Customer Reviews

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

5 star:		(844)
4 star:		(139)
3 star:		(31)
2 star:		(36)
1 star:		(51)

 

 

How could any of you like this? I am one of the few who go with the caveat "never listen to reviewers", well, I guess I should have listened to my own caveat! There are 3 major things wrong with his first book:

1) The story line was, well, not original and not interesting enough for me to keep reading. I eventually finished the book--all exhausting 700 pages of it, but I had to put it down many many times.

2) The characters were flat. I cared for no one. I rooted for all the Stark family to die. There were also too many characters introduced at once. He should just have stuck with one or two Stark members, and used them as true "main characters". He has the same Robert Jordan problem. Plots, and characters that seemingly go nowhere but into a wall.

3) He dealt with too many subplots and sometimes lost the main focus of his story.

Things that were good:

1) The battle scenes were decent, but just about anyone with patience and a pen could write a decent one.

2) At least his story had pacing, and felt like it was going somewhere! Which, two things are un-Jordanesque.

Thats all I can think of.

I was truly angry at wasting my money though. None of these new "epic" authors match Tolkien's true fantasy. How could any reviewer even have the GALL to think that of Jordan, Martin, and Goodkind?

I am so sick of reading these 800 page novels that go on and then go on to a 5th book or more! Its really all Jordan's fault for ruining a good method of fantasy writing by creating those monstrosities. The fact remains that when you create a novel, the quality(and depth)has to be there in order for most readers to have a reason to want to continue reading--rather than doing your novels in a Jordan style. I am not sure what possessed me to get those truly terrible RJ books, and RR Martin ones,(I am in the process of believing them to be the SAME PERSON, but using two different pennames!).

I can only advise you not to buy any more of this junk.

(...)I would read a book from the romance or erotica sections. I'm not trying to be prudish, but I would like to see a little more sword-play and less sexual chess being played.

If you are a D&D playing, wargaming fanatic looking for some good fantasy battles, look elsewhere.

There are several passages in Martin's series that are so graphic, they could not be published on this web site. What does that tell you? If you want to consume filth, save your money and watch some more television.

This paperback book is the first one of the 4-book series. It's a very good fiction which can be read as a whole or chapter by chapter. I wonder if the BBC show is as good as the book.

I will probably buy the rest of the series once I'm done with this one.

The good: Martin can write, when he puts himself to it. He can even let characters emerge from their actions without explaining everything to death. His world-building is often pretty solid, to the point where the unexplained bits feel like watching Blade Runner without the bloody narrator: you're fascinated and want to know more, longing for a deeper understanding and willing to wait or work more for your rewards. Chapter headings bear the name of the character whose viewpoint is followed in them: That makes for some interesting and insightful switching of points of view. Some cliffhangers are well played out: when the book picks them up again, the story has moved on enough that you are on edge, waiting for the writer to reveal you what the hell's happened, especially if the plotline is picked up through another characters' eyes.
The bad: The good stops after 200 pages and occasionally resumes about 500 pages later. I'm perplexed to read Stephen Donaldson calling himself a notorious over-writer, whereas Martin and Jordan (to name but those I've read) get away with writing these monsters which could have been summed up in a quarter if the space, as they are little more than a collection of plot twists, with mercifully short chapters that read like Dragonball anime episodes: 25 minutes of smoke screen for one lonely bit if info. For God's sake, what's taking you so long, mate? Oh wait, bigger and more numerous books equal more money... Oh, okay, got it! If you do not care for a character and his/her story are fairly detached from the rest (Jon and Danerys), reading through them is often a pain: you'll wish the writer had cut some chapters, or sites those for another book our a soon-off if you're a completist.
The ugly: this doesn't really sound like anything new, partly because it's apparently based on idealised visions of gruesome middle ages, partly because it's really uselessly long. Insane lists of useless names are not good world-building, they're pretension. Back cover quotes for this books usually compare them favourably against Tolkien's to class creations: that's such a load of crap. Tolkien's good because the background work was so deep and consistent, by the time he sat down to write the Lord Of The Rings, he achieved more a writer in a thousand odd pages than Martin will have achieved when the seventh and last book will be out. Tolkien also had the decency to let the process out until his son dragged his corpse out of the grave (happy as I an to have been able to read the Silmarillion and more, I recognise tomb-raiding when I see it), while Martin just throws it all at you at once. If you value quantity over quality though, my complaints will be your praise. Also: if you want to see intelligent woman characters, open another book. If you wasn't to see a positive depiction of sex: open another book. Rape and whoring abound, and much as I value realism and mature themes (this is after all revised middle age "history") to bring fantasy out of the Harry Potter hole, this is not it. Realistic politics play a big role in the book; however, some characters still act so dumbly (for overdone sense of honour or inexplicable plain stupidity) that it all loses strength and credibility. Eddard and Catelyn are despicable in this respect, the latter is am especially insufferable person. Buy they're both honest to the point of seeming gullible against all reason, and Catelyn goes as far as showing, at some point, some incredible pacifism that is so badly portrayed, our makes a god thing look bad! China Mieville's your cup of tea if you love fantastic worlds and worldviews if total credibility, or the often sadly overseen Stephen R. Donaldson.
Closing comments: I eventually was enthused enough by the plot that I might read book 2 some day (after having read Ghormenghast and at least 2 more Donaldson and Mieville books...): if that also fails to give me some sense of achievement, that's totally it, I'm over my brief falling in with unending fantasy epics.

The book is everything I expected it to be and more. The television series introduced these books to me, which I am really grateful for because of where it led me. The books go into a lot of detail that the TV show couldn't fill in, which I enjoy.

If you've seen the show, get the books. You wont regret it.

I cant even understand half the words in this book, i mean cmon. This book made me vomit every time i finished reading a chapter. My friend told me about this book and that it was amazing...i just figured out he was pulling a prank on me...a whole 1,000 page prank. You got their zack, u got me good. But just watch, Im going to make you read Wild Cards, you will be sorry.

I did not love A Game of Thrones, but by the time it ended, I felt like I needed to find out what more happened...So, I picked up the next book, and now I'm HOOKED! HOw many books are going to be in this series? I can't have another Wheel of TIme on my hands. I hope it gets wrapped up, so I don't have to wonder for the rest of my life how it ends or wait for a new book every two or three years...

Other people have already said all the good things there are to say about "Song of Ice and Fire". So I'll just say that if you didn't like it, you probably push old ladies into the street for fun. Or you're an imbecile.

I honestly cannot understand why this book has received so many positive reviews, Martin's prose makes for an easy read much the same way pablum makes for an easy meal. Too many petulant, poorly drawn characters inhabit Martin's weakly envisioned world, for those of you who would rather feast on a more complex narrative, with a more varied and interesting cast in a brutally realistic world of heroes, warriors and sorcerers may want to try some Steven Erikson.