Book Review – Game of Thrones
Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin:
From the back of the book: ‘In a land where summers can last decades and winters a lifetime, trouble is brewing. The cold is returning, and in the frozen wastes of the North of Winterfell, sinister and supernatural forces are massing beyond the kingdom’s protective Wall. At the center of the conflict lie the Starks of Winterfell, a family as harsh and unyielding as the land they were born to. Sweeping from a land of brutal cold to a distant summertime kingdom of epicurean plenty, here is a tale of lords and ladies, soldiers and sorcerers, assassins and bastards, who come together in a time of grim omens. Amid plots and counterplots, tragedy and betrayal, victory and terror, the fate of the Starks, the allies, and their enemies hangs perilously in the balance, as each endeavors to win that deadliest of conflicts: the game of thrones.’
Game of Thrones is book 1 in the series Song of Ice and Fire. I was attracted to reading this as I originally watched the HBO Series and was so taken with it, that I couldn’t wait to get my hands on the book. I have never read anything of George Martin’s before but I can tell you that I wasn’t disappointed and I was also amazed to see how very near the book HBO’s series was.
George Martin weaves a tale that is both compelling and intriguing, it certainly keeps one turning the pages. This novel will take you on an adventure where you will meet a diverse cast of characters; where dire wolves roam the land again and battles are fought for high stakes, all this and a spattering of romance and magic—what more could one ask for?
Martin’s ability to write descriptively takes the reader right into his world, and he gives you just enough information to allow your own imagination to take over. This is fantasy at its best. It combines a true mixture of the right ingredients in the right proportions, that make a good fantasy work.
I liked how Martin walked us through the tale by introducing us to each character chapter by chapter, (each chapter is focused on one character) and how we continued to follow this adventure by each of the character’s experiences and involvement with the other characters. There are plots and counterplots going on, but these are not difficult to follow and I think that is because we are following each character’s progress in each new chapter.
This is no small story he is telling, it is an epic fantasy and one I will certainly follow through the other four books. If like me, you do like fantasy that takes you on a journey to fuel your imagination, then George R.R. Martin’s Game of Thrones is a book for you.
I am very happy to give this book the HelenScribbles thumbs up.
Martin has repeatedly said he left the television industry years ago in order to write stories they didn’t have the budget for. Lucky him, all the years and enthusiasm for speculative fiction later, HBO was eager to try. I like the novel significantly more, and by Book 3 he seems to have gotten even smarter with structure and character dynamism. Do you have any favorite characters, Helen?
Hi John,
I really liked Tyrion for someone who had a real disadvantage he still tackled life full on. And Jon the bastard I liked how he accepted he wasn’t a Stark in name and yet he was a Stark in his heart. My last choice was Daenerys, she was thrown into a marriage, used by her brother as means to buy his army, yet she adapted so well and really came out on top.
I do love Game of Thrones although I’ve only ventured as far as the TV series. I had heard the show was very close to the book although I do suspect the novel has a lot more dire wolf action!
I’ve decided however _not_ to start reading the books because a) I’m already crawling my through at least other epic fantasy serials and b) Don’t want to end up in the place of getting confused between the screen and page versions of the story. That might sound terrible, but now that I’m committed to the TV version I don’t want to spoiling what’s around the next corner or getting annoyed because they’ve gone of course from the source material.
Hi David, I found watching the TV series first then reading the book really didn’t spoil either for me – in fact I’m now watching a repeat performance of the TV series. As I said the book and the TV series are very close to each other, but of course there is more in the book, because they can’t show every detail in theTV series. I will probably watch the second series before I read the second book. In the meantime I have several other books I wish to read but I am looking forward to book two of this wonderful epic fantasy. ^__^