A Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire, Book 1) Review
A Game of Thrones is the first installment in George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire fantasy series. Martin is a talented writer with a knack for descriptive writing and the ability to juggle quite a large cast of characters. Each chapter is entitled with the name of a character whose point of view that chapter will take. Many of these POV characters are members of the honorable Stark family, Lords of the North. Some of the characters who are supposed to be considered "good" fall short of being likeable while one of the members of the antagonistic Lannister family is actually quite likeable in his own strange little way. I feel like that makes the characters more realistic. In real life, not everyone is likeable despite the fact that they are not evil. Likewise, bad people are often the most charming individuals.
Although the book is quite cumbersome at just over 800 pages, it is pretty refreshing as far as fantay novels go. There is magic but it does not take the story over...it just sort of hangs around in the background for most of the book. The story almost reads like a historical novel. While most of the story takes place on a fictional continent where the culture is modeled after midieval England, one very important story line takes place across the sea and is centered around a culture much like that of early Mongolia. This is a culture not often used in fantasy and it brings and interesting perspective to the book. The book is so long that this change of cultural scenery tends to keep things from getting too monotonous.
Although I really like this book and will definitely read the rest of the series, I would not be completely honest if I didn't lodge just a few complaints. First, every passage that included any type of "romance" was a crass excerpt that could easily have been preceded by the words "Dear Penthouse." They sounded like they were written by a 16 year old boy rather than an accomplished writer. And, quite frankly, a few of them made me feel a little dirty. The only other complaint I have(and it is a minor one) is that every couple hundred pages or so a word or phrase popped up that just didn't quite seem to fit. This didn't really detract from the overall story much but it did stick out a little. I mean, the word "fart" really has no place in an epic fantasy among knights and castles.
All in all, this book is definitely worth the read for any fan of fantasy liturature. The series currently stands at four books with plans for at least two more. However, the release for the fifth book has been a long time coming. Apparently, the author has been promising and recanting on the release for the last several years. Many are worried that the series will go unfinished. I fervently hope that this is not the case and that the current rumor of a 2010 release will be realized.
A Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire, Book 1) Overview
Here is the first volume in George R. R. Martin’s magnificent cycle of novels that includes A Clash of Kings and A Storm of Swords. As a whole, this series comprises a genuine masterpiece of modern fantasy, bringing together the best the genre has to offer. Magic, mystery, intrigue, romance, and adventure fill these pages and transport us to a world unlike any we have ever experienced. Already hailed as a classic, George R. R. Martin’s stunning series is destined to stand as one of the great achievements of imaginative fiction.
A GAME OF THRONES
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 and supernatural forces are massing beyond the kingdom’s protective Wall. At the center of the conflict lie the Starks of Winterfell, a family as harsh and unyielding as the land they were born to. Sweeping from a land of brutal cold to a distant summertime kingdom of epicurean plenty, here is 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; and a determined woman undertakes the most treacherous of journeys. Amid plots and counterplots, tragedy and betrayal, victory and terror, the fate of the Starks, their allies, and their enemies hangs perilously in the balance, as each endeavors to win that deadliest of conflicts: the game of thrones.
A Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire, Book 1) Specifications
Readers of epic fantasy series are: (1) patient--they are left in suspense between each volume, (2) persistent--they reread or at least review the previous book(s) when a new installment comes out, (3) strong--these 700-page doorstoppers are heavy, and (4) mentally agile--they follow a host of characters through a myriad of subplots. In A Game of Thrones, the first book of a projected six, George R.R. Martin rewards readers with a vividly real world, well-drawn characters, complex but coherent plotting, and beautifully constructed prose, which Locus called "well above the norms of the genre."
Martin's Seven Kingdoms resemble England during the Wars of the Roses, with the Stark and Lannister families standing in for the Yorks and Lancasters. The story of these two families and their struggle to control the Iron Throne dominates the foreground; in the background is a huge, ancient wall marking the northern border, beyond which barbarians, ice vampires, and direwolves menace the south as years-long winter advances. Abroad, a dragon princess lives among horse nomads and dreams of fiery reconquest.
There is much bloodshed, cruelty, and death, but A Game of Thrones is nevertheless compelling; it garnered a Nebula nomination and won the 1996 Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel. So, on to A Clash of Kings! --Nona Vero
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