Reviews
twas a little boring but good overall. famous for a reason
This is a re-read, but it still holds up. Though it’s a long book, the ensemble cast makes the pacing bearable. Some stories are more captivating than others, but I think that’s the beauty of this many POVs: there’s a plot for everyone. I am particular to Ned’s, Sansa’s, and Tyrion’s plots more than the others, but even that has changed since the first time I read this.
I think GRRM did a good job at establishing the lore and in-world culture. I feel like I understand the northerners vs the southerners vs the Dothraki beliefs. And it’s literally like one big chess board. You’re constantly waiting to see how these characters are going to interact and cross the others’ paths.
I also enjoy how GRRM subverts expectations. In these kinds of stories, we’re so used to good guys winning and bad guys getting what they deserve, but it’s truly refreshing to have a more realistic view of how these events would’ve unfolded. It’s tragic, definitely, but makes for a more exciting plot. Overall, this is a very solid start to a series.
proud supporter of house stark
I watched the series first and then listened to the audiobook and I can confirm that the book is better! Loved every part of it!!
I really wanted to join the masses and love it but it just didn't do it for me! I loved Arya, Tyrion and Daenerys, Catelyn and Jon's chapters were alright, but Sansa was so helpless I wanted to scream, Bran just rode Hodor all day and Ned was just ... I don't know.
4.75/5
george rr martin is a fantastic writer, offering such nuances and depths to his characters that you can find even within his first book. Watching the show and reading the book are two very different experiences offering new avenues and perspectives on even the biggest of plot points. Looking forward to book two!!!
epic actually if only the misogyny could have been absent. Ned Stark and Catelyn Stark are everything alongwith Arya and Daenerys.
i cant believe i went thru all of this again.... masochism at its finest
With each chapter revolving around a specific character, I was able to bare through the boring parts of the most annoying Sansa (not that there were many) and anticipate the upcoming chapters concerning the most awesome smartmouthed imp, Tyrion, and the ill fated Daenerys.
It's well written but too long and then to think that there are five or six more of these tomes in this series is just too much for me. I'm not one of those patient and loyal readers that Amazon.com mentions. A Game of Thrones would be a much stronger book if the story were told from half the points of view. Basically the author could have done away from the chapters from the women's point of view as they are the least interesting and least believable of all the chapters. That would probably cut the book's length down to a manageable 400 or so pages.
1st read through = 5 stars
After watching the T.V. show I knew I had to read this book. And to all of those who are eagerly reading it now that the first season has ended, let me tell you: this book does not disappoint. I am astounded how much they took into account when making the show. They really stuck with the whole plot-line. But you get more insight into the world, more background & even more of the characters. The character's youth was interesting, I liked it in some ways because it made even more incredible what some of them where going through, but sometimes it was just weird. Nevertheless, it was a great read & I look forward to know what happens in A Clash of Kings.
Pretty much how I expected it to be, but that isn’t a bad thing. I liked the tv show and this was like reading the tv show, ya know? Shoutout to the Starks for putting thoughts to their ridiculous actions.
"When you play the game of thrones, you win or you die. There is no middle ground." Inhale, exhale. I have never watched GoT series, so this review purely comes from the book itself. Let us commence with two major points I'll be discussing. - writing/world-building - characters I wasn't accustomed to a book with so many point of views. But I find this entertaining (though I had trouble memorizing the names and roles at the beginning) and even grow to like it. I love the pacing. Mind you, this is a thick book, but never once I caught myself in boredom while devouring its contents (horrified, yes, at times) The world-building is brilliant, I love every bit of it. Characters, as I stated above, they are plenty of them. Many gone as quick as they introduced. Of course, I can't analyze every character in depth, but I wish to give my two cents. I find it amusing that Catelyn kept reminding Eddard how her husband only knew Robert, not the King he has become. Should've used the advice to herself, reminding how little she comprehends Littlefinger's (cunning) character. Sansa mirroring her father's character, believing in the good of people, unironically costing both destruction in the aftermath. How mercy destroys what they love the most. In all honesty, I don't hate Sansa. She's just a naive little girl, taught to be nice and never to forget her courtesies. She has a lot to learn and I have faith in her character. Arya, by far, is the smartest Stark and I have so much admiration for the girl. I hope she's safe. Jon is my favorite character. His emotions feel so real. He is brave and compassionate. I need his chapters to be longer. The Lannisters, I have so little affection toward them. Tyrion is the only tolerable one. I know Tywin is smart, but I have no desire to talk of that man. Nor of Cersei and Joffrey. I love Daenerys' dragons, but her chapters horrify me more often than not due to Khal Drogo's brutality, I don't have it in me to discuss it further either. I can't wait to read the second book already! 5 stars.
*reread: 4/5
Any author would have a hard time contending with story moorings that were this solid. George can build this tree up and out all he wants, but the roots are here. The whole of the story is slow and steady, edited expertly and rewardingly, and curated by someone who definitely seems to possess the greatest attributes of popular writers: George knows exactly how deep an itch he's scratching.
Highly entertaining
I don't know how many times I've re-read this series but each time I discover something new about it. ASOIAF is like my comfort place. There are so many characters I love in these books and the wolves of course. Even for someone who has watched the HBO series, George R.R. Martin’s Game of Thrones is an engaging and enjoyable read! The strength of Martin’s writing shines through in these pages. Each chapter is well-crafted. His proses aren't excellent but during many parts they shine through bright. As someone who is familiar with the series I know the pacing of the first book is slow but it still didn't hamper my reading. Everyday I looked forward to reading it.Let me just say that I didn't find ANY of the characters boring. Even the characters that I would find an anoying personality type, are deeply engrossing in this tale.This book was raw, gritty, barbaric and downright crass at times...and I loved every damn minute!
Not as great as it was first time round, but it's not the books fault that all I really want is The Winds of Winter.
Is it the best fantasy at this length I have ever read? No. Is it very good? Yes. I don’t know why everyone says it is so violent and so sexual and all that because I read a lot in this genre and I found it pretty mid on both fronts. There aren’t even any swear words… but I digress. If you liked the first season of the show you will find a slightly more expanded world building experience here and more backstory and lore-fill. What you will lack for is character depth and relationship depth, as well as minor characters and strong dialogue which the show writers punched up, because they had to. It was the most iconic TV series of all time. I won’t waste time on explaining the plot.
I'm glad I waited until the summer holidays to read this, because now I might have to read the whole series!
It definitely lives up to the hype. On to reading the rest of the epic now. Love the plot, love his metaphors, but most of all his writing where the story progresses through the perspective of different protagonists, each unique, each dynamic.
Fantastic. Looking forward to the second book.
Highlights
When the snows fall and the white winds blow, the lone wolf dies, but the pack survives.
“Never forget what you are, for surely the world will not. Make it your strength. Then it can never be your weakness. Armor yourself in it, and it will never be used to hurt you.”
Even the truest knight cannot protect a king against himself.
in as much as i cringe to see ned stark make mistakes, nobody is a bigger idiot in this book than robert baratheon himself.
When you play the game of thrones, you win or you die. There is no middle ground.
if there's one takeaway i have from this book, it's never to confront your enemies with the truth. you'll lose your head that way.
I swear to you, I was never so alive as when I was winning this throne, or so dead as now that I've won it.
who knew that sitting on the throne with the pointy ends wouldn't be so peachy? you'd sooner see my head on a pike.
When the snows fall and the white winds blow, the lone wolf dies but the pack survives. Summer is the time for squabbles. In winter, we must protect one another, keep each other warm, share our strengths.
read a couple of chapters off the book today. this line feels especially poignant, knowing how this all ends.
Never forget what you are, for surely the world will not. Make it your strength. Then it can never be your weakness. Armor yourself in it, and it will never be used to hurt you.
tyrion has always been one of my favorite characters in the series—revisiting this narrative through the novels gathering dust on my bookshelf only cemented that fact.
"I vowed to kill Rhaegar for what he did to her.
“You did, " Ned reminded him.
"Only once," Robert said bitterly.
What is honor compared to a woman's love? What is duty against the feel of a newborn son in your arms... or the memory of a brother's smile? Wind and words. Wind and words. We are only human, and the gods have fashioned us for love. That is our great glory, and our great tragedy.
Let me tell you something about wolves, child. When the snows fall and the white winds blow, the lone wolf dies, but the pack survives. Summer is the time for squabbles. In winter, we must protect one another, keep each other warm, share our strengths.
Well, my legs may be too small for my body, but my head is too large, although I prefer to think it is just large enough for my mind. I have a realistic grasp of my own strengths and weaknesses. My mind is my weapon.
“After my name day feast, I'm going to raise a host and kill your brother myself. That's what I'll give you, Lady Sansa. Your brother's head.”
A kind of madness took over her then, and she heard herself say, “Maybe my brother will give me your your head.”
“If they want to give you a name, take it, make it your own. Then they can't hurt you with it anymore."
-Tyrion
"Can a man still be brave if he's afraid?" he heard his own voice saying, small and far away. And his father's voice replied to him. "That is the only time a man can be brave,!"
-Bran & Eddard
“Every flight begins with a fall…”
-The Crow
"Death is so terribly final, while life is full of possibilities."
- Tyrion
“Never forget what you are, for surely the world will not. Make it your strength. Then it can never be your weakness. Armor yourself in it, and it will never be used to hurt you."
- Tyrion
“What do we say to the Lord of Death?'
'Not today.”
“When the snows fall and the white winds blow, the lone wolf dies but the pack survives.”
“Fear cuts deeper than swords.”
“Bran thought about it. 'Can a man still be brave if he's afraid?'
'That is the only time a man can be brave,' his father told him.”
“Well, my legs may be too small for my body, but my head is too large, although I prefer to think it is just large enough for my mind. I have a realistic grasp of my own strengths and weaknesses. My mind is my weapon. My brother has his sword, King Robert has his warhammer, and I have my mind... and a mind needs books as a sword needs a whetstone, if it is to keep its edge." Tyrion tapped the leather cover of the book. "That's why I read so much, Jon Snow."
The old songs say that the greenseers used dark magics to make the seas rise and sweep away the land, shattering the Arm, but it was too late to close the door.
the door :0