A Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire, #1) in Pick-a-Shelf

Dec 05, 2009 Angela Randall rated it it was amazing

Shelves: first-book-in-great-series, 20th-century, i-own, we-own, friends-recommend, 1990-1999, fiction, ange-recommends, fantasy, locus-award-fantasy

This was great to read, even though I've seen the series. It still has some very interesting revelations about what was going on in peoples' heads. Worth reading, for sure. ...more

2 likes · Like · see review

Mar 17, 2012 [ JT ] rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: book-inventory, fantasy, 2011

This is the first 5-star book I've read in a while now. I pretty much tore through it and truly enjoyed the experience.

I don't really feel like I have a lot to say about it though. I think I'm just getting sick of writing "reviews". Here are some bullet point spoilers so I can help remember what I thought was interesting about the book.

(view spoiler) This is the first 5-star book I've read in a while now. I pretty much tore through it and truly enjoyed the experience.

I don't really feel like I have a lot to say about it though. I think I'm just getting sick of writing "reviews". Here are some bullet point spoilers so I can help remember what I thought was interesting about the book.

(view spoiler)[
• I'm disappointed that Ned was killed. I actually liked his character quite a bit and I was hoping I'd see more of him.
• The direwolves are AWESOME. I keep hoping Arya will find her Nymeria again...
• Jon Snow is great, and I'm looking forward to him in future books. His conflict over his vows to the Night's Watch and his family was rather touching.
• Benjen Stark-- he seemed like he would be SUCH A COOL CHARACTER! I really and truly hope they find him in the next book. He was one of the few characters we met that I wanted to know more about, but never got the chance.
• I really hope Arya gets to become part of the Night's Watch, seeing as how Yoren thinks she's a boy. THAT would be cool and very Tamara Pierce-esque. Arya is great and probably my second favorite of the Stark kids (John Snow being #1).
• Hoping for the introduction of some adult points of view in the next book-- this one was pretty young-kid heavy.
• Near the end of the book, where the Greatjon (another character I hope we see more of) declares he will follow only Robb as the King in the North-- that brief scene, only a few sentences, brought tears to my eyes. Loved it.
• Lord Renly was kind of a cool character too-- I'm not quite sure what to think of him at the end of the book though. He's gone and declared himself the king, and has already had lords swearing to him. Joffrey of course is an abysmal failure, but it seems like things with Renly could go quite poorly. And we still don't know what Lord Stannis is up to.
• Daenerys was a character I wasn't sure I would like very much. I ended up liking how her story ended-- though the dragons hatching was not much of a surprise. Way too much foreshadowing with that.
• These Others from north of the wall will be interesting. This novel focused so much on the court intrigue (the "Game of Thrones" of course), but it DOES seem as if the real story exists over that wall. I think Jon Snow is going to lead us through that part of the story and I'm really looking forward to it.
(hide spoiler)]

All in all, a great read. I'm a bit disappointed that I've started them though, since my usual modus operandi is NOT to begin reading a series until it is completed. That way I can savor the whole thing in one "bite", as it were. I'm not entirely convinced that Mr. GRRM is going to actually FINISH this series-- time is catching up with him.

Actually, one last point I wanted to mention-- I found this book very easy to read. Not that the writing is "simple" per se, just that the way it is presented is very easy to digest, even in long reading sessions. I never felt bogged down. ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Apr 03, 2012 Tara rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2012-book-list

I was a bit weary about reading this book as I had watched the tv show first and thought that the book wouldn't be as good but boy was I wrong the book could only add elements that was not seen in the show and it is a must and should be put on everyone's to read list. Once I started read a game of thrones I couldn't stop all I did was eat, read and sleep and when I was doing something else I could only count the seconds til I could start reading. George R.R. Martin you now have me hooked on fant ...more

Like · see review