"A Game of Thrones" Review
Finally, I got off my lazy arse and got this book from the library. The copy, unfortunately, was in shambles. It felt like there was only one copy of the book in the library and the thousands of people who used it also wiped their butts on it as well. This book managed to have pages ripped out twice. One time it was just the map, the next time had seven hundred pages torn out. But I digress, we're here to talk about the book, not the library's unfortunate copy.
First of all, I want to say that it's astonishing that this book hasn't been recognized in such a long time. Granted, I don't pay attention to popular books, but I do know that I haven't learned about this series since the TV show came out. Diving into this, the plot involves a conflict in the land they live in. There's rumors of creatures from the north, Varys and Daenerys Targaryen waiting to reclaim their throne, and differing factions in the Seven Kingdoms itself. There's a lot going on in this book and it'd take a long time just to cover the premise. This is a long book and you're going to find that there's a ton of stuff going on at the same time. It follows a group of characters in their travels and weaves a story with that. I can't say that I remember the history that well, but it doesn't matter too much. The current conflict is a compelling enough story. Granted, in the beginning, it's starts slowly and takes a while to get used to reading. But the book managed to make me wonder what was going on. I couldn't put down the book and kept wanting to know what was going to happen.
Then, there's the characters. The main ones are Lord Eddard Stark, Bran, Sansa, Jon, Arya, Catelyn, Dany (or Daenerys), and Tyrion Lannister. These are a diverse cast that each have their own stories to tell. Each one goes their separate ways eventually and they fit together as various stories to get you updated. I find that this technique is very effective and reading about each one is fascinating. George R. R. Martin has this style that can feel stuffy at times, but illustrates this time very well.
Let's move on to the setting. This book was heavily based on the Rose Wars and the medieval period in general. It adds supernatural elements as well in various places. But because this is an "uncivilized" nation, you have differences. For example, women are again placed very low in society's eyes, often perceived as objects for sexual pleasure. This can be disconcerting, but it never goes to explicit detail. With sex comes a few cases of rape and incest. The description can be brutal, but it feels candid and accurately describes how people would feel during this period of time. Along with sex comes violence. Violence is quite common and you'll see people getting killed over steak. And they also like shipping heads.
But, this book is long. Clocking in at around 800 pages, it's a hefty tome. And if you've read Harry Potter 5 and thought it was a piece of cake, guess again. This text is scrunched together, unlike the widely spaced out text for children's novels. It took me three weeks to finish this. And every book of the series is at least that size. But don't let that deter you. I've heard some of my friends say that it was "boring" or "too political", but I found it thrilling. As a huge fan of Lord of the Rings, this was just as great. So go read this book if you feel up to the challenge.
The only cons I can think of are the details. By god, there's a lot. I can't remember a quarter of the names, a sixteenth of the houses, and half of the history. Did he really expect us to absorb everything? It's a minor complaint, but people who really want to understand the book may have to read it several times.
Final Rating: 4/5
First of all, I want to say that it's astonishing that this book hasn't been recognized in such a long time. Granted, I don't pay attention to popular books, but I do know that I haven't learned about this series since the TV show came out. Diving into this, the plot involves a conflict in the land they live in. There's rumors of creatures from the north, Varys and Daenerys Targaryen waiting to reclaim their throne, and differing factions in the Seven Kingdoms itself. There's a lot going on in this book and it'd take a long time just to cover the premise. This is a long book and you're going to find that there's a ton of stuff going on at the same time. It follows a group of characters in their travels and weaves a story with that. I can't say that I remember the history that well, but it doesn't matter too much. The current conflict is a compelling enough story. Granted, in the beginning, it's starts slowly and takes a while to get used to reading. But the book managed to make me wonder what was going on. I couldn't put down the book and kept wanting to know what was going to happen.
Then, there's the characters. The main ones are Lord Eddard Stark, Bran, Sansa, Jon, Arya, Catelyn, Dany (or Daenerys), and Tyrion Lannister. These are a diverse cast that each have their own stories to tell. Each one goes their separate ways eventually and they fit together as various stories to get you updated. I find that this technique is very effective and reading about each one is fascinating. George R. R. Martin has this style that can feel stuffy at times, but illustrates this time very well.
Let's move on to the setting. This book was heavily based on the Rose Wars and the medieval period in general. It adds supernatural elements as well in various places. But because this is an "uncivilized" nation, you have differences. For example, women are again placed very low in society's eyes, often perceived as objects for sexual pleasure. This can be disconcerting, but it never goes to explicit detail. With sex comes a few cases of rape and incest. The description can be brutal, but it feels candid and accurately describes how people would feel during this period of time. Along with sex comes violence. Violence is quite common and you'll see people getting killed over steak. And they also like shipping heads.
But, this book is long. Clocking in at around 800 pages, it's a hefty tome. And if you've read Harry Potter 5 and thought it was a piece of cake, guess again. This text is scrunched together, unlike the widely spaced out text for children's novels. It took me three weeks to finish this. And every book of the series is at least that size. But don't let that deter you. I've heard some of my friends say that it was "boring" or "too political", but I found it thrilling. As a huge fan of Lord of the Rings, this was just as great. So go read this book if you feel up to the challenge.
The only cons I can think of are the details. By god, there's a lot. I can't remember a quarter of the names, a sixteenth of the houses, and half of the history. Did he really expect us to absorb everything? It's a minor complaint, but people who really want to understand the book may have to read it several times.
Final Rating: 4/5
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