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Matthew's Reviews > A Game of Thrones
A Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire, #1)
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Matthew's review
bookshelves: own, 2018, fantasy, book-a-book-club, series, political-thrillers
Jan 24, 2018
bookshelves: own, 2018, fantasy, book-a-book-club, series, political-thrillers
I have finally done it! I have joined in on the fun that is A Game of Thrones. It is 2018 and I managed to make it all the way here without reading a page or watching a minute of the show. Now, it is the nature of the internet to keep me from being completely in the dark on this one, but I think I did a pretty good job of avoiding hearing or seeing too much about it.
Is this a great fantasy book? It really is quite good. The plot and the characters are well thought out. Comparing it to other fantasy books I have read, it is right up there or better.
Yeah, but since this has been taking the world by storm it must have blown your socks off!? Um, no, not really. It was good, but not, "OMG THIS IS THE BEST THING EVER!" good.
How about mainstream interest? So many people say they are not fantasy fans but they love this series. This has to be 95% because of the show. This book is SOOOOOOO fantasy, if it wasn't already popular I would never recommend it to anyone except a diehard fantasy fan. In fact, it isn't even really "fun" fantasy - it is dark with lots of politics and plotting. Some of my Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ friends said that historical fiction fans get a kick out of it, too, and it is loosely based on the War of the Roses.
Do I want to watch the show now? Yeah, I think I will check it out.
Sex and violence? I have seen some people wary of this book because of sex and violence. Internet spoilers, SNL skits, etc. sure do make it sound pretty vicious and risque. However, compared to other fantasy novels, it is pretty normal. In fact, the depiction of sex is pretty tame. Violence is maybe a little more intense, but nothing that made me feel the book was too extremely brutal. Perhaps these things get amped up in future books?
EVERONE DIES! One thing that seemed to leak through the internet and my friends talking about the book was to not get too attached to a character because they will probably die. So far, only one death was kind of shocking to me. I expect the death count and the shock value to go up as the books progress.
I think that covers the main points.
- I liked it, but wasn't completely blown away.
- I have no idea how HBO managed to get a bunch of non-fantasy fans into this.
- I cannot wait to check out the next one to see what happens!
Is this a great fantasy book? It really is quite good. The plot and the characters are well thought out. Comparing it to other fantasy books I have read, it is right up there or better.
Yeah, but since this has been taking the world by storm it must have blown your socks off!? Um, no, not really. It was good, but not, "OMG THIS IS THE BEST THING EVER!" good.
How about mainstream interest? So many people say they are not fantasy fans but they love this series. This has to be 95% because of the show. This book is SOOOOOOO fantasy, if it wasn't already popular I would never recommend it to anyone except a diehard fantasy fan. In fact, it isn't even really "fun" fantasy - it is dark with lots of politics and plotting. Some of my Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ friends said that historical fiction fans get a kick out of it, too, and it is loosely based on the War of the Roses.
Do I want to watch the show now? Yeah, I think I will check it out.
Sex and violence? I have seen some people wary of this book because of sex and violence. Internet spoilers, SNL skits, etc. sure do make it sound pretty vicious and risque. However, compared to other fantasy novels, it is pretty normal. In fact, the depiction of sex is pretty tame. Violence is maybe a little more intense, but nothing that made me feel the book was too extremely brutal. Perhaps these things get amped up in future books?
EVERONE DIES! One thing that seemed to leak through the internet and my friends talking about the book was to not get too attached to a character because they will probably die. So far, only one death was kind of shocking to me. I expect the death count and the shock value to go up as the books progress.
I think that covers the main points.
- I liked it, but wasn't completely blown away.
- I have no idea how HBO managed to get a bunch of non-fantasy fans into this.
- I cannot wait to check out the next one to see what happens!
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Reading Progress
January 8, 2013
– Shelved
December 18, 2016
– Shelved as:
to-read
December 18, 2016
– Shelved as:
own
December 31, 2017
– Shelved as:
2018
December 31, 2017
– Shelved as:
fantasy
December 31, 2017
– Shelved as:
book-a-book-club
December 31, 2017
– Shelved as:
series
January 1, 2018
–
Started Reading
January 2, 2018
–
8.0%
"I have avoided spoilers (mostly) for this series, but they did just introduce Joffery and I know enough to know that he is bad news."
page
67
January 15, 2018
–
45.88%
"Ah, there was a little hint of the shock factor I was expecting"
page
384
"
January 24, 2018
– Shelved as:
political-thrillers
January 24, 2018
–
Finished Reading
Comments Showing 1-50 of 79 (79 new)
This is my fourth time reading AGOT. Love it more every time :)
Melissa wrote: "This is my fourth time reading AGOT. Love it more every time :)"I am sure I will love it - sometimes I worry that it is too hyped up for me . . .
I am sure I will love it - sometimes I worry that it is too hyped up for me . . Perhaps. My gut feeling is that you would like the book a little (but not much) less than I (2.5 or 3 star rate). As a stand-alone epic-fantasy novel, it's not so great, but as the first book of the entire series, it is good enough to get 4-star assessment. Anyway, It felt like more of (a reasonably well written) historical novel rather than a fantasy genre fiction, which is one of things I like about the book.
Great review Matthew! Are you going to read the entire series?
Devin wrote: "Great review!! ???¡â?"Thank you!
I thought the rampant sex/violence was due to the fact it¡¯s an HBO show. I can¡¯t wait to start the books tho!
I loved the books and then also came to love the TV series, and I did not count myself as a fantasy fan per se beforehand. I'm glad you enjoyed it and I hope you keep going with the series. It only gets better!
Josen wrote: "Great review Matthew! Are you going to read the entire series?"Hey, Josen! I have them all on my shelf (well, all that are released ?) and I am planning to read them. However, the question is - how quickly?
Patrick wrote: "I thought the rampant sex/violence was due to the fact it¡¯s an HBO show. I can¡¯t wait to start the books tho!"Ha! Yeah, it isn't an HBO show without sex and violence!
Tiffany wrote: "I loved the books and then also came to love the TV series, and I did not count myself as a fantasy fan per se beforehand. I'm glad you enjoyed it and I hope you keep going with the series. It only..."Did you watch the show or read the books first (it sounds like books first from your comment, but wanted to double check). And, if you read the books first, was the slow already a thing at the time?
Glad you like it. I¡¯m still working on it, so far I¡¯m thinking I¡¯ll probably end up giving this 3 stars. Now, if you want a brutal and epic fantasy story I can¡¯t recommend Berserk enough!
Matthew wrote: "Tiffany wrote: "I loved the books and then also came to love the TV series, and I did not count myself as a fantasy fan per se beforehand. I'm glad you enjoyed it and I hope you keep going with the..."Books first, but I didn't get through all of them before the show started. So, at one point I was reading them and watching during the same time period.
Tiffany wrote: "Matthew wrote: "Tiffany wrote: "I loved the books and then also came to love the TV series, and I did not count myself as a fantasy fan per se beforehand. I'm glad you enjoyed it and I hope you kee..."Interesting - not being a fantasy fan, what led you to give it a try?
Matthew wrote: "Tiffany wrote: "Matthew wrote: "Tiffany wrote: "I loved the books and then also came to love the TV series, and I did not count myself as a fantasy fan per se beforehand. I'm glad you enjoyed it an..."My dad. As usual. He was a big fan and he gave me the first book and told me to give it a try. He didn't even tell me what it was about. He just said, "You like big books, try this one."
Tiffany wrote: "Matthew wrote: "Tiffany wrote: "Matthew wrote: "Tiffany wrote: "I loved the books and then also came to love the TV series, and I did not count myself as a fantasy fan per se beforehand. I'm glad y..."Ha! Nice!
L. wrote: "Glad you like it. I¡¯m still working on it, so far I¡¯m thinking I¡¯ll probably end up giving this 3 stars. Now, if you want a brutal and epic fantasy story I can¡¯t recommend Berserk enough!"Who is the author on that?
Great review, Matthew! I can¡¯t wait to dig into this series.
I just read this series for the first time last year, without ever watching an episode of the tv show. So, I fully appreciate your experience. I gave this book the same rating, but gave one or two of the books a full 5 Stars. I hope you continue on. Enjoy the ride!
L. wrote: "Kentaro Miura (it¡¯s a manga series)."Cool! Thanks for the rec!
Ashley wrote: "Great review, Matthew! I can¡¯t wait to dig into this series."Thanks, Ashley! I hope you enjoy!
Paula W wrote: "I just read this series for the first time last year, without ever watching an episode of the tv show. So, I fully appreciate your experience. I gave this book the same rating, but gave one or two ..."Good to know! Gives me high hopes for the ready if the series!
I just read the first one myself last year and enjoyed it thoroughly. I would like to continue the series and maybe watch the show too. Not super high on my list, but eventually!
Colleen wrote: "I just read the first one myself last year and enjoyed it thoroughly. I would like to continue the series and maybe watch the show too. Not super high on my list, but eventually!"Yeah, I think I will wait a bit for the next book. Maybe hunt down season 1 of the show to watch first.
Fun review, Matthew !! Wish I could get into this series. As hard as I try, I just can¡¯t wrap my head around it !
Megan wrote: "Fun review, Matthew !! Wish I could get into this series. As hard as I try, I just can¡¯t wrap my head around it !"Thanks! Yeah, after reading it it felt much less accessable to the masses than I was expecting considering its widespread popularity. So, don't worry about not being able to wrap your head around it!
Kimber wrote: "Really great review, Matthew!"P. wrote: "Nicely written review, Matthew!"
Thank you very much, Kimber and P. ????
Welcome to the club, Matthew. After you read the next four books, you can join us in waiting for the sixth volume, "Winds of Winter", to finally come out. Glad you enjoyed it!
Awesome review and so very true!
Have plans to start off on these books soon too!! P.S. I LOVE LOVE the series!! :D
I am on my way to finish it! It's such a long book specially of you have watched the show!!
Great review, Matthew!I'm glad you liked it!
I've read this book in 1999 and devoured the second too and then have to wait to read the third! A colleague of mine got me hooked up on this and we were endlessly chatting about everything that happened and make conjectures about what will happen next! Ah, good old times! LOL
I'm also a fan of the show too! It is really very well done, you'll see! Highly recommended! I'm anxiously waiting for the next season! ;-)
Great review Matthew! Welcome to the world of GoT! Now I can tell you a bunch of spoilers. ;) hahaha
Karl wrote: "Welcome to the club, Matthew. After you read the next four books, you can join us in waiting for the sixth volume, "Winds of Winter", to finally come out. Glad you enjoyed it!"Thanks, Karl! Yes, I have heard there is a lot of waiting involved with this series . . . ?
Choko wrote: "Awesome review and so very true!"Thanks, Choko!?
Tahera wrote: "Have plans to start off on these books soon too!! P.S. I LOVE LOVE the series!! :D"I look forward to giving the show a try!
Dilip wrote: "I am on my way to finish it! It's such a long book specially of you have watched the show!!"Very long! I enjoyed it and felt like I was reading it every waking moment, and it still took almost a month.
Craig wrote: "Great review Matthew! I did like the series from what i remember and the television show too....although the show does deviate A LOT from the books as it progresses...??"Thank you! I heard that about the tv show. I also heard that it has now gone beyond where the books end.
Mei wrote: "Great review, Matthew!I'm glad you liked it!
I've read this book in 1999 and devoured the second too and then have to wait to read the third! A colleague of mine got me hooked up on this and we we..."
Thanks, Mei! Your story sounds like what we used to do with Harry Potter - good times! ???
Ginger wrote: "Great review Matthew! Welcome to the world of GoT! Now I can tell you a much of spoilers. ;) hahaha"Thank you so much, Ginger! Dodging GoT spoilers on line and with some of the people I work with is a full time job!
Matthew wrote: "Thank you so much, Ginger! Dodging GoT spoilers on line and with some of the people I work with is a full time job! "Yes it is! It's one of the hardest shows to stay oblivious about. Between friends, coworkers and online, it's the pits.
Just go Liam Neeson on their ass.
Excellent review, Matthew! I've read all the books and I watched the HBO show up until the point that it caught up with the books, and then I stopped a few seasons ago. I can't believe how many people who can't help it with spoilers even after I tell them that! I love that picture, Ginger! That is exactly what I'd like to say to those folks, lol.
Terry wrote: "I love that picture, Ginger! That is exactly what I'd like to say to those folks, lol. "You definitely should then! hahaha
I listened to them and so when I tried to send a msg to one of my friends about it they had no clue what I was saying. Who spells names like that anyway? I even had a hard time looking them up at first because I couldn't even get close. I wonder what the names sounded like to people who read them first then heard them spoken on the show.
No! Stop reading right here. You don't want to have to wait for the 6th book for the next decade like all of us. Torture, is what it is. lol
Ginger wrote: "Matthew wrote: "Thank you so much, Ginger! Dodging GoT spoilers on line and with some of the people I work with is a full time job! "Yes it is! It's one of the hardest shows to stay oblivious abo..."
Ha! Liam Neeson is always handy in a pinch!
Terry wrote: "Excellent review, Matthew! I've read all the books and I watched the HBO show up until the point that it caught up with the books, and then I stopped a few seasons ago. I can't believe how many peo..."Thanks! Yeah, the biggest problem I run into is they think they aren't spoiling and then they say, "This isn't a spoiler, but so-and-so is awesome in book 3" and then I am like "Oh, so, so-and-so is still alive in book 3?" *sigh*
I have had a copy for several years - even took it on vacation with me last month . . . but, still haven't started - SOON!