Title: A Game of Thrones
Author: George R.R. Martin
Series: A Song of Ice and Fire #1
Genre: High Fantasy
Publisher: Bantam
Publication Date: January 1st, 2003
Edition: Kindle Edition, 819 pages
Source: Library
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.
Review:
My plan was to always read these books after the show had wrapped. Neve would I have guessed it was going to be to try and wipe the memory of the show from my brain for how disappointing the ending was. With this read through there are going to be unavoidable comparisons, so bear with me.
This first book and the first season are pretty one-to-one. Very little was changed. Most of the characters were aged up for the show. I liked reading the nuances of what was going on, being inside the character's heads added to everything that was going on. Some of characters' chapters were less interesting to read than others. I also enjoyed reading about characters that were either not present or less prominent in the show.
The writing is way more accessible than I initially thought it was going to be. I see high fantasy and the nearly 900 page-count and assume the "worst". But I honestly kind of flew through this book. I hope as I continue with the series this stays the same since I am borrowing these from the library.
The writing is way more accessible than I initially thought it was going to be. I see high fantasy and the nearly 900 page-count and assume the "worst". But I honestly kind of flew through this book. I hope as I continue with the series this stays the same since I am borrowing these from the library.
Gotta say Viserys is kind of worse in the book than he was in the show. He's in his early 20's, but he acts like a petulant child most of the time, pinching Danny to get her to do what he wants.
Danny, she's 13 at the start of the book, and for me, that makes her marriage to Drogo... strange. And the choices she made near the end of the book al the more tragic for her in many ways.
I really loved reading more from Bran's POV. I liked his chapters the most. He's seven in this book.
Sansa is a bigger brat in the book than she was in the show, she's eleven but she still needs to not be such a brat.
Arya is nine and pretty much the same as she was in the show. A tiny badass.
Rickon is a toddler and kind of not really even in the book at all.
Robb is 15 and also kind of the same as he was in the show, but his younger age in the book brings a new perspective to his future.
And Jon is the same angsty brooding guy.
Ned, is just too noble for his own good and Catelyn is more vocally mean to Jon in the book than she was in the show.
Tyrion, he's far less jovial in the book than he was in the show and doesn't look the same. Mismatched colored eyes (one is completely black), disproportionate, white-blonde hair.
Jaime, he's kind of a jerk, I mean, if you read the book or have watched the show you know what he did.
Cersei, I want to feel bad for her.... because she has been handed some shit in her life. But she's awful.
Jaime, he's kind of a jerk, I mean, if you read the book or have watched the show you know what he did.
Cersei, I want to feel bad for her.... because she has been handed some shit in her life. But she's awful.
I am really excited to read more of this series, and I look forward to reading about certain characters I know were cut from the show.
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