A Game of Thrones: I Can’t Believe How Much I Liked This Book!
I just finished reading the A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin. And it was incredible! And I have to tell you, I wasn’t expecting it to be. Here’s how it came about:
Two friends know I am always on the search for a good book. They both recommended it in the same week. One friend is a female physician who tends towards mysteries. The other is a male cop who tends towards hard-boiled action novels. These two have nothing in common. These are the friends that you know you will never introduce to one another. Because after the first few minutes of small talk, Mexico’s Zone of silence will sound like a drunken frat party in comparison.
Needless to say, I was intrigued to find out what it was about the one book that had both of them recommending it. It’s not that I hadn’t heard about A Game of Thrones. Anybody not currently residing under a rock has heard of A Game of Thrones.
In case any rock dwellers are reading, A Game of Thrones is a series of books that has been turned into an incredibly popular HBO series. If you ask any one about the series they will inevitably mention one of three themes: violence, sex and incest. Generally, that’s not what pulls me in. Plus, from what I could tell, it seemed to be based in the Middle Ages. Again, not my thing. But I gave it a shot.
Holy cow! It was so good! The novel is told through the eyes of about seven characters. Right off the bat, Martin is breaking rules. If you read anything about how not to write a novel, they say do not use too many points of views. Martin does and he does it wonderfully. Each character he portrays he does so with full detail, emotional, physical, and mental. You are completely engrossed in the character and the world they are seeing.
And what a world! Intrigue, backstabbing, love, loyalty, honor, desperation. It’s all there. I was hooked from page one. So much, that I read the first two books in a about two days. (Page total: approximately 1500). Then I borrowed Season One from a friend.
I am currently wading my way through Book 4: A Feast for Crows. More on the other books in upcoming blogs. Any other Thrones fans out there?
