A Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire, #1)

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A Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire #1)

by George R.R. Martin

4.41 · rating details · 106,055 ratings · 10,530 reviews

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...more

Mass Market Paperback, 835 pages

Published August 16th 2005 by Spectra (first published August 6th 1996)

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Mar 02, 2010

Keely rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, reviewed

There are plenty of fantasy authors who claim to be doing something different with the genre. Ironically, they often write the most predictable books of all, as evidenced by Goodkind and Paolini. Though I'm not sure why they protest so much; predictability is rarely a death sentence in genre fantasy.

The archetypal story of the hero, the villain, the great love, and a world to be saved never seems to get old--and there's nothing wrong with this story when it's told well. At the best, ...more

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Cillian Keely dearest, just a friendly FYI, our kind and tolerant GR provides users with the 'delete comment' function.
Did you ever consider the wonders ...more
updated Jan 26, 2012 06:19pm

Keely Sure, I could just delete any comment I didn't like, or thought was stupid, but I don't really think it would help them, or me. Perhaps I don't know t...more
Jan 26, 2012 06:49pm

May 25, 2008

Shannon rated it

Shelves: fantasy, 2008, not-worth-it

I really feel the necessity of a bit of personal backstory here, before I start the review. Back in 1996 when this book first came out, and I was about 14 or 16 years old, I saw the hardcover on a sale table for about $5 and couldn't resist a bargain (still can't, though I'm more cautious these days). So I started reading this book with the vague idea that it was a flop, and that may not have helped, but I got through 100 pages of it before feeling so crapped off with it that I shoved it in my c...more

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Merve K. This is a great review. I loved how you pointed out every one of your disappointments about the book, and everything you simply didn't like about it. ...more
Dec 24, 2011 07:05am

Kris Being realistic and making a fairy-tale setting are not mutually exclusive, I'm sure, but it is not easy. In a world where just about everything gets...more
Dec 26, 2011 02:25pm

Feb 03, 2012

Anila rated it

Shelves: burning-books-doesn-t-look-so-bad, incoherent-anger, i-haz-opinion-on-this, not-for-the-sensitive, what-the-fuck-was-this-shit

WARNING: If you enjoyed this book, even a little bit, you may not want to read this review. It will probably make you angry. Heaven knows that the book made me furious, and I intend to turn every bit of that wrath back on it.
Instead, I suggest you read karen's review, Aerin's review, Joyzi's review, or any other of the gushing four and five-star reviews here. If video reviews are more your style, I suggest Melina Pendulum's vlog about this book.
Realistically, I know a lot of you a...more

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May 08, 2009

Ceridwen rated it

Recommended to Ceridwen by: the Hollender boys

Shelves: dragons, zombies, fantasy

An open letter to George R R Martin:

Dear Mr. Martin,

While I love killer zombies and nobles stabbing peasants in the throat, I think your world doesn't make any sense. If there really were an environment that had ten years of winter and ten of summer, there's no ruddy way that a culture from that environment would engage in war in the manner they do in this book. Or they would totally die off and be replaced by a culture comprised of people who weren't a bunch of short-si...more

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Mar 22, 2009

Jesse rated it

Recommends it for: anyone who likes anything epic and historical

Recommended to Jesse by: William

Shelves: fantasy, jesse-s-all-time-favorite-authors

I know no one reading this knows me much (well some of you may) but I DON'T reread books. I usually read a book once and its quite well locked into my brain. As much as I've enjoyed many books I've read, they just don't require a second read for me. I read them, now its time to move on. "A Game of Thrones" is different. I loved this book and its characters so much, and crave the world and narrative so much that I couldn't wait for Martin to get the newest installment out. So I st...moreI know no one reading this knows me much (well some of you may) but I DON'T reread books. I usually read a book once and its quite well locked into my brain. As much as I've enjoyed many books I've read, they just don't require a second read for me. I read them, now its time to move on. "A Game of Thrones" is different. I loved this book and its characters so much, and crave the world and narrative so much that I couldn't wait for Martin to get the newest installment out. So I started rereading the first book I've ever reread.

Let me just say that I didn't find ANY of the characters boring. Even the characters that I would find an anoying personality type, are deeply engrosing in this tale. And those types of characters number just 2 for me in this book. There are so many characters, with such a broad range of personalities that there is someone to match everyones likes. Yet even the characters I initially found myself repulsed by, grow and change and are just as fascinating as those that I admire and empathize with.

Normally I dislike when an author has too many characters and jumps from character to character from one chapter to the next, not so in this book. Martin's ability to tell a story and hook you on it, is so great that I started to look forward to these jumps to different characters. With this many characters you really are provided with a great narrow and broad picture of the currents of this world and narrative. Its like watching individual storms all over the globe, all adding up to the global weather system.

Which leads me to my next point, his pacing. I've read my share of epic fantasy series. In particular Martin's two major contemporaries/rivals for the top spot of the epic fantasy genre: Terry Goodkind and Robert Jordan. Both these authors have good parts, and bad parts to their books. There are momments in their books where I stop and think, "That was the <bleeping> coolest thing (event) I've ever read". Yet there are way more parts in both author's works where I was thinking "when are we going to get to the next awsome and exciting event? Why are we still walking/riding/working/...etc(you get my drift)". I came to expect this in any book, particularly epic fantasy. I just thought that when a book/series gets as long as these tomes, you end up having to spread some borring filler in there because one imagination can only do so much exciting work. Martin broke that mold for me. I kept waiting for a momment where part of my mind would start, metaphorically, tapping its foot in bordom thinking, "are we there yet?". It never happened. Each chapter would grab me, and by the time the chapter ended I was groaning at having to leave behind this story thread because I was wrapped up in its narrative path. Then I'm instantly swept up by the events of the next chapters story thread.

Finally there is the commitment by the author to this narrative. Many stories have jeopardy but you kind of know that in the end, the main character can't die, there are more books to come. Don't ever count on that in "A Game of Thrones". Everyone of the characters is fair game, and people/characters will die in horrible and tragic ways. In this book and in subsequent ones in the series, I literally threw down the book and got up in shock. Sometimes even shouting out to no one at all, "Oh my GODS!, he killed <blank>!". It gives me confidence in Martin and his own level of commitment to telling me the best and most real story possible, complete with unfair and tragic events happening to good AND bad people (though in the case of the bad people I suppose it would be "fair and happy" when negative things happen to them..lol). Ok, thats it, I can't believe how much I wrote here. Hope this gets some folks to read this book. Cause once you read the first, you'll be hooked.

03/22/2009: I just finished re-reading this book, and have to say it was even better the second time around. I caught subtleties to the plot that I never caught before, particularly about Jon Snow, Lyanna Stark, and Eddard Stark. I also found it interesting how much more the tension in the book was increased for me because I knew certain great momments were coming in the book, and the tension that created for me was most enjoyable. This is quite possibly THE best first book in a fantasy series I've ever read. I can't wait to re-read book #2 now, if only I had more time to read!(less)

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Sep 29, 2011

Aerin rated it

· review of another edition

Recommended to Aerin by: Everybody

Shelves: fantasy, zombies

I gave up on epic fantasy a long, lonnnnnnnnng time ago. In those dark days when I was too old for children's books, contemptuously uninterested in the YA available at the time (mostly "horror" novels featuring haunted prom dresses or whatever, or after-school-special books about capital-I Issues like drugs or teen pregnancy), and completely unsure how to navigate the treacherous waters of the Adult Fiction section of the library, I turned to fantasy for comfort. I loved fantasy! I'...more

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Jun 12, 2011

Brad rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, sword-and-sorcery-opera

I am finished. My real review will be coming soon (and here it is), but here's the last installment of my reading journal for those who are still interested. This star rating reflects my feelings about the last quarter of the book and may not be my final rating for the book in its entirety. Since I am writing about the book as I go, there will necessarily be spoilers, so don't continue if you want to avoid them.

My Game of Thrones Journal: volume iv

Arya -- I sure hope Syr...more

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Aug 24, 2011

Mariel rated it

Recommends it for: I would rather shave my head with a cheese grater

Recommended to Mariel by: I would rather chew broken glass

Shelves: gaybuthotfortheirsister, lemonincest, hahaevilbigbad, asleepanddreaming, theyhavelargertalons, snoozeville, i-wish-i-had-an-evil-twin

My brown eyes that hover below the average height of eye to eyeness because of my midgety 5'5 frame struggled in valiant honour inside my pasty white face, despite the ten years of Florida summers, to soak up the cheese whiz blanketed pages with the driest crust of bread of the whole rest of the book. So tasteless this crust was that a Gulag inmate would have turned it down. "No, thank you but the cheese formed with the bread into a kind of glue that got caught in my throat and I couldn't b...moreMy brown eyes that hover below the average height of eye to eyeness because of my midgety 5'5 frame struggled in valiant honour inside my pasty white face, despite the ten years of Florida summers, to soak up the cheese whiz blanketed pages with the driest crust of bread of the whole rest of the book. So tasteless this crust was that a Gulag inmate would have turned it down. "No, thank you but the cheese formed with the bread into a kind of glue that got caught in my throat and I couldn't breath for all of the gagging. No, I couldn't possibly have seconds, thirds or fifths. If I get hungry I'll lick the residue from my fingers. I think it's called cheetle?" Brown eyes, reflecting neon orange cheetos lights, presevered in spite of the overwhelming prospect of purple prose duller than the uncared for blade given to the most token of juvenile female warriors in training bras. The duller weapons hurt more like when Alan Rickman wanted to bring the hurt to Kevin Costnor with a spoon. The purple turned to ugly shades of yellow like the mysterious bruises that appear on my upper arms from time to time (I would have rather been confronted by another nosy woman about my abusive nonexistant boyfriend than read more of this series). "Seamus, my chihuahua in dire need of denta bones!" I cried (sorry, baby, but your breath reeks. I'd rather suffocate under his breath another night than read more of this series!), "I have bought more books than my meagre budget should have allowed. It is too big for my hands to hold comfortably in front of my chocolate eyes. All I got for my troubles was boredom and tears! It is too boring, nothing much happens to justify a book this long. It reads like a pompous show only resurrected on the latest hours on the Sy Fy channel, probably a pilot that wasn't picked up, and that only when a paid advertisement cannot be found. Is it supposed to be taken seriously or is it trashy? It reads like the worst of the two worlds. Incest and midgets have no right to be so dull! There are no non-stick pans to compare to the egg sticking to my face! Why didn't I listen to you, my noble beast with the watery bug eyes? I am asking you because you laughed fewer times than I did when we watched Beverly Hills Chihuahua." If there was a blender attractively displayed at three in the morning I would purchase it in five easy payments and test the blades on this book.

Seamus trembles at the prospect of reading any more of this series that he had warned Mariel against. Mariel, the ungrateful girl who ignores him to read books when she should be petting him or something else more worthwhile. He refuses to poop on the book now rather than just say I told you so (again). (Beverly Hills Chihuahua 2 was a chance to perfect the formula! Who knew it would be worse?)

My brown eyes that match my brown hair that is too dark because it doesn't see much sunlight, being shorter than the tallest trees, nodded off a lot. I stood shorter than people who are 5'6, 5'7 and '58 because I am a short ass 5'5. Stewardesses fought me to a duel for my claims of short assness. I could not reach the overhead compartments for luggage and also won a round of arm wrestling. My training bra is bigger than their training bra. There are no juvenile girl warriors tougher than me or my chihuahua. Chihuahuas are known for picking fights with dogs bigger than them. This is all you've got? The king was a fat man (the author?) who had hos on the side (that's why he's protracted the release dates. He wants to bribe convention chicks with spoilers! Someone is twisting someone's nipples, anyway, if the sex scenes are any indication of his fantasy life...) and his wife got diddled by her twin brother (ewwww! twincest! It is good for my twin that I am not a fan of this series). The queen is not nearly as scary as my nemesis Turtle. I laugh in the face of their danger. I wish I had a turtle shell of my own to hide in for my own (danger). The bastard son joins the Logan Wildcats and there are thousands of mentions of how dangerous dire wolves are yet they are total pussies for kids because of who their parents are. Insta training. How come montages only happen for realistic stuff and then the color of eyes are trotted out ad nauseum? Montages are meant for cleaning and studying! Why do they only happen for good stuff like sleeping? Even though I fell asleep I know that all of this is true because my chihuahua knew on the spot that my parents were married when they had me. Mariel, daughter of pharmacist, I see pill bottles in your future. Lots and lots of pill bottles. Take that one that says ritalin. You are going to need it. Brown....eyes.....hair.....full...of...shit...Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

P.s. I told my twin about this book. "Blah blah.... twins had sex... pompous scenery shit... Dragons..." She said: "So it's like Eragon?" "Yes." I wouldn't rather read Eragon again.

(less)

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Oct 29, 2010

Hazel rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy

I'm somewhat disappointed by this. I found it fun and entertaining for the first couple of hundred pages. It was interesting and engaging, and I could see why it's being filmed. But as the book progressed my enjoyment waned. It may be mostly me.

First, I've come to fantasy from science fiction, and expect writers to be logical and consistent in their world-building. I love Martin's idea of a climate where winter can last for years and summer can last for years, but he doesn't seem to ha...moreI'm somewhat disappointed by this. I found it fun and entertaining for the first couple of hundred pages. It was interesting and engaging, and I could see why it's being filmed. But as the book progressed my enjoyment waned. It may be mostly me.

First, I've come to fantasy from science fiction, and expect writers to be logical and consistent in their world-building. I love Martin's idea of a climate where winter can last for years and summer can last for years, but he doesn't seem to have thought it through or developed it at all. What does it mean for a medieval agricultural and economic system? what happens to trade if there's no harvest? Does he mention granaries, or stockpiling of foodstuffs? If so, I must have missed it.

Then, perhaps I'm not really a fantasy lover, because the more fantastic elements don't sit well. I don't mind a little magic or supernatural phenomena. I should like dragons, shouldn't I? But that whole plot thread was rather dull and hackneyed; and then veered off into the bizarre. Symbolic stones that are actually long-dormant eggs, ok. Newly hatched dragons that suckle their human 'mother'? That was a bridge too far. Even in fantasy, there must be some internal logic.

And then there were the characters. Did the bad guys have to be cartoon villains? Incestuous, maniacal; rapists and sexual abusers? Aren't venality, duplicity and murderous ambition evil enough characteristics?

And the good guys; why is nobility wedded to stupidity? Why would a senior politician in possession of information about treason reveal his hand to the traitor and then share his escape plans with a misguided child? Can one not have both integrity and intelligence?

By the time I got halfway through I realised Martin was unlikely to significantly advance the story in one volume- another feature of fantasy novels nowadays. So different plot threads were started, but none of those dozens of characters could be well-developed. A pity; some of them were promising. I liked the dwarf, the climbing (and falling) child, the wayward tomboy and, of course, the bastard. And the wolves! :-)

I'm not all prudish, but I didn't like the sex either. It's all bad sex. Pain and humiliation are inflicted on somebody, usually a woman or girl. Or else it's illicit and dishonourable and distasteful. None of it seemed to me to advance the plot, or illuminate the characters in any way. It felt like Martin was updating Tolkien, so, there had to be sex. I admit fetishistic is too strong a word, but it was always forced and unnatural. Perhaps its violence and misogyny are due just to the medieval culture? Hmmmn.

Overall, I'm dissatisfied.

(less)

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Dec 08, 2007

Allen rated it

Recommends it for: Everyone

A friend and I were talking about Tolkien one night after a sesh of Call of Cthulhu and he came at me with the insane standpoint that George RR Martin's breed of fantasy is superior, though indebted to, Prof. Tolkien. I immediately informed my friend that he was once again proving the ineptitude of his intellect. Tolkien is the father of modern fantasy and the ultimate writer within the genre. This is not opinion but fact.
That said I was intrigued and promised said friend to look into thi...moreA friend and I were talking about Tolkien one night after a sesh of Call of Cthulhu and he came at me with the insane standpoint that George RR Martin's breed of fantasy is superior, though indebted to, Prof. Tolkien. I immediately informed my friend that he was once again proving the ineptitude of his intellect. Tolkien is the father of modern fantasy and the ultimate writer within the genre. This is not opinion but fact.
That said I was intrigued and promised said friend to look into this infidel that he was willing to prop up above the Professor.

And well, I am fucking hooked. I recently started book four in the series and then after about 100 pages put it down because I new that after I voraciously devoured yet another volume in the series (to my surprise I read the first three volumes in about three months. with each volume being in the neighborhood of 800 pages this was quite a feat for little ole slow readin me.) I would have nothing to follow it up with. That prospect is unbearable. So I will continue reading book four when Ii find out that book five is near published. I hope that Martin doesn't journey off to the great beyond previous to finishing the series. Odin forbid that another door is left open for Kevin J. Anderson to step in and finish a series for someone. Seriously, does that guy not have original ideas?

Anywho, I think the best description I gave of this book to a friend was "equal parts LOTR and DUNE with a heavy dose of Penthouse letters. Seriously. Lines about glistening wet
members and quivering quim. Well maybe not the quim. But isn't quim an amazing word?

Because Martin wrote for television (new Twilight Zone and Beauty and the Beast among others) the books have this nice episodic feel. Each chapter is driven by a different character. Really great plot twists. He loves killing off the characters that you love and forcing you to love the characters that you hate.

If you have any even cursory interest in the fantasy genre read these books. He may not be Tolkien, but the hobbit looking mother fucker is damn close.

Quim.(less)

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Aug 28, 2011

K.D. rated it

· review of another edition

Recommended to K.D. by: Ranee

Shelves: adventure, fantasy, ya

I did not mean to read this book. My copy was just given to me by a friend as gift for my 47th birthday last month. I think I am too old for fantasy. Life in itself has too much of it and I don't think I need to read more. I enjoyed a couple of Tolkien's works last year and that friend knew that I also shared her love for Douglas Adam's Hitchhiker's and I thought that was the reason why she gave me this book. I am past the halftime of my life so what I am trying to do now is to read the books in...moreI did not mean to read this book. My copy was just given to me by a friend as gift for my 47th birthday last month. I think I am too old for fantasy. Life in itself has too much of it and I don't think I need to read more. I enjoyed a couple of Tolkien's works last year and that friend knew that I also shared her love for Douglas Adam's Hitchhiker's and I thought that was the reason why she gave me this book. I am past the halftime of my life so what I am trying to do now is to read the books included in the 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die and the works of Tolkien and Adams are there so that was the reason why I read and fortunately enjoyed them.

Before typing this review, I read each and every review of my Goodreads friends. Most of them gave this a 5, including the ones whose taste on books I truly admire. A few of them, 4, and just a couple gave this a 3 but I barely knew them for me to be swayed by their judgement. Oh, there was one lady, whose reviews I also read right away (because she was one of my top friends), who gave this a 2 but her review was metaphorical yet very entertaining so I did not readily understand what she was saying until I re-read it. I actually commented in her review that I shared her views regarding this book.

When I was a young boy, I used to enjoy radio programs with flying white horse, wizards with magic wands, warriors with powerful swords, knights saving damsels in distress, kings fighting for their kingdoms, sorcerers with their magic cauldrons, etc. I think reality dawns earlier to children belonging to poor families than their privileged city-based counterparts living with their rich mom and dad. There is no magic when a poor boy goes to the city, rides a bus, endures a knife poking on his side and becomes a victim of pickpockets and snatchers because the poor provincial boy looks so ignorant, vulnerable and gullible. No wand, no sword, no magic spell to use against the hoodlums in the city. So, from those incidents, few months after arriving in the city, I guess I naturally shed off those fantasy worlds from my mind, woke up to real world and started reading books that were more realistic. Good that my father had a cousin who worked in the army that became the source of hand-me-down books on battles, wars, western and crime. Just like our body's built-in defense mechanism, our taste on books changes depending on our life's circumstances.

But I am still rating this book with a 3 that means I liked it!. It is definitely engrossing and superbly entertaining. Considering that it is the first book in the series, I understand the reason for its many almost overcrowding characters. I thought that Martin wanted to have spare characters to use in case he needed to tweak the plot down the rest of his story. Another reason why I did not go crazy while reading this first book was that I saw its HBO mini-series (blame it on the proliferation of cheap pirated DVDs in our third-world country) prior to my reading. So this, being a plot-novel, for many instances, bored me as I already knew what would happen. I had no choice but to switch to the other books in my currently-reading folder. Hence, for the next 3 books in the series, I will make sure not to watch the HBO adaptation before reading the book. You see, I oftentimes enjoy reading books whose movie adaptations I saw already because I'd like to understand or savor the story more, catch the smallest of their beautiful dialogues, appreciate the imagery by forming them in my mind once again, thoroughly digest the theme or live the characters in my own world. However, this book, Game of Thrones is presented in a clear-cut fashion sans meaningful quotes, vivid imagery and memorable dialogues. Well, except seemingly the catchy one-liners like the one that sounds like a song title, the things we do for love and the trite the winter is coming that I am not sure why many Filipinos love even if we have no winter here in the Philippines. I also noticed that even if there were some scenes or characters that were excluded in the HBO mini-series, the two - book and the screen adaptation - were basically the same.

But don't get me wrong. I will still read the other 3 books. Afterall, my profile pic is that of Khal Drogo as we both share the same acronym. K.D. for Khal Drogo! Too bad, he cannot grow old to my age so he has no picture as an old man like me.

Dra. Ranee, thank you so much for giving this book to me!(less)

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Apr 21, 2011

Becky rated it

Recommended to Becky by: Chris&Dawn

Shelves: fantasy, nook, 2011, highly-recommended, leg-hump_worthy, favorites, political, reviewed, to-buy, blog_etb

Before I read this book, I had read some reviews which had me wondering if this one would be something I'd like, reviews from people whose opinions I trust. I am willing to read anything though, so the book stayed on my "TBR Someday" mental list... Until I decided to read it along with some friends. Friends who then got me so excited to read this that all of my reservations were hanging by a thread and blowing in the breeze.

And I can honestly say that not only did this boo...moreBefore I read this book, I had read some reviews which had me wondering if this one would be something I'd like, reviews from people whose opinions I trust. I am willing to read anything though, so the book stayed on my "TBR Someday" mental list... Until I decided to read it along with some friends. Friends who then got me so excited to read this that all of my reservations were hanging by a thread and blowing in the breeze.

And I can honestly say that not only did this book not suck, but that I loved it so much that I feel like other books I've loved should now be re-evaluated on this new scale in my head. I love it when a book exceeds my expectations and leaves me kind of lonely afterward because it's over. But luckily, this story isn't over... I've only just begun. SQUEEE!

I'm not going to discuss the story in this review. I wouldn't even know how to do it justice anyway. I will say that it kept me completely enthralled all the way through. Reading this book was less like reading and more like living it vicariously through the characters. I loved the characters, and reading about them had me a bundle of anxiety almost from the very beginning. I HAD to know what would happen, and at one point I had my fists so tightly clenched in nervousness that I left fingernail marks on my palms. One event was so gut wrenching to me that it took about 10 minutes to fully hit me, and then I was lost. I was so angry and shocked and hurt by this event that I had to vent and let it out and I was left seething and miserable... and then the sadness hit.

THIS is the kind of thing I read for. All of those feelings and reactions are why I read. The bar has been raised.

I loved the writing as well. In fact, it worked so well for me that I barely even noticed it - which to me is a great thing. I don't want to notice the writing - I feel like if I do, the author should have done better at making it invisible. The subtleties in the writing were awesome, especially the voices of the characters in their point of view narration - not their dialogue, but their interpretation of things going on around them. The foreshadowing was so perfectly done that I didn't even realize it was being used, even though it was serving its purpose and making me into that little bundle of nerves, until it was mentioned.

I loved this book. I cannot wait until the next one. Fantastic. (less)

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Sep 21, 2011

The Flooze (Michelle M.) rated it

Recommended to The Flooze (Michelle M.) by: Laura Lulu

Shelves: fantasy, owned, vanquished_2011

**4.5**

I got the first book of A Song of Ice and Fire for free at last year’s New York Comic Con. I’d heard wonderful things about the series, yet I held off on reading it.

I’m not one for traditional fantasy. Swords and sorcery call to mind my experiences with Tolkien: the exhaustive descriptions of landscapes, the sweeping battle scenes filled with incomprehensible strategic maneuvers, the jumping around between characters and places that had me constantly flipping to t...more

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Jun 06, 2011

Ryan rated it

· review of another edition

In A Game of Thrones, Martin's dwarf, Tyrion Lannister, explains that "most men would rather deny a hard truth than face it."

True, I think. Isn't that why we read fantasy novels about gallant knights that die fighting bravely against the undead? Sure, they die, but they die bravely. When other soldiers die serving their lord, they die loyally. Regardless, the Dark Lord will eventually implode and flowers will bloom, unlike in reality.

Of all the characters in fan...more

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D_Davis Nice review, well written. Martin's lack of romanticism is one of the main reason why I disliked the book so much - so much so that I couldn't even br...more
Jul 15, 2011 04:27pm

Ryan D_Davis wrote: "Martin's book is not as much of a fantasy as it is, simply, a dressed up reflection of the worst parts of our own world, things t...more
Jul 15, 2011 05:55pm

Aaron D_Davis wrote: "Martin's lack of romanticism is one of the main reason why I disliked the book so much"

I can understand why this p...more
updated Jul 16, 2011 08:03am

Mar 25, 2008

Tom rated it

I want to give A game of Thrones five stars, but alas, I cannot. It is a fantastic epic tale with engaging heroes, and nasty villains that one would enjoy to slap silly. I found myself emotionally invested in the fate of the Stark family. Unfortunately, the book contains some glaring problems.

First, Martin throws sex into the book willy-nilly. It's like a horny twelve year old got his typewriter and went to town. It would be one thing if the sex were provocative and, well sexy, b...moreI want to give A game of Thrones five stars, but alas, I cannot. It is a fantastic epic tale with engaging heroes, and nasty villains that one would enjoy to slap silly. I found myself emotionally invested in the fate of the Stark family. Unfortunately, the book contains some glaring problems.

First, Martin throws sex into the book willy-nilly. It's like a horny twelve year old got his typewriter and went to town. It would be one thing if the sex were provocative and, well sexy, but unfortunately, the hanky panky is plain distracting-- "We break from this epic and incredibly intriguing battle with massive plot ramifications to bring you an update: A dwarf is having sex with a wench. On-site reporter George Martin will give us a play by play and then return you to what you actually care about." This kind of distraction takes place routinely from page one and never lets up.

I like epic, but the book is a little too sprawling. It has about ten plot threads. Most of the threads are masterfully woven and merit five star ratings, but some of the tributaries never connect to the main plot during the 800 pages of book 1. For example, about every five chapters, the plot moves to a different continent and compares the sexual exploits of a princess and her warlord lover to riding horses. I'm halfway through book two, and the horse-mounting Princess has yet to join the plot in any meaningful way despite the fact that several hundred pages have been devoted to her. I know she will invade the seven kingdoms one day, but for now, her thread is nothing but another distraction.

I must temper these critisicms by adding that the series does have redeeming value, and I am still forging through the second book. Sure, I roll my eyes every time Martin's pen drifts down a pornographic tangent, but the meat of the book is legitimately entertaining. It's so entertaining that I considered giving it 5 stars, yet so distracted that I considered awarding it only 3.
(less)

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Aug 17, 2011

Lucy rated it

Shelves: adult, fantasy, gloomy, great-world-building, oh-the-hype

Long winded doesn't even begin to describe George R. R. Martin's writing style. Nothing I can say about this book will be a revelation to anyone who has read it. It should have been at least 25% slimmer. I fear the book itself would've been a thousand or more words shorter had just the term 'bastard' been omitted. I'm not sure why out of marriage births were enforced and reinforced so often. Did Martin not trust his audience to grasp how awful it was to be a bastard the first fifty, sixty, seven...moreLong winded doesn't even begin to describe George R. R. Martin's writing style. Nothing I can say about this book will be a revelation to anyone who has read it. It should have been at least 25% slimmer. I fear the book itself would've been a thousand or more words shorter had just the term 'bastard' been omitted. I'm not sure why out of marriage births were enforced and reinforced so often. Did Martin not trust his audience to grasp how awful it was to be a bastard the first fifty, sixty, seventy times?

This book is not quite epic fantasy to me. Mythical creatures make spotty appearances, otherwise it read more or less as historical fiction with a slant meant to make you forgive any historical inaccuracies. I enjoyed some of the characters and their POV chapters appealed, but then there were characters whose chapters I wanted to skip because they were unappealing or useless narrators who added nothing to the story. (CoughSansaCough)

The series is undoubtedly dark and alluring. The sex scenes and violence are sprinkled throughout the book, but it was never too much. I think it was a fair balance for the story being told, although Martin gets lost in the appeal of his own world and wanders around in circles, repeating himself. As a reader I felt teetered to a fair bit of annoying repetition and often felt stuck in a chapter or point of view that didn't fit the moment. The book needed significant portions thinned out and useless POV chapters shed. The cost of Martin keeping his darlings is that even when the book should have been moving at a brisk clip you're suddenly thrust a thousand miles from the action in the head of someone fussing about something very different from the moment you were just in. Annoying. I've been lent all the published books thus far in the series and will continue until I get too frustrated...

I'm not a big enough fan to read five thousand plus range books and then reread again in a few years as he (according to fans) continues publishing at his agonizingly s-l-o-w rate. (less)

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Jun 05, 2011

Martha rated it

Recommends it for: no one

Recommended to Martha by: a stupid internet search I shouldn't have trusted

Shelves: read-as-much-as-i-plan-to, reviewed

I am on page 470, and although it pains me to put a book down unfinished, it is simply time to for me quit.

A Song of Ice and Fire is the Grey's Anatomy of fantasy. It isn't perfect in the beginning (it's pretty flawed, actually), but you think "That's okay, the premise is good! It will improve!" And then before you know it, everyone is having everyone else's baby and murdering their mother (who is also their sister, and a schizophrenic) and traveling around on horseback set...more

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Martha Hi Laura. Thanks for commenting -- I agree with you on many things (history is pretty soap-opera-ish, and it's entirely possible that the characters m...more
Jan 20, 2012 04:55pm

Laura Wise Martha wrote: "Hi Laura. Thanks for commenting -- I agree with you on many things (history is pretty soap-opera-ish, and it's entirely possible t...more
Jan 30, 2012 10:06pm

Sep 06, 2011

Maria Mijares-Samarita rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: books-i-own

I like A Game of Thrones.

*****

Bran thought about it. ‘Can a man still be brave if he’s afraid?’
‘That is the only time a man can be brave,’ his father told him.

DISHEARTENING.

A Game of Thrones just got personal. I was warned that GRRM has a habit of killing off characters, may they be decent or not. But oh, was I enraged when he did kill one of the main leads and another one worth pitting with the lords and knights fighting for power. It doesn’t make any f...more

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Jun 28, 2011

Lisa Kay rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, buddy-read, bom-nbrc, authors-g-h-i, authors-m-n-o, direwolf-in-the-story, amazing-secondary-characters, epic, child♡children-not-baby-featured, hbo-series, chunkster-challenge, twins, buddy-read-with-sandy

Warning: Don’t expect Donna Reed to show up in this one.

★★★★★ I loved it, I hated it, I couldn’t put it down, I vowed never to pick it up and read another chapter. Yeah. I went on an emotional roller-coaster ride with this fantasy Machiavellian soap-opera. It grabbed a hold of me and wouldn’t let go, even when I pleaded for mercy. I can’t image what those poor people, who don’t read, are doing while they wait for the next installment of this series to come out on HBO.

...more

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Apr 12, 2011

Brad rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, sword-and-sorcery-opera

I am nearly half way through now, so I thought it was time to put up the second installment of my reading journal. My star rating is always where I at in the book at the time of writing. It's going to fluctuate. Since I am writing about the book as I go, there will necessarily be spoilers, so don't continue if you want to avoid them.

My Game of Thrones Journal: volume ii

Tyrion--I really enjoyed his discussion with the Lord Commander, and Mormont’s request for more troops...more

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Apr 22, 2008

John Wiswell rated it

· review of another edition

Recommends it for: Fantasy readers, folklore readers, political fiction readers

Recommended to John by: Nick Sabin, Cassie Nichols

This may be the best Fantasy I've read since J.R.R. Tolkien. I highly recommend it to any fans of the Lord of the Rings series who have been disappointed by the other supposed epics that have shown up since. Martin has created a sprawling world, full of intrigue and potential, and sowed it with characters who can carry out interesting conflicts within it. His prose is far more readable than the average Fantasy writer, capable of beautiful phrases and sweeping passages, but also excellent at carr...more

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Jun 16, 2011

Jessi rated it

Shelves: six-stars-your-a-superstar, a-song-of-ice-and-fire, yeah-i-d-hit-that-boycrushes, sex-that-gets-weird, wolves-jessi-s-wolf-shelf

First things first. Someone needs to get Jessi a Direwolf,Stat.

I mean come on.Look at the face.
Anyway back to the book, maybe this should be five stars, I really loved it, but I started this book because I started watching and LOVING HBO's Game of Thrones and I am not sure which I love more. The show or the book?

The book is great fantasy it is set in a world where seasons can lasts years and winters have killed entire generations, I found this facinating but t...more

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Jun 04, 2007

Siria rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: 20th-century, fantasy, american-fiction

I've not read any high fantasy in a long, long time, but I decided to pick this up purely because so many people on my flist were raving about the series. I can definitely see why it's a best-seller. It's long, with solid prose and a plot which is complex, but not overly so; the pacing is good, and the action is mostly organic, not engineered. Martin's characterisation is probably his best point. He has a vast array of characters, and switches POV between seven or eight different characters thro...moreI've not read any high fantasy in a long, long time, but I decided to pick this up purely because so many people on my flist were raving about the series. I can definitely see why it's a best-seller. It's long, with solid prose and a plot which is complex, but not overly so; the pacing is good, and the action is mostly organic, not engineered. Martin's characterisation is probably his best point. He has a vast array of characters, and switches POV between seven or eight different characters throughout the course of the book. All of them have convincing motivations, to greater or lesser degrees, and are well-sketched, even if none of them ever really came alive for me.

And yet, there is a but coming. This is very good high fantasy, but it's still high fantasy, and falls victim to a lot of the weaknesses of the genre. It's book one of a cycle, which inevitably means dumps of information and portentous events which foreshadow events which won't happen for hundreds, if not thousands of pages. It's full of people who go around referring to themselves as being "of the blood of the dragon" amongst other such melodramatic epithets; I rolled my eyes at them when I was ten, and I wince at them now.

The setting is also absolutely stock, faux medieval Europe. The seven kingdoms clearly make up England and Wales below Hadrian's Wall, with the Starks who were formerly Kings in the North a clear parallel to the history of England before its eventual unification under one king. The society he creates doesn't hold up to close scrutiny; this is a top-heavy world of kings and lords and ladies. And just as I winced at Tolkien's Haradrim, what we saw of the Dothraki, but most especially the glimpses of one particular lord from the Summer Isles, made me uneasy. Did Martin find it absolutely necessary every time Jalabhar Xho was mentioned to remind us that he was "black-skinned" or "dark-skinned" or "dark as night"? My god, a character who is not a lily-white European! Shocking! Clearly that is his only important character attribute.

Enjoyable and entertaining enough, though, and I might very well pick up the next few volumes if I come across them secondhand in Chapters. I don't think I'll be buying them new, though.(less)

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Jun 27, 2008

Kelly rated it

Recommends it for: people who love the sadistic meanness of Joss Whedon and also well written epic fantasy

Shelves: fantasy-and-scifi, fiction, favorites, owned, partialprejudicedandignorantopinion, grand-opera

Ed Note the 2nd: Okay, so on the fifth or so re-reading, I can now laugh at George's conceits as well as get lost in his incredibly rich world and get thrills from it. I've grown out of my pure emotional attachment to the books, and I certainly see more flaws than I did, but it doesn't detract from the reading experience. Its fantasy. Go with it.

Ed Note: In the vain hope that Martin isn't lying to us and the next book really is coming out fairly soon I'm going to re-read these books ...moreEd Note the 2nd: Okay, so on the fifth or so re-reading, I can now laugh at George's conceits as well as get lost in his incredibly rich world and get thrills from it. I've grown out of my pure emotional attachment to the books, and I certainly see more flaws than I did, but it doesn't detract from the reading experience. Its fantasy. Go with it.

Ed Note: In the vain hope that Martin isn't lying to us and the next book really is coming out fairly soon I'm going to re-read these books over the course of the summer. I'VE GOT MY EYE ON YOU, GEORGE.

Original: My copy of this book is wrinkled and half destroyed. It was passed around among my group of 10 bffs in grade school, which may begin to explain it. There's one particular page with a horrifying event on it. The death of one of the main, awesome characters. This page has coffee spilled on it, it's ripped in several places, and wrinkled to this day with tears. I wouldn't trade that page for anything. It reminds me why I love literature, besides being a reminder of a group of girls I loved very much.

George R.R. Martin is not afraid to rip your heart out. Nothing is taken for granted. What you think will happen will not happen. It's an epic genre, with all the main characters you'd expect to find- the hero, the idealist, the warrior king, the beautiful queen, the jesters.. all of them are there. But /none/ of them are /quite/ right, and they become more and more twisted as time goes on. It's absolutely fantastic. I can't recommend it highly enough, really.

The only drawbacks are these:
1. These books are extremely long. They average around eight hundred pages. Though I will say that even with that, I can finish one in two weeks. One week if I'm not working.
2. He takes forever to finish the next ones. We've been waiting two years on the next on in the series. He's a perfectionist. But the wait is always worth it. I would rather he took his time and produced what he does than go the way of Robert Jordan. *shudder*

Epic lovers, go buy this book!(less)

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Mar 14, 2011

Amelia rated it

Shelves: fantasy, dragons

Rubbish! It is amazing with the detail and complexity of plot...but don't expect a damn thing to be resolved after you slave your way through all 807 thin assed pages of miniscule print!

I'm still deciding if I care enough to read the next. If I do, it will be Arya that leads me on.

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Apr 17, 2011

Kelly Leigh rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: grrr-vamps-nary-a-sparkle, epiclicious-fantasy

No one is more shocked than yours truly for falling head over heels for Game of Thrones. My first foray into the world of epic fantasy (I guess that’s the genre) was with the Hobbit. Yeah, it was so not the book for me, much to the chagrin of my Shire-loving family. Love the movies though. Then I ventured once again into epic fantasy territory with The Sword of Truth series. Let’s just say, we amicably parted ways after book 1. So as you can see, I’m just not into milady, m’lord, swords and d...moreNo one is more shocked than yours truly for falling head over heels for Game of Thrones. My first foray into the world of epic fantasy (I guess that’s the genre) was with the Hobbit. Yeah, it was so not the book for me, much to the chagrin of my Shire-loving family. Love the movies though. Then I ventured once again into epic fantasy territory with The Sword of Truth series. Let’s just say, we amicably parted ways after book 1. So as you can see, I’m just not into milady, m’lord, swords and dragons and ye olde anything. Or I should say I wasn’t into all the aforementioned until now. Until Game of Thrones came into my life. I have to thank ye olde HBO for that and their enticing behind the scenes look into the Game of Thrones series. That’s what hooked me, what convinced me to quit seesawing back and forth over whether to read this behemoth of a series or not. Bravo HBO and your advertising crew!

If you are like moi and are sooooo not into epic fantasy, you will be hooked with A Song of Ice and Fire series. Trust me. It’s different than the others. It’s medieval in nature, yes, but it has so much more. Game of Thrones hints at magic (which I love), but it’s definitely not present in this book, but just wait. Game of Thrones is full of intrigue, rich backdrops, colorful characters and these are just the tip of the iceberg.

The characters are what drew me in immediately. They are 3-dimensional, jumping out of the pages. And the way George R.R. Martin writes, you feel like you’re within the Seven Kingdoms. The characters - You’ll love some of them, hate many. By the end, you’ll have your favorites. Who are my faves, you might be asking, or not? I love Arya. For a little eight-year-old she is strong and brave and fierce. I despise Catelyn (for how she treats her stepson - jealous bitch much?) and Cersei for reasons I won’t go into. No spoilers here. Aside from Arya, my other favorites are Jon and Dani and Tyrion and of course, last but not least, the Direwolves themselves. Oh, and I forgot to mention Bran. I believe I named just about every character.

With all that said, I devoured Game of Thrones. And currently am nearing the end of A Clash of Kings. I write this review mostly for those who are adamantly opposed to anything and everything epic fantasy. I was once like you. Emphasis on once. I mean, don’t get me wrong. I’m not going all crazy and checking out every epic fantasy known to man in the library. Just these books. I’m a tad obsessed at the moment. So take a chance on this series. I know you won’t be sorry.(less)

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Apr 15, 2011

Ben Babcock rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: own, 2011-read, fantasy, nebula-nominee

I know I keep telling this story over and over, and I feel like I've been talking about those books I consider "formative" to my interest in fantasy and science fiction rather a lot lately—probably because I've been re-reading some of them. So apologies if the anecdotes have become tiresome. Nevertheless, it is necessary in this case for the wavey lines of flashback to cascade down your computer screen, for A Song of Ice and Fire played such a big role in kindling my love for fantasy t...more

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Oct 17, 2011

Joyzi rated it

Recommends it for: Fantasy nerds

Recommended to Joyzi by: My dad and GR fantasy nerds

Shelves: adult, e-book, book-series, watched-it, reviewed, political-intrigue, disappointing-books, 5-stars-or-more, author-american, fiction, fantasy, 100-books-tfg

Yay! Finally, I finished this monstrous book. Seriously reading it feels like it was even longer than the HBO series which has ten episodes. Anyway I really like this book and I think presently I am very obsessed with it. I am even considering to have it as my top 1 favorite book of all time and Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins needs to step down and give that spot to Game of Thrones. However, I think I just need to finish reading the other books to make it more fair to the other books that I ha...more

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Aug 23, 2011

Monique rated it

· review of another edition

Recommended to Monique by: My husband

Shelves: 2011, absolute-favorite, bestsellers, fantasy, fiction, kindle, tv-film-adaptation

I have had my share of fantasy readings prior to picking up “A Game of Thrones” by George R.R. Martin – I have read J.R.R. Tolkien's epic fantasy trilogy, “The Lord of the Rings”; its prequel, “The Hobbit”; the comprehensive backgrounder to the trilogy, “The Silmarillion”, and; “The Children of Hurin”, as well. Some years back, I also read, with no small influence from my husband (the fantasy “purist”, he likes to be called) the first two books in Terry Brooks' Shannara series, “The Sword of Sh ...more

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Apr 13, 2011

pinknantucket rated it

· review of another edition

Hmm..."A Game of Thrones"... the book I read to see if it was really true. A Game of Thrones first came to my notice via the attentions of a Twitter spambot, who tweeted what seemed to be extracts from a racy fantasy novel ("The dragon does not beg, slut!") in between links to porn and new iPads or whatever. A fellow tweeter put one of the quotes into Google and discovered the quotes were from an actual book! And not just any book, an IMMENSELY POPULAR book beloved by fans wo...moreHmm..."A Game of Thrones"... the book I read to see if it was really true. A Game of Thrones first came to my notice via the attentions of a Twitter spambot, who tweeted what seemed to be extracts from a racy fantasy novel ("The dragon does not beg, slut!") in between links to porn and new iPads or whatever. A fellow tweeter put one of the quotes into Google and discovered the quotes were from an actual book! And not just any book, an IMMENSELY POPULAR book beloved by fans worldwide! I had to rush over to Borders at lunch time to confirm it with my own eyes.

It tells the story of the Starks and the Lannisters (primarily), who become engaged in a battle for the Iron Throne of the Seven Kingdoms. Another major storyline is that of the surviving Targaryens, Dany and Viserys, who fled the Seven Kingdoms as children, when their father was deposed as King. It is politically complex (in a medieval kind of way) and has intrigue, betrayal, murder, zombies, barbarians and I did read all 807 pages after all.

But... I think the best fantasy and science fiction (or speculative fiction or whatever it's called now) allows authors and readers alike to explore the big themes - death, faith, gender, society, class, race - at a remove from our own society, in a purer form, without some of the baggage that goes with "real life" fiction. The best speculative fiction (for me) is about ideas as much as the fantastic world that's been created.

So it was disappointing to read a book where gender roles and class and everything else were so - feudal. If you're going to invent a complex society, it seems a shame to do nothing new with it. For example, women occupy the types of roles you might expect (lady wives of great men, prostitutes, cranky nursemaids). There are some strong women characters, but they're also the ones who cause the most trouble. There's a token tomboy, who (gasp!) learns swordplay.

One thing that creeped me out was the junior age of many of the characters - many begin the book aged 3-15. All these children do things and feel things that seem to old for them. (Maybe I'm just becoming an old fuddy duddy and don't remember what it was like to learn swordplay at age nine). Dany's story, in particular, made me feel a little ill at times. Her vile brother (Viserys) is keen to raise an army and go back to claim his throne so he sells her to a Dothraki horse lord (Khal Drogo) with the understanding that he will be provided an army in return. The Dothraki are barbarians; we know this because they have sex in public and like to do it doggy style. We're party to Dany's sexual awakening, with phrases like "she took his hand and moved it down to the wetness between her thighs" and "she rode him fiercely" and "his manhood glistened wetly". Which is fine (except for "his manhood glistened wetly" ROFL!!) only SHE'S THIRTEEN. By fourteen she is pregnant (with "the stallion who will mount the world", jeez no one could mention her baby without someone going on about the stallion who will mount the world, enough already!). I thought it was all a bit yucky. But apparently Dany's story extracted into a novella won a Hugo Award, so what do I know?

Other niggles - silly names (Joffrey? Direwolves?), frequently hilarious prose ("Daenerys Targaryen wed Khal Drogo with fear and barbaric splendour in a field beyond the walls of Pentos" and let's not forget that glistening manhood), repetitive character identifiers (OK OK Jon is a bastard, WE GET IT and he misses Arya's GRIN and being able to MUSS HER HAIR) etc etc.

Now this book (and the series) have legions of fans, so I hope I don't get any hate mail after this review.(less)

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About George R.R. Martin

George R.R. Martin was born September 20, 1948, in Bayonne, New Jersey. His father was Raymond Collins Martin, a longshoreman, and his mother was Margaret Brady Martin. He has two sisters, Darleen Martin Lapinski and Janet Martin Patten.

Martin attended Mary Jane Donohoe School and Marist High School. He began writing very young, selling monster stories to other neighborhood children f...moreGeorge R.R. Martin was born September 20, 1948, in Bayonne, New Jersey. His father was Raymond Collins Martin, a longshoreman, and his mother was Margaret Brady Martin. He has two sisters, Darleen Martin Lapinski and Janet Martin Patten.

Martin attended Mary Jane Donohoe School and Marist High School. He began writing very young, selling monster stories to other neighborhood children for pennies, dramatic readings included. Later he became a comic book fan and collector in high school, and began to write fiction for comic fanzines (amateur fan magazines). Martin's first professional sale was made in 1970 at age 21: "The Hero," sold to Galaxy, published in February, 1971 issue. Other sales followed.

In 1970 Martin received a B.S. in Journalism from Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, graduating summa cum laude. He went on to complete a M.S. in Journalism in 1971, also from Northwestern.

As a conscientious objector, Martin did alternative service 1972-1974 with VISTA, attached to Cook County Legal Assistance Foundation. He also directed chess tournaments for the Continental Chess Association from 1973-1976, and was a Journalism instructor at Clarke College, Dubuque, Iowa, from 1976-1978. He wrote part-time throughout the 1970s while working as a VISTA Volunteer, chess director, and teacher.

In 1975 he married Gale Burnick. They divorced in 1979, with no children. Martin became a full-time writer in 1979. He was writer-in-residence at Clarke College from 1978-79.

Moving on to Hollywood, Martin signed on as a story editor for Twilight Zone at CBS Television in 1986. In 1987 Martin became an Executive Story Consultant for Beauty and the Beast at CBS. In 1988 he became a Producer for Beauty and the Beast, then in 1989 moved up to Co-Supervising Producer. He was Executive Producer for Doorways, a pilot which he wrote for Columbia Pictures Television, which was filmed during 1992-93.

Martin's present home is Santa Fe, New Mexico. He is a member of Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America (he was South-Central Regional Director 1977-1979, and Vice President 1996-1998), and of Writers' Guild of America, West. (less)

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