The hardcover version of the book is just over 700 pages. It is not the easiest or quickest read. Not only is it long, but it goes into great detail about the reigns of the various Targaryen kings, queens, princesses, etc., as told from the notes of the maesters of the time. There are many characters in the book, and Martin reuses the first names of the various members of the Targaryen family, so it is sometimes hard to tell exactly who he is talking about. Plus, the fact that the story is not told linearly can make it hard to follow when Martin keeps jumping around and referring to past events and characters. While I am not one who is pissed that Martin worked on this (and other) novels before finishing the next book in the "main" series, I think it would have been better to focus on one or two characters and break this into two or three books. That said, it provides a very informative history and provides details that will probably be omitted from the TV series. So, it is worth the time to read.