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Review
‘After five volumes Martin is, if anything, a better writer than when he started. If you're watching A Game of Thrones on HBO, you're foregoing the great pleasure of Martin's deft prose…’
Time Magazine
'A Game of Thrones has captured the imaginations of millions for the same reason the archetypal dramas of Homer, Sophocles or Shakespeare have lasted for millennia. They show us the conflict between self-sacrifice and self-interest, between the human spirit and the human ego, between good and evil. And when we look up from the page we recognise those same conflicts in the world around us and in ourselves'
The Guardian
‘It is hard to accept that something that enormous and that popular is as good as people tell you it is’
Independent
‘A Game of Thrones grabs hold and won’t let go. It’s brilliant.’
Robert Jordan
‘Colossal, staggering… Martin captures all the intoxicating complexity of the Wars of the Roses or Imperial Rome in his imaginary world… one of the greats of fantasy literature.’
SFX
‘Fantasy literature has never shied away from grandeur, but the sheer-mind-boggling scope of this epic has sent other fantasy writers away shaking their heads… Its ambition: to construct the Twelve Caesars of fantasy fiction, with characters so venomous they could eat the Borgias.’
Guardian
‘Such a splendid tale. I couldn’t stop till I’d finished and it was dawn.’
Anne McCaffrey
Product Description
The first volume in the greatest epic work of the modern age. Released for the first time since 1996, at the request of fans, in brand-new series style hardback.
Kings and queens, knights and renegades, liars, lords and honest men. All will play the Game of Thrones.
A major HBO series starring Sean Bean and a stellar cast.
Summers span decades. Winter can last a lifetime. And the struggle for the Iron Throne has begun. It will stretch from the south, where heat breeds plot, lust and intrigues; to the vast frozen north, where a 700-foot wall of ice protects the kingdom from the dark forces that lie beyond.
As Warden of the North, Lord Eddard Stark counts it a curse when King Robert bestows on him the office of the Hand. His honour weighs him down at court where a true man does what he will, not what he must…and a dead enemy is a thing of beauty.
The old gods have no power in the south, Stark’s family is split and there is treachery at court. Worse, a vengeance-mad boy has grown to maturity in exile in the Free Cities beyond the sea. Heir of the mad Dragon King deposed by Robert, he claims the Iron Throne.
In the game of thrones, you win or you die.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
331 of 340 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Enjoyable and surprising,
By
This review is from: A Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire, Book 1) (Paperback)
On my latest foray to buy some new fantasy, the till assistant suggested that I might like to try George R. R. Martin. I had seen his books before, but had never committed to reading them, but on this recommendation, I picked this book up for my summer holiday. Over 800 pages and less than 5 days later it was finished.Although somewhat slow in starting, the storylines soon become engaging and you really do want to find out what happens next. The book also contains a large number of surprises and means that you're never really certain where each story will lead. For me, the biggest surprise was in the unusual structure. As has been mentioned, each chapter is named after the character whose view it is written from. This is not something I have encountered before, but I enjoyed the format. It gave a nice insight into characters from all "sides" and allowed a good deal of depth to be included for them. The book as a whole is almost three independent stories. Firstly, the "Game of Thrones" is the nickname of the power struggle between high-born families to influence or take the throne. As usual, we have the good (Starks, Tullys), the bad (Lannisters) and the undecided (Baratheon). This covers the majority of the book and has only an initial interaction to one of the other storylines, The second storyline has minimal interaction with the first and follows a sworn brotherhood that forego all previous ties and become a new "family". They are sworn to defend the kingdom and man the vast wall that separates it from the wilds to the North. The final storyline does not interact with the others and is only hinted at by the telling of rumours in the kingdom. It charts the progress of the barbarian race of the Dothraki and their uneasy alliance with the last of the Targaryens, the family that were all but destroyed in a battle with the current head of the kingdom. As in most fantasy, there are apparent good and evil sides, but most of the characters have a certain ambiguity which results in them doing something that you would not normally expect. This ambiguity is a neat way to make you connect with characters from both sides in a way that you wouldn't usually do and although it may be a little uncomfortable, it also provides a better immersion for the reader. Another surprise is that magic is scarcely involved. It is only hinted at in the first two storylines and is only fully in evidence at the end of the third; I suspect that this will become more prominent in the following books. Non-human creatures are also in short supply, but again, I believe that they will play a larger part as the series progresses. To close, I would like to mention that there are a couple of plot twists that left me open-mouthed, a fact that I found most satisfying (after I'd recovered:-). Also, there are a couple of particularly grisly deaths and this combined with some of the more mature language and themes, indicate that this has been targeted at an adult audience. I have tried to avoid any plot details since the impact of the book comes from not knowing what is going to happen next. it has introduced all the storylines and got them to a point where they are all about to explode into action. If you fancy something a little more complex and with a definite adult bias, this could very well be the book for you.
260 of 268 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Melancholic fantasy,
By J.Yasimoto (Essex) - See all my reviews
This review is from: A Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire, Book 1) (Paperback)
I bought this book on the strength of previous reviews and am pleased to say I was not disappointed. As has been stated, GRRM's style is one of multiple viewpoints (initially confusing although by the middle of the book you know who's who, and in which 'house' they belong), within a continuous time thread. The writing is dark, gritty, and melancholic.This isn't a 'quest' book; more of a history. And a realistic one at that. Although there is a complete lack of elves, dwarves, orcs, goblins etc, this book should be classed as high fantasy. Dragons, monsters, and magic exist in this world but they are relegated to the background. Nine tenths of this book deals in the down to earth machinations of the various courts. Heroes and villains do not exist. Everyone is painted in shades of grey. (Some greyer than others). In the last 20 years there have been two books that completely blew me away. The first was Magician by Raymond E Feist, the second was Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb. A Game of Thrones is the third. If you enjoyed either of the first two you will surely enjoy this. Having read the rest of the books in the Song of Fire and Ice sequence, I can reassure you the standards set by A Game of Thrones are maintained.
127 of 131 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Incredible book, poor edition,
This review is from: A Game of Thrones: Book One of Songs of Fire and Ice (Song of Ice and Fire) (Kindle Edition)
As advertised, this is an incredibly good book - believe all the hype and purchase it immediately!My one gripe is the format of the Kindle edition which is literally covered with typos e.g. 'Tf' for 'It', 'boh' for 'both' and quite frequently 'bum' or 'bumed' for 'burn' or 'burned'. My suggestion, as this sort of poor quality production detracts from George Martin's text, is to purchase the hardcopy and forego the Kindle. You'll likely be pleased, as I imagine (in the hardcopy) that candles won't be 'buming' anything.
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