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.