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

ISBN: 9780553588484

Release Date: September, 1996

Series: A Song of Ice and Fire, #1

Page Count: 835 Pages

     GOODREADS SYNOPSIS:

Summers span decades. Winter can last a lifetime. And the struggle for the Iron Throne has begun.
As Warden of the north, Lord Eddard Stark counts it a curse when King Robert bestows on him the office of the Hand. His honour weighs him down at court where a true man does what he will, not what he must … and a dead enemy is a thing of beauty.
The old gods have no power in the south, Stark’s family is split and there is treachery at court. Worse, the vengeance-mad heir of the deposed Dragon King has grown to maturity in exile in the Free Cities. He claims the Iron Throne.

     REVIEW:
WHAT I LIKED: (I would like to mention that anything I say about this book will be the understatement of the century, e.g. "this book is good" - WHAT?!)

• George R. R. Martin is a literary master! The writing is so smooth and also wonderfully descriptive without being annoying. If he wrote a phone book, I'd read it.
• I dont think I've ever seen world-building like this. I mean, there is Harry Potter after all, but even for me - Harry Potter fan of the decade - this beats out HP ten times over as far as world building goes. Martin literally created centuries of history for this epic story. I'm in awe.
• The characters are not good or evil, its not as black and white as that. The characters we hate do things we can't hate them for and vice versa. They are so real to me and I, like many others, have become so invested in their lives... or deaths.
• Even after seeing the entire three seasons of the show - twice - I still loved reading every single word of this story and cannot wait to read the rest of them. I've shared my outrage with many about how incredibly long it will take to get our hands on books six and seven (and then what if he decides to add more?! - not that I'd be complaining).

WHAT I DIDNT LIKE:

• It drove me absolutely insane when the stupid crows would "repeat" words said by the characters. By the middle of the book it was getting to be too much. Honestly, who cares about the crows saying "corn, corn, corn" over and over!?
• Just like in the show, some of the sexual descriptions (not necessarily the sex scenes themselves, though) were a little much. Do I need to know all of that? No, really I dont. I do, however, appreciate it for what it is worth and the images they are supposed to portray, so I guess I am okay with it being there - just not always into reading it word for word. I'll skim, thanks.

     RATING: ★★★★★ (5 stars)

I dont think I need to tell you that I am obsessed with this book. I think the whole world is addictive and its hard not to love it. I am intimidated a little by how long the third, fourth and fifth books are but I love it anyways. I love that there will be so much more added to what we know about the world as it is. I LOVE LOVE LOVE - Okay, enough. Really though, I'm obsessed.

I started reading Thrones back when the show was in between the first and second seasons, when my fiance told me he'd heard great things about the show. He was going to watch it and I was going to read it. I watched a few episodes in tandem with the reading of the books and then I realized that the episodes were amazingly close to the books and it was getting harder to keep up with every episode considering how long the book was. I eventually gave up on the book (which makes me pretty upset because that is so unlike me) and ran with the show which I'm also obsessed with. Then... season three came around and threw some major curveballs and I, like several other people I know, decided I needed to read the books, especially before the fourth season comes which continues book three. I literally lost sleep over some of the things that happened in the show, so I wanted to be prepared for any other crazy happenings or revelations before they were aired on TV. And now here I am wondering why I havent read the books several times over already.

So with that being said, if you like epic fantasy, and I mean epic, please pick these books up and take them for what they are worth. I have heard many mixed things about the next few books in the series but to me these arent books to just be read and reviewed - they are a whole world to enter and live in, and in my case, dissect, haha. So if the next book is slow to some, it probably wont be to me because actually, like with Harry Potter, all I want are more opportunities to be a part of this world (while still being able to close the book and come back to real life when the white walkers come around)!

Sorry for my rambling but as you can see, I want you to read this. And if you dont think you can handle it, at least go watch the show, and when you get to the third season and have your soul ripped from your body and cant handle any more surprises, I hope you enjoy the books. :)

Have any of you read this, or tried to, or are currently trying? What did you think if you have/are? And if you havent or have given up, tell me why! Love hearing from you all.

A.