Game of Thrones
Or as its known by its literary name, A Song of Fire and Ice. This is the series which inspired the recent HBO series, named after the first novel in the series, and which is apparently destined to keep that name for the duration of the show. After watching the first season, I was inspired to pick up the second book… then I was inspired to by the Kindle set of all four books. And then the author George RR Martin released the fifth book in the series and two more are planned… I tell ya, this could go on forever! But apparently, that's the thing about this series. As many fans have told me, his work is expected to take the same route as Wheel of Time. Aptly named, because it just keeps rolling on and on and on…
But I digress. A while back I decided I would tackle this series and give it a full review. Having loved the miniseries, I sought to delve into the source material and get a sense of what it was all about. And of course, I wanted to see where the story was going and what would come of all the characters, and I was quite pleased. While Martin's notorious characteristics as a writer – his level of detail, his willingness to kill of main characters, his ability to really flesh out a storyline – were all abundantly apparent in later installments, I also found examples of his strength in abundance. These included, but were not limited to, his ability to create rich, engrossing worlds, his drawing on real world sources, his ability to make readers emphasize and identify with characters, and to keep people guessing. I tell ya, nothing about these stories seems predictable! The downside of that last aspect is, people keep dying, and not always the ones you hope will! But in the plus column, it keeps the reader on their toes!
Down to specifics: George RR Martin was already famous before writing A Song of Fire and Ice. During the 1980′s, he worked in Hollywood as a writer for such shows as The Twilight Zone and Beauty and the Beast. His early fantasy novel, The Ice Dragon, became a best-selling children's novel. However, it was with A Game of Thrones and subsequent novels that his fame as a fantasy author was cemented, earning him the nickname, "The American Tolkien". This is an appropriate description, given the fact that the depth and breadth of his fantasy novels rivals that of Lord of the Rings. Several differences have been noted, however. For starters, his stories are much more gritty and realistic. Fantasy elements – that is to say, supernatural things like magic, dragons and mythical creatures – appear sparingly and only as the story progresses. Mainly, Martin's books revolve around realistic human characters and their goings on, with all the sex, violence, blood, guts, betrayal and intrigue that that entails!
The world of George RR Martin is a fictitious world set in a medieval period, hence why it falls into the genre of medieval fantasy. In this world, something has transpired long ago which is known as "The Doom", which has had an effect on the seasons. Summer and Winter, for reasons no one can explain, last years instead of months. The coming of winter is a time that people fear, since it means that the White Walkers, a supernatural force from the North, return to threaten the Seven Kingdoms. As the story opens, a long summer is coming to an end, and in the North, forces appear to be moving. Further south, throughout the land known as Westeros, King Robert "the Usurper" is facing a conspiracy within his own Kingdom which could lead to another civil war – the last one is what made him king. Meanwhile, on the nearby continent of Essos, the exiled Targaryens are plotting their return to Westeros. The deposed heir, Viserys Targaryen, is planning on marrying his sister, Daenerys, to a Dothraki warlord named Khal Drogo, a marriage which he hopes will provide him with the army he needs to return to Westeros and reclaim the throne.
The first novel opens with three main storylines: At the Wall in the north, the giant ice-barrier that seperates the Seven Kindgoms from the North, the Wildlings are apparently fleeing their villages, prompting the Night's Watch to go and investigate. When only one man returns, he claims to have witness White Walkers, but is executed for desertion. Meanwhile, Lord Eddard Stark, Warden of the North and the head of House Stark, is visited by King Robert, the man he helped become king. Robert needs a new Hand of the King, seeing as how his old one, Lord John Arryn, died suddenly. Ned agrees and travels to King's Landing to take up the role, and quickly become privy to the conspiracy that took his predecessor. Meanwhile, on the continent, Viserys succeeds in wedding his sister to Khal Drogo, an arrangement which begins to backfire on him when he realizes that Drogo and Daenarys are actually falling in love with each other, and are perhaps plotting on cutting him out of the deal.
(Spoiler alert!): Things come together as John Snow, Lord Eddard's bastard son, joins the Night's Watch and begins to witness for himself what is happening the North. An attack by wights, the resurrected bodies of people killed by White Walkers, begin attacking the Wall itself. After his own uncle fails to return from a patrol beyond the Wall, Lord Mormont prepares a campaign to go North in force, to find and root out the threat once and for and all. For John, this means turning his back on the troubles of his family in the south, but to a sworn Brother of the Night's Watch, he is bound by honor to complete his mission and forgo whatever family ties he has.
At King's Landing, Eddard soon uncovers the conspiracy that claimed the life of John Arryn and even involves an assassination attempted on his own son. It seems that the Queen, Cersei Lannister, is engaged in an incestuous relationship with her brother Jaime, who is one of Robert's Kingsgaurd. Before he can inform King Robert, he is crippled during a hunting expedition. He dies, and Eddard moves quickly to ensure that Joffrey, Cersei's eldest son, does not take the throne. However, his attempts are thwarted when Lord Petyr Baelish, the Master of Coin, betrays him to the Queen. Eddard is executed by the brutal and stupid Joffrey, and his daughter – Sansa, who was betrothed to Joffrey – is now his hostage. His youngest daughter, Arya, escapes with the help of a Night's Watch brother who disguises her as a boy recruit, and they travel north. In response, Ned's oldest son, Robb Stark, declares war on the king and mobilizes every house in the North to march on King's Landing. Rather than declare his fealty to either of Robert's brothers – Renly or Stannis, both of whom were next in line – his bannerman declare Robb "King in the North", using this war as a pretext to declare independence from the south.
On the continent, Drogo and Daenerys fall in love and she learns that she is pregnant with his heir. This, plus the fact that his sister is able to stand up to him now, leads Viserys to force the issue with Drogo. During a feast, he threaten him by declaring that he's taking his sister back and cut his son to be right out of her belly, unless of course he gets what he wants, which is the crown of Westeros. Drogo replies by having his men break Viserys' arm, and then he melts down a gold belt which he proceeds to pour over Viserys' head. His promise of "a golden crown" is thus fulfilled! Free of her abusive brother, Daenerys tries to convince Drogo to take the Iron Throne for their son, but Drogo is reluctant. At least he is, until a would-be assassin tries to poison Daenerys and is killed for his trouble. Drogo plots to conquer Westeros, but dies of a festering wound gained in single combat against one of his own men. Daeny tries to save him using a slave's witchcraft, but is betrayed and loses her son as well. Most of the Dothraki move on, and she is left with just a small host, her advisor Jorah Mormont, and the dragon's eggs he gave her as a wedding gift. When she burns Drogo on a funeral pyre, she walks into the fire with the eggs, and survives! The eggs also hatch to become the first dragons the world has seen in generations. Mormont and her host declare their loyalty to her, the true Dragonborn, and plot to reclaim Westeros!
Thus ends book I. And as I said, one can see the influence and historical inspirations at work right away. On the one hand, Westeros is clearly styled on the British Isles, its northern/southern divide clearly an allegory for the divide between the English south, and the Scottish North. The continent of Essos is also a clear reference to the European mainland, the Dothraki styled on the Huns or Mongols (invading horsemen from the East), whereas the free cities and slave cities are inspired by Asia Minor and its vast, ancient metropolises (more on that in book II). And of course, the royal intrigue, the very concept of the "Game of Thrones" – a reference to the never ending fight to claim the crown – is a fitting rendition of the actual royal intrigues taken from medieval history. Much like the real wars of succession and usurpation, it is loaded with intrigue, backstabbing, pettiness, corruption, and of course, bloody war.
And the miniseries did a very good job of capturing all this. Naturally, any adaptation of Martin's work would be hard pressed to capture all the interwoven storylines, detail and events that characterize his writing. Still, the HBO miniseries did a pretty good job of getting all the relevant info in, giving multiple perspectives the added screen-time they needed without moving away from the main characters too much. And of course, the shocking scene where Eddard Stark is killed, much to the chagrin of television audiences who don't expect main characters to die. Yes, that was masterfully done too. I myself was appalled and even angry, but I respected them all the more for it. It's what's in the book and you can't go changing major elements just because the audience might object. I hope they keep this in mind come season two (rumor has it Jason Momoa is hoping they'll bring his character back from the dead!)
Furthermore, the casting was SUPERB! Sean Bean, a man who brings a touch of awesomeness to just about anything he does, was electrifying as Eddard Stark. Mark Addy was also superb as King Robert, being both a sort of pudgy, teddy bear and a bitter, angry drunk. Lena Headey, of Terminator: The Sarah Conner Chronicles and 300 fame, achieved a sort of evil-bitch perfection in the role of Cersei. I'm telling you, you seriously want to hate her after seeing her in this, a tribute to her acting talent! Jason Momoa, who went on to play Conan in the remake of the Schwarzenegger classic, fit the bill perfectly as Khal Drogo. He was brutish, strong, manly and scary, but also endearing and loving at times. A good thing too, since the Conan remake kind of sucked! Emilia Clarke, a relative newcomer to the acting scene, was nevertheless very convincing as Daenarys, capturing both her frailty and quiet strength quite well. And last, but certainly not least, was Peter Dinklage, who played the role of the dwarf Tyrion Lannister to absolute perfection. Seriously, this guy has the best lines of the entire series! Being a rude, crude, but brilliant and bawdy dwarf in a cruel and medieval world, he's at once sympathetic, cunning, impish and ruthless. You love him, love to hate him, and are rooting for him the entire time!
The rest of the cast, which is just too extensive to mention, was similarly awesome. Understandable given the fact that most of them are classically trained actors, people who cut their teeth doing Shakespeare and are therefore accustomed to performing in epic roles. I wish I could do them all justice, but like I said, too many to count! I hope its enough just to say they were awesome!
Like most fans of the book and miniseries, I can't wait for season two. The book was quite spectacular, picking up where book I one left off with a major battle in the works. And word is, cast and crew had a real hard time adapting the damn thing, it was just so epic in scope! But that only ensures that its going to be awesome to behold! Stay tuned for my review of book II, coming up next!
