A Game of Thrones

A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I got sucked into the hype, I'll admit it. It was enjoyable and I look forward to the next books. The story is told from multiple view points - each chapter is a new character clearly marked so that there is no guessing (I like that). The overall story voice was very static, not much changed in rhythm or word structure to indicate a new voice, although characters were very strong in action and thought. Plot was strong, action was strong, a beautiful weaving together of fantasy and medieval history into a world we can make sense of but yet a new place with history and traditions (and stories!) to be discovered. It was difficult to find the protagonist and antagonist in the story - until I realized it isn't one person against another, it's family against family. There are loveable characters - characters to cry for and laugh with. Characters to fall madly in love with or shake them from their stupidity. This book is very strongly anchored in many of the things that secure a strong series, and I'm glad I fell into the hype.



Synopsis: Long ago, in a time forgotten, a preternatural event threw the seasons out of balance. In a land where summers can last decades and winters a lifetime, trouble is brewing. The cold is returning, and in the frozen wastes to the north of Winterfell, sinister forces are massing beyond the kingdom’s protective Wall. To the south, the king’s powers are failing—his most trusted adviser dead under mysterious circumstances and his enemies emerging from the shadows of the throne. At the center of the conflict lie the Starks of Winterfell, a family as harsh and unyielding as the frozen land they were born to. Now Lord Eddard Stark is reluctantly summoned to serve as the king’s new Hand, an appointment that threatens to sunder not only his family but the kingdom itself.

Sweeping from a harsh land of cold to a summertime kingdom of epicurean plenty, A Game of Thrones tells a tale of lords and ladies, soldiers and sorcerers, assassins and bastards, who come together in a time of grim omens. Here an enigmatic band of warriors bear swords of no human metal; a tribe of fierce wildlings carry men off into madness; a cruel young dragon prince barters his sister to win back his throne; a child is lost in the twilight between life and death; and a determined woman undertakes a treacherous journey to protect all she holds dear. Amid plots and counter-plots, tragedy and betrayal, victory and terror, allies and enemies, the fate of the Starks hangs perilously in the balance, as each side endeavors to win that deadliest of conflicts: the game of thrones.


Recommended Reading:
A Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin
A Storm of Swords by George R.R. Martin
A Dance with Dragons by George R.R. Martin
The Wise Man's Fear by Patrick Rothfuss
Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins