Book Review: "A Game of Thrones" by George R. R. Martin

A Game of Thrones is the first book in the Song of Ice and Fire series by George R.R. Martin. It is a high fantasy book that the popular "Game of Thrones" TV show was named for.

In this book we are introduced to the Stark family of Winterfell. Eddard Stark and his wife Catelyn have five children: Sansa, Arya, Bran, Robb, and Rickon. Eddard also has a bastard son named Jon Snow. Early in the book Eddard finds a litter of direwolf cubs. Direwolves haven't been seen for many many years, so some believe the gods sent the cubs for Eddard's children because there are two girls cubs for the girls, three for the boys, and an albino wolf for Jon Snow.

The family has to split up when Eddard is offered the position of "hand of the king" which makes him second in command in the kingdom. The Stark family gets caught up in a web of lies, attempted (and successful) murders, and scheming. At the center of this web is the Lannister family, including the Queen, Cercsi. The reader also gets a view of an enemy across the sea has also started to grow up and could form into a major force later in the series.

I thought this was a great first book to this long series. It sets up the world very well an does a good job explaining different parts of its history while still contributing to the story. I can tell that this series is going to be very complex and deep just from the first book. It is not a series where each book has a big event that is wrapped up nicely at the end. Lots of things are still left open at the end of the book, and the reader isn't quite sure what events are important and what won't matter.

I gave this book a 4.5 out of 5 stars. I am a big fan of high fantasy and this book got my attention at the beginning and definitely held it throughout the entire book. I especially like that the reader is constantly being switched between the perspectives of the different characters. I enjoy this because the reader gets a lot more detail about the world and it helps convey the feeling that many different important things are happening at once.

The only negative things I have to say about the book is that it is quite long and it can be a rather dense read. The reader doesn't necessarily know what is important and what isn't because everything is given equal weight in the story; this is mainly because each character sees everything as important from ther perspective. Even so, overall, I would recommend this to anyone that enjoys high fantasy and has some time. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and am looking forward to continuing on with the Song of Ice and Fire series.