Customer Reviews

A Game of Thrones: A Song of Ice and Fire: Book One

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First off, I'm a heavy duty fan of GRRM. I've read over a 100 different fantasy authors in my time (started at 12; I'm now 32). Took about 5 years off from the genre b/c I felt it was all getting too formulaic and cliched.

So, when I came back to fantasy at the end of 1999, I read the usual: Goodkind, Jordan, etc. and then someone told me about GRRM and man, that was the kicker!

Here are the reasons to choose GRRM. I've also listed the reasons not to choose him to make it fair b/c I know their are certain personalities who won't like this series:

WHY TO READ GRRM

(1) YOU ARE TIRED OF FORMULAIC FANTASY: good lad beats the dark lord against impossible odds; boy is the epitome of good; he and all his friends never die even though they go through great dangers . . . the good and noble king; the beautiful princess who falls in love with the commoner boy even though their stations are drastically different . . . you get the idea. After reading this over and over, it gets old.

(2) YOU ARE TIRED OF ALL THE HEROES STAYING ALIVE EVEN THOUGH THEY ARE UNDER CONSTANT DANGER: this gets even worse where the author kills a main hero off but that person comes back later in the story. Or, a hero does die but magic brings him back.

This sometimes carries to minor characters where even they may not die, but most fantasy authors like to kill them off to show that some risked the adventure and perished.

(3) YOU ARE A MEDIEVAL HISTORY BUFF: this story was influenced by the WARS OF THE ROSES and THE HUNDRED YEARS WAR.

(4) YOU LOVE SERIOUS INTRIGUE WITHOUT STUPID OPPONENTS: lots of layering; lots of intrigue; lots of clever players in the game of thrones. Unlike other fantasy novels, one side, usually the villain, is stupid or not too bright.

(5) YOU ARE INTERESTED IN BIASED OPINIONS AND DIFFERENT TRUTHS: GRRM has set this up where each chapter has the title of one character and the whole chapter is through their viewpoint. Interesting tidbit is that you get their perception of events or truths. But, if you pay attention, someone else will mention a different angle of truth in the story that we rarely see in other novels. Lastly and most importantly, GRRM doesn't try to tell us which person is right in their perception. He purposelly leaves it vague so that we are kept guessing.

(6) LEGENDS: some of the most interesting characters are those who are long gone or dead. We never get the entire story but only bits and pieces; something that other fantasy authors could learn from to heighten suspense. Additionally, b/c the points of views are not congruent, we sometimes get different opinions.

(7) WORDPLAY: if you're big on metaphors and description, GRRM is your guy. Almost flawless flow.

(8) LOTS OF CONFLICT: all types, too; not just fighting but between characters through threats and intrigue.

(9) MULTILAYERED PLOTTING; SUB PLOTS GALORE: each character has their own separate storyline; especially as the story continues and everyone gets scattered. This is one of the reasons why each novel is between 700-900 pages.

(10) SUPERLATIVE VARIED CHARACTERS: not the typical archetypes that we are used to in most fantasy; some are gritty; few are totally evil or good; GRRM does a great job of changing our opinions of characters as the series progress. This is especially true of Jaime in book three.

(11) REALISTIC MEDIEVAL DIALOGUE: not to the point that we can't understand it but well done.

(12) HEAPS OF SYMOBLISM AND PROPHECY: if you're big on that.

(13) EXCELLENT MYSTERIES: very hard to figure out the culprits; GRRM must have read a lot of mystery novels.

(14) RICHLY TEXTURED FEMALE CHARACTERS: best male author on female characters I have read; realistic on how women think, too.

(15) LOW MAGIC WORLD: magic is low key; not over the top so heroes can't get out of jams with it.

REASON TO NOT READ GRRM

(1) YOU LIKE YOUR MAIN CHARACTERS: GRRM does a good job of creating more likeable characters after a few die. But, if that isn't your style, you shouldn't be reading it. He kills off several, not just one, so be warned.

(2) DO NOT CARE FOR GRITTY GRAY CHARACTERS: if you like more white and gray characters, this may unsettle you. I suggest Feist or Goodkind or Dragonlance if you want a more straight forward story with strong archetypes.

(3) MULTIPLE POINTS OF VIEWS TURN YOU OFF: if you prefer that the POVS only go to a few characters, this might be confusing for you.

(4) SWEARING, SEX: there's a lot of it in this book just as there is in real life.

(5) YOU DEMAND CLOSURE AT THE END OF EVERY BOOK: this isn't the case for all stories in the series. Some are still going on; some have been resolved; others have been created and are moving on.

(6) IF YOU WANT A TARGET OR SOMEONE TO BLAME: this can be done to some extent but not as much. This is b/c he doesn't try to make anyone necessarily good or evil.

(7) ARCHETYPES: some readers like archetypal characters because it's comfortable; we like the good young hero (sort of like Pug in Feist's THE RIFTWAR SAGA); it's familiar and we sometimes like to pretend we're this upcoming, great hero. You wont' get much of this in GRRM with the exception of one or two characters.

(8) LENGTH: you don't want to get into a long fantasy epic series. In that case, look for shorters works as this is biiig.

(9) PATRIARCHY: men are most of the main characters with lots of power (one female exception). ....

I add

con #10

Don't read this book if you don't like authors who take over 3 years to write a book, then only release half of it claiming the other half would try to have half of it within a year. Then 2 years later still be saying that there is no end of the book within sight. Martin takes absurdly long to write a book, and this series probably won't be complete within the next 10 years.

I chose to begin Martin's series with great expectations; after reading review after glorifying review of this work it didn't seem that investing in 'A Game of Thrones' could be much of a mistake. How wrong I was. Martin does not only seem incapable of weaving any kind of central plot convincingly, his characters never venture beyond the two-dimentional. Frankly, I came to feel I couldn't care less whether they lived or died; not a great incentive to buy the next book, really. Perhaps the author believed he was creating fascinatingly evil, scheming characters, but to tell the truth one ends up pitying these poor squabbling beings and their mean stabs in the back. Even an incestous relationship in unsuccessful in spicing the story up. And I failed to be impressed by an author whose idea of literary style seems to be using the self-consciously clever comparisons 'soft as sin'/'dark as sin' to describe a cloak (or whatever it was) twice in the first 50-odd pages of the novel. Moreover, the endless stream of adolescent 'wink-wink-nudge-nudge' jokes about whores and brothels are more frustrating than amusing when they happen to be in every other sentence of some characters. The only thing Martin does seem to manage with tolerable success is the description of gore. Well done. If I'd wanted only that I would have picked up a horror novel. I don't mind gore for the sake of realism, but with Martin one gets the uncomfortable feeling that he milks this ability to make up for his many lackings in plot and character construction. I will admit that I liked Tywin Lannister, and that Arya had a certain cliche charm about her (oooh, 'Tomboy princess'...now there's something we've never seen before in fantasy literature, eh?), but that alone will hardly make up for the sad failure of the rest of the novel to enthrall. Jordan has his faults, but I will confess that I intend to read his novels until the 'Wheel of Time' series finally closes, simply because I care about many of his characters. As for this author, I think I can garantee that I won't be buying his works ever again. Spare yourself the time and the money, because in all honesty I found nothing worthwhile in 'A Game of Thrones'.

It had been a long time since I read a fantasy novel, so I figured I'd pick one up for old time's sake. I chose this one based on positive reviews. The result? I hated it!

The first thing you should know is that little of interest happens until the last third of the book. There is just no way to avoid it due to the huge number of characters involved. Now it's not too bad if one keeps in mind that this is book one of three, but I certainly did not enjoy such a long exposition.

The bigger problem is that the characters, every single one of them, are essentially savages, brutal and dumb as doorknobs. All they know is how to destroy. Why should I care which one of them wins the "game of thrones"? As a result, this is not so much a story as a monotonous recount of events. And then there is the preposterous writing style. He "roared with laughter". Who roars with laughter??

Again, the impression I got from the bizarre behavior of the protagonists and the sparse clues about their world (which apparently has not changed in thousands of years) is that of great crudeness and stupidity of everyone involved. Lord Toranaga in Clavell's "Shogun" they surely ain't. They possess zero sophistication and zero interest in anything beyond war and satisfying their most basic urges.

What the deal with the incest is, I don't even want to know. Ugh.

All in all, a thoroughly mediocre, below average book. No fun at all.

This seems to be a never ending story. After suffering through 807 pages told from NINE different perspectives, I think we deserve some resolution to the story and have some questions answered...but NOooo. You have to buy the second book, suffer through 969 pages told from 11 different perspectives and still end up with more questions than answers...and no ending. If you can't tell a story in 1776 pages then you're not much of a writer in my opinion. I don't appreciate closing a "book" that doesn't have an ending. This is the epitome of flagrant commercialism: "Let's keep the audience in suspense so we can sell more books." Well, it's not going to work on me. The characters are unlikable, the manner the story is written is monotonous, and if I want to read about disloyalty, betrayal, and suffering--then I'll read the newspaper. (And, by the way, I don't CARE what every person in the room is wearing and eating in every scene.) Give it up George...the R.R.'s do not make you a good writer or your never ending story worth reading.

I'd been suffering from Fantasy Novel Attention Deficit Disorder for months before I found A Game of Thrones! I was tired of rereading the great stuff like the Amber Chronicles and Lord of the Rings, and tired of getting bored after reading the first few pages of juvenile treatments of the genre...such as Robert Jordan and Terry Goodkind and even, yes, the great Weis and Hickman (I cut my fantasy teeth on their Dragonlance novels as a teen, but now I can't get through a chapter). Apologies to all you fans of the aforementioned, but they don't come close to the subtle and mature read of A Game of Thrones. The magic in this novel is there for just the right amount of accent and is not used as a deus ex machina prop. The language is melodic and, at least for me, lends itself to the easy recollection of multiple characters. The plot and atmosphere are unique, and Martin often offers tiny morsels to enjoy (even the use of the spelling "Ser" for "Sir" is a nice touch). I haven't finished reading the thing yet, but I know I will finish this and greedily devour the rest in the series! Trust me on this one, if you find yourself a hardcore fantasy lover and can't stand the overly-magical, redundant fantasy trash out there now, invest in this book! It'll rescue you from its mediocre counterparts.

This is an amazing read! I am so attached, intrigued & in awe with so many of the carachters. The narrater does an exceptional job bringing forth the author's intended points and pauses...whether he's portraying sadness, anger, glee, humour, sarcasm, sensuality or mourn. I am anxious to start the next book in the series! I highly recommend!

I'll admit that Martin's epic may not be for everyone. Certainly those fantasy readers who enjoy orphan children who are secretly heirs to a kingdom and wizards who shoot fireballs from their hands will find little to love here. But it would be a shame if you denied yourself, as a reader, the compelling read Martin offers.

I don't use the word compelling lightly either, this is an utterly enjoyable read. Its quick, complex, exciting, and it defies expectations repeatedly. In many ways it stands alone in the genre, but I wanted to highlight three virtues of this book and, by extension, the series.

First, the female characters are treated with respect and empathy. Within Martin's books are princesses forced into political marriages, sisters who inadvertently do greater harm than they intend through their bickering, and mothers who are completely devoted to their children. It's a far cry from the petulant temptresses and the masculine amazons who inhabit most other fantasy novels.

Second, the violence in the story carries a weight absent from most fantasy novels. Martin captures the casual, sudden, and unexpected nature of violence. Horrible things happen so quickly that one stops to reread sentence, almost as if, like the characters, we can hardly believe what we've just seen. There's gut-wrenching injuries and accidents. A character thrown from his horse breaks a leg and swoons with pain instead of hopping up to fight on. In Martin's imagination, just as in reality, these things, these ignominious accidents, happen.

Finally, Martin does a fantastic job portraying magic. The book's detractors will disagree with me strenuously here. Martin handles magic subtly, it happens in caves and forests, in dank places where few witness it. The use of magic is fantastic, beyond the belief of most characters in the novel. Magic doesn't happen often. Each time, however, it is completely memorable.

There are other great touches in the book. Martin takes the time to name the games children play, uses heraldry and feudal politics extensively, and devises a clever set of surnames for children born out of wedlock. There are plenty of sources for high adventure as well: sworn brotherhoods, zombies, deft swordsmen, poisons, intrigues, and dragons.

In short, this is an absolute classic.

This is what started it all... The EPIC AMONG EPICS!

A wonderful read from start to finish. The story begins on a unsettling note with the mysterious and disturbing prologue that casts a dark ominous undertone for the rest of series. However, one is soon lulled back to a false sense of complacency as the main threads of the story unfold innocently enough, steadily unveiling the rich layered backdrop of the key families of power, the illustrious players behind the realm of the Seven Kingdoms. George RR Martin weaves such a passionate, believable tale of history, intrigue, loyalty, love, deceit, and betrayal. And I mean SHOCKING betrayal! And he weaves it so effortlessly with prose filled with rich and vivid imagery; and impeccable dialogue which is a true reflection of the genre.

A very fine beginning Act to a spectacular Series indeed.

Dare I say it rivals and even surpasses the likes of Tolkien's Lord of the Rings on many levels - with its engaging characters, complex yet flowing plot lines, and realm weaving realism and depth.

I might have said this to be the ultimate best of its genre not so long ago, but now Steven Erikson is cruelly proving me so wrong!

Nonetheless, this masterpiece will continue to hold a special place in my heart for years to come.

BRAVO!

My husband, an avid fantasy reader, has tried for years to get me interested in the genre. One evening when I was desperate for something to read, he handed me this book and begged me to give it a chance. I was hooked from page one! The writing is exceptional, and the characters--especially the women--are well developed. What strikes me most about Martin's work is that it is brutally honest and the characters act and think like real people...they don't seem at all like the stereotypical "heroes" I've encountered in other books. One word of caution to those who don't read a lot of fantasy, be sure to give yourself a few chapters to get into this book. Until I figured out how this world worked I found myself confused a lot, and I kept having to ask my husband to clarify certain points. Once I "got it" though, I had no trouble reading. This book (and entire series) is so amazing it transcends genre and can appeal to any reader.

After losing my love of this genre in the 11th or whatever book of the wheel of time I swore that never again would I pick up a fantasy about a boy who is magically destined to ride a dragon and save the world.

LET ME TELL YOU...this book is anything but, the whole series begins and just will not let you refuse to read.

One of my ALL TIME FAVORITE BOOKS EVER!!!

That is extremly high praise, honestly people you must read this, I just hope with all my heart it doesn't turn out to be another book series that never ends, we need development.