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4.51 AVERAGE
4.51 AVERAGE
"A Game of Thrones" is a deep, broad and compelling work of medieval-style fantasy. I'm not a reader of much fantasy, but after watching a preview of the new HBO series (starting in April 2011), I found myself drawn in by the mystique, texture and composition of the story.
The twisting and extensive story is equal parts medieval historical fiction and fantasy. The book is long at over 700 pages, many taken up with well-crafted character development and exposition. The scenery, outfits, and activities are very middle ages European: well-hewn swords, knights in armor that gleams in a multitude of metallic shades, both honor and treachery are driving motivations for characters at all levels of the social stratosphere. There's a wee bit of magic, a zombie or two, and no fantasy-themed story can go too long without dragon lore.
The characters and backstories are plentiful and complicated. Martin has written detailed histories on all of the royal houses in an appendix and it will take more than a few references in your reading to get your arms around and feel comfortable with who's who and which houses are allies and which are enemies.
The core of the story revolves around the mysterious death of a key advisor to the king. His wife sends a message to her sister suggesting that the death was murder. This plot point is only a small device used as a launching point for the exploration of Martin's incredibly rich universe. Two houses are at odds...House Stark, led by the infinitely honorable, patient and noble Eddard Stark, and House Lannister, led by the irrepressibly conniving Cersei, Queen of the Seven Kingdoms and inheritor of a bloodline of dubious quality.
"Game of Thrones" is heavy...in details, exposition, in character development, and in world-building. It's not light reading, but it's fulfilling. "Thrones" is the first in a series by Martin and while some stories are built and resolved within "Thrones", very little is truly concluded. I find my mind drifting back To Martin's world a few days after I finished reading, and I think it won't be long before I return to the land of "Thrones".
The twisting and extensive story is equal parts medieval historical fiction and fantasy. The book is long at over 700 pages, many taken up with well-crafted character development and exposition. The scenery, outfits, and activities are very middle ages European: well-hewn swords, knights in armor that gleams in a multitude of metallic shades, both honor and treachery are driving motivations for characters at all levels of the social stratosphere. There's a wee bit of magic, a zombie or two, and no fantasy-themed story can go too long without dragon lore.
The characters and backstories are plentiful and complicated. Martin has written detailed histories on all of the royal houses in an appendix and it will take more than a few references in your reading to get your arms around and feel comfortable with who's who and which houses are allies and which are enemies.
The core of the story revolves around the mysterious death of a key advisor to the king. His wife sends a message to her sister suggesting that the death was murder. This plot point is only a small device used as a launching point for the exploration of Martin's incredibly rich universe. Two houses are at odds...House Stark, led by the infinitely honorable, patient and noble Eddard Stark, and House Lannister, led by the irrepressibly conniving Cersei, Queen of the Seven Kingdoms and inheritor of a bloodline of dubious quality.
"Game of Thrones" is heavy...in details, exposition, in character development, and in world-building. It's not light reading, but it's fulfilling. "Thrones" is the first in a series by Martin and while some stories are built and resolved within "Thrones", very little is truly concluded. I find my mind drifting back To Martin's world a few days after I finished reading, and I think it won't be long before I return to the land of "Thrones".
The reader for the 30+ hour audiobook did an excellent job reading for all the different characters and helping me keep them straight while listening to this book. I have found that I much prefer these sorts of battle-rich fantasy novels in audio format (see also [b:Eragon|113436|Eragon (Inheritance, #1)|Christopher Paolini|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1293505063s/113436.jpg|3178011] et seq., which is way worse than this one in terms of overwritten language). Generally, I didn't find the plot of this book particularly original, but at least a few of the characters were interesting enough for me to care what happened to them and I didn't mind the chapter-by-chapter perspective switching. I could do with a bit less feasting and a bit less sex with ten or twelve year old girls, but generally found my drive livened up by listening to this and would definitely be willing to listen to the second book if my library has it available for download or if I see it on special at audible.
Best Adventure/fantasy story ever. Can't wait to read the sequels, and watch the rest of the TV Series.
This was a reread for me and even better the second time. I think it helped that I didn't take huge breaks throughout the book and I have been watching the show. It's easier to take in and absorb the plot better. I love the political drama, the interesting characters, and the world Martin created. For those who haven't jumped on the bandwagon it might be difficult to follow for some, so I would recommend watching the show.
An Updated Review of A Game of Thrones
By; George RR Martin
‘ Robert Baratheon’s, King of Westeros, Hand Jon Arryn has been murderer, and he wants his best friend Eddard Stark, Lord of North, to take Arryn’s place. Leaving his family, with the exception of his daughters who are coming to King’s Landing, behind becomes Hand of the King. He finds himself mixed up in the dangerous politics of King’s Landing and mystery behind the murder of Jon Arryn. Can he trust the King’s wife, Queen Cersei Lannister or his advisors on King’s council?
Last time I reviewed this I feel like it was a poorly written review, so I’m writing a better and thorough one to replace it. Martin writes a story that keeps moving, but also has its quiet moments where characters are just talking and planning. The scenes that highlight how corrupt this world is are at King’s Landing. We see the failures of Robert as a king during the council meetings and are also introduced to the characters the reader should pay the most attention to, Lord Petyr Baelish (Littlefinger) and Varys. They know more than the other characters and are unpredictable and manipulative. They’re a prime example of how well Martin crafts complex characters that you have strong feelings for. Both the male and female characters are compelling and strong. Martin doesn’t stray away from vulgarity and gore as this world is cruel and war torn. There are plenty of blood-filled scenes and unfortunately the female characters are treated horribly and disgustingly. Women are raped, are whores, talked about in overly sexual terms and abused. Despite this we do have strong minded female characters like Catelyn Stark, Cersei Lannister, and Daenerys Targaryen. All three women have leadership roles and are more than sex objects, though Dany’s relationship with Khal Drogo leaves me with uncomfortable feelings. Martin creates a vivid setting with descriptive details on how the world looks and its history, but the details add to the length of novel making it 674 pages not counting the appendices. He writes from various perspectives allowing the reader to see all parts of the world and every important character’s feeling on what is going on in the story. It also enlightens reader to what is going on to the different parts of the world through various characters POVs.
An Updated Review of A Game of Thrones
By; George RR Martin
‘ Robert Baratheon’s, King of Westeros, Hand Jon Arryn has been murderer, and he wants his best friend Eddard Stark, Lord of North, to take Arryn’s place. Leaving his family, with the exception of his daughters who are coming to King’s Landing, behind becomes Hand of the King. He finds himself mixed up in the dangerous politics of King’s Landing and mystery behind the murder of Jon Arryn. Can he trust the King’s wife, Queen Cersei Lannister or his advisors on King’s council?
Last time I reviewed this I feel like it was a poorly written review, so I’m writing a better and thorough one to replace it. Martin writes a story that keeps moving, but also has its quiet moments where characters are just talking and planning. The scenes that highlight how corrupt this world is are at King’s Landing. We see the failures of Robert as a king during the council meetings and are also introduced to the characters the reader should pay the most attention to, Lord Petyr Baelish (Littlefinger) and Varys. They know more than the other characters and are unpredictable and manipulative. They’re a prime example of how well Martin crafts complex characters that you have strong feelings for. Both the male and female characters are compelling and strong. Martin doesn’t stray away from vulgarity and gore as this world is cruel and war torn. There are plenty of blood-filled scenes and unfortunately the female characters are treated horribly and disgustingly. Women are raped, are whores, talked about in overly sexual terms and abused. Despite this we do have strong minded female characters like Catelyn Stark, Cersei Lannister, and Daenerys Targaryen. All three women have leadership roles and are more than sex objects, though Dany’s relationship with Khal Drogo leaves me with uncomfortable feelings. Martin creates a vivid setting with descriptive details on how the world looks and its history, but the details add to the length of novel making it 674 pages not counting the appendices. He writes from various perspectives allowing the reader to see all parts of the world and every important character’s feeling on what is going on in the story. It also enlightens reader to what is going on to the different parts of the world through various characters POVs.
Took me long enough to finish it but it was totally worth the time because it was amazing!!! At first when I read what it is exactly about I was a bit skeptic because usually I don't like this sort of books that much, but this story somehow sucked me in. Author has a wonderful gift of storytelling, the book reads very smoothly and I actually enjoyed the descriptions which is unusual for me. The book has in it many unique characters and each character has a kind of separate story that in the end is a part of the much bigger picture which is being uncovered piece by piece through the course of the story. So many things happen, the big events are well spread through the book, not everything seems to happen at one time but you still get this feeling of surprise when you read something shocking and you think to yourself " Hey! Wasn't I just at the beginning and wasn't that character just introduced and now this is happening. How on earth this happened so quickly?" Though the story is very complex it is really easy to follow while you're reading it, even if you put the book aside for a while you can easily get back into it . The story is told from the point of view of 8 characters and instead of the number of the chapter you get a name of the person from whose point of view you will follow the story. This division works, author very skillfully changes the points of view. When you are reading the book you can actually feel that this part of the story is told by a different character that in the previous chapter. I found that even if I hated the character I loved the way the author wrote him/her and I think that says a lot about how good the author's writing is if you love the characters you hate. I loved the book and I will most certainly read the second volume, maybe check out the tv series and see if it's any good.
Fantastic book. Did get a bit lost at points but the writing was riveting. The complexity of the book was a bit beyond me - but also I read this book at a hectic point in my life where perhaps there wasn't much room for me to try remembering it all and keep track of all the details.
Amazing book, I wanted to read the book after watching the show and see the differences. I really love the descriptions and vivid imagery that GRRM uses in the book. I think that it gives more insight and you feel more connected within the book. There are only a few slight differences. I am going to be reading all of them, I love this series, shows and books.
4.5.
Oh god, this one was an amazing book. Its characters were so real, full of flaws, but congruent with their actions. I learned a little bit of EVERY them. I felt their sorrows, and they were full of them. They suffered a lot, and I can't say if I was sad or surprised or shocked or angry, or whaaat when I finished this book. I didn't expect all those plot twists and the betrayals, neither the way the things turned out.
It is true that the story line was slow paced, I didn't know what was happening, but I enjoyed the road. We don't have a lot of fantasy in this one, but I hope there will be more in the next books.
I am dying to watch the series, and read the next books.
Winter is coming.
Oh god, this one was an amazing book. Its characters were so real, full of flaws, but congruent with their actions. I learned a little bit of EVERY them. I felt their sorrows, and they were full of them. They suffered a lot, and I can't say if I was sad or surprised or shocked or angry, or whaaat when I finished this book. I didn't expect all those plot twists and the betrayals, neither the way the things turned out.
It is true that the story line was slow paced, I didn't know what was happening, but I enjoyed the road. We don't have a lot of fantasy in this one, but I hope there will be more in the next books.
I am dying to watch the series, and read the next books.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
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