Williams sets up his world with a variety of peoples who are analogues of cultures in our own world. There's a struggle for succession, an alliance with evil elves, and a young man has to try to find a set of legendary swords (named Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn) in order to stop the alliance and put the better prince into power.

That's a pretty bare-bones summary, but it hits the main points. The series comes from Williams taking what inspires him from the Lord of the Rings and other high fantasy, and adding in some of the politics that then inspired Martin. The politics aren't as in-depth as Martin's, though, but the series is completed, which is a plus.