Game
of Thrones is the first book in a series titled "A Song of Ice and
Fire". It centers around Ned, a humble and moral man who has been
called upon by the King, and one of Ned's once closest friends, to be
the King's hand. Ned wants to say no but feels he has no choice and
with that he leaves his home of Winterfell, bringing along with him his
two daughters (Sansa and Arya), to serve the realm. While Ned is the
main character of the story it is not always in his point of view.
Catelyn, Ned's wife, narrates along with Ned's bastard son Jon Snow,
Ned's daughters Arya and Sansa, and Ned's young son Bran. Two other
characters narrate as well who have no relation to Ned. One is Tyrion
Lannister who was born a dwarf. The other is Daenerys Targaryen who is
the sister of Rhaegar Targaryen and daughter of King Aerys II, who sat on the Iron
Throne until Tyrion's brother Jaime cut his head off. Speaking of
the Iron Throne, that is what this whole series is about! It is a game
of thrones...a competition, you could call it, between the high houses
of the land.
There were many things I loved about this book which include the
characters and their many perspectives, the themes, the
descriptions/writing/detail, and the realistic tone. The characters
were phenomenal. Each one was fleshed out beautifully and their
thoughts were written so well on the page. I felt that I could relate
to almost every one is a small way. I enjoyed reading all of their
accounts except for perhaps Catelyn's...I grew a bit bored with her and I
often got mad at her decision making. From Ned's moral character
choices to Jon Snow's struggle for being born a bastard; from Arya's
wishes of not being a proper lady and dreams of sword-fighting to
Sansa's naive dreams of marrying Prince Joffery; from Tyrion's words of
wisdom about his strength in mind to Daenerys falling in love and
growing into a woman. I loved them all in their own ways! I think that
is what kept me reading. I loved how the plots of these character's
were interwoven in a way that wasn't random but purely on purpose and
genius on Martin's part.
Another
thing I loved about this book was the themes that it embraced. It
combines coming of age themes with the theme of standing to our
principles while also bringing in the theme of the memory's that haunt
us and partially shape who we are as human beings. The writing was
PHENOMENAL. I write this in all caps because it's so true and I want to
shout it to the whole world! I read this book and know that I may
never ever be able to write like that and I'm okay with it because it's
so good! The descriptions are so real and original and the words Martin
uses depict scenes skillfully and...well, perfectly. Between watching the show and reading the book I found myself cringing
at deaths and moments filled with witchcraft and dead bodies that
haunted people. That of shows just how amazing Martin is with his
descriptions. They bothered me! I also should mention how amazing this
world is that Martin has created. It feels as real to me as Hogwarts!
The book is also very realistic despite it's fantasy label.
When
I finished the book I just couldn't believe I was done. For a few days
I still thought I was reading it. I would reach over to my nightstand
and see that it wasn't Game of Thrones sitting there but another book.
It left a strange and empty feeling in my heart. Despite all of these
amazing aspects to the book, there was one negative thing I noticed.
This story is incredibly vulgar. I already mentioned that I moved past
that but it still does bother me at times.
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