Review - A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin

A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin (A Song of Ice and Fire #1)
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Mass Market Paperback, 835 pages

Published August 16th 2005 by Spectra (first published January 1st 1996)

Source: Own Copy

Synopsis:
'Long ago, in a time forgotten, a preternatural event threw the seasons out of balance. In a land where summers can last decades and winters a lifetime, trouble is brewing. The cold is returning, and in the frozen wastes to the north of Winterfell, sinister and supernatural forces are massing beyond the kingdom's protective Wall. At the center of the conflict lie the Starks of Winterfell, a family as harsh and unyielding as the land they were born to. Sweeping from a land of brutal cold to a distant summertime kingdom of epicurean plenty, here is a tale of lords and ladies, soldiers and sorcerers, assassins and bastards, who come together in a time of grim omens.
Here an enigmatic band of warriors bear swords of no human metal; a tribe of fierce wildlings carry men off into madness; a cruel young dragon prince barters his sister to win back his throne; and a determined woman undertakes the most treacherous of journeys. Amid plots and counterplots, tragedy and betrayal, victory and terror, the fate of the Starks, their allies, and their enemies hangs perilously in the balance, as each endeavors to win that deadliest of conflicts: the game of thrones.'

My Thoughts:
Wow! I just don't know where to begin about how wonderful I found this book. I cannot remember being so captured by a story as I was with this one and can't believe it took me so long to finally get to reading it.

Martin is an artist with how well he has constructed this epic world and how it draws you in with every chapter. I found myself totally engrossed in this novel while reading it as the writing is descriptive without being overly so and the story is so well written that you can almost smell and feel everything that is going on.

I also loved how deep all of the characters were and found that you really start to feel a strong bond with some of them while absolutely detesting others. Each chapter is told from the point of view of one of the main characters which I thought was a very refreshing idea as it gave you a clear picture of what was going on from different perspectives.

Bear in mind that this is not a story for the faint hearted. There are some very eye opening scenes that some may find offensive or distressing but if you have a knowledge of other novels set in ancient times as this one is you will be used to some of the raw events that occur as the story progresses.

This book is certainly an epic read in every sense of the word being that it is over 800 pages long so I advise anyone who wants to start reading it that you do need to be dedicated and willing to be in it for the long haul.

The main reason I started reading this book is because I noticed how popular the TV series has become and I have a rule that I try never to watch a movie or TV series that is based on a book without reading the book first. Now that I have finished the first book in the series I can't wait to start watching the show to see how well its plot follows that of the book.

Links:
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