BOOK REVIEW: A Song of Fire and Ice, Book 1: A Game of Thrones

Reading a book a week for this blog is not as difficult as one might think. In fact, it is a perfect excuse to sit around with book in hand and it feeds my addiction to accumulate more books. I do alright with the schedule until something like George R. R. Martin’s series A Song of Fire and Ice comes along. This is not a series
I will get through quickly.

I just finished Book One, A GAME OF THRONES and there is no way that I will not finish this story. As in any series of this scope, the cast of characters is large and it takes a while to get each one in my mind, plus several plots have to be started. These two factors mean that a time commitment is required.

Eddard Stark, Lord of Winterfell, lives in the cold North with his wife Catelyn, their five children, his ward, and his bastard son. Their life is simple enough, dealing with the everyday existence in a remote land.

The story starts with the arrival of Robert Baratheon at Winterfell. Robert is now king of the land, but has been Eddard’s best friend since they were boys. Traveling with Robert is his wife Queen Cersei, her twin brother Ser Jaime, her brother, the dwarf Tyron, and her children.

Robert asks Eddard to return to the capital as his Hand, the person in charge of everything that the king demands and, reluctantly, Eddard agrees. Leaving his wife behind with their three sons, Eddard, along with his two young daughters, arrives at the King’s Court and quickly becomes embroiled in the Court’s politics.

Meanwhile, in another part of the world, Prince Visery is the last of the old rulers of the land. Visery has been reduced to being known as the Beggar King and is obsessed with regaining his kingdom. With him is his thirteen year old sister, Princess Daenery. On the promise of help to regain what he feels is his heritage, Visery sells Daenery to the barbaric Khal Drogo. Thus, her story begins.

Now that I am more or less sure of the main cast of characters and have grown rather fond of some of them, I am ready for Book Two, A Clash of Kings. Already several favorites have been killed off, so there is no way I will not find out what happens next. In addition, we are in the middle of a bloody war. Stay tuned!