A Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire, #1) in Building a SciFi/Fantasy Library

Mar 12, 2015 Armand rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: genre-sci-fi-fantasy, genre-modern-classic, on-my-kindle, source-kindle, read-2015, read-2016

Pretty much the Citizen Kane of contemporary epic fantasy. It seems to draw on the best of the past to synthesize something powerful and new (or at least "new-ish") in fantasy. I see shades of Shakespeare (Hamlet and Macbeth) and also- from the sci-fi trope- Dune. In fact the first book of Song of Ice and Fire reminds me a lot of the first 1/3 of Dune. It seems as though stories about bloody intrigue between royal families (along with the accompanying sex, warfare and class struggle) never goes Pretty much the Citizen Kane of contemporary epic fantasy. It seems to draw on the best of the past to synthesize something powerful and new (or at least "new-ish") in fantasy. I see shades of Shakespeare (Hamlet and Macbeth) and also- from the sci-fi trope- Dune. In fact the first book of Song of Ice and Fire reminds me a lot of the first 1/3 of Dune. It seems as though stories about bloody intrigue between royal families (along with the accompanying sex, warfare and class struggle) never goes out of fashion.

Martin brings this game to a higher level, however, by humanizing his characters and embracing shades of moral ambiguity. True, he does have characters who are unnervingly good and people who are completely evil, but enough of his characters sit somewhere between, thus keeping things interesting. As Little Red Riding Hood says in "Into the Woods": "Nice is different than Good", so you have people who are civilized and proper but who are morally bankrupt. You have people (Like our first book's hero, Ned Stark) who are doggedly honorable but also lack any real tolerance and flexibility.

Also- and this is what distinguishes it from a lot of popular fantasy, he is more willing to explore the everyday nuances of these characters' lives. People in Conan novels don't complain about lousy food. People in Dune don't enjoy sex. People in the Lord of the Rings don't sweat through their clothes.

I approached A Game of Thrones with some trepidation. Since my mid-30's, and after I had kids, my tolerance for pain and misery has been much reduced (I pretty much avoid horror movies, for example), but my wife (who is even more reluctant to read descriptions of terror and torture and harm to babies) assured me that the plot and writing made it worthwhile. In the end, I agree and, actually, in many ways, A Game of Thrones is LESS dark than Lonesome Dove (the Epic (sorta) Western which had become my frame of reference for all long dark novels of the human soul, and which won the Pulitzer in '85). True Game of Thrones has beheadings, and the deaths of too many good people, and a terrifying rape culture, but Lonesome Dove prominently also features the deaths of many good people, slavery, child-stealing, torture, live-scalping, one major hero who dies sadly, another man who could make a difference but who voluntarily, appallingly withers away, and (finally) a man having his genitals cut off and shoved into his mouth as he slowly dies. I think a lot of that got left out of the Lonesome Dove miniseries.

Also, for each horrible event and sad passing in A Game of Thrones, there are moments of hope, comedy (I was surprised by the many funny moments), and acts of great compassion. The comedy, hope and compassion are further highlighted and carry a greater impact because they are framed against terrible events.

side note: Having written all that, I would not blame anyone who was turned off by the scale of pain and misery in A Song of Ice and Fire.

Also like Lonesome Dove, Moby Dick, (and my other touchstone modern novel), The Thorn Birds, A Game of Thrones is what I think of as a "marathon novel". It is long and requires a certain level of endurance on the part of the reader. If the novel isn't strong or well put-together, then we hate the book all the more for being bad and long. Very long books tend to expose an author's weaknesses, and therefore the author has to up their game.

But certain novelists can put together page after compelling page, using a fine blend of plotting, suspense, good writing, thoughtful detail, geographic exploration (you CANNOT have a great big book without a great sense of the geography and terrain, sorry, just not possible; the land itself must become a character), and finally (yes) painful human heartache to carry us along, and Martin is one of those writers.

I look forward to the next one! ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Jul 14, 2011 Lanica rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, favorites, audiobooks, read-in-2011, reviewed, series-continuing

I just finished reading this book and I have to say, "Wow!" This may be my favorite book of all time. No, really. It's amazingly complex, has an exquisite setting, wonderfully developed characters and I am completely engrossed. I have to know what happens next, but I don't have the second book yet. I think I'll stop writing this review so that I can get in my car and go buy the next book in the series...

TWO WEEKS LATER: Okay, that review was more of a cheer than a review. Now that some time has I just finished reading this book and I have to say, "Wow!" This may be my favorite book of all time. No, really. It's amazingly complex, has an exquisite setting, wonderfully developed characters and I am completely engrossed. I have to know what happens next, but I don't have the second book yet. I think I'll stop writing this review so that I can get in my car and go buy the next book in the series...

TWO WEEKS LATER: Okay, that review was more of a cheer than a review. Now that some time has passed I'll try again. I'm sticking to this being one of the best books I've read, but now I think I have a few ideas about what makes it so.

First, authors today (read: publishers) are afraid of anything too complex. Readers want to feel superior to the characters, they want to feel that they know more, see more and understand everything. Most books published today pander to the masses. I am constantly disappointed by books that lead me through a story and end exactly as I expected them to. Sometimes it's the fact that there *is* a twist at the end that is the disappointment. I find myself thinking, "Why couldn't the story just flow to a close...why did that weirdness at the end have to be there?"

This book is a study in realistic characters. Not in the sense that you would find them walking down your street, but in the idea that they are each so well envisioned that their actions seem completely natural to that specific character. I felt as though each chapter, each event had to have happened the way it did because that's exactly how the character would have acted. Not that the character acted in a certain way to make the story move forward. This novel defines for me the character-driven-plot.

Second, this novel does not dumb itself down so that we're sure not to miss anything. I'm sure there are 'rules' out there for how many characters are allowed in a 'best-seller' so that the audience can keep track. Martin throws that out the window and creates a cast of characters so complex and interwoven that readers are likely to forget who is who and have to look at a family tree or other character lists. Great! I, for one, am a reader whose brain is not going to explode if I hear more than three character names in a chapter. I love that this novel is written towards the thinking brain rather than the lowest common denominator.

Third, Martin throws out the convention that says fantasy is light reading. He has an epic here, but it's not bound by three books Beginning, Middle, End. He has a story to tell and he is not limited to three books. I don't like that I can't read the series as a whole, as I usually do; however, I understand that he has created something that is not a simple undertaking. I just hope he is able to complete it in his lifetime. :) Also, a lot of writing in this genre holds back when it comes to sex...I'm not sure why sex is taboo but violence isn't...but a lot of fantasy is all about the swordplay and little about rest of the characters lives. This book is equal measures of many aspects of each characters lives.

So, I love this book...and I hope to love the series. I've finished book two and am waiting for the library copy of three and four. More reviews will come. ...more

Like · see review

Jun 23, 2013 Liz rated it liked it

This series has been on my to-read list for over five years, but I jus t never got around to it. With the tv show beginning, however, I knew I had to just sit down a nd read it. After all, I don't watch movies if I haven't read the books (assuming there's a remote chance I'll ever read the things) and I wasn't going to pass up a chance to watch Sean Bean act.

At any rate, I'm glad I finally bit the bullet and read the first book. The novels themselves are well plotted, with reasonably believable ...more

Like · see review

Jun 30, 2012 Donna (Jaevenstar) rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: adult, 2012-book-challenge

Love love love!!! Review to come..

Like · see review

Apr 22, 2011 Michelle rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I really, really liked this book a lot. I ordered the 4 book box set right after HBO debuted the series. To me it is more of a political intrigue in a fantasy setting. I love the depth and believability that the characters have.

Like · see review