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A review by ihateprozac
A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin
5.0
How does one even begin to review Game of Thrones? Even without a TV series to compare it to, there's just so much content!
I'm kicking myself for not picking this up earlier. I won all the books a year or so ago, but put off reading them as I haven't had great luck with high fantasy in the past. I've found the genre to be so dense and hard to get into, with the author throwing the reader into the deep end and magically expecting them to understand the mythology. The sheer size of each A Song of Ice and Fire book didn't help either. I'm a fan of the TV series but I just couldn't motivate myself to read the books until I met GRRM two weekends ago at a convention.
And I'm so glad I did! The book was the complete opposite of everything I'd expected, it was so easy to read and a total page turner. Perhaps I've got the benefit of having seen the show first so I already understand the mythology, but I still don't feel as if it's as dense as other high fantasy novels I've read. I felt like GRRM slowly introduced the reader to the mythology, characters and each corner of the realm so it was easily digestible.
When I saw that each chapter centred around a particular character I worried that would make the story feel disjointed, but it didn't. In spite of jumping from Winterfell to the Wall to King's Landing to the Dothraki Sea, I never felt that the author was trying to do too much and spreading himself too thin. I was so invested in each of the characters' stories that I couldn't be too frustrated when a Daenerys chapter ended on a cliffhanger.
GRRM didn't select too many or too few points of view, he got it just right. While they're all in different parts of the realm we're essentially following the "heroes", even if some may have a questionable moral compass like Tyrion. We know only as much as the heroes do, which is something I'm personally a fan of - it doesn't always benefit the story to have the reader know everything, sitting there waiting for the protagonist to eventually figure it all out. It would cheapen the story if we knew what Stannis Baratheon and the Lannisters were plotting, what trouble grows beyond the Wall, and what lies beyond the shadow lands of Asshai.
I was absolutely floored at how faithful the TV series has been to the books. I went in expecting to be overwhelmed by new content that had been omitted from the show, but it was the complete opposite! I'd read scenes and think "Oh I'd forgotten about that part in the show", or "Hey, that scene from season 1 suddenly makes sense now!" I'd read character descriptions and think to myself "Holy crap, their casting director deserves a medal!" The only significant change I noticed was that the TV writers made many of the characters older, taking 14 year old Robb Stark and making him a man in the show. I can't say I disagree with the choice either, Daenerys' wedding night with Drogo was uncomfortable enough to watch without her being 13.
There were only two things that really ground my gears about this book: the horse slaughter and the spelling errors. It's almost as if GRRM has a horse slaughter kink with the number of times he describes it. Sex scenes and rapes are written quite vaguely and fade to black in some instances, yet it feels like every second page features a gory description of a horse being maimed or killed. I understand that horses perish in war, sometimes they're needed for food, and the Dothraki are a primitive people that aren't particularly kind to their mounts, but it was all very overwhelming. It feels like there'll be no horses left in the damn realm by the time the series is over.
The spelling errors are something that GRRM admitted to in his convention panel, so I won't rip into him too hard here. I suppose it's something that should be attributed to his editing and publishing team rather than laying solely on his shoulders. I will say that they seemed to become more prolific the deeper I got into the novel, appearing every few pages as I neared the end. I was half tempted to go through with a highlighter and send an email to the publisher, but I don't doubt that hardcore GRRM fans around the globe have likely already done so.
Overall: I am absolutely kicking myself for not ripping into this earlier. I was expecting a dense high fantasy novel that was as easy to digest as a bag of rocks, but it wasn't the case at all. The story flows smoothly in spite of jumping between characters and GRRM never puts too much strain on the reader. It's incredibly easy to read even for someone that generally lives in the young adult sci-fi genre, and is a total page turner. I can't wait to pick up A Clash of Kings to find out more about the white walkers and watch Daenerys kick ass.
I'm kicking myself for not picking this up earlier. I won all the books a year or so ago, but put off reading them as I haven't had great luck with high fantasy in the past. I've found the genre to be so dense and hard to get into, with the author throwing the reader into the deep end and magically expecting them to understand the mythology. The sheer size of each A Song of Ice and Fire book didn't help either. I'm a fan of the TV series but I just couldn't motivate myself to read the books until I met GRRM two weekends ago at a convention.
And I'm so glad I did! The book was the complete opposite of everything I'd expected, it was so easy to read and a total page turner. Perhaps I've got the benefit of having seen the show first so I already understand the mythology, but I still don't feel as if it's as dense as other high fantasy novels I've read. I felt like GRRM slowly introduced the reader to the mythology, characters and each corner of the realm so it was easily digestible.
When I saw that each chapter centred around a particular character I worried that would make the story feel disjointed, but it didn't. In spite of jumping from Winterfell to the Wall to King's Landing to the Dothraki Sea, I never felt that the author was trying to do too much and spreading himself too thin. I was so invested in each of the characters' stories that I couldn't be too frustrated when a Daenerys chapter ended on a cliffhanger.
GRRM didn't select too many or too few points of view, he got it just right. While they're all in different parts of the realm we're essentially following the "heroes", even if some may have a questionable moral compass like Tyrion. We know only as much as the heroes do, which is something I'm personally a fan of - it doesn't always benefit the story to have the reader know everything, sitting there waiting for the protagonist to eventually figure it all out. It would cheapen the story if we knew what Stannis Baratheon and the Lannisters were plotting, what trouble grows beyond the Wall, and what lies beyond the shadow lands of Asshai.
I was absolutely floored at how faithful the TV series has been to the books. I went in expecting to be overwhelmed by new content that had been omitted from the show, but it was the complete opposite! I'd read scenes and think "Oh I'd forgotten about that part in the show", or "Hey, that scene from season 1 suddenly makes sense now!" I'd read character descriptions and think to myself "Holy crap, their casting director deserves a medal!" The only significant change I noticed was that the TV writers made many of the characters older, taking 14 year old Robb Stark and making him a man in the show. I can't say I disagree with the choice either, Daenerys' wedding night with Drogo was uncomfortable enough to watch without her being 13.
There were only two things that really ground my gears about this book: the horse slaughter and the spelling errors. It's almost as if GRRM has a horse slaughter kink with the number of times he describes it. Sex scenes and rapes are written quite vaguely and fade to black in some instances, yet it feels like every second page features a gory description of a horse being maimed or killed. I understand that horses perish in war, sometimes they're needed for food, and the Dothraki are a primitive people that aren't particularly kind to their mounts, but it was all very overwhelming. It feels like there'll be no horses left in the damn realm by the time the series is over.
The spelling errors are something that GRRM admitted to in his convention panel, so I won't rip into him too hard here. I suppose it's something that should be attributed to his editing and publishing team rather than laying solely on his shoulders. I will say that they seemed to become more prolific the deeper I got into the novel, appearing every few pages as I neared the end. I was half tempted to go through with a highlighter and send an email to the publisher, but I don't doubt that hardcore GRRM fans around the globe have likely already done so.
Overall: I am absolutely kicking myself for not ripping into this earlier. I was expecting a dense high fantasy novel that was as easy to digest as a bag of rocks, but it wasn't the case at all. The story flows smoothly in spite of jumping between characters and GRRM never puts too much strain on the reader. It's incredibly easy to read even for someone that generally lives in the young adult sci-fi genre, and is a total page turner. I can't wait to pick up A Clash of Kings to find out more about the white walkers and watch Daenerys kick ass.