A Game of Thrones Leather-Cloth Boxed Set (Song of Ice and Fire Series)

So, A Game of Thrones needs no introduction. I had no intention of reading it at first and I only watched the TV version recently, but now I’m caught up with that, I can see myself getting impatient between series. It’s already happening just waiting a week between episodes. I’m much more a TV marathon kinda gal. So a few weeks ago, I bought an ebook of the first instalment. Have you seen the size of it? No way would my weakling wrists have coped with that in paper. Yet there is one thing that paper would have been better for. At the back is an appendix of the main families, which would be perfect to flick to when you start to get confused. But Kindles aren’t designed for flicking. They want you to read from beginning to end in a straight line.

The thing is, there are too many characters. I thought this watching the first episode and it took me ages to remember who was who and who was related to whom and what they had done and why they were where they were. Exhausting, I know. If I had started to read the book without that visual reference, I don’t think I would have made it to the end. I’m pretty sure this is standard for epic fantasy though. And, brace yourselves; this is the first epic fantasy I have ever finished. Yup, never got past the first few pages of Lord of the Rings.

The vast cast of characters is the one the reasons you can get sucked into this world though, and also justifies the sheer length of the story. I do think the whole series is really one story. It’s the story of a nation’s entire politics, a history of sorts, no wonder it needs so many people. But real history has reference points. The back-story seems to be fed through in drips and drabs. The back story is what I want to read these books for! I already know the story of two and a half seasons (I’m guessing each season follows a book?).

The adaptation is pretty faithful to the book. One of the main differences is the age of characters. The Stark children are much, much younger than they are in the show. The reason for this is because HBO didn’t want to remove the sex scenes because they were so crucial to the story. I was expecting, sex all over the place, but it’s really rather tame and skipped over. Not like the show at all. But my mind has already placed the actors into roles, so I couldn’t read them as children; or not as children as young as they were described. I would much rather imagine Kit Harington than some scrawny blonde kid thanks very much.

Fortunately my favourite characters were still my favourite characters in written form. Jon Snow is still kind and loved his moments with Ghost. Tyrion Lannister is just the same. I had forgotten that Daenerys Targaryen started off a bit pathetic so was set out to be disappointed, although she turns kick ass soon enough. Although I think Emilia Clarke’s defiant acting adds so much to her character.

I also made connections that were previously missing. Yes there are two Mormonts and they are related. I wasn’t getting them mixed up. Catelyn’s apathy towards Jon Snow is much clearer. I understand a bit more about the world they live in and the godswoods. I seriously love those trees in the series. Yes, I’m weird. The Hound also came across as a much more sympathetic character, although maybe I just missed the interactions between him and Sansa before.

I can’t really comment on what the book would be like with a fresh mind. Friends who have read it in ignorance say it’s a real page turner. I think once you get into it or if you’re really good with names, it’s going to be a really immersive series. The last few chapters were rather powerful, but I think I need that a bit earlier on in the book for it to be a real winner. I have got the second book and will probably carry on with my strategy of reading a few chapters between other books. Although once I get past series three, I might change my mind.

If you like historical fiction full of shifty political manoeuvring, read it. If you want dragons, dragons and more dragons, you may need more patience than you have to get to them. It's really only slightly fantasy. Which was apparently HBO's big selling point; fantasy for people who don't like fantasy.

I have seen the first two seasons of "Game of Thrones" on TV, so that colored my reading of this book. One thing that is probably bad is that now I can only visualize the main characters with the appearances of the actors who play them. I was surprised by how much I still enjoyed reading the book, even though I knew the major plot points. Having watched the TV show, reading the book became a means of getting background on the characters. There was more time for backstory, and events that took place on the show were fleshed out.

I don't know if I can offer a useful review, because I'm not sure how much I would have liked the book without seeing the show. I do enjoy fantasy novels and stories that include a lot of history. But since I read a variety of books, I'm generally not up on the latest and greatest in the fantasy genre. I know this book has been out for many years, but I didn't know of it until the TV show came about. I suppose the real test for me will be when I read far enough in the series to go beyond the events of the show.

Not too bad. Many of the characters are not likeable mostly because of how infuriatingly stupid they were, but most of them died anyway. Having so many cliffhanger as an ending to such a long book is amusing, but I'm looking forward to reading the next one.

I spent a lot of time waiting for GRRM to hurry up and get back to the characters I actually was interested in, but of course by the time I got to the end I was ready to buy book 3 and keep going. It's not the best thing I've read but it doesn't entirely suck.

This was good. Really good. Better than I expected, frankly.

My initial thought is that if it's about anything, A Game of Thrones is about how the folly of youth becomes the folly of adulthood. The sins of the father (and mother and siblings and distant cousins, bastard or otherwise) are visited upon the son (etc.), and all that.

My first favorite character is Arya. Arya reminds me of my younger daughter, who at the age of six leapt out of a tree and beat down a boy larger than her as he was hitting her repeatedly with a stick. (Thankfully, my daughter has not learned how to use a sword.) Arya is courageous, not just because she's a tomboy who prefers gauntlets to thimbles, but because she makes no bones about it. She is the most interesting of the Stark children. I will admit I was much dismayed when there was like 200 pages where she didn't appear. I actually flipped ahead to make sure there was at least one more section/chapter focusing on her. And I never flip ahead in books (well, almost never, apparently...).

My second favorite character is Tyrion. His clarity and candor are awesome, and I think both of those characteristics point to a deeper genuineness that nobody else in the book — even Eddard, perhaps especially Eddard — seems to possess. In Tyrion I see not only an earnest enjoyment of life ("I like living" he tells Bronn, perhaps the most honest statement uttered by a character in the book), but a desire to actually make life better — and not only for himself. Yes, Tyrion is an ardent opportunist, and he does not shy from any opportunity to better his situation; however, he is also an ardent supporter of the win-win situation. The other Lannisters only want to win. Furthermore, Tyrion's design for Bran's saddle is perhaps the only truly selfless act in the entire book.

I was pleasantly surprised by Eddard at the end, although obviously disappointed by the outcome. His willingness to recognize the situation and do the distasteful thing shows his humanness. To avoid spoilers for that one person who hasn't read it (you know who you are), that's all I'll say about that.

Characters in grey abound in this book. There are few characters (like Lord Ned) who are in white or black. That's part of the beauty of this book. Don't expect spells and enchantments in this book. The Magic is understated and oft hidden. The magic bearers mostly choose to work behind the scenes here. George R R Martin weaves a strong story around his strong characters. In essence the book is what the title says - a Game of Thrones. People fight for the right to rule - the events in the story are a consequence of this hunger. It has everything that you could ask for - betrayal, sex, murder. It's set in a Universe where knights and lords rule over the land.

Brilliant start to the series. I can't wait to get my hands on the rest of the series and find out what happens next.

What a fantastic read--I'm anxiously awaiting the next volume in the saga and hoping the library queue moves quickly. I may wind up buying these.

Took a little while to get used to the narrator, but then I couldn't stop listening. I am glad I saw the tv series first, which helped me get over the narrator's style.

This is the first book in one of the best epic fantasy series around, A Song of Ice and Fire. It has also recently been adapted into the first season of an equally epic TV series, Game of Thrones, which I highly recommend watching if you haven't already. And if you're coming to the book series as a fan of the TV show, then the books will give you plenty of additional details and background to feast on.

The characters and places that George R R Martin introduces us to in this book are richly and lovingly rendered in believable detail. The world of the books is a dark and often brutal one; good things do not necessarily come to good people simply because they are good, and the game of thrones of the title is a bloody one where every action has its consequences. The characters are rarely black and white, good and evil; what they are is people, with all the flaws and failings that real people have. They are also fascinating, interesting people, and you care about what happens to them.

If you like your fantasy dark, gritty, political, epic and on occasions downright grim - and, obviously, I do - then I cannot recommend these books highly enough.

What a very dense book! I'm not sure if I really liked it or not, actually. I don't like how you aren't always sure what happens at the end of a chapter. In one case I thought Bran was dead, in another, Ned. But I was mistaken. A friend said she thought Martin tends to throw characters away. I am displeased with the fate of who appeared to be the main character, the driving force, of this book.

There are a lot of characters, which is okay. Unfortunately, if several chapters have gone by since visiting them last, it takes me a bit to remember what was going on. A book this size could take maybe 3 weeks to read, but it took 2 months! I don't know if that speaks to my very busy schedule with work and life and training, or if that speaks to the not quite as easy read that is Martin.

My other complaint is that the book does not feel ended at the ending. I have waiting books, due to rings, and just some stand alone books I was going to read interwoven with this series, and instead, I went right to the next book to read to see if anything gets wrapped up early in the novel.

However, it is a very well written book and engaging. Even on the characters that I don't much like, I'm interested in finding out more about them. Also good when you go from liking a character to disliking to liking again and vice versa. There are tons of twists and there isn't much the reader sees coming. I highly recommend this book.