Reddit mentions of The Winter King (The Arthur Books #1)

1. The Winter King - Bernard Cornwell
   
2. 10/10
   
3. Historical Fiction (as best as I can describe it)
   
4. Cornwell basically takes all you think you know about Arthurian legend (the round table, lady of the lake) and tosses is out and rewrites it into a more believable tale of what most likely happened. The POV is from a made up character that interacts with Arthur through out his life from birth. You will want to finish this trilogy halfway through the first chapter.
   
5. http://www.amazon.com/Winter-King-Arthur-Books/dp/0312156960

[The faithful one would be this one.] (http://www.amazon.com/Winter-King-Arthur-Books/dp/0312156960/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1426043827&sr=8-6&keywords=bernard+cornwell)

Here are the links:

First
Second
Third

I would put these easily on par with Martin's SoIaF series, and they're already complete!

I'm moving on now to the Malazan Book of the Fallen series, and just wanted to give this series some well deserved promotion. 5 of 5 stars.

Bernard Cornwell's battle scenes are some of my favorite. They're one of the main reasons I really liked the Warlord Chronicles. (link)

I'm a huge fan of the historical fiction by Bernard Cornwell--especially the Arthurian legend trilogy, the Warlord Chronicles (beginning with the Winter King). Obviously Arthurian tales influenced and captivated Tolkien, as demonstrated by his poetry, but these books are just spot-on for any lover of good fiction with fantasy elements.

So, I was in the same boat as you for a while in terms of what the hell to read for fantasy after GRRM. I highly suggest switching over to historical fiction for a bit, Bernard Cornwell to be exact.

Read his Warlord Chronicles, starts with The Winter King. Very dark and real retelling of the events of King Arthur.

I also HIGHLY recommend his Saxon Stories series, which starts with The Last Kingdom.

Both are fantastic series, and are actually quite similar to each other.

I highly recommend this historical fiction series by Bernard Cornwell.

The Winter King is the first book of it

Try some of Martin's literary influences:

1. Roger Zelazny's Amber series is fantastic - http://www.amazon.com/Great-Book-Amber-Complete-Chronicles/dp/0380809060/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1319117304&sr=1-1
   
   
2. Heinlein's Stranger in a Strange Land, one of my favorite Heinlein books - http://www.amazon.com/Stranger-Strange-Land-Robert-Heinlein/dp/0441788386/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1319117340&sr=1-2
   
   
3. If you haven't tried reading any historical fiction, you should, as its also a big influence of aSoIaF. Try Bernard Cornwell's series of books on King Arthur, starting with The Winter King - http://www.amazon.com/Winter-King-Arthur-Books/dp/0312156960/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1319117665&sr=8-9

The Winter King