It has been pretty laborious to get through. I read a lot of the books while I was on a traveling binge for work. I burned through the first four books in a few months, and then I let book 5 sit for a while. All in all, I think I got through the whole of the five books in 7 months or so. But I really was off and on. I'd read a few hundred pages in a week, not touch it for a week, then read a couple hundred more. I actually finished Book 5 the night my youngest was born. I stayed up and finished the book around 1 AM, and my my wife woke me up at 3 AM and said we needed to get to the hospital.
Anyway, great books. Love them. Ruins HBO for me because I feel like it's the Cliff's Notes version, but he does drop a few things in the show that he didn't specifically mention in the books (i.e. Renly and Loras).
The best character in the book is Tyrion, IMO, but my favorite is Arya. Her journey over the five books is pretty amazing. Who she is when we leave her in ADwD is just so awesome. There are so many great cliffhangers for so many major characters in Book 5 that it's phenomenal.
Also, he needs to figure out what he's doing with Bran. That crap is losing steam quickly.
And, for the love of God, get someone over to Asshai and Sothyros.
