Ted Rabinowitz's Reviews > A Game of Thrones

The amazing thing about "A Game of Thrones" and its sequels (although I can't speak to the most recent ones, post-hiatus) is that you simply keep reading them. The prose is workmanlike, the world and characters are clearly derived from history and Shakespeare (Henry VIII as Robert Baratheon, for instance) but you can't stop turning the pages. It's a testament to Martin's sheer mastery of his craft, and I'm taking notes to figure out how it holds the reader the way it does. Some of my guesses so far: The characters hit that sweet spot between being realistically complex and having just a few easily identifiable traits; the plotting is tight - there are no gaps without action; and Martin is utterly ruthless to his characters, so there are no guarantees about who lives and who dies. (Compare that to Tolkien, where only one "good" character dies, despite the epic slaughter on all sides.)