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

Jun 27, 2011 Matt rated it it was amazing

Shelves: recommended-reading, read-in-2011, grrm, fantasy

What a book!

This has to be one of the best novels that I have read in a long while. It also took me ages to read both because of the length and the depth that it goes into. I will skip a synopsis seeing as this book has been reviewed so many times before, but there are a few things that I should mention that really caught my attention.

1. Characters - There are so many of them that you almost get lost in them early on. However, despite the huge cast, Martin does a fantastic job of keeping them a What a book!

This has to be one of the best novels that I have read in a long while. It also took me ages to read both because of the length and the depth that it goes into. I will skip a synopsis seeing as this book has been reviewed so many times before, but there are a few things that I should mention that really caught my attention.

1. Characters - There are so many of them that you almost get lost in them early on. However, despite the huge cast, Martin does a fantastic job of keeping them all sorted out and intertwining their stories in a meaningful way. Some of the characters are also so unique it was actually fun to read about them. Dany's plot is by far the most gripping in the novel, with the Khals, sex, violent brother, love and... dragon eggs. Tyrion is always fun to read and even the more "plain" characters like Jon and Sansa have meaningful insight to the story.

2. World building - World building is where I think a lot of fantasy writers show their true skill, or lack of it. Authors like Paolini (Eragon) just use endless pages of adjectives to describe scenery and politics, but Martin is in a different class than most. The only other author that I have read that does a similar job in describing whats around the characters, without over-powering the plot is Raymond Feist.
Martin treats us to a whole world and a half of landscapes, history and political intrigue, but it doesn't feel like its forced upon the reader. Everything seems to work into the main story line very smoothly.

3. Dream Sequences - I understand that dreams play a huge part in the fantasy genre. They are a means to foreshadow, display magic or describe inner thoughts and fears. That said, I generally find the dream scenes to be the worst in fantasy novels. Again, Paolini's Inheritance Cycle was leaden down with endless dreams. Martin's writing however allows the reader to glimpse into the psyche of the character, but doesn't weigh down the novel or restrict his natural flow of storytelling with them.

4. Adult Content - I love the fact that this book was written for an adult audience. Too much of what is being peddled as good literature in the sci-fi/fantasy/distopia genres lately have been very much targeted at the young adult audience. While these novels are good stories, I appreciate the fact that Martin has developed a novel (series) that he intended for adults to read. The inclusion of swearing, sex and violence in a more raw form gave credibility and realism to the setting in the story.
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Aug 09, 2011 Ashley Smith rated it really liked it

The first time I attempted to read Game of Thrones, I stopped midway through the prologue and gave up. It wasn't until I started watching the HBO series that I found a renewed interest in returning to the book. I was amazed by how true to the story the TV show was and how much more detail, information and plot I was able to get from the book. The better thing to say is that no matter how much I enjoyed the TV series, or the fact that I had already known how the first book would finished, I still ...more

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