A Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire, #1) in Pick-a-Shelf

Dec 25, 2009 Gaijinmama rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fantasy, favorites

I went into this having seen the first two seasons of the TV show, so some of the suspense was gone.
Didn't matter a whit. I could hardly put the book down and pretty much binge-read the last 300 pages over a three-day weekend. Family? sleep? work? what's that?
Indeed, it was all I could do not to plow right into the next volume of the series, but I'm making myself take a break to process it.

The story is just plain non-stop irresistible brilliance. In more than 800 pages, not a single word is wast I went into this having seen the first two seasons of the TV show, so some of the suspense was gone.
Didn't matter a whit. I could hardly put the book down and pretty much binge-read the last 300 pages over a three-day weekend. Family? sleep? work? what's that?
Indeed, it was all I could do not to plow right into the next volume of the series, but I'm making myself take a break to process it.

The story is just plain non-stop irresistible brilliance. In more than 800 pages, not a single word is wasted. More importantly in my view, the characters are believable and complex. The bad guys have some redeeming qualities, and the good guys have some grey areas and do some unlikeable stuff. They're people, not superheroes, and that's what kept me riveted in their story.
Hands down, my favorite character is Tyrion, The Imp. I'd say he's the anti-hero of the whole darn thing. As far as I'm concerned, this is really his story. Kinda like Star Wars is really about Han Solo, not that boring Luke Skywalker, right? Tyrion isn't exactly a good guy but he is smart, shows compassion in spite of himself, generally does the right thing when it matters, and oh. my.gods. does he have a sense of humor!! Between him and Petyr Baelish( who really is a scumbag, but endearing nonetheless) I found myself giggling at all sorts of inappropriate moments.
Warning: in case you've been hiding under a rock, let's just say things get a bit violent here and there. I'm not at all squeamish, but this book contains some truly sick and twisted stuff that pushed even my limits. What makes it even more upsetting, is that it's portrayed realistically. There is no cruelty in this book that hasn't actually been done to someone at some point in history.
Same goes for the magical aspects of the story. Magic exists in this world, but it comes at a price, and people still have to deal with the consequences of their actions, or deal with the fall-out of other people's actions (Catelyn Stark, a word please!! In my office, now!!).
People survive by using their brains. And sometimes bad things happen to good people.
Maybe I'll grab the next book and dive right in, after all. ...more

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Aug 09, 2012 Rachel N. rated it really liked it

There's a lot going on in this book so it's not easy to summarize. Robert Baratheon king of the seven kingdoms travels to Winterfell and enlists Ned Stark to be hand of the king. Meanwhile the two remaining taergearyns, whose father was the former king, are teaming up with the dothrakis across the bitter sea to reclaim the throne. I enjoyed this book but it's very dense and it took a really long time to finish it. I definitely want to know what happens to the characters so I am going to continue ...more

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Nov 05, 2010 Stormy rated it liked it

Shelves: at-the-library, historical-fiction, epic

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Overall this is a rich, sweeping epic which is told through the revolving points of view of some of the major characters. It was a fantasy world with many aspects similar to old England, so it at once seemed familiar and yet strange at the same time. There was less fantasy than one might imagine - mentions of "others" and giants and dragons, but they didn't really make a definitive appearance (though there were some dead and nearly dead people that came back to life briefly).

Unfortunately for me Overall this is a rich, sweeping epic which is told through the revolving points of view of some of the major characters. It was a fantasy world with many aspects similar to old England, so it at once seemed familiar and yet strange at the same time. There was less fantasy than one might imagine - mentions of "others" and giants and dragons, but they didn't really make a definitive appearance (though there were some dead and nearly dead people that came back to life briefly).

Unfortunately for me, this sort of tale is not something I enjoy. The time, etc, is fine, but literally NO ONE got a happy ending. Every SINGLE character suffered a tragedy (and some suffered several tragedies). Why waste 807 pages of my time (and almost 2 weeks) to read about so many trials? I have enough trials in my own life. I read to escape my trials, which doesn't actually include a trip through "see how bad everyone else's life is".

So, the bastard lost the only family he knew and got to dedicate his life to protecting a giant ice wall from creatures worse than death. The honorable knight was ultimately beheaded when he tried to uphold the dead king's law. One of his daughters is going to be forced to marry the new king who likes to have his servants beat her when she doesn't do what he wants her to. Another one of his daughters is living on the street...as a boy. One of his sons, who was an excellent climber, overheard something he shouldn't have and got tossed out a window and broke his back (he was 6...my daughter will be six this year, maybe I'm oversensitive). Then there's poor 3 year old Rickon (who I think turned 4 during the book) who keeps being told that he has to grow up some time. And 15 year old Rob who now gets to lead an army in his father's place. There's Catelyn who is losing everyone: her husband, her dying father, her broken son, her two daughters and seems to be okay leaving her 3 year old at home while she galavants around the country.

And while I haven't mentioned the twisted Lannister who is threatened and reviled pretty much at every turn despite the possibility that besides the honorable knight may be the most redeemable character in the book. My "favorite" character was Dany who was forced into a horrible situation at a very early age and actually found love only to have it taken from her along with having folks kill her baby as it was born. GREAT!!!

I can do without another chapter to this story. And I'll stick with my vapid, insipid books that end with a HEA. I am a product of the Disney generation. I can deal with adversity, but it has to end happily, at least for SOMEONE. Beheadings of noble folk and slaughtering of innocent infants just doesn't do it for me. ...more

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Nov 06, 2011 Joanna rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobooks, fantasy-sci-fi, 2012-read, rws-2012-fall

The reader for the 30+ hour audiobook did an excellent job reading for all the different characters and helping me keep them straight while listening to this book. I have found that I much prefer these sorts of battle-rich fantasy novels in audio format (see also Eragon et seq., which is way worse than this one in terms of overwritten language). Generally, I didn't find the plot of this book particularly original, but at least a few of the characters were interesting enough for me to care what h ...more

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Feb 01, 2008 Damian rated it it was amazing

An excellent Fantasy series. Heavy on politics, relationships and struggle, light on your standard fantasy elements. It's a bit of a soap opera but well-written, engaging and worth reading. Word of warning, don't get attached to any one character, Mr. Martin likes to kill them off at a rapid pace. ...more

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Sep 04, 2007 Deedee added it · review of another edition

Shelves: challenge-2011-spring, scifi-and-fantasy-book-club, nebula-award-nominee, sf-npr-top-100, dragons, beyond-reality-fantasy, favorites, re-read, 6-star-books, scifi-and-fantasy-club-read

re-read
Even better the second time around!
Re: goodreads policy, I've left the rating blank. I would have given it 5 stars, like I did the other edition of this book that I read. ...more

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