Wednesday, April 11, 2012

A Game of Thrones (Book) Review

Media Reviews



The subject of this review will be the first book in the Song of Fire and Ice series by George R.R. Martin, A Game of Thrones. This book, and the subsequent books have been turned into an amazing HBO show, as you may know, that does a wonderful job of portraying the characters, events, and settings that the book encompasses, but I'll review the show at a later date. For now, onto the book!

Let me begin by saying that I am a fan of the fantasy genre. The settings, the characters, the wonder and magic that accompany these types of books has always drawn me to them since I was younger. Let me state that these books are NOT for anyone 18 or younger. The language in them is sometimes very, very crude, but it is used only to enhance the setting and is never over-used in a manner that would be overkill of the language. The story is set in a land called Westeros, a fantastical realm comprised of many cities and lords of those cities, all of whom are constantly wrestling for control of resources, power, and glory in the land. Martin does a wonderful job of giving each family a strong history and a culture of their own. This is one of the things that I most enjoyed about the novel, and that is the definite differences between the various factions and families that are a part of the story. The characters are given traits that might seem honorable, disrespectful, or conniving at first, but as the story progresses, those traits either serve to be their undoing or their ticket to power. The plethora of characters and their unique perspectives that the book tells the story from was another strong point of this novel.

The novel is close to being perfect, but there were a few issues that I didn't particularly find to be the greatest. These are just my opinions, remember, so they are not anything that is grammatically or systematically wrong with the novel. Also, SPOILERS BEYOND THIS POINT!!!



 Do not read beyond this point if you don't want to see spoilers.




Alrighty, with that out of the way, my one major complaint with the book is this: Ned Stark dies. I can't help it! He was my favorite character from the beginning, as flawed as his decisions were that lead to his death. I know, this isn't exactly a major complaint or complex critique of the book, but I'll be danged if isn't something that I still don't like about the book. His characteristics, his demeanor, and his history just appealed to me, and then as suddenly as he appears, he is gone. We'll always remember Ned.



To conclude, this book is definitely worth a read, no matter your favorite genre, but especially if you like the fantasy genre. The story, the setting, the culture, the characters, just everything about this book screams that it will be a classic for the ages. I'd go so far to say it's the best fantasy series since the Lord of the Rings, and that I'll wager it'll remain that until a new challenger approaches later on down the road.

-M


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