A Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire, Book 1)
NOW THE ACCLAIMED HBO SERIES GAME OF THRONES--THE MASTERPIECE THAT BECAME A CULTURAL PHENOMENON Winter is coming. Such is the stern motto of House Stark, the northernmost of the fiefdoms that owe allegiance to King Robert Baratheon in far-off King's Landing. There Eddard Stark of Winterfell rules in Robert's name. There his family dwells in peace and comfort: his proud wife, Catelyn; his sons Robb, Brandon, and Rickon; his daughters Sansa and Arya; and his bastard son, Jon Snow. Far to the north, behind the towering Wall, lie savage Wildings and worse--unnatural things relegated to myth during the centuries-long summer, but proving all too real and all too deadly in the turning of the season. Yet a more immediate threat lurks to the south, where Jon Arryn, the Hand of the King, has died under mysterious circumstances. Now Robert is riding north to Winterfell, bringing his queen, the lovely but cold Cersei, his son, the cruel, vainglorious Prince Joffrey, and the queen's brothers Jaime and Tyrion of the powerful and wealthy House Lannister--the first a swordsman without equal, the second a dwarf whose stunted stature belies a brilliant mind. All are heading for Winterfell and a fateful encounter that will change the course of kingdoms. Meanwhile, across the Narrow Sea, Prince Viserys, heir of the fallen House Targaryen, which once ruled all of Westeros, schemes to reclaim the throne with an army of barbarian Dothraki--whose loyalty he will purchase in the only coin left to him: his beautiful yet innocent sister, Daenerys.
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This series has been on my TBR and my bookshelf for years. I have also never seen the show so I came into this without any prior knowledge.
I loved the first ~75% of the book. About halfway through I was so ready to give it 5 â but I had a hard time staying engaged the last 100 pages or so.
There's definitely a lot of details and names to keep straight, but it wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. I do think the author does a good job of reminding you who someone is if it's the first few times they've been mentioned or introduced. But there are a LOT of background characters/names that you only read about for a handful of chapters.
I also wasn't sure how I'd feel about some of the rape, assault, misogyny, incest, animal abuse, etc...lets just say that vulgarity is commonplace through the entire book (and I'm assuming the rest of the series). Much of it was described or mentioned in passing so kind of left to the readers imagination, but there were a handful of scenes that made me cringe HARD and question what I was reading.
Lastly, I think there's something to be said for the female characters, both the good and the evil ones. War sure as hell would have looked a lot different if the women were allowed to rule and command armies without their male kings and counterparts. Talk about impatient, immature, blood thirsty men who think with the wrong head.
Spoiler alert... if you're looking for dragons, you don't get them until the very last page of the book
I loved the first ~75% of the book. About halfway through I was so ready to give it 5 â but I had a hard time staying engaged the last 100 pages or so.
There's definitely a lot of details and names to keep straight, but it wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. I do think the author does a good job of reminding you who someone is if it's the first few times they've been mentioned or introduced. But there are a LOT of background characters/names that you only read about for a handful of chapters.
I also wasn't sure how I'd feel about some of the rape, assault, misogyny, incest, animal abuse, etc...lets just say that vulgarity is commonplace through the entire book (and I'm assuming the rest of the series). Much of it was described or mentioned in passing so kind of left to the readers imagination, but there were a handful of scenes that made me cringe HARD and question what I was reading.
Lastly, I think there's something to be said for the female characters, both the good and the evil ones. War sure as hell would have looked a lot different if the women were allowed to rule and command armies without their male kings and counterparts. Talk about impatient, immature, blood thirsty men who think with the wrong head.
Spoiler alert... if you're looking for dragons, you don't get them until the very last page of the book
My full review can be found here: http://jamierubin.net/2011/05/16/how-george-r-r-martin-made-me-a-fan-of-epic-fantasy-a-review-of-game-of-thrones
Incredible world building. Really hard reading after watching the show and knowing Ned’s going to die. He fumbles so hard at every turn so he can do things the honorable way and it gets him killed. Probably my least favorite book in the series but still an incredible read.
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