Author: George R. R. Martin
Published: 1996
Publisher: Bantam
Series: A Song of Ice and Fire #1
672 pages (hardcover)
This book (and its’ series) has become my new obsession. I am absolutely in love with this book. As soon as I finished reading this one, I went out and bought my own copy of it on the same day (and the second book in the series)! Yep, this is the kind of book where I simply MUST own my own copy (although I did opt to buy the prettier version of the series, with the nicer covers; this one I took out at the library has a very old fashioned looking cover that I’m not that fond of). And to make this all even more awesome, HBO is turning the entire series into a TV show, and the teaser trailer has me all impatient to watch it!
It’s going to be hard to provide a condensed version of the story’s events because there is so much happening all at once. Plots intertwine with one another constantly and there is never a shortage of intrigue, but I will try to give you an idea of what the story is without giving away too much of the plot (because it is actually kind of hard to explain exactly what the story is without spilling some spoilers). But here is what the beginning of the book looks like: the story takes place in a land called Westeros, where summers last a decade and winters last a lifetime. The King’s Hand (advisor to the King) has mysteriously died and Eddard Stark of House of Stark in Winterfell (who are descendants of the old Kings of the North) has been appointed the new Hand by King Robert. His investigation into the matter is frowned upon by Queen Cersei, who is hoping to put her son on the throne as soon as possible. In the meantime, the last heirs of the House of Targaryen, who were the previous royal family until they were usurped fifteen years ago by the now King Robert. Hiding across the sea, they bide their time and work to amass an army to take back their throne.
So basically what ends up happening is that there are a bunch of different groups all vying for the Iron Throne. It is extremely interesting watching the relationships between characters and factions develop, grow and fall apart. I haven’t even mentioned some of the other main characters such as Jon Snow, Eddard’s bastard son, or Tyrion, the Queen’s brother. There are many, many characters and they each have their own story to tell. It is quite amazing how well you come to know all these characters, despite there being so many, and when you find out how each of their own stories affect the greater story, it is kind of mind blowing, hahaha. My personal favourite is Arya, Eddard’s tomboy of a daughter. She’s a little fiesty thing, and I adore her. (It’s a little sad how we don’t find out what happens to her in this book, but I’m sure I’ll meet her again in book two!) I also love how there’s different Houses of families in the kingdoms, and they all have their own sigils and mottos/slogans. My favourite is definitely the Starks (the main characters of this book). Since they live way up in the north, their sigil is the direwolf and their little saying is, “Winter is coming.” Strangely enough, I also really like the House of Lannisters (the family the Queen is from) even though most of them are stuck-up elitists, hahaha. Their sigil is the lion and their motto is “Hear me roar!” which definitely suits them.
It’s a fantasy book, but because the level of magic in this book is low, it sometimes seems like a historical drama too. I think it has just the perfect amount of both magic and drama that things don’t seem too unbelievable. The world in this story just sucks you right in. The characters aren’t so out of touch with what people are like today that you can’t relate to them. Nobody is all good or all bad, but rather, shades of gray. I could not stop reading this book once I started, and when I finished, I just had to grab the second one. Which I did. Right away.
I think even if you are a person who is not normally into Lord of the Rings-level of fantasy, you should definitely try this book. It’s not chock full of magical fireballs and stuff, and it’s not so political that things fly over your head. Each chapter is from the third-person viewpoint of one of the eight main characters, and most of those main characters are kids and teens, so the plot isn’t hard to understand at all. Bottom line is, this book has a very good story. You have no idea how obsessed I am over this series now.
My Rating: 5/5
No comments:
Post a Comment