When you play the game of thrones, you win or you die - Cersei Lannister
Trying to find a quote to sum up a book within a book can be quite challenging, however the quote above does the Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire, Book 1) justice.
Cliches such as gripping should be kept solely for books like this. I was given an Amazon Kindle for Christmas and my first purchase was Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire, Book 1) by George R. R. Martin , it was priced £1.99 and seemed great value. Living a 20 minute drive from where the TV series was filmed and having watched the show when it was on Sky Atlantic, also helped this to become an easy purchase.
Within 5 days the book was read, a combination of an addiction to the kindle and the fact that the book took me by the....throat. I hardly had time for turkey, stuffing or talking to the family.
I am a self-confessed crime thriller lover first and fore most, however this book could throw that preconception into some doubt and I might delve into fantasy a serious thought. However I am open to all sorts of genre.
This book has all the stereotypical fantasy genre elements; kings, queens, good guys, bad guys, life, love and death. No wonder HBO/Sky picked it up! Do not hold your breath though for some fantastical beasts of myrrh, as to not spoil the book, however they do not make any real appearance.
The main context for the book is set in a medieval type world with people who have a slight belief in gods but don't practise their belief outright due to lack of faith and no real sightings or evidence as such. There are seven kingdoms which are ruled by one king which has a history of bloodshed and divided loyalties.
My favourite storyline is that of the men of the wall who are the outsiders in society that choose, or are forced, to take the black, which patrol a huge wall across the northern part of the land (think Hadrian's wall but on a grander scale). They patrol against peoples beyond the great wall who are wild in behaviour and also against possible mythical beings who are shadow like and either do or do not exist.
Good points: The book is in and of its own world with lots of historical content to boot. You do not need to buff up on it or re-read passages to absorb this knowledge.
The multiple view points that the author writes from are really engrossing. They give you a feel for the persons thinking, this may be confusing at the start but by a couple of chapters you start to recognise names and places quickly and are endeared to the main protagonists.
The sense of foreboding doom is prevalent throughout the book. The Starke family, one of the many families in the book, have a motto,winter is coming. This is quite apt as the book is dark, gritty and no one is safe as people are killed off without warning. Which for me, makes for a fantastic read.
Bad points: Don't expect serious mythical creatures to come out of the pages just yet. If you are looking for orcs, trolls, skyrim type stuff? Then look elsewhere. I personally like the way the author has wrote the book in a way that you know that mythical beings exist, however you are more interested in the interweaving stories.
The book is quite graphic with issues such as murder, sex (incest), infanticide, gory battle scenes however they do play their part in the book and are not glorified in a way to make them too shocking, however you have been warned.
In summary: In all honesty, I actually wish I had not blogged about this book first as I sound like a gushing reviewer, but I should not be ashamed, I really enjoyed this book. I found myself trying to cram in as much reading as possible. The author has created colourful characters which you will either love or love to hate.
I would rate this book 5/5. It draws you in and you will not put it down. Friends have said that as the series of books progress they get better, which I find hard to believe because a Song of ice and fire is immense. The biggest compliment is that the second book has been downloaded and ready to go.
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