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4.51 AVERAGE
4.51 AVERAGE
If you have watched the series, this book will hold no new secret for you. I however did enjoy the slight differences between the two which still made it an enjoyable read.
It took me a long time to finish this book and I'm a fast reader. I think it was because of the intensity of the situations and I just got so absorbed into the emotions of the story. I just needed time to cool down because I seriously wanted to punch some of the characters sometimes. That's what's great about this book. It just pulls you in.
I really enjoyed the way it was written (with each chapter told by a different character). It made me see a lot of different character's point of view and I could never quite decide who to cheer for (except of Prince Joffrey and the Queen! Ugh I hate them both!) My favorite characters were Arya and Tyrion :) LOVED THEM! Tyrion has all the best lines and Arya a strong courageous girl! Her sister Sansa just annoys the heck out of me! Actually, she must be the most clueless person in the book who causes the most damage to the ones she loves.
Anyways! I'm looking forward to reading the next book in this series but I have to take a break for a while. Maybe I'll start watching the HBO series!
I really enjoyed the way it was written (with each chapter told by a different character). It made me see a lot of different character's point of view and I could never quite decide who to cheer for (except of Prince Joffrey and the Queen! Ugh I hate them both!) My favorite characters were Arya and Tyrion :) LOVED THEM! Tyrion has all the best lines and Arya a strong courageous girl! Her sister Sansa just annoys the heck out of me! Actually, she must be the most clueless person in the book who causes the most damage to the ones she loves.
Anyways! I'm looking forward to reading the next book in this series but I have to take a break for a while. Maybe I'll start watching the HBO series!
Nearly 3 years after starting it, I'm finished. I owe a debt to the tv show for inspiring me to pick it back up and trudge through the series before either the next season (which may be too ambitious) or The Winds of Winter comes out. My favorite books are Tolkien's. Martin takes the same strand of epic fantasy and continues it. The differences are certainly there.. this is not a story of good vs evil like The Lord of the Rings. However, the world is full of factions and places and back-stories that would make Tolkien proud. It's a dark, gritty story that is unforgettable, and I'm glad I began to read it again.
Really good high fanasty series. My only problem is that I’m now caught up and am waiting impatiently for Winds of Winter
Game of Thrones is a complex story about many different characters struggling to live their life and do what they feel is right. Many are feuding with each other. Many are just struggling to discover the truth and stay out of trouble as best as they can. Some are even heavily invested in the game of thrones that they seem to always play.
I really enjoyed this book. I am surprised I did. I avoided it and the show because I was convinced I wouldn't like it. At first, I really didn't like it at all. If it wasn't for the fact that I was buddy reading it, I'd of set it down to give another chance later down the road. I did have to go back and re-read it at one point, but I pushed through. I'm glad I did now.
I don't really dislike anything about this book, but I do feel it's fair to say that extreme attention needs to be paid. The story can be quite complex. There are many different characters with their own different stories to tell. Multiple points of view like that just aren't really for everybody. I personally don't mind it.
I recommend this book completely. I can't wait to dive into the rest of the series just to find out what's happened. I know the gist of most of the series thanks to having many friends who are diehard fans of the show, but I want to experience it all for myself. I'm giving this book a full five-star rating.
I really enjoyed this book. I am surprised I did. I avoided it and the show because I was convinced I wouldn't like it. At first, I really didn't like it at all. If it wasn't for the fact that I was buddy reading it, I'd of set it down to give another chance later down the road. I did have to go back and re-read it at one point, but I pushed through. I'm glad I did now.
I don't really dislike anything about this book, but I do feel it's fair to say that extreme attention needs to be paid. The story can be quite complex. There are many different characters with their own different stories to tell. Multiple points of view like that just aren't really for everybody. I personally don't mind it.
I recommend this book completely. I can't wait to dive into the rest of the series just to find out what's happened. I know the gist of most of the series thanks to having many friends who are diehard fans of the show, but I want to experience it all for myself. I'm giving this book a full five-star rating.
This is my second time reading A Game of Thrones. The first time, back in 2012, was before I was terribly prolific with writing reviews, so I don't have much to compare this experience to besides a five-star rating. However, since the HBO show's lackluster series finale, I've had the bug to tackle these books again, to remind myself all the ways in which the books differed from the show, and (perhaps foolishly) to better position myself for when the fabled Winds of Winter finally comes out. Being stuck inside during a global pandemic seemed like the perfect time to abandon this world altogether and return to Westeros, and I'm glad I did.
The five star rating definitely holds. As fantasy series go (and, honestly, just fiction in general), George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire sets the gold standard. The plot is so well-worn in the public consciousness that I don't think I need to spend much time on what actually happens in this first installment: we are introduced to the Stark family of Winterfell, see their family scattered to the cruel winds as the machinations of the scheming Lannisters builds up to and then explodes into civil war across the realm. At the same time, in exile in the Far East, the last remaining heir to the deposed king of Westeros, Daenerys, comes into her own and decides to seek the crown lost to her before she was born.
That's what happens in a nutshell, but there's a lot else going on under the surface. The characters are well-drawn and wonderfully complex. Even better, they are written by an author who understands how the mechanisms of political power work and is unapologetic about realistically depicting the lessons of history. I know this series in general has been given critiques of being "too dark," but having been a student of history, I know how its horrors are too often glossed over for a more rosy, heroic view. GRRM never does this, and often plays and subverts such tropes deliberately. (Littlefinger, for example, telling Sansa that real life is not like the songs, and that she may learn that one day to her sorrow – this is a pitch perfect microcosm of this book and the series at large.) Furthermore, the author is never concerned with putting a modern gaze on a setting that has a fundamentally different frame of reference. For this, I respect him greatly, but I can understand it's not for everyone.
However, while my rating didn't change from my previous read, this time around, I was certainly aware of how much I've changed. The first time I was chiefly concerned about the characters. This time, I was concerned about the world and its politics. GRRM is a master of world-building, and I was constantly pleased how many references that become relevant later were packed into this volume. The world in this series is a fully realized, breathing and roiling thing. I've tried to read too many fantasy stories lately where the scope of the world feels blurry and small. Additionally, GRRM has an incredibly strong grasp of politics and warfare on a macro level – period appropriate, yes, but much of the political actors in Westeros ring true in an international relations context today. It doesn't matter what century or world it is; humanity has its schemers, opportunists, warmongers and people upon which greatness is thrust and they're just trying to deal with it. That's the real achievement of Game of Thrones, and what makes it stand out among many other stories that have the trappings of the "fantasy" genre.
On top of it all, there is a wonderful undercurrent of mysticism. I don't know how I missed it the first time, but I did. This book is chock full of lore, of stories of half-remembered ages past that were more magical than the current day. Constant hints abound that this magic is not lost, but gone underground and working in more subtle, mysterious ways. This provides a salve for the the gritty, cutthroat political actions and hints to something greater. For the players on this massive field, there is a possibility that the noble and righteous can overcome even with all the evils of mankind stacked against them.
If magic still exists out there somewhere, perhaps so does hope. I didn't realize how much I needed to hear that right now.
The five star rating definitely holds. As fantasy series go (and, honestly, just fiction in general), George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire sets the gold standard. The plot is so well-worn in the public consciousness that I don't think I need to spend much time on what actually happens in this first installment: we are introduced to the Stark family of Winterfell, see their family scattered to the cruel winds as the machinations of the scheming Lannisters builds up to and then explodes into civil war across the realm. At the same time, in exile in the Far East, the last remaining heir to the deposed king of Westeros, Daenerys, comes into her own and decides to seek the crown lost to her before she was born.
That's what happens in a nutshell, but there's a lot else going on under the surface. The characters are well-drawn and wonderfully complex. Even better, they are written by an author who understands how the mechanisms of political power work and is unapologetic about realistically depicting the lessons of history. I know this series in general has been given critiques of being "too dark," but having been a student of history, I know how its horrors are too often glossed over for a more rosy, heroic view. GRRM never does this, and often plays and subverts such tropes deliberately. (Littlefinger, for example, telling Sansa that real life is not like the songs, and that she may learn that one day to her sorrow – this is a pitch perfect microcosm of this book and the series at large.) Furthermore, the author is never concerned with putting a modern gaze on a setting that has a fundamentally different frame of reference. For this, I respect him greatly, but I can understand it's not for everyone.
However, while my rating didn't change from my previous read, this time around, I was certainly aware of how much I've changed. The first time I was chiefly concerned about the characters. This time, I was concerned about the world and its politics. GRRM is a master of world-building, and I was constantly pleased how many references that become relevant later were packed into this volume. The world in this series is a fully realized, breathing and roiling thing. I've tried to read too many fantasy stories lately where the scope of the world feels blurry and small. Additionally, GRRM has an incredibly strong grasp of politics and warfare on a macro level – period appropriate, yes, but much of the political actors in Westeros ring true in an international relations context today. It doesn't matter what century or world it is; humanity has its schemers, opportunists, warmongers and people upon which greatness is thrust and they're just trying to deal with it. That's the real achievement of Game of Thrones, and what makes it stand out among many other stories that have the trappings of the "fantasy" genre.
On top of it all, there is a wonderful undercurrent of mysticism. I don't know how I missed it the first time, but I did. This book is chock full of lore, of stories of half-remembered ages past that were more magical than the current day. Constant hints abound that this magic is not lost, but gone underground and working in more subtle, mysterious ways. This provides a salve for the the gritty, cutthroat political actions and hints to something greater. For the players on this massive field, there is a possibility that the noble and righteous can overcome even with all the evils of mankind stacked against them.
If magic still exists out there somewhere, perhaps so does hope. I didn't realize how much I needed to hear that right now.
Allrighty, so people keep on saying how either amazing this book is or how dull...I think it is pretty good, there are unique characters who I really cared for (Arya, Tyrion, Jon Snow). The book itself isn't bad but it is quite slow in the beginning and for me didn't seem to really pick up until about halfway through. There are also many characters making it confusing because I didn't always know who's trying to kill who and for what reason. The plot twists don't help the confusion much and at one point in time I was just tired of all the back-stabbing and other forms of treachery.
Unfortunately , I have wachted the tv show first. :(
I think it wasn't a very good idea to read this book after waching the show. I love this fantastic story very much but I was hoping there will be some changes, difirences beteween book and a tv show, but there wasn't any so far , so becouse of that I didn't finish the book.
I think it wasn't a very good idea to read this book after waching the show. I love this fantastic story very much but I was hoping there will be some changes, difirences beteween book and a tv show, but there wasn't any so far , so becouse of that I didn't finish the book.
The illustrations were lovely, and I remember now why I love this book and show so much. Still a fantastic novel even after 4 years of last reading it. I will continue to re-read the series to get myself all remembered on the history that is told and the main story for season 8 of the show. I have a feeling a lot of the history told in the book will be involved in season 8 and I need to remember. Been a little lost the past few seasons.
