A Song of Ice and Fire: Game of Thrones by George RR Martin

[bethany_vanwaes]

In another realm, there is a land referred to as the Seven Kingdoms. Some years ago, there was a battle with the Mad King, resulting in an end to his reign and the beginning of the reign of the common folk, led by Robert Baratheon, who used his war hammer to take power. After his right hand man dies, he goes in search of his best friend and his close friend in war, Eddard Stark, to make him be the "Hand of the King," a position of great power and great responsibility. Eddard's arrival to the city of King's Landing leads to questions that may cause more trouble than he is aware of.

Simultaneously, Varys Targaryen and his young sister, Daenerys, children of the defeated Mad King, live on the other side of the Narrow Sea, hoping to gather the power to take back the throne that is rightfully theirs. Varys hatches a plan to acquire troops by marrying off his sister to the fierce Khal Drogo, a man who has thousands of men at his fingertips, but is a rough human being who is often seen, like most of his people, as nothing more than a savage.

This series is often compared with The Lord of the Rings, by JRR Tolkien, but I can see almost no reason for why people state that the two are similar. To me, they are entirely different. Both stories are excellent, but George RR Martin's tale of the Seven Kingdoms is much more straightforward than Tolkien's. By no means am I saying that JRR Tolkien was not a master at his craft, but rather that there is something about Martin's writing that keeps my nose glued in the book until I have finished.

This book is worth the read. There is often a complaint about how the show has a lot of nudity and sex, but do not let that stop you from reading the novels. The novels, although they do have some inappropriate content, are much more than erotica written by someone who was bored and sexually aroused. This novel is a masterpiece and, as all books, should be given a chance rather than being judged based on its cover.

[WKG_2272]

Well what can be said of me and A Song of Ice and Fire? I've pretty much loved the Seven Kingdoms for some time now, and I can tell you each Targaryen king if you ask, but I could also tell you all the kings of England, so that natural talent kind of goes hand in hand. If anyone loves the first book, and I don't mean loves all the characters, you can probably appreciate A Clash of Kings and A Storm of Swords as well, though for some those two can possibly really disappoint, at least with unexpected character deaths. The first novel is arguably the greatest though, with Eddard Stark as one of the main characters you can never go wrong, after all he is a moral pillar in a kingdom of conspirators and thieves. I can't begin to express though, the brutal realism of the whole series, and if you don't like violence, and other unsavory things, you might still like the stories, cause I do, but I still struggle with certain aspects of the tale, so if you thought that the brutal realism in the first book was too much put the next two books on the back burner. But if you really can't take the unsavory stuff, read the Dunk and Egg stories, they focus more on tourneys and jousting than they do horrible acts and immoral intrigues. Besides during the Dunk and Egg tales, there is a lack of war in Westeros, so since the novels are set during wars, the violence is of course at least a little worse. In the long run though I say if you like the first then you will like the rest, but if you are going to get attached to main characters please choose Tyrion and or Jon Snow, as I can assure you that they do not die as other characters eventually do, I'm not giving any more info than that though cause I don't want to spoil things for anyone who has not read the two follow up books to the first. And if you still appreciate the books after A Storm of Swords, there is A Feast for Crows and A Dance With Dragons as well, but as I said for some readers their interest ended with Storm for at least one or two reasons. To all those who have read have a good one, and you can pick up any of the first four novels from Amazon or Barnes and Nobles if you prefer book stores.

[pedroyun]

As we march towards the cold and the unknown, shielded in black fur and petty power plays, the world of Ice and Fire opens up. To a certain extent, the song playing throughout these books is one of cruel realism: wolves in the night prey on the weaker, dragons dance as if nothing else mattered. Through bigger than life inner struggles, Martin sets a beautiful stage for his characters as each of them charge towards nowhere: they are simply men and women, broken and insecure, twisted, cruel, and above all else, just as lost as any of us.

[scuba_steves]

I think the beauty of Martin's writing is his fearlessness. He portrays life in all it's stark realism (no pun intended) and refuses to shy away even from the unsavory topics, like you all have said. What is more, he is relentless in his treatment of main characters. While most authors protect and nearly deify their protagonists, Martin treats them as pawns. They are pieces in his greater work, only important insofar as they progress the story and pull out those hidden reader emotions. I think this is why his multiple view-point narrative is so brilliant: no one character is above the others, and the death of one merely segues into a shift to another.

His brilliance with laying out the human soul is something else entirely. Martin, unlike any other author I've read, manages to make bad guys relatable and good guys tainted. He forms realistic characters with both a dark and light side, and even as we despise the Lannisters and love the Starks, we can't help reveling a little in the special little quirks of each. We all secretly root for The Hound, we all love the Imp, and Robert drives us all just a little mad. That, I think, is the mark of true mastery. When you have such fine control over your characters that good and evil mingle, you have mastered your trade. After all, isn't that the author's holy grail? To manipulate and mold his reader through words on a page?

[whero]

One of the incredible things about these books is how I am forever interested in the story, always being pulled forward by a very morbid curiosity to see who dies next, who makes the next big impact, to see what will happen to my favourite characters next and of course to see who will win the game of thrones. I also think it is quite amazing how the directors of the tv series have managed to translate that feeling to the screen, such that I've spent hours watching episode after episode, in much the same way that I spent days doing nothing but reading the books.

[Dphaber]

I lost interest halfway through A Dance With Dragons initially, but eventually managed to push past the slow bit I'd been stuck on and finish the entire series thus far. It was really good, if sometimes very frustrating (so many characters that you don't often get to see your personal favorite), but enjoyable nonetheless.

[Heather]

The brilliancy of George R.R. Martin continues to amaze me. How on earth he can keep straight all of the different characters, families, histories, etc. is beyond me. But he does it, and he does it well. This story always keeps me engrossed. He is also very good at making you begin to like a character that you initially despised. My husband and I are reading this series together, which is a blast, and we have fun trying to guess how it will all play out in the end. Of course, having read so much of it already, we know that ANYTHING can happen at any time!

[alamorn]

OP, one correction: Varys is the Master of Whispers in the Red Keep. Viserys is Dany's brother. They have pretty different roles, even though they're names sound similar.

I have a lot of difficulty discussing ASoIaF with people I know in real life, because I have some very strongly held beliefs, theories, and favorite characters that I find a lot of people disagree with or haven't thought about. For example, Sansa is one of my favorite characters, but most of the people I talk to about ASoIaF think she's boring or annoying. This gets really frustrating, because I can understand how someone would think that in the beginning of AGoT, but after that, I really don't see it. Does anyone else have a character they get overly-defensive of, or unpopular opinions?

[PandaNate]

I'm currently on the second book of this and I believe it's very similar to the tv series apart from some minor changes and more in-depth parts.

I like how the author separates each persons part by chapters. Tyrion is my favourite, he's so intelligent and plays everyone but still has a fragile part which some people can get too, like his dad. I think my least favourite right now is Bran, it may get better but he seems to complain all the time, it doesn't come across that he's an 8 year old, when you are reminded of this, I sort of realize, he's still only a child. I've just ordered the rest of the books. The first one I read on my Kobo, the rest will be paperbacks.

[Heather]

OP, one correction: Varys is the Master of Whispers in the Red Keep. Viserys is Dany's brother. They have pretty different roles, even though they're names sound similar.

I have a lot of difficulty discussing ASoIaF with people I know in real life, because I have some very strongly held beliefs, theories, and favorite characters that I find a lot of people disagree with or haven't thought about. For example, Sansa is one of my favorite characters, but most of the people I talk to about ASoIaF think she's boring or annoying. This gets really frustrating, because I can understand how someone would think that in the beginning of AGoT, but after that, I really don't see it. Does anyone else have a character they get overly-defensive of, or unpopular opinions?

Sansa bothered me for awhile, but then I thought she really started to mature and I liked her more.

I really don't find myself having to defend the fact that I like any particular character... except to myself. It really bothers me that I started to like Jaime Lannister. But, the more we learned about his character, the more I liked him. There are just some things I can't get past though.

[alamorn]

Yeah, I think it's ok to like any of the characters, especially after we get a POV chapter, but it's important not to let that overwhelm the fact that they've done awful things. And, let's be honest, most ASoIaF characters have done awful things. I think it's pretty interesting how immediately we, as readers, are more sympathetic once we understand motivations and thought processes behind certain actions. Especially with characters like Jaime, Cersei and, in a way, Theon. Do the things you can't get past include pushing Bran out the window and threatening to put children in catapults to break a siege? Those are the big ones for me.

[Heather]

Bran is the big one. I don't remember the catapult threat... maybe I blocked it out! But I agree, it's very interesting how we can start to like a character that has been so greatly disliked when we understand why they do what they do. I've said that a lot about Thoen. I don't like him, but I understand what happened to him, and what drove him to do the things he's done. Another character like that is the Hound. Once you learn his story, his moments of actual human compassion and emotion stand out more.

[read_on]

I wonder if the Hound will get any chapters in the winds of winter?

[tnc08]

I wanted to read this series for a while now, but then I started watching the HBO series. I'm afraid reading the books would make me lose interest in one or the other

[ptrish26]

In order to fully enjoy a book series and the tv show/movie, you really need to learn to separate the two. They will never be exact and all of it is meant to tease your imagination. That being said, Game of Thrones did a great job following the books even though they use some of their own ideas or mix books together. Still a fantastic show.