I actually got hooked on the books from watching the HBO series which I thought was one of the best tv shows I have ever seen. I started reading the first book when episode 5 was on HBO and I couldnt put the book down, actually finishing the first book before episode 10 was over.
Even knowing the major events that were going to happen in episodes 9 and 10, I still thought they were great. I am now in the middle of book 3 and this has become my favorite book series of all time.
The character development and discription of places and things is FANTASTIC in this series. I actually feel like I am FREEZING when they are beyond the Wall and burning up when they are crossing the Dothraki desert. I have heard from several people that Book 4 is the slowest and hardest read to get through. Hopefully that isn't true.
I would encourage anyone to read this wonderful series.