I highly recommend this book and the books that continue the series. George R.R. Martin is one of the best writers I've come across in the Fantasy genre. His stories don't follow the "traditional" arc that has been established by Tolkien and others. Instead he writes characters who live their lives in such a believable way, that it seems more an accounting of fact than fiction. The world and it's peoples are nuanced, intelligent, tense, and gritty.

Oh, but please forgive the first 30 or so pages. They are terrible. More to the point they are amateurish and boring as they tell a story that isn't terribly important, interesting, or fun. In fact, find someone who has read the book, ask them to identify those pages, and rip them from the book. You won't miss a single fact, plot point, or character, but you will have saved yourself potentially putting down the first book in the best fantasy series to date.