A Game of Thrones is the first book in George R. R. Martin’s ‘Song of Ice and Fire’ series. In it he introduces the characters, races and places that make up the Seven Kingdoms and Free Cities of the story.
The descriptions and actions of the main characters caused me to have strong feelings about each of them. There were some I really liked and cared about – Tyrion, Bran and Arya, to name just three. I want them to have ‘happy endings’ by the end of the series, although I may be disappointed. There were others I disliked intensely, such as Queen Cersei and her brother Jaime. I look forward to them ‘getting what’s coming to them’ in later books. I wanted to give Sansa a good shaking on more than one occasion, and Eddard Stark was too noble and honourable for his own good. I won’t say any more than that because I don’t want to give anything away. All I will say is that the fact I reacted so strongly to the characters shows the author’s skill in portraying them.
Events are also drawn well. They are drawn so well that I put the book aside at the end of one chapter – something had happened to a character I liked and I was almost afraid to find out what it was. Again, no spoilers, but it’s more evidence of how good Martin is. Each chapter focuses on a different character and that person might not crop up again for several chapters. Some people might think this breaks the flow, but I found it helped keep me interested. The chapter ended with me not knowing what was going to happen, so I kept reading to find out.
The story may seem to go slowly at times, but that’s because Martin is carefully developing his characters and the relationships between them. There’s no need for him to rush, there’s plenty of excitement and interest along the way. If you like fantasy and adventure, I thoroughly recommend this series of books.
The series of books has spawned a TV adaptation which I haven’t seen yet, but I understand is fairly true to the books. If you enjoy the books, it’s probably worth checking out the series. (Addition 22/04/15: I have read that the TV series will not stick to the books from season 5 onward. I don’t know what impact the changes will have.)
