From the Bookshelf of The Challenge Factory…

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

George R.R. Martin

Start date: January 23, 2012

Finish date: February 16, 2012

Discussion: ♦Buddy Reads♦

Discussion leader: Shellbelle

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♦Buddy Reads♦

* Buddy Read Sign Ups
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What Members Thought

Nov 02, 2014 Brooke ♥booklife4life♥ rated it really liked it

Shelves: read-in-2016

Basic Info

Format: E-Book
Pages/Length: n/a
Genre: Historical Fiction

At A Glance

Love Triangle/Insta Love/Obsession?: No.
Cliff Hanger: Eh.
Triggers: n/a
Rating: 4 stars

Score Sheet
All out of ten

Cover: 8
Plot: 9
Characters: 9
World Building: 9
Flow: 8
Series Congruity: n/a
Writing: 8
Ending: 7

Total: 8

In Dept

Best Part: Better depth than the show.
Worst Part: Not much!
Thoughts Had: I heart this, a lot.

Conclusion

Continuing the Series: Yes
Recommending: Yes

Short Review: I *finally* got around to reading this bo ...more

8 likes · Like · see review

Jan 02, 2014 Ashleigh rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: buddy-read, fantasy-sci-fi, series-books

Second read: December 2018

Re-reading this book has confirmed for me why I love this series and the TV show so much. The world is well-developed and has so much depth, and urgh it's just so great. So we have a lot going on in this first book. The Hand of the King, Jon Arryn has died, and as King Robert Baratheon has been good friends with Warden in the North, Eddard Stark, for years, he rides North to offer the position to Ned. And things get complicated from there. We have murder conspiracies, w ...more

4 likes · Like · see review

Apr 24, 2022 Elina Mäkitalo rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Mietin pitkään kahden ja kolmen tähden välillä, mutta päädyin tähän tähditykseen. Paikoitellen tarina oli ihan mukava ja välillä jopa mielenkiintoinenkin mutta suurimmaksi osaksi melko tylsä kuitenkin. Siitä plussat, että ei ollut ihan niin sekava kuin yleensä tämän genren kirjat ovat. Tosin melko useampi tarinahaara haittasi ja sekoitti joka tapauksessa melko paljon. Ja tarinahaarojakin kerrottiin niin usean henkilön näkökulmasta, että … niitä oli vain liikaa. Miinusta myös samankaltaiset nimet ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Jun 02, 2015 Emma rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: one-shots-series-starters, 2016, 2016-novel, fantasy, adult

With everyone talking about the Game of Thrones HBO series, I had to find out for myself what was so great about this series.

I had picked up this book several times before at the bookstore but was unimpressed with the prologue. While I was skimming through the pages, I realized there would a lot of character development for a lot of characters...and third person POV switching (if you didn't know, I strongly dislike POV, although it is more tolerable in third person than in first). Additionally, With everyone talking about the Game of Thrones HBO series, I had to find out for myself what was so great about this series.

I had picked up this book several times before at the bookstore but was unimpressed with the prologue. While I was skimming through the pages, I realized there would a lot of character development for a lot of characters...and third person POV switching (if you didn't know, I strongly dislike POV, although it is more tolerable in third person than in first). Additionally, I had read (or attempted to read) other books with a similar writing style to Martin that I struggled to finish. However, when I picked up this book for the third time at the bookstore earlier this month, I was determined to struggle through it, even if it took me a month.

Which it did.

Usually, I can finish a book of this length within a week or two. If it takes any longer, I probably don't like the book. However, A Game of Thrones is a different case. The POV switching was disruptive to the flow of the book; right when I would become immersed in one character's story, it would switch over to a different character experiencing a situation that barely overlaps with the previous's. But if there weren't these changes in POV, I do not believe Martin would have been able to depict this world as well as he has or successfully depict how much impact the characters has when carrying out their role in the plot.

The beginning was a struggle; as I predicted, there were many characters who's stories all intertwined with each others' in someway or another. But once I got past the first hundred or so pages, this book was enthralling. I felt as if I was there; I could feel the joy, pain, sorrow, anger of the characters and the despair they felt in this world of lies and deceit.

No, this is not the book for everyone; it contains strong language, graphic depictions of violence, incest, rape, etc. But if you are not uncomfortable with these components of the book, I would highly recommend you read A Game of Thrones.

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