the depth of the characters  GRRM has created are unmatched by any fantasy series I've read, and yes, I have read Tolkien.POV chapters for this book are broken up between three different powerful families in the mythical land of Westeros; the Starks, the Lannisters, and the Targaryens. What makes this book so great is that we have sympathy for all of these families, or at least some of there individual members. Weaker writers build two-dimensional sum-of-all-evil characters for the heroes to fight, but not Martin. All the characters are complex and fully formed.And the plot of course is excellent. There's fighting, humor, horror, everything you could expect out a series. He avoids cliche's in favor of great twists and turns.Get this book. Now. 

Question: How is the story line?
Answer: the plot of course is excellent