Books I Love – Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin

 

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.

A lot of you probably have already read this book, (as I did, ages ago) but in light of the new HBO series, I thought I’d give it a reread. It’s everything fantasy should be: a believable world, intriguing characters, and a page turning plot. It’s hefty at 700 + pages, but it reads really quickly.

A Game of Thrones is told from a lot of perspectives and there are a ton of characters to remember, some of which have the same name. It might be hard to keep the characters straight, but there is a nifty appendix in the back to help you out. I like that, while this is adult fantasy, half of the main characters are young adults/children, which gives it a YA feel, though the subject matter is definitely not YA.

This is actually the next book that we’re reading in my book club, so if you’re in the Chicago area, you should check it out.

Back next week.